Trinity coach Sam Turpin did the math.
Turpin figured if all of his athletes could perform up to their seeds, the Shamrocks would have a very good chance of winning a PIAA Class AA team title.
Trinity actually performed beyond Turpin's calculations at this weekend's PIAA Track and Field Championships, held at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium.
But the Shamrocks still finished as the runner-up.
Trinity can thank West Middlesex's Clay Allen for that. Allen pulled off a rare feat, taking quadruple gold in the 100 (10.72), 200 (22.29), long jump (23-0) and 4x100 (43.41).
Allen singlehandedly slayed Trinity, scoring two-thirds of his West Middlesex's points to lead his team to a championship finish with 60 points. Trinity took second with 48 points, followed by Schuylkill Valley (48), Annville-Cleona (28) and Wilmington (24).
"We scored three or more points than I thought we would and we were still short of West Middlesex," Turpin said. "I don't know where they were hiding Clay Allen."
Allen went head-to-head against Trinity in two events and prevailed.
In the morning, he took down defending state champion Danny Jackson in the long jump. Allen popped a 23-0 on his final jump. Jackson had to settle for silver with a 22-8.5.
"Danny's first jump was well over 23 feet, but he fouled by half an inch," Turpin said. "He was laying off the board after that."
Later in the day, Allen turned in a monster finish in the 4x100, anchoring West Middlesex to victory in 43.41. Trinity's Brandon Kuntz tried his best to catch up, but ultimately fell short. Kuntz said in order for the Shamrocks to win, they had to be perfect.
Unfortunately, they weren't.
"The handoffs were a little slow," Kuntz said. "I felt myself trying to reach instead of keeping my form. When you make your strides longer, it makes for a slow turnover. I just didn't keep my normal form.
"It's been a great year. We've had great senior leaders. It's been a total team effort I'd say."
The Shamrocks did have a winner in junior David Bricker, who took gold in the 400 with his time of 49.77. Bricker's teammates Matt Janton and Matt Bernick took fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 400.
Trinity's 4x800 squad took third in 8:12.33. Will Edwards had the Shamrocks leading after the first leg, but Annville-Cleona eventually ran away with the race.
In the final event of the day, the 4x400, Trinity took second in 3:28.07. Once again, Trinity finished behind Annville-Cleona, which won in 3:27.16.
Overall, Turpin was proud of what his team accomplished. The Shamrocks just couldn't find a way to overcome Allen and West Middlesex.
"I don't ever remember a guy taking four gold medals. That's quite an accomplishment," Turpin said. "We took second at states and that's not too shabby. You always want gold, but silver isn't too bad, either. Now we have two of each."
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