Gabe Lewis is the Engine, as Falcon Relays Roll at L-L League Meet

BY JEFF FALK

Editor

LANDISVILLE – Gabe Lewis is a spoke.

He’s a very fast spoke, one with the power to make the wheel go faster. But he needs the other spokes to help generate his power, just as much as the other spokes need him.

On a sticky Saturday at Hempfield High School, during the second and final day of the 49th annual Lancaster-Lebanon Track and Field Championships, Lewis starred both individually and as parts of successful Cedar Crest relay teams. The Falcon’s junior sprinter struck gold in the 100-meter dash, copped a bronze medal in the 200-meter dash and helped a couple of Falcon foursomes to collaborative gold and silver medals.

But as impressive as Lewis’ personal performance was, so were the Falcons’ performance in the relays. Perennially strong in the team events, the Cedar Crest boys finished first in the 3200-meter and 400-meter relays, and put forth a silver-medal showing in the 1600-meter relay.

Over the program’s long and storied history, the Falcons have now won a whopping 24 relay championships at the Lancaster-Lebanon league meet. Yesterday’s performance by Lewis and the Falcon relays helped propel Cedar Crest to a third-place finish in the boys’ team standings, behind champion McCaskey and runner-up Manheim Township.

But all that Falcon speed on the track wasn’t the only thing going for Lebanon County competitors at the L-L Championships. The county brought home a boatload of shiny medals, including silvers from four other events and bronze medals from five other events.

“We love the relays,” said Cedar Crest head coach Rob Bare. “We push it all the time. It’s all about the team. It’s more important to be the best competitor for the team than the best competitor on the team. They willed it. They wanted it.

“I feel great about how we did overall,” added Bare. “There’s a lot that can happen here.”

“Some people say it’s genetics, and to an extent, that’s right,” said Lewis, when asked from where his speed originates. “But you can always get faster, no matter who you are. With sprinting, it’s the work you do the week before that helps you the day of the race. You’ve got to strategically plan it.

“When I sprint, I match my competition,” continued Lewis. “When I have great competition, it’s going to pull me through. It’s very delicate, what you do.”

In the 200-meter dash, ‘Lightning’ Lewis finished behind winner Darren Cammauf of Manheim Township and runner-up Teagan Weaver of Lampeter-Strasburg, in 22.91. He concluded his day by anchoring a Falcon quartet that also included Kyle Rauchut, Nick Garman and Ethan Heisey to a silver-medal showing in the 1600-meter relay.

Earlier, Lewis had also anchored Cedar Crest’s victorious 400-meter relay team that also consisted of Rauchut, Garman and Joe Santiago. But the highlight of his performance came in the 100-meter dash, where he got off to a fast start and then held off Weaver and the rest of the finals’ field, by .02 of a second, in 11:05.

It was Cedar Crest’s first victory in the boys’ 100-meter dash at the Lancaster-Lebanon League Track and Field Championships since Denzel Pierre in 2014.

“Coming in, I felt good, but not a hundred percent,” said Lewis, who has laid down 10.8 in the 100. “I had a really good start. The middle is always best part. I leaned at the end, because it was close.

“It feels great,” Lewis added. “Last year was my first year in track, and I didn’t even qualify. Now, I’m a year older, and I did a lot of work in the off-season.”

“The biggest thing about Gabe is that he’s one of the most coachable athletes I’ve ever had,” said Bare. “He’s so respectful. I’ve been in his face once or twice, and he’s responded.”

The Falcon boys started their competition on Saturday by winning the 3200-meter relay competition, as the team of Rauchut, Luke Hinegardner, Caleb Peters and Ryan Wolfe posted an 8:04.59.

On the girls’ side, Cedar Crest captured three more relay medals, including in the 1600-meter relay, where Lily Young, Juliana Donley, Alaina Miller and Emilee Walborn ran as the runner-up to McCaskey. In the 3200-meter relay, the Falcon foursome of Grace Tadajweski, Alyssa Stiver, Donley and Lizze Lowe came in third.

“Our kids know the importance of relays,” said Bare. “As individuals, we can do good things, but together we can do great things.”

Also claiming a silver medal yesterday was Annville-Cleona senior Braetan Peters, in the 1600-meter run. It was Peters’ second silver of the meet, after she finished second in the 3200-meter run on Friday.

Not unlike Peters, Lebanon freshman Liliana Harrison collected her second Lancaster-Lebanon League silver medal on Saturday, this one in the shot put.

But Elco junior Colin Daub’s runner-up showing in the discus had a different feel. The top seed in the event, Daub finished second by an inch to McCaskey’s John Stewart.

Cedar Crest senior Gavin Popejoy was the bronze medal winner in the boys’ shot put, as was Elco junior Sam Nelson in the girls’ javelin. Chase Watson, a senior out of Annville-Cleona, came in third in the 400-meter dash, and so did Cedar Crest junior Lily Young in the 200-meter dash.

To purchase images in this article please email jeff@lebcosports.com.

Lancaster-Lebanon League Track and Field Championships

Past Team Champions

Year             Girls                          Boys

2021                 McCaskey                          McCaskey

2020                 COVID – No Meet               COVID – No Meet

2019                 Warwick                            Warwick

2018                 Warwick                            Manheim Township

2017                 Warwick                            Penn Manor

2016                 Manheim Township            McCaskey

2015                 Hempfield                         McCaskey

2014                 Hempfield                         Cedar Crest

2013                 Ephrata                             Hempfield

2012                 Hempfield                         Conestoga Valley

2011                 Elizabethtown                    Hempfield

2010                 Hempfield                         Hempfield

2009                 Hempfield                         Hempfield

2008                 Garden Spot                      Hempfield

2007                 Hempfield                         McCaskey

2006                 Hempfield                         McCaskey

2005                 Garden Spot/Hempfield      Conestoga Valley

2004                 Hempfield                         Cedar Crest

2003                 Hempfield                         Cedar Crest

2002                 Hempfield                         Hempfield

2001                 Hempfield                         McCaskey

2000                 Hempfield                         Cocalico

1999                 Warwick                            Cocalico

1998                 McCaskey                          Cedar Crest

1997                 Manheim Township            McCaskey

1996                 Solanco                             McCaskey

1995                 Solanco                             Garden Spot

1994                 Solanco                             Garden Spot

1993                 Hempfield                         McCaskey

1992                 McCaskey                          McCaskey

1991                 Solanco                             McCaskey

1990                 Hempfield                         McCaskey

1989                 McCaskey                          McCaskey

1988                 Solanco                             McCaskey

1987                 Solanco                             McCaskey

1986                 Hempfield                         Hempfield

1985                 Hempfield                         McCaskey

1984                 Annville-Cleona                  McCaskey

1983                 Lampeter Strasburg           McCaskey

1982                 Penn Manor                       McCaskey

1981                 McCaskey                          McCaskey

1980                 McCaskey                          McCaskey

1979                 Hempfield                         Solanco

1978                 Hempfield                         McCaskey

1977                 Penn Manor                       McCaskey

1976                 Hempfield                         McCaksey

1975                 Hempfield                         Solanco

1974                 No Team Title                    McCaskey

1973                 No Team Title                    McCaskey

Total Team Titles:

 Girls:                                                Boys:

Hempfield         21                            McCaskey          26

Solanco             6                             Hempfield         7

McCaskey           6                             Cedar Crest       4

Warwick            4                             Cocalico            2

Garden Spot      2                             C.V.                  2

Man. Township  2                             Garden Spot      2

Penn Manor       2                             Solanco             2

Lancaster-Lebanon League Track and Field Championships

Individual Meet Records