Mount's McGovern clears 16-2 in PV

By Christopher Hunt
all photos Mary DiBiase Blaich/wingedfootfotos.com

Wayne Seaton crossed the finish line after the 55 hurdles, crashed into the padded mat 10 meters after and walked back to the starting line. He grabbed his clothes then walked back to the finish line on the infield.

Seaton dropped the clothes again and lined up for the start of the 300-meter finals. I didn’t even take a second to acknowledge that he won the hurdles. It was the kind of today it was for Fordham Prep. Forget the flashy stuff. There was work to be done.

And everyone did their part as Fordham Prep won its first CHSAA city championship in five years, scoring 43 points. Farrell finished second with 26.

“I honestly thought that we might walk into this meet and win without having a single individual winner,” the Rams head coach George Febles.

In fact that had two. Seaton won the 55 hurdles in 7.97 and finished fourth in the 300 in 36.40. Jourdan White won the high jump in 6 feet, 2 inches. Fordham Prep scored 19 points in the hurdles alone. Ed Allison finished second in 8.05 and Brian Grant sixth in 8.28. Seaton, despite having the fastest-time headed into the final, couldn’t believe he won.

“I got lucky I guess,” he said. “To be totally honest, I expected to choke. There were a lot of good competitors in there so I’m happy I won. .. We were already ahead (in the scoring) but the more points we can get the better.”

Febles, who created the Armory website nearly 10 years ago, gave credit everyone on his coaching staff – mostly his family – except himself. George Febles Sr. is the hurdles coach, his brother Matthew Febles helps with the sprinters and distance runners and Brian Carey is the pole vault coach.

“What do I do?” George Febles said. “I write names on stickers.”

He may not give himself the credit but he’s the leader of a team that isn’t defined by a single star but by a group of athletes that pulled their best performances together when he asked them to. White was having trouble clearing 5-4 in practice during the week. He cleared 6-2 to win and qualify for the state championships March 8 at Cornell University.

“Today I was pretty solid,” he said. “It’s crazy to win. We’re all really excited. “

He also talked about the all-hands-on-deck attitude the team takes on. Zach Keefer also finished second in the 600 in 1:23.48 then brought his team from fourth to second on the anchor leg in the 4x400 relay. Brian Seminario and John Horvath scored in the meet for the first time. Seminario finished fourth in the shot put, tossing 49-9 3/4, the first time Fordham Prep has scored in the shot put in seven years. Horvath was third in the pole vault, clearing 13-0.

“It’s like a brotherhood,” he said. “We have a lot of good guys that we can use in multiple events. We have a lot of guys that are better than average but no superstars. But we’re still a great team hands down.”

Mount St. Michael’s Brian McGovern won the pole vault in a personal best and meet record 16-2. It is the best clearance in the state this season and tied for the eighth-best in the country. McGovern brushed the bar on the way down with his legs. The bar popped up in the air then settled back on the standards and was still shaking with McGovern back at the start of the runway talking to his coach.

“That’s the first time I jumped like that,” he said. “I’m normally all over the place with my legs. But I held it all together. I was surprised I even hit the bar. I thought it was going to come down. My first reaction was to run off the mat.”

McGovern actually told officially to set the bar as 16 feet and after he cleared the bar officials measured the height to certify the record, only to find out the standards were off and he had jumped two inches higher.

“Since I got that out of the way, I’m thinking state record (16-5) all the way,” he said.

all photos Mary DiBiase Blaich/wingedfootfotos.com