By Kendall Patterson
Editor
Track athletes Tucker Allen and Stewart Brown raced for the gold at Spring Fling 2022 on May 24.
Though neither of them won first place, their achievements at state and the fact of making it to the state track meet in general is worth recognition.
Allen placed the highest coming in third place in the 3200 meter race that evening. He led the group of runners during the race for over seven of the eight laps around the track, but could not hold his momentum. His time was 10:01.43. Nonetheless, he said he gave it his all.
“I came short but I led for seven and a half laps. I went for it. I really did. In the end, I missed it barely, but that’s what happens in a sport. It’s very like lose/win and it hurts a lot but its fun once you really get into it.”
Track and Field Coach Trent McManus said that Allen’s third place win was the highest Chester County has ever placed.
Both Allen and Brown ran in the 1600 meter race. Allen placed in fourth during that race and Brown placed in seventh with times of 4:30.29 and 4:35.63 respectively.
At the podium after both races, Allen could be seen holding a shirt with “YMFR” which stands for “your mom’s favorite runner” on it as tribute to one of his friends, Eli Cramer, that raced in track as well. Cramer recently passed in a car accident this spring. He was a sophomore track runner from Milligan University and wore the shirt during his races.
“One of my friends – that was his slogan. He would wear this to every race,” he said. “I just wanted to dedicate my races to him tonight.”
He continued expressing how meaningful the sport is to him.
“Running’s not all about the sport. It’s about the people you meet and your following with Christ. In the end, none of this matters if you don’t have a good following with Christ. That’s what I really wanted to show today and I hope I did that,” he said.
This is Brown’s first time at state in track.
“Just being able to make it all the way to state… I’m just really happy with my performance,” he said. “When you get to state, it’s just a humbling experience. Everybody here’s fast. It’s really humbling, and you realize how good the competition is around you. I cannot thank the people in my life enough that pushed me to where I am today.”
Allen graduated this year so this was his last time running for Chester County. He said that this year was just for fun, because he has raced all of his goals which include the feat of having 10 state appearances between track and cross country.
“This year, it was more like just having fun. I’ve already set my records and everything. I was just coming out here giving it a shot at the state title.”
Track Coach Trent McManus said that he could not be more proud of the two of them with it being the first time CCHS brought two runners to state.
“I’m super proud of Tucker and Stewart. They both just performed amazingly, and are just really bringing Chester County to greatness in track and field.”
