HERSHEY - Brendan Shearn appeared in the distance - red jersey, royal blue shorts, long blondish-brown hair flying in the breeze at the Parkview Cross Country Course.
In first place.
The North Schuylkill junior had just made his move Saturday at the PIAA Class AA Cross Country Championships, and he was heading for home.
With a half-mile to go, he wouldn't be denied. And he was about to realize a life-long dream.
Arms pumping, meters dwindling, challengers fading - nobody could catch him.
Shearn broke the tape to win in 16 minutes, 15 seconds, which breaks the Class AA course record of 16:18 set by Bishop McDevitt's Joe Beveridge in 2008. Elk Lake's Luke Jones finished second, two seconds back.
The fourth Schuylkill County cross country state champion, Shearn joins Pottsville's Clyde Lowthert (1950), Blue Mountain's Randy Haas (1979) and Tamaqua's Isaac Dunkelberger (2005).
"A state championship, as soon as I started running, I wanted to get it,'' Shearn said. "I never really thought it would come. Now that I have it, it's just an amazing feeling.''
Shearn's gold-medal performance made him the Schuylkill League's only male medalist.
A pair of District 4 entrants - Mount Carmel senior Mikael Hause and Southern Columbia sophomore Andrew Steely - raced into the top 100. In the Class AAA girls' race, Shamokin senior Anna Summers finished 262nd in 22:31 in the 285-runner field.
Hause, making his third straight trip to states, placed 52nd in 17:36. He'll now look forward to track season and planning to run one or both disciplines in college.
"I got out fast. The first mile was really fast,'' Hause said. "I was up in the top 20 but I fell back toward the end. On the second hill I started to fall back.''
Steely also struggled with the pace and the hills. He finished 84th in 17:53.
"I had a good start, a little faster than I wanted to be,'' Steely said. "At a mile and a half I was still there pretty good.
"Then we hit the hills. I knew I had to be aggressive if I wanted to do well, and I think I took the first one a little harder than I should have,'' he added.
"I hit a physical wall. The will was there, it just wasn't physically there. Going out there that hard took it out of me.''
Aside from a little bit of a slow start, the race went according to plan for Shearn.
At the 1-mile mark, he was second, running side-by-side with Oswayo Valley's Barrett Kemp. Both ran the mile in a blistering 4:54.
"The first mile went out ridiculously fast,'' Shearn said. "I was actually back a lot farther than I would have hoped going out of the first 100 meters.
"I slowly worked my way up,'' he added. "I really didn't panic because I wanted to go out good, but I didn't want to go out in the lead.
"I wasn't pushing it too hard. I was just staying smooth and consistent.''
The second mile went the same way as Shearn tried to stay near the front and bide his time.
After two miles, Northeast Bradford's Curt Jewett led in 10:14. Shearn was second in 10:15.
"I wasn't really ready to commit to my full move yet, so I tried to stay consistent, stay relaxed and keep pushing the pace,'' he said.
"I felt comfortable where I was. ... Once I got back after the start, I wasn't any lower than fifth.''
Now, with 4,000 meters behind him, the moment of truth had arrived - a grand to glory.
With 1,000 meters left ...
"That's when I wanted to go,'' Shearn said. "I gave everything I got going up that little gravel hill back thorough the gravel path. Luke Jones of Elk Lake was still pretty close, even coming up the last hill. He was maybe five meters back.
"I put a little surge on, maybe got him by 10-15 meters,'' he added. "I was fully committed. I was pretty much pushing everything I got from there on out.''
With 200 meters left ...
"I'm not much of a kicker, but I felt I had the speed to break away.''
Last 100 meters ...
"I wasn't really thinking about much, just sprinting as hard as I can to the tape.
"I didn't know where he was, but I knew I had to go as hard as I could.
Last 5 meters ...
"It was amazing. Last five meters, when I didn't really feel him, it hit me that I won. I was so ecstatic.''
And breaking the tape ...
"I was like, 'Oh my God! I won!' And then it's just slowly been setting in that I'm the Double-A state champ. It's amazing. I can't even believe it.''
A perfect day on a perfect day to run: Firm course with true footing, chilly temperatures under bright sunny skies. The result: a time 43 seconds faster than the 16:58 he ran in finishing 15th last season.
When Shearn woke up Saturday morning, he had a feeling something special was about to happen.
"It went exactly how I wanted it to,'' he said. "It's what I set my mind to all year.
"I felt I had the pop in my legs. I felt real good. It was an amazing day.''