After running side-by-side and finishing 1-2 in Friday’s preliminaries and again in Saturday morning’s semifinals, there seemed little doubt that top-seeded Don Pollitt of Hazleton Area and defending state high hurdles champion Michael Brown were destined to hook up in a classic final come Saturday afternoon.
And what a final they produced.
Trailing Brown throughout the race, Pollitt summoned one last burst of speed after clearing the final hurdle, and out-leaned the Lower Dauphin senior at the tape to capture the Class 3A 110-meter hurdles championship and give Hazleton Area High School its first-ever state gold medal in track and field.
“It’s a good feeling. It’s something I’ll never forget,” Pollitt said with a wide smile, moments after dethroning the defending state champ by a mere six hundredths of a second. “ I’m going to keep this medal with me forever.”
The HAHS junior started slow out of the blocks as Brown opened up a small lead on the rest of the field, including Bradford Area’s Tyree Bennett and Liberty’s Stephen Lewis.
“I knew my start wasn’t as good as it usually is, and I knew I was losing at the sixth hurdle,” Pollitt explained. “But as soon as I got past that sixth hurdle my adrenaline kicked in. I just knew as long as I kept it up I would eventually catch them and pass them.”
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