BY JEFF FALK

LEBANON – Jesse Cruise is a senior.

He’s been through the wars. He’s seen it all, including three Falcon Lebanon County team championships.

You don’t think for one second that he would allow ‘The Streak’ to end on his watch.

On a bright Saturday afternoon at Lebanon High School, during the annual contesting of the Lebanon County Track and Field Championships, Cruise’s individual performance boosted  Cedar Crest to its 20th consecutive team championship at the event. Cruise was named the county meet’s Outstanding Male Athlete by winning his specialty – the 1600-meter run – the 400-meter dash, anchoring the Falcons’ triumphant 3200-meter relay team and by running fifth in a 200-meter race he wasn’t all that familiar with.

With Cruise, an emerging senior leader, showing the way, Cedar Crest piled up 176.5 team points, enough to edge a valiant effort by runner-up Lebanon. Palmyra ran third and Annville-Cleona came in fourth, followed by Elco and Northern Lebanon.

“On paper it was us and Lebanon,” said Cedar Crest head coach Rob Bare, who’s been around for every one of those 20 local team titles. “One point separated us (on paper). They (the Cedars) brought their ‘A’ game. We had some adversity, but the guys continued to fight and battle. That was huge to close out the meet that way. We told them they had to finish strong.

“I never thought we’d win 20 in-a-row,” continued Bare. “When I first came on board, you don’t really think about anything like that happening. Back in (19)99, Palmyra was district champs. We were second and we were lucky enough to beat them at the county meet.”

“I was just trying to score as many points as I could for the team,” said Cruise. “Hopefully it was enough. When I think about this event, I just think about the history of achievement here. I wanted to continue the legacy, follow in the foot steps of the people who came before me.”

Cruise needed his best to out distance Annville-Cleona sprinter Stanley Miller and Lebanon middle distance man Derin Klick for the Outstanding Athlete award.

Cruise struck gold in the first track event of the day, 3200 relay. He teamed with William Sheffield, Ryan Scicchitano and Dylan Mehler for an 8:16.84.

Then he out kicked teammate Adam Wolfe to capture the 1600-meter title.

“I don’t think that’s what I was trying for,” said Cruise of the Outstanding Athlete award. “It was a great honor to achieve this. But I don’t think I ever quite expected this.’

“He ran the 200 for the team and got some very important team points there,” said Bare of Cruise. “He ran the four-by-eight, the 1600-meters and the 400. That’s a tough quad. I was thrilled he was named the outstanding athlete.”

After winning the 1600 run, Cruise turned around and won the meet’s next individual race, the 400 meters. Cruise clocked a 51.08 to edge Cedar Phil Hillesheim.

“When I started running in elementary school, I was more of a 400 guy,” said Cruise. “The 200, that’s more of this year. I was doing it for the team.

“I think my peak was my sophomore year,” added Cruise. “From there, my coaches said, ‘You can do some great things.’ But I think I’ve struggled with the mental aspect of it.”

With his performance yesterday, Miller established himself as Lebanon County’s fastest human.

He finished first in the 100-meter dash, in 11.40. He took top honors in the 200-meter event with a 23.03. And he used his speed to pop a gold-medal worthy 21-3.5 in the long jump.

Klick won his best event – the 800-meter run – with ease, by nearly six seconds. The talented senior also ran the final leg for a victorious Lebanon 1600-meter crew that also included Jeremiah Beckley, Hillesheim and Riley Klick.

Also winning a couple of events for the Cedars was jumper Juan Maldonado. Maldonado’s winning leap in the high jump was measured at 6-0, while his 44-6.5 in the triple jump was more than three feet longer than the rest of the field.

“Early on, we weren’t performing too well,” said Bare. “It’s just like basketball, you have some momentum swings. At the end, we got rolling and won some big events.”

The Falcons received valuable team points from Tyler Eisenhauer, who finished first in the 110 high hurdles, Jake Barrett, who garnered the 3200-meter run, and Greg Munnion, who won the javelin competition with a heave of 164-6.

“Eisenhauer winning the highs was a surprise,” said Bare. “Going one-two in the mile was important and winning the four-by-eight was key. That’s a lot of points. That’s huge. But Jesse is our front-runner.”

Cougar senior Mason Cooper was crowned Lebanon County champion in the discus, while Lebanon senior Khalique Washington grabbed that same title in the shot put.  Palmyra’s Dylan Larkin cleared 13-0 to capture the pole vault event, and collaborated with Sam Shiels, Luke Wenger and Nick Morder on gold in the 400-meter relay.

Elco Raider Grant Brubaker won the 300-meter hurdle competition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

 

  Annual Lebanon County Track and Field Championships

 (at Lebanon High School)

 Boys’ Results

100: 1. Stanley Miller, AC, 11.40. 2. Sam Sheils, Pal, 11.62. 3. Chris Rios, CC, 11.71. 4. Christian Manzolillio, Leb, 12.02. 5. Caleb Turner, AC, 12.27.

