SHIPPENSBURG — Oliver Philogene walked through his Cranberry Township home Sunday with an odd feeling in his gut.

Every now and then, he'd peek into his bedroom to make sure the PIAA Track and Field gold medal he earned in the boys Class AAA 400-meter dash Saturday was real.

“Yeah,” Philogene said, laughing. “It's still there.

“When I say, 'I'm a state champ,' it sounds strange,” Philogene added. “It definitely feels surreal.”

Philogene ran a time of 47.77 seconds to win the state title on the scorching hot track at Shippensburg University. The mark broke the school record he set the day before in the preliminaries.

Philogene is only the second boy in Seneca Valley history to win a state track title and the first in nearly three decades.

His state championship seemed unlikely just one year ago.

Last season, Philogene didn't even make it out of the prelims in the 400 at the state meet, running a disappointing time of 49.28 seconds.

“It motivated me,” Philogene said. “I dreamed about crossing that finish line in first. When I did, it was unreal. Amazing.”

Philogene didn't win a state title by accident.

In the past year, he honed his craft with sprinting coach Gar Bercury, who worked on both the mental and physical part of his run.

Bercury also tossed his pupil into big national meets. Philogene competed in the Outdoor Nationals in North Carolina last summer and in the Indoor Nationals in New York this winter.

It was all designed with a PIAA title in mind — and beyond.

He's planning on competing in the Outdoor Nationals again this summer and hopes to join the track and field team at Slippery Rock University next spring.

His 2012 high school season will go down as one of the best ever for a Seneca Valley athlete.

“He never lost a 400 race this season,” said Seneca Valley head track and field coach Ray Peaco. “Not many can say that. That's truly, truly, truly special.”

Philogene's journey has been special.

He and his family emigrated to the United States from Haiti when he was 2 and moved to Cranberry Township when he was in the fifth grade.

Philogene didn't begin running track until junior high, and he started out as a distance runner.

Mid-sprints, though, became his true calling.

While he didn't have much individual success until this season, he and his 1,600-meter relay teammates finished third in the state last year and set a school record in the process.

“That's when it started,” Philogene said. “That made me want a state championship.”

Now, he has one — and his medal is still sitting in his bedroom.

Philogene wasn't the only local track and field athlete to bring home a medal:

@BodyCopy Bullet:Grove City junior Dan Jaskowak placed second in the boys Class AAA 3,200-meter run with a time of 9 minutes, 14.79 seconds.

Slippery Rock sophomore Emily Campbell placed fifth in the Class AA shot put with a throw of 39 feet, 4 inches.

Knoch junior Samantha Logan was seventh in the girls Class AAA 800, finishing with a time of 2:15.06.

Slippery Rock senior Ryan Thompson followed up on the school record he set Friday with a nearly identical time in the finals on Saturday in the boys Class AAA 800, finishing in 1:54.72 — good enough for eighth place.

The Slippery Rock boys track team was just one enrolled male over the Class AA limit. Had Thompson run in the Class AA race, he would have easily won a state title.

@BodyCopy Bullet:Philogene's Seneca Valley teammate, Forrest Barnes, was eighth in the boys Class AAA 100-meter dash with a time of 11.31.

Mars' Emily Thomas placed eighth in the girls Class AAA discus with a throw of 115-3.