The Cheltenham boys’ repeated as state champions and the girls’ team also captured the team title at last weekend’s PIAA Track & Field Championships. Photos provided courtesy of Kathy Leister. Check out our Track & Field gallery to view photos from the PIAA Championships...CLICK HERE.
By DENNY DYROFF
In the world of scholastic track and field in Pennsylvania, Cheltenham High School has established itself in the loftiest position. The Cheltenham boys have the “King of the Mountain” title wrapped up. And, the Panther girls cemented their claim to the “Queen of the Mountain” title.
On Memorial Day weekend, Cheltenham’s teams both ascended to the podium at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium to accept a trophy for winning the team title at the PIAA Class AAA Track and Field Championships.
Cheltenham’s boys won their second consecutive state championship handily. The Panthers scored 51 points. Their closest challengers were Upper Darby (34), Carlisle (31.7), Pennsbury (30) and Downingtown East (30).
The scoring was much closer in the girls’ meet.
Cheltenham claimed the title with 54 points, followed by a quartet that included three Suburban One League schools and a team from central Pennsylvania -- Pennsbury (50), North Penn (37), Harrisburg (34) and Pennridge (25).
Over the past two years, Cheltenham’s boys have won back-to-back outdoor state titles, two consecutive indoor state titles and two District One Class AAA championships in a row. The girls’ team arrived at Shippensburg riding a streak of back-to-back indoor state titles, two consecutive District One Class AAA championships and a runner-up finish at last year’s outdoor state meet.
“Our kids buy into the program,” said Panthers’ boys’ coach Dr. Robert Beale. “They love working hard.”
The Panther boys arrived at Ship’s stadium with targets on their backs. Being the defending champion will do that.
“They did outstanding and we are elated,” said Beale. “I told them that because they were defending champions, this is going to be more difficult. I told them that they couldn’t rest on their laurels -- that they made sure they didn’t get content. I also told them that if they won this one, it would be extra special.”
The Panthers’ state crew was not as loaded as expected. State meet qualification is based on results from district meets and Cheltenham suffered a few setbacks at this year’s District One meet.
“At districts, our 4x100 was out of the zone and got disqualified,” said Beale. “And, we had a runner fall in the 4x800. We could have possibly had 16 points from those two relays at states.
“It made it difficult because we knew Upper Darby and Carlisle would be our chief opponents. Our kids really rose to the occasion when it counted -- especially John (Lewis) and Saahir (Bethea). Many other teams, when faced with adversity like that -- they fall apart. This team didn’t. Instead, they buckled their bootstraps and got the job done.”
Cheltenham’s boys were led by John Lewis. The stellar senior not only captured the gold medal in the 800, he set a meet record with a time of 1:48.72 -- a time that is ranked second in the country. The old record was 1:48.82 set by Upper Moreland’s Drew Magaha in 2012.
“My time at districts was a school record,” said Lewis, who was coming off a gold-medal performance at the District 1 meet with a meet record time of 1:49.15. “So, I was looking to p.r. (get a personal record) at states.
“In the finals, I led from the beginning. I had a comfortable lead at the 400. The pace felt faster than usual. It was a good pace. Then, when it got to the last 200, I really turned it on.”
Lewis is heading to Clemson University in the fall, but he still has some competitive running to do before he leaves for school.
“I’m going to run at Nationals (New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Greensboro North Carolina in mid-June),” he said. “I want to p.r. again. I’m looking for a 1:48-low or maybe a 1:47.
“Our team goal at states this year was to win -- to get back-to-back titles. I knew it would be hard. But, I figured that if we did what we had to do, we’d be able to accomplish it. I split a 46-flat in the 4x400.I didn’t realize I could run that fast. My p.r. had been a 47-flat.”
The 4x400 team of Kyle Davis, Andrew Crosby, Bethea and Brissett posted a winning time of 3:13.44.
Other key individual scorers for the Panthers were Saahir Bethea, who won the gold medal in long jump with an ultra-impressive distance of 25-5.75, and Christian Brissett, who won silver medals in both the 100 (10.66) and the 200 (21.44).
“I was focused,” said Bethea, who also placed 11thin triple jump at 44-4.25. “I knew I could do 24 because I had a p.r. 24-3 at districts. My 25-5.75 was a state record distance but it didn’t count as a state record because they said it was wind-aided. It’s still the number two jump in the country.
“In the trials, I did 23-10.5, 23-7 and 23-5, so I had the lead going into the finals. My coach told me to just run through the first jump to get my steps. Then, my second jump was a foul. The kid from Woodland Hills (Isaiah Brooks) had a 24-1, so he was in the lead heading into the final round. I was the last jumper so it was either beat his distance or lose.”
Bethea not only beat Brooks’ distance, he uncorked a jump for the ages.
“When I landed, the crowd went wild,” said Bethea, who has Auburn, Tennessee, UConn and Southern on his short list of potential college choices for the fall. “The wind was 2.9 so it didn’t count as a state record. That kind of irritated me a little.
“At districts, I didn’t even expect to do a 24. A 25 used to be something we joked about in practice. But, I did it. So, it’s not a joke anymore. It was definitely one of my most powerful jumps.
