After he was disappointed in the 100 final Saturday, Liaci originally decided to skip the 200 final before changing his mind.
Julian Liaci had had enough of track and field Saturday afternoon.
So much so that the Nazareth senior was planning to scratch out of his final race, the PIAA 3A 200-meter final.
“I was going to scratch,” Liaci said. “I didn’t feel I had any energy left.”
That would have been an odd ending to one of the region’s better sprinting careers, and perhaps that thought was brought Liaci back to compete and finish seventh overall in 22.12 seconds. It was Liaci’s second medal of the day, though he wasn’t much thrilled with his eighth-place finish in 10.93 seconds in the 100.
“It stinks,” he said immediately after the 100 when his plan was to scratch the 200. “I have not had a lot of success in the 100 at states (two sixths and an eighth). I don’t know what happened in the 100. I don’t have any excuses and I should have done better.”
Perhaps it was the thought of not leaving his scholastic career on that kind of note that brought Liaci back for the 200. While he has run faster (his best is 21.60) Liaci offered a strong and competitive effort in the 200 final.
“I realized I am trying to leave a legacy, winning District 11 in the 100 and 200 and breaking records, so I decided to come back and run the 200 and go out of the sport with a medal. I was really disappointed in the 100, and I had to kind of over to my own little place for a while. I realized I couldn’t keep my head down. It’s like when you’re playing football and you drop a pass – you have to put your head down and come back and make the next play, catch the next pass. I felt like I did that by running in the final.”
Liaci did say he could have used a hand from a usually neutral source.
“I could have gotten some help from Mother Nature,” he said. “The weather for the District 11 200 (that 21.60) was perfect, warm but with the sun down and nice. (Saturday) was cold and rainy and that didn’t help.
Liaci is a little more focused on the 100, where he’s a three-time D-11 champ, than the 200 and he admitted he could have taken a different approach to the PIAA meet.
“I should never have entered the 200 and just run the 100,” he said.
But once he entered the 200, Liaci eventually realized he had to finish the job.
“I wish I’d done better but I am glad I ran the 200 final,” he said. “All my best friends like Travis (Stefanik) and Jahan (Dotson, now at Peddie School) were to watch with my family, and I have a medal I can always remember this day from.”
Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.