HERSHEY -- State championships and state medals are won and lost by taking risks.

East Juniata senior Tyler Erhard took a big gamble when he decided to pass four runners on Poop-Out Hill with roughly 250 meters remaining in Saturday's PIAA Class AA cross country championship race.

But by the time Erhard crested the hill and got within 200 meters of the finish, that little risk he took came back and bit him in the end. Two of the competitors that Erhard passed later came back and passed him, as the East Juniata standout had to settle for a 12th-place finish in 17 minutes, 5 seconds in the meet held at the Parkview Course located behind the Giant Center.

"I was really feeling it after the second mile," said Erhard, who finished 16th in 17:07 last year. "I was like, this is my last cross country race ever. If I can't walk tomorrow, what does it matter?'

"I gave it all I had on the last hill. I got around four kids, and I never expected to pass that many people on that hill, but I think I ran it pretty well and I was hoping to get an edge on all four of them," added Erhard. "Two of them came back and passed me at the end. That happens. I took a risk on the hill, but it came back and got me.

"Overall, that was a great race," Erhard said.

Erhard, who had the best finish out of all the area competitors on the day, came into the meet with a goal of finishing in the top 10. He missed that mark by two-hundreths of a second.

Both Erhard and Kutztown's Nate Toll finished in 17:05, though Toll was given 11th. The times for the ninth- and 10th-place finishers were also identical. Carver Engineering & Science's Harold Lamour and Saegertown's Nate Tallada each finished in 17:04. Kutztown's Stephen Welsh won the race in 16:37.

"I wanted top 10, I really did. I set that goal for myself last year and I didn't get it," said Erhard. "I didn't want to leave a goal hanging out there. Getting a top-10 finish was a really big deal. It's what I was shooting for."

And although Erhard didn't accomplish that goal in his last high school cross country meet, it wasn't for a lack of trying. Aided by a favorable starting position, Erhard found himself in the top 20 after the first mile by posting a split time of 4:53. From then on, Erhard just gave everything he had to go the rest of the way and post a strong finish.

"I was definitely in a lot better spot than last year, and at the mile I was where I wanted to be," Erhard said. "I finished a lot stronger than I did last year, that's for sure.

"I wasn't ready for the change of the course last year, and I knew what (Poop-Out Hill) had for me this year, so I had a better feel for what I could do on the hill and it brought out a lot better finish and it gave me a lot of confidence," added Erhard.

Other top finishers in the AA race were Mount Carmel's Chris Monahan (52nd, 17:41) and Mikael Hause (67th, 17:53), Warrior Run's Dan Isenberg (90th, 18:06), and Danville's Tylor Barnhart (92nd, 18:06).

The Ironmen finished 13th in the team standings with 314 points. York Suburban won with 76 points.

In the Class AAA race, Selinsgrove's first appearance in the state meet in 38 years turned out to be a rough one. The Seals' top runner, Vince Fadale, finished 116th in 17:37, and the team took 25th place.