Freedom senior Dylan Boyle and Liberty sophomore Katie Drabouski came home with state medals after competing at the PIAA Class 3A State Cross Country Championships on Nov. 2 in Hershey where the top 25 finishers received medals.

Boyle placed 24th of 250 runners in the boys race, but neither Boyle nor Freedom coach Bob Thear and assistant coach Devon Harris knew for sure whether Boyle had made the cutoff.

“I saw the finish, but I wasn’t 100 percent on where Dylan was at, and there was another kid right next to him,” said Coach Thear. “I immediately got on my phone (for results), and it wasn’t coming up, and it wasn’t coming up, and then I saw Dylan’s name at 24.”

Boyle relied on the phone of teammate Anya Johns, who scrolled for an answer.

“It was the worst three minutes of my life,” Boyle recalled. “I was thinking I didn’t come this far to miss it by two or three, so it was a really big relief because I was stressing over this for weeks. A ton of weight lifted off my shoulders.”

Despite Boyle’s prerace nerves, Boyle knew he could do something good that day.

“I ran the line, and I wasn’t nervous anymore,” he said. “When the gun went off, everything went away.”

Boyle shot out to a top-15 position in the first mile.

“I saw Coach Devon a lot, running around and telling me what place I was in,” said Boyle. “Then, no one was around, and I didn’t see anyone for awhile. It was kind of freaking me out. I heard someone yell 30-something, and I thought, I gotta go. It was very, very close.”

The cross country course at Hershey is known for its grueling hills, but Boyle made more moves on those than the straightaways.

Coach Thear explained that Boyle was running in 25th place at the two-mile mark, so while he wanted Boyle to stay with the pack, Thear knew he couldn’t settle and would need to continue to move up.

Boyle’s time was 16:24.

North Penn’s Achilles Shui captured the last medal with 25th place in 16:26.

Freedom sophomore Brayden Boyle also competed in the boys race, placing 130th with a time of 17:32.

Coaches presented their top 25 runners with medals at the conclusion of the meet.

“It was great. I was so excited and so glad to be able to do that,” said Coach Thear.

The medal ceremony meant a lot to Boyle as well.

“Coach Bob put my medal on, and it was a nice sense of closure, but it was more about the faces of my loved ones and friends and coaches and how it made them feel,” Boyle said. “I want to thank Coach Bob and Coach Devon for the training they gave me. A lot of it goes to them, and they deserve credit too.”

But as Thear said, “We give him the tools. He builds the house.”

Liberty’s Drabouski placed 19th of 237 runners in the girls race.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything more, and she had the third best time of the sophomores,” said Liberty coach Kevin Bush. “I could see her at a number of spots on the course, and every time I passed her, I was quick counting. From the half mile, she was in the top 25.”

Drabouski said she didn’t want to take too fast of a start but felt a little overwhelmed before starting to pick off other runners.

“It was probably the most difficult course so far because of the steep uphills and downhills,” she said. “I heard my family and coaches yell out 27, so I tried to find the next person and the next person. In the last mile, someone yelled out 23 to the person in front of me, so coming up the last stretch, I was passing people, including one at the finish line.”

Coach Bush chose assistant coach Christa Sharrer to present Drabouski with her state medal.

“She had a race plan and strategy, and Katie followed it really well,” Bush said.

It was the first time Drabouski competed on the state course, crossing the finish line with a time of 19:09.

“I’m super excited, and it’s really motivating me to do better in track this year,” she said.

Liberty freshman Elizabeth McClarin also competed in the girls race, finishing 71st with a time of 20:16.