You could say this is where it may have began for Central Dauphin East. In April of last year, this was the beginning of the Panthers' quest for two things: A state record, and a state title.
Four boys had eyes on history: Bryce Baker, David Niang, Stephon Brown and Shawn Brown.
At the 2019 New Balance Pan-Ram Invitational at Central Dauphin High School, the East boys saw their potential as they torched the field and ran away with a resounding performance that wowed onlookers at Landis Field.
Just a month later, CD East would venture for even more success. But they would eventually only earn one of their prized goals.
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ON SATURDAY: MILESPLIT 24/7: The 2019 Mullen Invitational
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2019 Pan-Ram Invitational Boys 4x100 Results
VARSITY BOYS 4X100 METER RELAY FINALS PLACE TEAM RESULT H# 1 Central Dauphin East (CD East) 41.17 4 2 Harrisburg High School 42.97 4 3 Harry S Truman 43.30 4 4 Altoona Area 43.49 4 5 Mechanicsburg Area High School 43.99 2 6 Lower Dauphin 44.14 3 7 Mount St. Joseph School 44.65 4 8 Susquehanna Township 44.87 3
Retrospective: In May, PennTrackXC wrote, "With the way the season was going, you had to figure it was going to come eventually." And the CD East boys were true to those words at the PIAA District 3 Championships, hitting a Pennsylvania state all-time record with a time of 41.10 seconds. But in track and field, nothing is ever set in stone. And that was no more true than at the PIAA Class AAA Championships just a week later. A quartet of driven Coatesville athletes upset the Panthers in the state final, erasing the newly-minted state record in 40.99 seconds -- becoming the first team in Pennsylvania history under 41 seconds. It was the new PIAA meet record and all-time mark. CD East's season-best time would finish the season US No. 36.
* CD East boys talk after their District 3 Championship win and state record