District medalists from Freedom and Liberty’s boys track and field teams competed in some of the closest races of the District XI Track and Field Championships last Tuesday and Wednesday at Whitehall High School.

Freedom’s Alex Heidemann captured the gold medal in the 1600 meter run (4:23.71) with a stampede of three, Stroudsburg’s Liam McLaughlin, East Stroudsburg South’s Liam Davis, and North Schuylkill’s Justin Williams, running shoulder-to-shoulder just behind the Patriot senior.

“I knew there were gonna be people who’d go out with me, but I set my pace and knew they wouldn’t be able to hold it,” said Heidemann, who had been feeling under the weather all day. “I was sick before the race, but I moved past it. I’m just looking forward to running that at states.”

Still not feeling up to par, Heidemann’s 800 meter run later in the day resulted in the silver medal (1:54.30), and Southern Lehigh’s Chase Hensinger won the gold (1:53.95).

“He had a good lead on me, and I pushed for it, and he was just able to hold me off,” said an exhausted Heidemann, who sat on the turf afterward, barely able to keep his eyes open. “I have a competitive nature, and my kick is one of my strengths, so I pushed for it.”

Hensinger said he never ran that fast in his life.

“I knew Alex would come charging,” Hensinger said. “Last year, we had a great race, and Alex got me. This year, I had to dig deep. My teammates were yelling, ‘He’s coming,’ and I knew he was coming.”

A similar battle occurred in the 400 meter run between Liberty’s Josh Farrell, who won the gold medal (50.07) and Bethlehem Catholic’s Kensley Joasil, who won the silver (50.90).

“I came in this race looking for competition, and that’s what I got,” said Joasil. “It’s that kick [Farrell] always talks about, and honestly, I feel like I’m still getting better at my kick. We both pushed each other today and both got the deed done.”

The two competitors looked more like good friends than competitors after the race, taking pictures together and exchanging phone numbers.

Said Farrell, “He started speeding up, coming off the second turn. You can hear them breathing pretty heavily, and I had to catch him a little bit, and after that, once I kick, it’s basically just me. I’m trying to hit 48 at states, so there’ll be a whole new field of competition.”

Liberty’s Raymon Deschamps won the silver medal in 110 hurdles (15.46) just missing gold to Notre Dame Green Pond’s Joseph Phillips (15.37).

“It was good, you know. There’s a lot of good competition, and all the times were really close, so it felt good,” Deschamps said.

Just as happy for Deschamps was teammate Farrell, jumping up and down and running to congratulate his fellow Hurricane.

“Josh is my boy,” Deschamps smiled. “I worked a lot on form and speed in between hurdles with my coaches. Without their guidance, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

In the last event of the district meet, Farrell, Damian De Los Santos Suriel, Emrick Leshko, and Kenneth Ruiz won the bronze medal in the 4x4 relay (3:27.95).