Eastern's Jake Kautz tied his personal record with a leap of 11 feet, 3 inches in the pole vault to help pull out a team win for the Knights. (John A. Pavoncello Photo)

MANCHESTER -- Before the start of the final-and-deciding race of the day, the 1,600-meter relay, Eastern York girls' track-and-field coach Joel Jacobs called his runners together in the infield.

"I basically told them that this is what track is all about," Jacobs said. "You have those moments in your life that you will always remember, and you can have one of those."

Katelyn Stine, Abby Brate, Sara Musser and Mandy Runkle then put together a memorable performance.

The quartet won the event in 4 minutes, 25 seconds to give the Golden Knights a 791/2-701/2 victory over Northeastern.

The boys' meet was also a down-to-the-final-event thriller that Eastern won, 78-72.

Stine, who captured the 200 dash and finished second in the 100 dash, stayed close on the first leg of the relay, and Brate took the lead on the second leg. Musser and Runkle maintained the advantage the rest of the way.

"I was really proud of the girls," Jacobs said. "Kate (Stine) is a 100 and 200 runner, and she had only run the 4-by-4 (1,600 relay) twice before. To put her in that position, to show how much she's matured over the past two years, that was really exciting.

"The other three girls, they're the toughest girls on my team. They will run through a wall for you."

Eastern prevailed on the track in the hotly-contested meet, 46-41, and in the field, 331/2-291/2.

The Golden Knights' Shauna Hildebrand recorded the best performances in the long jump and triple jump, and teammate Rebecah Delp captured the 300 hurdles and tied for first place in the high jump.

Boys' meet: After the Eastern girls secured their victory, they headed over to the pole vault area to support Golden Knight vaulters Jake Kautz and Nick Miller.

The two placed first and third, respectively, to secure the victory for the Eastern boys.

Kautz tied his personal record with a leap of 11 feet, 3 inches. The talented senior also won the long jump and triple jump and finished second in the high jump.

"I didn't know how close it was (going into the pole vault), but I would rather not hear it," Kautz said. "You can't think about it (the team score) when you're competing, you just have to go for it."

Kautz, who's been accepted at Shippensburg University, said he and his teammates were "a little worried" coming into the meet.

"A lot of us didn't seem that serious, but we all seemed to pull through," he said.

Kautz said the triple jump is definitely his favorite, but the pole vault is a close second.

In addition to Kautz's trio of firsts, Richard Kyte and Alec McKee earned two first-place finishes apiece for the Golden Knights. Kyte swept the 110 and 300 hurdles, and McKee uncorked the longest throws in the shot put and discus.

Northeastern took two of the three relays en route to a 46-41 edge on the track, but Eastern outscored the Bobcats in the field, 37-26.

"We thought we could win that last relay (1,600), but they went nine seconds faster," Eastern boys' coach Terry Walker said. "When I saw what (Northeastern) did against Susquehannock, I knew this meet was going to be close."

Eastern built a 42-31 lead, but Northeastern rallied and closed to within one, 64-63, with three events (long jump, 1,600 relay and pole vault) remaining.

"My head was spinning with the numbers (in both meets)," Northeastern head coach John Phillips said. "(Assistant coach Greg Cauller) is the math expert, and he was keeping it straight for me."

Despite the outcomes, Phillips was highly pleased with the effort displayed by his teams.

"On the girls' team, we're loaded with sophomores and freshmen," he said. "I'm ecstatic with how they're stepping up. The boys, we're not as young, but we're just as inexperienced."

OTHER BOYS' TRACK

SOUTH WESTERN 123, SPRING GROVE 26: At South Western, the Mustangs captured first in all 11 track events. Jerome Robinson led the Mustangs by winning the 110 and 300 hurdles. For the Rockets, Jake Miller won the long jump and triple jump. South Western improved to 3-0 in York-Adams Division I.

DELONE CATHOLIC 109, YORK CATHOLIC 37: At Spry, Nick Braun led the Squires to the York-Adams Division III victory by winning the triple jump, long jump and high jump.

WEST YORK 111, KEN NARD-DALE 35: At Fawn Grove, the Bulldogs captured first in all 11 track events to secure the York-Adams Division II victory. Individually for the Bulldogs, Alex Moyer won the 110 and 300 hurdles, Kevin Chambers won the 1,600 and 3200 runs, Justin Warfel won the 100 and 200 dashes and Matt Weible captured the triple jump and long jump. For the Rams, Mike Young won the discus and shot put.

YORK SUBURBAN 74, SUSQUEHANNOCK 72: At Glen Rock, Jamie Nixon-Alark captured first in the 100 and 200 dashes to help the Trojans secure the York-Adams Division II victory. The Trojans took first in two of the three relays. For the Warriors, Brandon Webster won the 110 hurdles and high jump, while Kevin Procopio captured the 1,600 and 3,200. Suburban improved to 3-0 in the division.

DALLASTOWN 87, YORK HIGH 62: At Small Athletic Field, the Wildcats captured first in nine of the 11 track events to secure the York-Adams Division I victory. For the Bearcats, Jarred Posey won the long jump and triple jump, while Anderson Novalin won the shot put and discus. Dallastown improved to 2-0 in the division.

CENTRAL 109, NEW OXFORD 41: At Central, the Panthers captured first in eight of the 11 track events to secure the York-Adams Division I victory. Individually for the Panthers, Jay Stone captured the 110 and 300 hurdles.

OTHER GIRLS' TRACK

SOUTH WESTERN 96, SPRING GROVE 54: At South Western, Tess Weaver and Katie Harman led the Mustangs to the York-Adams Division I victory. Weaver won the shot put and javelin, while Harman won the long jump and triple jump.

DELONE CATHOLIC 129, YORK CATHOLIC 15: At Spry, the Squirettes captured first in 17 of the 18 events to secure the York-Adams Division III victory. Individually for Delone, Sierra Moore won the 100 and 200, Sarah Bischoff won the 1,600 and 800, Isabella Ugarte won the triple jump and long jump, Stormie Hibshman won the shot put and discus and Maddie Comly won the 100 and 300 hurdles. Delone improved to 3-0 in the division.

WEST YORK 68, KEN NARD-DALE 48: At Fawn Grove, Brianna Henderson led the Bulldogs to the York-Adams Division II victory with wins in the 200, triple jump, 100 and long jump. For the Rams, Abbey Driggers won the shot put and javelin.

YORK SUBURBAN 85, SUSQUEHANNOCK 65: At Glen Rock, the Trojans captured eight of the 11 track events to secure the York-Adams Division II victory. Individually for the Trojans, Lauren Shrader won the 100 and 300 hurdles, while Bethany Miller won the high jump and pole vault. For the Warriors, Melissa Shallcross won the discus and javelin, while Alesha Hermann won the 100 and 200. Suburban improved to 3-0 in the division.

DALLASTOWN 121, YORK HIGH 28: At Small Athletic Field, the Wildcats captured first in 15 of the 18 events to secure the York-Adams Division I victory. Individually for the Wildcats, Sally Trout won the 100 and 300 hurdles, Lare' Word won the high jump and long jump, Christinna Woody won the discus and javelin and Taylour Mauro won the 1,600 and 3,200. Dallastown improved to 2-0 in the division.

CENTRAL 93.5, NEW OXFORD 56.5: At Central, the Panthers captured two of the three relays to secure the York-Adams Division I victory. Individually for the Panthers, Megan Lundy won the 200 and 400. For the Colonials, Jamilla Janneh won the long jump, triple jump and high jump. Central improved to 2-0 in the division.

-- Reach Dick VanOlinda at dvanolinda@yorkdis patch.com.