Whiz Kid: Drew Magaha

They say it’s not how you start, but how you finish. Drew Magaha lives by that motto on the track.

Magaha is a junior on the track team at . He doesn’t fall behind in races on purpose, but admits his best moments on the track are when he has to move to a higher gear as he heads towards the finish line.

“I’m really known for my kick,” Magaha said. “I know it’s kind of 'un-noble' of me to do it, but my preferred racing technique it to sit on someone until the last lap and then kick it in, especially when it comes to the longer distances. Whenever I run a race, I can always find an extra gear to kick into.”

While Magaha’s starts are often a bit slower than his finishes, the end result has been impressive for the junior. Last weekend, Magaha placed fifth in the mile at the PFTCA Indoor Track Championships at Penn State University.

“I was pretty happy with it,” Magaha said. “I’ve been to the states five times, and that’s the only time I ever medaled. I was hoping to hang back in the mile and see what I could do place wise in the 800, but I spent a bit too much energy in the mile.”

The fifth-place finish at Penn State has capped off an impressive winter track season for Magaha. 

As he heads into the spring campaign, he is a much improved runner from the one who was on the track a year ago.  His times are down, and his confidence is sky high.

“I’m really happy,” said Magaha.  “It’s my junior year, and I dropped significantly in times.  I went from a 2:01 in indoors to a 1:56 out of nowhere, so I’m really happy with that.”

Magaha has achieved his greatest success in individual competition, but Magaha has also helped his team succeed in relay events. He was part of the Golden Bears’ 4x400 relay team that advanced to the state meet.

“I was really happy I qualified in the 4x400,” Magaha said.  “It was the first time I had qualified for that in the states. It takes the pressure off it as opposed to an open event. You have other guys. It was a learning experience because were weren’t at full strength and missing a few guys.”

Magaha rewrote the record books at Upper Moreland when he qualified for the states in two events. 

Magaha's qualifying time in the mile was 4:24.10, and his qualifying time in the 800 was clocked at 1:56.61.  Both were school records.

“That was the first time I had school records for indoor,” said Magaha. “One was first in the states when I first qualified for it, and I was elated to hear that.”

Magaha had already racked up an impressive resume during his first two years at Upper Moreland.  He led the team in most of the distance events as a freshman. In Magaha’s sophomore season, he won the mile in districts, an accomplishment Magaha still considers his favorite at Upper Moreland. 

Magaha also tried cross country at the start of his second season and set several course records.

Upper Moreland is notorious for being one of the smallest schools in one of the area’s larger conferences. Magaha believes he and his teammates thrive because of the fact they are always facing schools with larger numbers of athletes.

“It’s really about who’s got more guts,” Magaha said.  “Some teams have a lot of depth, but they don’t really follow through." 

Magaha continued, "Being a smaller team, it kind of puts the pressure on the better athletes.  It just makes us work a little harder knowing we could go toe-to-toe with some of the bigger teams.”

Magaha is hoping his hard work will continue to pay off in both the present and the future. 

Once the spring season comes to an end, Magaha will be focused on his senior year, as well as his future college home. 

Magaha, a National Honor Society member, is hoping track will continue to be part of his life after his days at Upper Moreland High School are over.

“I’m very happy with where I am right now, and I’m looking forward to the future,” Magaha said.  “I’ve been running for college placement.  I still have another year to improve.”      

As long as the college scouts don’t leave before Magaha’s finishing kicks, he will likely fulfill his dream of running at the next level.