By B.J. Stuetz, Student Intern, Cheltenham High School
State-wide sporting events traditionally provide an opportunity for high school athletes to compete against the best of the best from throughout their respective states. On rare occasions, such events provide an opportunity for heated rivals to settle disputes which have been years in the making.
Both Cheltenham and Abington's male track teams have such an opportunity at Pennsylvania's State track meet this weekend, which is held at Shippensburg University.
Typically the bitter rivalry between these two schools (which are located two miles from each other) had only played a major factor in their basketball and football games. However, the success of each of their track and field programs over the last few years has created an intense rivalry in its own right.
The rivalry may have begun in 2009 when both teams burst onto the scene at Nike Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina. Cheltenham's 4x400 relay team finished third and just barely edged out Abington's team, which took fourth. Ever since that race, these two teams have seemingly been going after each other, especially when it comes to their 4x400 relays.
Cheltenham's highly-touted anchor, Matthew Gilmore, explained how this rivalry has developed over the past few years.
“Over the years our 4x4 relays have gone at it at many meets, and then ended up going on to the state meets, and also up at the National meets. Whoever wins kind of gets the upper hand until the next race,” said Gilmore, who is currently ranked #1 in the state in the 400-meter dash.
Cheltenham's team essentially continued to have the upper hand until this year's first major showdown - Indoor States at Penn State University.
After already winning gold in the 200 and 400-meter dashes and the 4x100 relay, Gilmore came into the 4x400 relay knowing that a win would not only give him a fourth gold medal but would also win the overall meet for Cheltenham. Naturally, the team the Panthers trailed was Abington, which needed to defeat Cheltenham in this race to win the state title.
Abington, which boasts a more well-rounded relay, got out to the early lead and had a 50-meter advantage going into the last leg. Although Abington's anchor, Will Taylor, is an all-state 400-meter runner himself, Gilmore has proven that almost no lead is too far for him to overcome.
Gilmore came within several meters of Taylor as they reached the home-stretch and showed no signs of letdown. But Taylor caught his second wind just in the nick of time and was able to hold off Gilmore by less than a second, giving Abington the Indoor State title.
When asked how that loss affected him, Gilmore could not hide his emotions.
“For it to come down to the 4x400, and for us to come up just a little bit short, and for it to also be to Abington?” he said. “It's just so many things on top of each other that definitely push you to be better as an athlete.”
Unfortunately for Cheltenham, its team has more or less been on the decline since Indoor States.
Whether due to injuries or otherwise, the Panthers have not been able to regain their indoor season form. They were not even able to run a 4x400 relay at districts this past weekend since two of their usual four runners were unable to compete at the meet, preventing their relay team from reaching states.
As a result, Cheltenham is sending only two athletes to States: Matthew Gilmore (200 and 400 meter dashes) and Harley Lecroix (long jump and triple jump).
Gilmore is the odds-on favorite to win in the 400-meter dash, due to his experience and outstanding time of 48.11 seconds. However, he still sees rooms for improvement since he has rarely been able to concentrate on his individual races at major meets.
“For me to go up my senior year and just focus on individual events, I think I'm going to be more prepared and I'll have a little more strength,” said Gilmore, who has accepted a scholarship to run at Penn State next year.
Gilmore will not be able to seek revenge in the 4x400 relay; however, he will most likely face at least one of Abington's impressive 400-meter runners, Will Taylor (10th in state) and Macey Watson (12th), in either a preliminary heat or the finals.
Because Gilmore will not be competing against Abington in a 4x400 relay, he is surely looking forward to this match-up in the 400 since he feels it brings out the best in him.
“Every time we're out on the track with them, because they're our rivals, you always have to show a little bit extra, so the rivalry has definitely helped me throughout my career,” offered Gilmore.
Abington head boys' coach Bill Neely emphasized how important the rivalry between these schools is for his team.
“We have a slogan here, 'You can lose to anybody, but don't lose to Cheltenham',” said Neely.
Brian Deck, another Abington coach, summed up how the rivalry has had a positive impact on both boys’ teams.
“I think they like racing each other,” he said. “They've brought the best out of each other these past few years, and they took each other to another level.”
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Though the concept of a rivalry between Abington and Cheltenham is downplayed on the girls’ side, the strength of talent between the two girls' teams is absolutely up to par with the boys.
Cheltenham's 4x100-meter relay is perhaps the team’s best opportunity to win gold, since they are ranked second in the state behind Norristown. An additional chance is found in Cierra Andrews (also a star basketball player for the Panthers), who is ranked second in the long jump behind Jordan Matthews of Abington.
They will also be sending freshman Katelyn Jackson, who is 12th in the state in the 100-meter dash and sophomore Kelley Anne Stuetz, ranked fifth in the high jump.
But even though Abington is one of the favorites to win the overall meet, neither squad believes there is a heated rivalry between them.
“It's more of an unspoken rivalry, but we're actually close friends with the Cheltenham team,” said Leah Nugent of Abington.
Leah Nugent is to Abington what Matthew Gilmore is to Cheltenham.
She is a leader and she is a superstar.
But most importantly, she is a winner.
“She's a hard worker. She doesn't like losing. She thinks she should win every time she's on the track,” said her head coach, Brian Deck.
It is this advanced level of determination that has allowed Nugent to be so successful during her four years at Abington.
After improving her 300 hurdles time by almost a full second from last year (a tall task in this event), she is now ranked first in the state going into this weekend's state meet with a US First Team Elite time of 42.51 seconds.
Does she feel any pressure to win this event? Well, no more than she usually does.
“There's always pressure. But at this point, I think it's mainly just about staying focused. I'm not worrying about anyone else - at this point it's just focus,” said Nugent, who has committed to run at Virginia Tech next year.
The Abington standout came into last week's district meet ranked third in the state in the 100 hurdles as well. During the semifinal of this event, she accidentally deflected a hurdle with her hand, resulting in a DQ. This unfortunately prevented her from reaching states in this event.
But Nugent bounced back incredibly and won the 300 hurdles final, finishing with a new season-best time. She then went on to lead Abington's 4x400 relay team to a gold medal as well, finishing with an outstanding time of 3:48.85 (Abington is also ranked first in the state in this event).
“I'm confident in our relay because we've been running good times. But you never know what can happen so we're going to keep on our toes and run as if we're the underdog,” said Nugent.
The other standout runners that Abington will be sending to States this weekend are sprinter Nicole Grasty and 400 runner/long jumper Jordan Matthews.
Grasty is ranked in the top 12 in the State in both the 100 and 200-meter dash, and also participates in the 4x400 relay.
Matthews is probably the best 400 runner of Abington's relay, but the 400-meter dash is not even her best event. She is also the top ranked long jumper in the state and is favored to win over Cheltenham's Andrews.
With all of these incredible athletes, it is no wonder Abington won the Indoor State title this year. And this experience will definitely help the team’s confidence this weekend, according to Nugent.
“I think it might be a little easier in the mindset, since we already have the confidence from indoor. That will definitely help us in focusing on our goal,” said Nugent.
With this in mind, both Abington and Cheltenham hope to finish in the top tier of teams at States this weekend. But although there is not as much of a rivalry between these schools when it comes to the girls' teams, it is certainly not due to a lack of talent.
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