Over the last weekend in February, the Boys Pennridge High School Winter Track Relay team, coached by Bob Hosear, brought home two gold medals from the State Championships. The State Championship track event was held at Penn State University. The boys came in first for the 4×400 and the 4×800. The relay team for both the 4×400 and the 4×800 consists of Luke Eissler, Matt Eissler, Bobby Brashear, and Anderson Dimon. Luke, Matt, and Anderson are Seniors while Bobby is a Junior. Bobby had said that, “It’s going to be weird practicing and competing without some of my best friends next year, but I’ll continue to run next year and represent Pennridge the best I can.” Anderson Dimon will be attending Princeton University to continue his track career. Matt Eissler will be attending the University of Pennsylvania to continue his track career. And the last of the ensemble, Luke Eissler, has not yet decided where he will be going to college and if he wants to pursue his track career.

    Going into the event, the team was seeded first for both of the events. For the 4×400 relay, the team scored a time of 3:21.72. This time put them at the 11th fastest time in the country.  For the 4×800 relay, the team scored a time of 7:53.95, which placed them at the 7th fastest time in the country. Not only did the relay team bring home two gold medals, but they each received a watch for getting first place. Overall, the entire track and field team, as a whole, placed 4th in the state. Also, Anderson Dimon, a valuable runner on the relay team got second place in the 400. He brought home the silver medal with a time of 48.30. His time put him at 11th in the country. Last year, the relay teams 4×800 time placed 2nd. Central Buck West had gotten first place. This year, going into states, Luke Eissler said, “Going into the race, we thought West would be our biggest competitor in the 4×800 because they ran the second fastest time in the state, behind us, and they have also won the past two years.” The team was not going to let that happen again this year. The boys trained hard so that they could come back with both gold medals.

    This year, the 2018-2019 season, the winter relay team qualified for nationals. They will be given the opportunity to run the 4×400 this coming weekend. Nationals will take place on Friday, March 8th, through Sunday, March 10th. The event will occur at The Armory Track and Field Center in New York City. The 4×400 relay will start off with Bobby Brashear. He will be running with the baton and will pass it off to Matt Eissler when he reaches him. Matt will then pass it off to his brother, Luke Eissler. Finally, Luke will pass it to Anderson Dimon and he will bring the baton to the finish line. Relays take speed, a lot of skill, and precise timing when handing off the baton. Nationals is very competitive and the boys are working hard so they can bring home another gold medal. The boys will run the 4×400 relay on Friday, at 8:45 PM. If the team places a good time, they will run on Sunday, at 12:15 PM for the championship. The boys have worked hard all season for this and they have a great chance at coming home with the gold medal once again. The outdoor track season will start right back up for the boys after nationals. Matt Eissler says his biggest goal for the outdoor season “is to bring home the team title along with repeating both relays and an individual title for myself, considering getting tripped the past two years.” Congratulations to the boys on a great season and good luck at nationals!