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O'Hara's James sets state-best time in 1,600

After Kevin James wrapped up a first-place finish in the 1,600 meters at the Track & Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia Spring Invitational in Coatesville on Saturday, he turned around to see an excited teammate barreling toward him.

After Kevin James wrapped up a first-place finish in the 1,600 meters at the Track & Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia Spring Invitational in Coatesville on Saturday, he turned around to see an excited teammate barreling toward him.

Roughly two seconds after James, a Cardinal O'Hara senior, finished in a state-best time of 4 minutes, 22.88 seconds, Rob Morro crossed the line in fourth with a personal record of 4:24.57.

The accomplishment of keeping close to James, who holds Cardinal O'Hara records in five distance events, resonated with the junior.

"It's really exciting when I'm able to come close to him on the track," Morro said. "I always look up to him and aim for his times because he's great at what he does. . . . Kevin usually blows everyone away. I didn't really notice he was so close to us until the very end."

James, a fifth-place state finisher in the 3,200 last season, believes he is on track to not only compete at the Penn Relays a final time as a high school athlete but also to break his own school record in the mile with a time less than 4 minutes, 12.44 seconds.

"I think I'm in better shape," James said. "By the end of the outdoor season, I think I should run a decent amount faster than last year. It's just a matter of training hard, staying healthy, and waiting for everything to come together."

Morro, who recently returned from a weeklong trip to Italy to visit his sister, who is studying abroad, said a combination of scenery and pasta led to his personal best.

"I was able to get some really scenic runs in during my family's trip," Morro said. "I had a lot of pizza and a ton of pasta. I can probably attribute my energy today back to that."

In other events, Cheltenham shined, taking home four gold medals.

The Panthers won the 4x400 relay with a state-best time of 3 minutes, 21.46 seconds.

Saahir Bethea claimed the long jump with a 22-feet, 2.25-inch mark. Christian Brissett topped the field in the 200 meters (22.12), and John Lewis registered a state-best time of 38.28 in the 300 hurdles.

"The culture we have is to work hard and never get content with what we have accomplished," Bethea said. "We never get comfortable with our position. We always approach a meet like we're the underdog. . . . We aren't as much of a team as we are a family."

Upper Darby set the meet record (42.68) for the 4x100 relay, which had been held by Cheltenham (42.74) since 2005.

Coatesville's Jay Whitfield and Chris Stone of Springfield (Montco) equaled the high jump record of 6-06 set by Malvern Prep's Tom Pitt (2012).

The Results

100 meters: 1. Keegan Hughes, Bishop Shanahan, 11.29; 2. Darien Williams, Wissahickon, 11.32; 3. Terrance White, Academy Park, 11.39.

400: 1. Charlie Wells, Penn Wood, 49,84; 2. Jahmair Craig, Del-Val Charter, 49.91; 3. Ndiaga Seck, Penn Wood, 50.22.

200: 1. Christian Brissett, Cheltenham, 22.12; 2. Donovan St. Louis, Upper Darby, 22.60; 3. Darien Williams, Wissahickon, 22.67.

800: 1. Billy McDevitt, Malvern Prep, 1:55.91; 2. Dan Williams, Pennridge, 1:58.54; 3. Kamil Jihad, Chester, 2:00.13.

1,600: 1. Kevin James, Cardinal O'Hara, 4:22.88; 2. Tucker Desko, Pennridge, 4:23.38; 3. John Daly, St. Joseph's Prep, 4:24.09.

3,200: 1. Julian Degroot-Lutzner, Masterman, 9:44.94; 2. Jeff Kirshenbaum, Methacton, 9:54.78; 3. Matthew D'Aquila, Lower Merion, 9:57.89.

110 hurdles: 1. Mason Weh, Upper Darby, 14.80; 2. Akeim Thomas, Upper Darby, 14.87; 3. Tabriz Bumpas, La Salle, 15.71.

300 hurdles: 1. John Lewis, Cheltenham, 38.28; 2. Malik Jefferson, Swenson, 40.52; 3. John Lozinak, Methacton, 41.32.

4x100: 1. Upper Darby, 42.68; 2. Academy Park, 43.81; 3. Glen Mills, 44.26.

4x400: 1. Cheltenham, 3:21.46; 2. Penn Wood, 3:25.29; 3. Abington 3:26.58.

4x800: 1. Central Bucks East, 7:58.56; 2. Wissahickon, 8:02.94; 3. Abington, 8:03.88.

Distance medley: 1. Bonner-Prendergast, 10:40.36; 2. La Salle, 10:52.59; 3. Central Bucks East, 11:05.79.

High jump: 1. Jay Whitfield, Coatesville, 6-06.00; 2. Chris Stone, Springfield (M), 6-06.00; 3. Akeem Blake, Penn Charter, 6-02.00.

Pole vault: 1. Eddie Eason, La Salle, 13-06.00; 2. Gurjeet Rai, Marple Newtown, J13-06.00; 3. Mike Chamberlin, Interboro, 12-06.00.

Long jump: 1. Saahir Bethea, Cheltenham, 22-02.25; 2. Alex Sislo, La Salle, 21-01.75; 3. Isaiah Ritchie, St. Joseph's Prep, 20-03.75.

Triple jump: 1. Christian D'Andrea, Archbishop Carroll, 44-02.25; 2. Marcques Gibbs, Upper Darby, 43-08.00; 3. Dontae Thomas, Methacton, 41-07.00.

Shot put: 1. Milton Jones, Glen Mills. 54-05.00; 2. Kieran Moore, Upper Dublin, 53-09.50; 3. Yondell Dudley, Wissahickon, 50-05.00.

Discus: 1. Kieran Moore, Upper Dublin, 133-09.00; 2. Josh Schwarz, Quakertown, 133-05.00; 3. Ron Feinburg, Marple Newtown, 126-02.00.

Javelin: 1. Chris Stone, Springfield (M), 181-02.00; 2. Grant Jones, La Salle, 174-04.00; 3. Connor Borkert, Central Bucks East, 152-10.00