Boys' track championships: Andrew Moyer wins hurdles amid controversy

The jawing started as soon as Andrew Moyer and Owen Ritter crossed the finish line.

The talk among spectators continued for the next hour.

Ritter accused Moyer of a false start. Moyer, smirking, shook his head and denied it.

Throughout Dallastown's football stadium, people turned to each other discussing whether or not the West York senior left his block early in the 110-meter high hurdles final at the YAIAA boys' track and field championships. The general consensus seemed to be that he did in fact leave early, but the official missed it.

Well after the dust had settled and Moyer and Ritter had calmly accepted their first- and second-place medals, respectively, Moyer conceded as much.

"I'll be honest, I thought I false started," he said. "But my starts are garbage anyway, so I wouldn't know what a good start felt like. I didn't get DQ'd, so it was good."

He won in 14.66 seconds with Ritter, a Dallastown senior, just behind in 14.96 seconds. Dover's Shane Orchard placed third in 14.97.

"He and I have been friends since last year. It's really hot competition, and when something like that happens you get really worked up about it," Ritter said. "It could've been the other way around too, it is what is. We all PR'd, so it was a good race still."

It won't be long until they'll race again at next weekend's District 3 championships at Shippensburg University.

"Owen and I are pretty close. He runs good times when I'm not there, I run good times when he's not there," Moyer said. "When we're together, something clicks. It could've gone either way."

WILLIAM PENN'S ANDERSON WINS TWO EVENTS >> Larell Anderson, a William Penn senior, edged out both Moyer and Ritter for first place in the 300 intermediate hurdles with a time of 39.38 seconds. Anderson was also part of the Bearcats' 400-meter relay team that won the league title with a record time of 43.19.

"(The key) was getting out, making sure we had our hand offs correct," Anderson said of that relay. "We practiced that repeatedly."

The relay team hopes to lower its time under 43 seconds by next week's district meet.

"We came in here wanting to PR, get our time down," Anderson's teammate, Deshaun Horton, said. "It's more about getting ready for districts, that's our main focus right now. To us, this was preparation for districts."