May 11, 2007 By Jim Downey 4 min read

MARS – Unfortunately for Southmoreland, the Planets aligned Thursday against the Scotties – as well as Riverside and New Brighton – with the host team crowned the WPIAL Boys Class AA Team Track & Field champions in the final quadrangular hosted by Mars High School. Mars defeated Southmoreland, 89-61. New Brighton got a bit closer in its 87-63 loss, and the Planets sped past Riverside, 99-51, to capture the team trophy.

New Brighton finished second, but not before securing its victory over the Scotties in the pole vault, the final event of the day. Southmoreland trailed 73-68 after 17 events were posted, and needed a 1-2 finish to avoid fourth. The Scotties won only 31/2 points and New Brighton held on for a 781/2-711/2 win. Riverside finished third with an 82-68 win over the Scotties.

Although scouting reports on the opposition were sketchy, Southmoreland coach Bill Schrecengost was confident with his squad’s chances despite recent injuries that hampered some of the Scotties’ star performers.

Schrecengost didn’t want to use the health issues as an excuse, just a fact of life.

“Give all the credit to Mars. They have a great team,” said Schrecengost.

“We have some kids banged up. Bill Geyer hurt his hamstring last week, and we had to take him out of the 800. He wasn’t able to jump as well. Bryan Meteny was in the hospital two weeks ago and he hasn’t been the same (in the sprints).”

With each of the four teams able to field up to three athletes in each of the 15 individual events, some of the Scotties had some fine individual performances.

Ben Poorbaugh was second in the discus with a throw of 140-7, and missed a third-place finish in the shot put by 1/4-inch with his throw of 44-11/2. Kevin Hagerman won the javelin with his top effort of 159-4 and was second in the triple jump with a leap of 40-9.

Tyler Vivio beat all but one sprinter in the 200. Geyer, who had problems in the triple jump, managed a second-place finish overall in the long jump with a jump of 20-7, and teammate Jimmy King finished second in the 300 intermediate hurdles.

Poorbaugh, Geyer and King, now seniors, were all freshman in 2004 when the Scotties missed the team title by the narrowest of margins, 751/2-741/2.

“We were so psyched for it,” King said of the team finals. “We thought we had it in our grasp. We underestimated (the other teams). (Mars) showed up with a lot of heart to win this championship.”

Poorbaugh had the opportunity to throw against his main competition in the discus in next week’s WPIAL individual finals, Riverside’s Denes Veres. Veres is seeded first and Poorbaugh is second.

“I wasn’t one of my better throws in the discus,” Poorbaugh said of best attempt. “I expect the best out of myself every time I throw. It was all about getting points for my team.”

Poorbaugh expected better things with the final score.

“Everybody will second-guess this day. This meant more to us than (the results from their freshman year).”

The meet marked the last time Geyer would compete for the Scotties. He was not able to qualify in any individual events because of his torn hamstring, and was advised not to compete in the team championship.

“I competed, but couldn’t do much,” said Geyer, who is an alternate on the 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams. “This is my senior meet. This is the last one I’m going to run and I wasn’t going to let my team down.”

Geyer’s attitude is representative of the team’s, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Schrecengost.

“It’s been a great season,” said Schrecengost, whose Scotties came into the finals sporting a 13-0 record. “These kids have been a joy to work with. We have a great coaching staff, too.”

While the Scotties left the track in defeat, it was a loss away from the track that weighed heavily on their minds and hearts. Teammate Chris Kiefer, a senior, was killed in an automobile accident last November. Kiefer’s younger brother Kory is on the squad.

“What a great kid. I think about him every day,” reminisced Schrecengost. “He was the last guy to leave the track. You could pencil him in for 15 points. The kids did a nice job of remembering him.”

The squad has a patch with Kiefer’s initials on their uniforms and wore T-shirts with his name and a saying.

“He was a brother to me. He’s a humongous inspiration,” said Geyer. “He’s the first thing I think about when I hit the track.”

“He was our motivation,” said Poorbaugh. “We dedicated our whole season to him.”