Opening statement
Rams top Knights in SOL Continental clash
With the infield lined with snow piles, Pennridge came outside Tuesday for a chilly 93-57 victory over rival North Penn, as the Rams began their quest for a fourth straight conference crown.
“Pretty cold out,” said a smiling Matt Eissler, who churned out victories in the 1,600 and 800 as well as anchoring home the winning 4x4. “We’re looking good. We’re looking really strong. We lost some key guys from last year but I think a lot of the guys are ready to step up and fill the spots.”
The Rams won nine of the 11 track events in the Suburban One League Continental Conference opener and managed three more victories in the field.
Eissler began the spring with a nice test, going against Knights distance ace Brendan O’Toole.
“I was kinda nervous going to the line. I didn’t know how hard we’d have to work today,” Eissler said of the 1,600. “It was a pretty good day today. I’m pretty thankful for the win.
“The race went like I planned. With about 200 to go, I wanted to see how it was and try to ease out.”
Eissler and O’Toole ran nearly stride for stride the first two or so laps, with Eissler pulling away to a win in 4:32.2.
“He’s a real good runner,” Eissler said of O’Toole, who went on to race to a victory in the 3,200. “It was a nice test because
I hadn’t really raced the mile that much indoors so I wanted to see how much I had and I think I did pretty well.”
While Eissler helped take care of the distance events, Anderson Dimon motored to a pair of victories in the 100 and 400, and Ryan Sattele got going in the jumps, leaping to first places in both the long and triple.