“As soon as they said 25, I screamed and started crying. It was really an emotional moment. I collapsed to the ground. It was wild.
“Winning states as a team was great. It was harder this year because we didn’t have our 4x100 and 4x800 relays. We knew it was going to be a tough battle. Our coach just told us that when the going get s rough, you have to overcome the challenge.”
Brissett, who also anchored the Panthers’ gold medal 4x400, said, “I had a lot of ups-and-downs at states. I had a little bit of a hip problem this season with bursitis. I’d be warming up and it would be clinching up on me. It was a rough season.
“I’m just glad I made it to states and made it to the finals. I ran 10.66 and 21.44 and my p.r.’s are 10.60 and 21.43. I know I could have run a lot faster at states if I wasn’t injured. I’m just blessed to be able to make it that far.”
Brissett will run in college at the University of Iowa.
“Iowa had the best balance of academics and athletics,” said Brissett, who plans on majoring in human physiology. “The Big 10 is a great conference and Iowa is a highly-rated school academically.”
The Panthers also received points from Cordell Richardson’s fourth-place finish in the 300 hurdles at 39.43.
On the girls’ side, the Panthers had been making a habit of playing the role of bridesmaid -- never the bride. This year was different.
“It took awhile to get our outdoor state title,” said Cheltenham girls’ coach Kelley Jensen. “We’ve had a lot of second-place finishes. We’ve finished second three times in the last five years. Between indoor and outdoor states, we’ve had 11 second-place finishes. Winning the championship this year was a great feeling -- really gratifying.”
Last year, the Panthers were on course to win the state meet but lost it at the end by a very narrow margin.
“As soon as we lost it last year, the kids knew they could come back this year,” said Jensen. “They were extremely motivated. I was impressed with just how motivated they were.
“At states last weekend, we were very aware of where Pennsbury was, but we knew that all we could do was run the very best we possibly could. We knew the score we needed to beat them. Pretty much everybody held their seeds or improved them.
“Our girls all came through. Madison Langley-Walter, a freshman, scored in three events at states. In the 300 hurdles, she had a p.r. by an enormous amount.”
Langley-Walter contributed points with seventh-place finishes in long jump with a distance of 17-11.25 and 300 hurdles with a time of 43.75. She also scored a point with an eighth-place finish in the 100 hurdles as did Nicole Burke with a similar finish in the 400 at 57.26. The Panthers added more points in the 400 with Alexis Crosby’s bronze medal with a time of 55.32.
The other key individuals for Cheltenham were Chanel Brissett, who claimed the gold medal in the 100 at 11.91 and the silver medal in the 200 at 23.88, and Ciara Leonard, who snagged the silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.10.
“Chanel should be really happy with her meet,” said Jensen. “She conserved energy and kept herself relaxed. Ciara banged her knee on the hurdles but she gutted it out.”
Brissett said, “I didn’t get the time I wanted in the 100. My p.r.is 11.84 and I wanted to beat that. It was a difficult race for me because I didn’t get a great start. But, I still got first.
“My 200 was a huge p.r. My previous best was 24.27. I got out of the blocks really well and ran the curve really fast. Coming off the turn, I was running really hard. But, (Pennsbury’s) Dasia (Pressley) was too far out in front.
“Winning the team championship was big for us. Last year, we missed winning it because we dropped the baton in the 4x400 so we really had the intention to win this year. When we got to Shippensburg, we were definitely in it to win it. Then, it was an amazing feeling to be up on the podium as state champions.”
Leonard, who will run -- and major in pre-med or psychology -- at the University of Virginia, said, “After coming off a win at districts, we knew the state title was within our reach. We knew what we had to do as Cheltenham. I had a lot of faith in my coaches and teammates. We showed what Cheltenham is.
“When I was running at states, the first race was the hardest one. I hit a hurdle and hurt my left knee. I actually first hit it when we were practicing on Shippensburg’s track on Thursday. It was sore and a little swollen.
“In the trials, I hit the sixth hurdle, and, once I hit it, my steps were off. I had to four-step to get to the next-to-last hurdle. I did a three-step to the last hurdle and then I hit my knee again.
“In the finals, I hit it again. It was on the third-to-last hurdle. After that, I had to take the last two hurdles cautiously. If my knee had been better, I probably would have had a lot better time.
“I did have good races in the trials and finals of the 4x100. I was the leadoff runner and my starts in both races were really good. And, all our handoffs were great.”
Cheltenham scored major points in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
The top-seeded 4x100 team of Leonard, Janiel Slowly, Crosby and Brissett delivered a gold-medal finish with a clocking of 46.43. The 4x400 team, which featured Burke, Arianna Wallace, Dior Alston and Crosby, earned the bronze medal with a time of 3:49.99.
“We scored well at states and 80 per cent of our points are coming back -- including Alexis in the 400 and Madison in all three,” said Jensen. “I think we’ll be very competitive next year.”
The Panthers -- male and female -- have found a comfortable home at the top of the mountain and it appears as if they are ready maintain their high-altitude den there for quite some time to come.
- Log in to post comments
