It was a weekend to remember for Boyertown senior Dylan Eddingher at the PIAA Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium May 22 and 23. Eddinger came home with a third-place bronze medal in the Class AAA 800-meter run withd a time of 1:51.19 in the finals.
Eddinger had run the top time in the trials of the 800 Friday with a 1:54.87. But on Saturday, Cheltenham senior John Lewis came through with a new state record of 1:48.72 in the event. Lewis had been seeded at 1:49.15, but had run 1:55.40 during the preliminaries. The previous state record in the boys’ 800 was 1:49.31, which was set back in 2010 by Central Bucks South’s Tom Mallon.
“It’s a state medal,” said Eddinger. “Going to states was my goal all year long. I got the school record last week (at the District 1 Championships at Coatesville). We pushed as hard as we could this week. You don’t wait on this. I went out hard yesterday.”
Eddinger’s clocking still puts him with NFHS Honor Roll status, which goes to runners with times of 1:52.80 or better in the 800.
Eddinger will continue his academic and athletic careers at St. Joseph’s University, where he will major in marketing and minor in art, which is a part of the curriculum he wants to pursue simply because he enjoys it so much and wants to stay involved with art.
In a previous appearance at the state championships last year, Eddinger ran the leadoff leg of the 4×800 relay for the Bears.
