WHITEHALL — Marian’s Chris Bruno has been in position to win an individual district championship before, but always came up short.
Shenandoah Valley’s Kyle Guers has, too, but never came close.
The two Schuylkill League athletes took the final step up the podium Wednesday, capturing their first individual Class AA titles at the District 11 Track and Field Championships at Whitehall High School’s Zephyr Complex.
Bruno won the 100-meter dash in 11.16 seconds, edging Palisades’ Michael Creighton (11.25). Guers won the 110 hurdles in 15.38 ahead of Northern Lehigh’s Nathan Troxell (15.68).
The two titles were the only gold medals won by Schuylkill League athletes Wednesday on what turned out to be a mostly quiet day for male athletes from the area.
The only other state qualifier was Lehighton’s Tyler Crum, who was a runner-up in the Class AAA long jump. Crum, who came as the top seed, leaped 22 feet, 1 inch Wednesday. Whitehall’s Saquon Barkley (22-2.5) ended up winning the championship.
A senior, Bruno will be making his third straight trip to the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg in the 100 after runner-up finishes in the event in 2013 and 2014.
Wednesday he was finally able to get his first individual title.
“I’ve always come close at districts, but I’ve always got stopped short by the weather, or runner-up or it’s not even close,” Bruno said. “To be able to get first place for my senior year is very exciting.”
Oddly enough, Bruno’s time Wednesday was the worst of his three district finals appearances in the 100. He had a 11.27 in the event as a sophomore and a 11.51 as a junior.
But Bruno would not be denied a championship Wednesday in a race that came down to the end. Creighton was slightly ahead of Bruno late in the race but Bruno was able to come up with one last push, stretch across the line first and get the victory.
“I could see him out of the corner of my eye catching up to me,” Bruno said of Creighton. “To me, that makes me kick in to that next gear, so that really helps me want to run faster if you see people catching you. It was making me nervous but I got him.
“It was absolutely nerve-ranking. Before the race I had butterflies in my stomach, but it helped me push through the race.”
Bruno credited working on his starts with helping him win his first district title.
“When you get a good start it kind of helps put you over the pack,” he said.
Guers felt a strong start keyed his victory. He usually has trouble getting over the first hurdle, but that wasn’t an issue for the junior Wednesday. When he cleared it, Guers felt confident he could win the championship as the race went on.
“It went pretty good,” Guers said. “I cleared every single hurdle perfectly, I think, from what I do.”
It wasn’t the first time Guers had made a district final in the event. He qualified in 2014, but ended up finishing seventh. Guers was a bit surprised he got gold Wednesday, considering his time in the preliminaries Tuesday.
Guers came into the preliminaries seeded second with a 16.04 and then ran a 16 flat in the preliminaries. Troxell had the top time in the preliminaries at 15.35.
Guers has quietly put together a solid season. With low numbers, the Blue Devils were winless during the Schuylkill League dual-meet season. Guers was third at the league meet last Wednesday with a 16.70, finishing behind Jim Thorpe’s Rayan Green (15.71) and Lehighton’s Matthew Strubinger (16.27).
Both Green and Strubinger compete in Class AAA as Green was sixth in the 110 finals Wednesday. The Class AA hurdles Wednesday belonged to Guers.
“I didn’t expect it,” he said. “I beat my time by way more than I expected. I am happy.”
State qualifiers
CLASS AA
BOYS
Marian
Chris Bruno (100#)
Shenandoah Valley
Kyle Guers (110 hurdles#)
GIRLS
Marian
Kaylee Ceci (shot put)
Tina Capparell (800)
North Schuylkill
Carly Gregas (high jump#)
Pine Grove
Maddie Frew (100 hurdles#, triple jump)
McKayla Lally (400)
Tamaqua
Morgan Boyle (javelin#)
Monika Shimko (800#)
CLASS AAA
BOYS
Lehighton
Tyler Crum (long jump)
GIRLS
Pottsville
Sarah Lombel (100, 200)
# District champ