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Silver lining: Isbell settles for second in 400

4 min read
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SHIPPENSBURG – Believe it or not, DeQuay Isbell has not always been fast. The Washington High School senior was your average runner as a freshman. He lacked breakaway speed and the awareness of when to strategically plan a race.

Countless hours at practice, extra running sessions and long talks with his coaches, including his mother, Patty Gordon, changed that.

The result was four trips to the PIAA Track & Field Championships. His latest performances Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University cemented his status as the latest in a long line of prolific track athletes at Wash High.

Isbell finished second in the Class AA 400-meter dash with a time of 49.08 – 0.29 behind Andrew Snyder of Camp Hill – and seventh in the 200-meter dash at 22.49. It’s his third consecutive year earning at least one medal at the state meet.

“It still feels good. I came in the top three. I was still on the medal stand,” Isbell said. “Everything feels just as good. I know that if I had gold I’d feel a lot better, but coming in second isn’t bad. I can’t be mad about it.”

Isbell entered the 400 as the second seed, but was surprised by Snyder, who was the sixth seed after Friday’s preliminaries and also won the title in the 200. Isbell started in the third lane and focused on Kenny Baurle of Avonworth, who had the top time in the preliminaries.

Isbell turned the corner, gaining on three competitors and eventually passing Baurle, but he kicked too early. Snyder took off and held off Isbell’s sprint in the final straightaway.

“I was in lane three, so I thought if I caught up to the person in first then I knew I’d be in a good spot from there,” Isbell said. “I just didn’t think enough to where I knew lane six – the kid from Camp Hill – I just didn’t think he was faster than everybody else. I didn’t recognize that and try to go after him.”

The exhausting nature of the 400 took its toll on Isbell. He had to compete in the finals of the 200 an hour later and could not muster enough energy against a very good field.

Isbell was strong in the first 40 meters, but stumbled around the first turn and his kick could not make up for the ground he lost.

“It’s tiring. There’s not enough time to gain as much energy as you wish you would to be able to come back out and have your legs stretched and fully ready to run again,” Isbell said.

It was not long ago that Wash High sprint coach Richie Barnes began working with Isbell. Barnes recalls Isbell being “even skinner than he is now” and not knowing how to approach any type of race. Conserving energy was not an option. With time and the help of upperclassmen, including Dustin Fuller and Quorteze Levy, Barnes saw Isbell blossom.

“It’s been great working with him. I’ve had him since he was a freshman. He’s progressed. The team before him brought him along,” said Barnes of Isbell, who remains uncommitted to where he wants to compete in college. “They brought him up and steered him right. It’s been great having him. I look forward to seeing him do big things. You’ll be hearing about him.”

When Snyder was announced as the state champion in the 400, all Isbell could do was clap. Knowing how far he has come in a short amount of time and bringing home two more medals to Washington is a nice consolation. It also helps knowing that his days of winning medals are far from over.

“I’ve come a long way. When I first came in, I was still a scrawny, slow kid,” Isbell said. “Everybody had high hopes for me. I needed to work, work and work to be able to get to where I am now. Now, it’s over. I have to just work on going to the next level.”

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