With the dual-meet outcome still in doubt, about 20 members of the Pottsville girls' track and field team gathered around the finish line to watch the end of the 3,200.
When Crimson Tide senior Paige Stoner crossed the finish line first, they cheered. Pottsville could finally relax and celebrate a division championship.
Stoner won four events, including a meet-clinching victory in the 3,200, in the Crimson Tide's hard-fought, 78-72 victory over Blue Mountain in a Schuylkill League Division I meet Tuesday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Stoner added individual wins in the 800 and 1,600 and teamed with Gabrielle DiRenzo, Lauren Howell and Gabrielle Evans to take the 3,200 relay as the Crimson Tide (4-1, 4-0 D-I) handed the rival Eagles (5-1, 4-1) their first loss of the season.
Even if Pottsville loses its dual-meet finale next Monday at Jim Thorpe (2-2, 1-2), the Crimson Tide will still win the title on the head-to-head tiebreaker.
It's the third consecutive year Pottsville has either won or shared the Division I championship. The Crimson Tide won it outright in 2012 and shared it with Blue Mountain in 2013 after the two tied during their dual meet last year.
"We are so excited," Stoner said. "We knew as always it was going to be so close throughout the entire meet. We knew it was going to take every point, especially the third places. They are only a point, but we knew they were going to matter so much."
The boys' meet was even closer and came down to two of the final three events.
Pottsville's Justin Welkie and Edward Hossler finished first and third, respectively, in the 3,200, while a second-place finish in the pole vault from Pat McDonald sealed the Crimson Tide's tight, 76-74 win to complete the sweep.
With the win, Pottsville (5-0, 4-0) remained the last undefeated team in the division and will clinch the championship with a victory at Jim Thorpe (2-2, 2-1) next Monday.
Both ends of Tuesday's dual meet was as close as expected and had another element to go with it - a weather delay.
With two track events left and the boys' pole vault still under way, storm clouds started rolling in. At 5:45 p.m., three laps into the 3,200, the race was stopped and the teams headed inside to wait out the storm.
At 6:48 p.m., with the Pottsville girls leading 73-63, the 3,200 was restarted and Stoner slowly pulled away from Blue Mountain's Shannon Henninger to finish in 11:58.4 to seal the victory. Henninger was clocked in 12:12.9.
Stoner said she worked on Calculus homework during the delay. It was only fitting that Stoner, who has a long list of accomplishments during her high school career and likely has more to come, scored the clinching points.
"It was really different, but I think it was kind of nice because usually at this point in the meet everybody is kind of ready for it to be over and I think everyone is spread out," said Stoner of the delay. "You don't ever really get that cheering we experienced today were the whole team knew what was on the line and were all there cheering for us."
Stoner finished in 2:21.9 in the 800 and 5:34.5 in the 1,600, while Stoner, DiRenzo, Howell and Evans ran a 10:15.4 in the 3,200 relay.
Junior Sarah Lombel also had a big day for Pottsville with four victories, too. Lombel was first in the 100, high and triple jumps and teamed with Brianna Lotz, Alyssa Kondrack and Madison Sherakas to win the 400 relay.
"This is a great feeling," Lombel said. "We worked so hard. We have a great work ethic here. We came here today very pumped up, coach got us pumped up. There is great leadership and we just wanted to come here and seal the title."
Lombel felt her 100 victory in 12.4 seconds set the tone for her day, while her win in the triple jump at 34 feet, 3 inches just before the delay moved Pottsville closer to winning the meet.
"I definitely couldn't have done it without my coaches because I really had a great day today," Lombel said. "I was pumped after the 100, so I had a really good day."
Madison Sherakas (300 hurdles) and Alyssa Kondrack (200) were also individual winners for Pottsville
Carissa Lorimer (shot put, discus, javelin) had three individual victories for Blue Mountain, while Cassie Woleschok (100 hurdles, lomp jump) won twice.
Unlike Stoner, Welkie kept loose and discussed the upcoming 3,200 during weather break. He knew exactly what needed to be done during the event.
Welkie and the Eagles' Derek Mosteller went neck-and-neck during the race with Welkie finally taking control down the stretch with a big kick to finish in 10:22.7, while Mosteller had a 10:24.5. Hossler was third in 10:52.5.
"It was close the whole way," Welkie said. "I was a little behind in the beginning and I knew right where I wanted to be. I just paced myself. I got ahead of him on the last two laps, just like I like in most of the races. With 200 (meters) left to go I knew I had so much left I just kicked it in and I had it."
In the pole vault, the Eagles' Colton Cryts won the event by clearing 13-6, but McDonald took second at 13-0 to seal the victory.
James Close (100, 200) added two individual wins for Pottsville.
In addition to the pole vault, Cryts also won the high and long jumps for Blue Mountain (5-1, 4-1).
The Eagles suffered a key injury in the meet after Dakota Roberts pulled a hamstring during the final leg of the 400 relay. Blue Mountain was winning the event at the time. Instead, Pottsville took first.
That also meant Roberts was unavailable for the 200 and 1,600 relay. Freshman Noah Rhody, Roberts' replacement for the 1,600 relay, teamed with Cameron Greenawalt, Colin Richards and Tristin Dickey to win the race in 3:31.6.