110 hurdles: 1. Tyler Eisenhauer, CC, 16.18. 2. Elijah Herb, ELCO, 16.39. 3. Bennett Von Stetten, Pal, 16.45. 4. Devon Bernard, CC, 16.97. 5. Nick Isaykin, Pal, 17.50. 6. Brandon Harlee, ELCO, 17.92.

200: 1. Stanley Miller, AC, 23.03. 2. Juan Maldonado, Leb, 23.58. 3. Domenic MacMillan, AC, 23.94. 4. Sam Sheils, Pal, 23.95. 5. Jesse Cruise, CC, 24.00. 5. Tyler Eisenhauer, CC, 24.31. 7. Noah Smith, NL, 24.43. 8. Cory Kline, ELCO, 24.59. 9. Josh Milian-gonzalez, 24.65. 10. Nick Morder, Pal, 24.89.

300 hurdles: 1. Grant Brubaker, ELCO, 42.51. 2. Nick Felty, CC, 42.72. 3. Jeremiah Beckley, Leb, 43.21. 4. Julian Imm, Leb, 44.00. 5. Nick Blandy, CC, 44.12. 6. Cameron Hoch, AC, 44.43. 7. Klayton Adams, NL, 44.47. 8. Greg Onisa, ELCO, 45.37. 9. Shelby Bauer, AC, 45.94. 10. Nick Isaykin, Pal, 45.99. 11. Dante DiAngelis, NL, 48.88. 12. Leo Higgins, Pal, 52.99.

400: 1. Jesse Cruise, CC, 51.08. 2. Phil Hillesheim, Leb, 51.66. 3. Mark Nace, AC, 53.65. 4. Jeremiah Beckley, Leb, 54.65. 5. Conner Soderstedt, Pal, 54.71. 6. Tanner Miller, CC, 54.99. 7. Romeo Varela, AC, 56.24. 8. Adam Barnes, Pal, 58.31. 9. Hunter Bailey, ELCO, 59.57.

800: 1. Derin Klick, Leb, 1:57.45. 2. William Sheffield, CC, 2:03.24. 3. Adam Wolfe, CC, 2:03.50. 4. Riley Klick, Leb, 2:06.00. 5. Derek Wadas, Pal, 2:07.12. 6. Lucas Richardson, Pal, 2:10.49. 7. Eric Herb, NL, 2:15.32. 8. Chance Leed, ELCO, 2:19.96. 9. Gavin Knox, AC, 2:30.13. 10. Doyle Shertzer, AC, 2:35.16.

1,600: 1. Jesse Cruise, CC, 4:32.94. 2. Adam Wolfe, CC, 4:35.45. 3. Daryl Werni, Leb, 4:41.72. 4. Kevin Cole, Pal, 4:45.65. 5. Matt Carroll, Pal, 4:47.61. 6. Cole Nelson, ELCO, 4:51.58. 7. Mitchell Grey, ELCO, 4:52.23. 8. Jordan Berger, NL, 4:59.95. 9. Matthew Hoffman, Leb, 5:08.76. 10. Doyle Shertzer, AC, 5:13.42. 11. Gavin Knox, AC, 5:17.12.

3,200: 1. Jake Barrett, CC, 10:08.97. 2. Kevin Cole, Pal, 10:18.63. 3. Josh Rudd, CC, 10:20.46. 4. Ryan McAllilster, ELCO, 10:27.66. 5. Matt Carroll, Pal, 10:32.54. 6. Daryl Werni, Leb, 11:42.37. 7. Brandon Bomberger, NL, 12:10.93. 8. Anier Caldwell-Brooks, Leb, 12:36.93.

400 relay: 1. Palmyra (Devin Larkin, Nick Morder, Sam Sheils, Luke Wenger), 45.59. 2. Cedar Crest (Chris Rios, Aidan Sullivan, Zeb Lasta, Blake Thomson), 45.60. 3. Annville-Cleona (Stanley Miller, Domenic Macmillan, Caleb Turner, Griffin hertz), 45.80. 4. Northern Lebanon (Josh Ragsdale, Noah Smith, Chris Taylor, Rodrigo Urreta), 46.69. 5. Lebanon (Christian Mazolillio, Hector Pomales-Torres, Josh Millian-Gonzalez, Gabe Santiago), 49.20.

1,600 relay: 1. Lebanon (Jeremiah Beckley, Derin Klick, Riley Klick, Phil Hillesheim), 3:29.61. 2. Cedar Crest (Adam Wolfe, Blake Thomson, Nick Felty, Jesse Cruise), 3:36.54. 3. Annville-Cleona (Mark Nace, Ethan Fortuna, Dylan Scheer, Romeo Varela), 3:40.71. 4. Northern Lebanon (Klayton Adams, Erc Herb, Ben Nguyen, Rodrigo Urreta), 3:42.37. 5. ELCO (Brandon Harlee, Greg Onisa, Justin Kegerise, Grant Brubaker), 3:45.57. 6. Palmyra (Adam Barnes, Matt Carroll, Kevin Cole, Lucas Richardson), 3:46.26.

