Deer Lakes’ Carson McCoy celebrates another come-from-behind win at PIAA championships

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, May 28, 2022 | 4:50 PM

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SHIPPENSBURG — Carson McCoy apologized after his latest come-from-behind victory, knowing he’d just ruthlessly dashed the hopes of the same opponent for the third time.

But McCoy wasn’t really sorry.

The Deer Lakes senior used his strong kick to surge ahead in the final stretch and win the boys 800 meters Saturday in the PIAA Class 2A championship at Shippensburg University. McCoy was trailing with about 50 meters left before passing Schuylkill Valley’s Luke Seymour for the dramatic win.

The margin of victory was less than a second, but Seymour had seen this story before. The Penn State recruit lost in similar fashion to McCoy in the 1,600 on Friday, and in the 1,600 here last year.

Both were also about a second or less.

“After the race, he was like, ‘Dude, can I just win one?’ ” McCoy said. “I don’t even know how to reply to that, so I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, then.’

“I just apologized.”

Truthfully, McCoy was ready to celebrate. The Eastern Michigan recruit left Seth Grove Stadium with three more state medals, two golds and a sixth-place medal from the 1,600 relay that featured him in the anchor leg.

The Lancers finished fourth in the team standings for Class 2A boys on the strength of McCoy’s legs.

His 800 time was a personal-best by two seconds, and he could thank Seymour and the other runners in the race for that feat.

McCoy reached the line in 1 minute, 51.02 seconds. Seymour was second in 1:51.85, and Riverview junior Amberson Bauer was third in 1:55.19.

“I haven’t been pushed like that in an 800 all year,” said McCoy, who tried to explain his surge in speed. “I’d say it’s just the competition and the atmosphere, definitely.”

He contributed to a dominant weekend for WPIAL distance runners. They swept the four 3,200 races, won three of the four 1,600s and claimed two of the 800s. Moon’s Mia Cochran completed a unprecedented distance triple, winning all three events. Brownsville’s Jolena Quarzo also won twice.

In all, the WPIAL won 14 events.

“The WPIAL is definitely the most dominant district in distance running,” McCoy said. “It’s awesome to see so much success in the WPIAL.”

But there was a moment Saturday that McCoy wasn’t certain he’d be a two-event winner. His first lap in the 800 had him nine-hundredths of a second behind Seymour. That’s fine because McCoy prefers not to lead and instead is confident in his “kick,” the ability for runners to sprint to the finish line in a distance race.

“I live or die by it,” he said.

But in the final lap Saturday, McCoy had doubts.

“I was hurting so bad,” McCoy said. “I was just staring at the line and grinding away. I was thinking about all of the training I did. I’ve got to push.”

That was unfortunate for Seymour.

“With like 120 to go, I thought I’d lost it,” McCoy said. “But I was like, ‘Come on, I’ve got to win this thing.’ ”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Riverview