3,200 relay: 1. Cedar Crest (William Sheffield, Adam Wolfe, Ryan Scicchitano, Jesse Cruise), 8:16.84. 2. Lebanon (Riley Klick, Daryl Werni, Derin Klick, Patrick Bray), 8:18.80. 3. Palmyra (Matt Carroll, Kevin Cole, Lucas Richardson, Conner Soderstedt), 8:22.46. 4. Northern Lebanon (Klayton Adams, Brandon Bomberger, Eric Herb, Ben Nguyen), 9:32.29. 5. Annville-Cleona (Doyle Shertzer, Gavin Knox, Hayden Funck, Matt Erickson), 9:40.25.

Triple jump: 1. Juan Maldonado, Leb, 44-6 ½. 2. Phil Hillesheim, Leb, 41-5 ¾. 3. Jabin Joseph, CC, 41-3. 4. Nick Felty, CC, 40-3. 5. Levi Brubaker, ELCO, 39-6. 6. Bennett Von Stetten, Pal, 38-2 ½. 7. Ben Wolfe, Pal, 37-2. 8. Ethan Fortuna, AC, 36-3 ¾. 9. Brandon Harlee, ELCO, 35-11. 10. Earl Pyles, NL, 33-7. 11. Blaise Torres, NL, 33-1 ¾.

Pole vault: 1. Devin Larkin, Pal, 13-0. 2t. Blaine Wike, Leb, & Bennett Von Stetten, Pal, 11-6. 4t. De’Undre Andrews, Leb, & Jared Weaver, ELCO, 10-6. 6t. Dante DiAngelis, NL, & Neil Waldhausen, AC, 10-0. 8t. Tyler Hill, ELCO & Chris Taylor, NL, 9-0. 10. David Fiebig, AC, 8-0.

Long jump: 1. Stanley Miller, AC, 21-3 ½. 2. Juan Maldonado, Leb, 20-10. 3. Cory Kline, ELCO, 19-8 ½. 4. Phil Hillesheim, Leb, 19-6 ¼. 5. Kendell Shand, CC, 19-6. 6. Nick Felty, CC, 19-3 ¾. 7. Sam Sheils, Pal, 19-1 ½. 8. Griffin Hertz, AC, 18-9 ¾. 9. Nick Morder, Pal, 18-1 ½. 10. Evan Gettler, ELCO, 18-1. 11. Earl Pyles, NL, 16-11 ¾. 12. Blaise Torres, NL, 15-10 ¼.

High jump: 1. Juan Maldonado, Leb, 6-0. 2t. Bennett Von Stetten, Pal, Shaq Ortiz, Leb & Griffin Hertz, AC, 5-10. 5t. Adam Loehr, CC & Devin Larkin, Pal, 5-8. 7t. Klayton Adams, NL, Austin Martin, ELCO & Isaiah Hunter, CC, 5-6. 10. Devin Stoops, ELCO, 5-2.

Discus: 1. Mason Cooper, Pal, 146-4. 2. Tyler Horst, ELCO, 138-8. 3. Nathan Kreider, Pal, 130-7. 4. Dakota Morey, Leb, 122-5. 5. Alex Martz, NL, 110-9. 6. Angel Borges, Leb, 109-0. 7. Adam Loehr, CC, 107-4. 8. Nicholas Goodyear, NL, 102-6. 9. Austin Sprenkle, ELCO, 99-9. 10. Matt Erickson, AC, 94-11. 11. Trevor Porsche, AC, 83-5. 12. Terrell Davis, CC, 83-0.

Shot put: 1. Khalique Washington, Leb, 45-3 ½. 2. Tyler Horst, ELCO, 44-4 ¼. 3. Cameron Hoch, AC, 41-4 ¾. 4. Garrett DeBien, CC, 40-7. 5. Mason Cooper, Pal, 40-4 ½. 6. Garrett Miller, Pal, 38-8 ¾. 7. Terrell Davis, CC, 37-5 ¾. 8. Gabe Calini, Leb, 36-1. 9. Andrew Stoner, ELCO, 36-0. 10. Trevor Porsche, AC, 35-11 ½. 11. Alex Martz, NL, 35-0 ½.

Javelin: 1. Greg Munnion, CC, 164-6. 2. Garrett DeBien, CC, 158-6. 3. Tyler Horst, ELCO, 157-3. 4. Cameron Hoch, AC, 153-11. 5. Brayden Turner, AC, 147-7. 6. Leon Higgins, Pal, 133-4. 7. Nick Bradley, Leb, 129-5. 8. Julian Imm, Leb, 117-7. 9. Austin Sprenkle, ELCO, 117-4. 10. Spencer Cassell, Pal, 116-3. 11. Nicholas Goodyear, NL, 101-5. 12. Alex Martz, NL, 11-7.

Team scores: 1. Cedar Crest, 176.5. 2. Lebanon, 160.833. 3. Palmyra, 131.833. 4. Annville-Cleona, 90.833. 5. ELCO, 74. 6. Northern Lebanon, 30.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lebanon County Track and Field Championship Records

LEBANON COUNTY MEET RECORDS