Check out the many SOL athletes who excelled at the New Balance Indoor National Championships. Photo provided courtesy of Stacey O'Malley.
By DENNY DYROFF
Have you ever watched someone do something and then have a “Hey, I could do that” moment?
Souderton High’s stellar high jumper Moira O’Malley had just such a moment when she was competing in track and field meet at Indian Valley Middle School
“I was keeping score in high jump at one of our meets,” said O’Malley, who started her track and field career in seventh grade as a middle-distance runner. “I watched the girls in high jump. I realized that I was going higher in practice than those girls who were winning.”
So, O’Malley started competing in high jump. Her three events in eighth grade became the 200-meter dash, the 100-meter dash and high jump.
“My best height in eighth grade was 4-11,” said O’Malley, who had a standout indoor track season this year. “When I was in ninth grade last year, I only jumped outdoors. My best jump during the regular season was 5-0. I was consistent.
“Heading into leagues (Suburban One League Continental Conference Championships), I really wanted to make districts (PIAA District 1 Class AAA Championships). The qualifying height was 5-2 so that was my goal.”
O’Malley achieved her goal. She jumped 5-2 and placed second behind Central Bucks East’s Grace Becker, who took the gold medal at 5-3. The following week at the district meet at Coatesville, O’Malley was a few inches off her best.
“At districts, my coach wasn’t able to come out with me on the field,” said O’Malley, who concluded her rookie season that day. “And, I didn’t know most of the girls I was jumping against because we didn’t go to many invitational meets during the season.”
Realizing that high jump was her forte, O’Malley worked a lot on the event during the summer.
“I trained with A.O.C. (Ambler Olympic Club) all summer,” said O’Malley. “I was around 5-1 or 5-2 when I started. I worked on my approach -- on my speed and how to fix my steps. I was working with jumping coach Mr. Wootten (veteran track and field coach Cardwell Wootten III).”
O’Malley kept training in high jump through the fall with Rick Hess, the jumping coach at Souderton High.
“I took our old high jump pit indoors so that Moira could keep training,” said Hess. “We had her jumping indoors in October and November.”
Then, the indoor season began and O’Malley continued to improve and impress.
“I went to 12 indoor meets -- from local meets to states and nationals,” said O’Malley. “I did 5-6 at the Burdette Meet and set a meet record.”
At the Robert J. Burdette Indoor Classic, which was held December 30 at Lehigh University’s Rausch Fieldhouse, O’Malley topped the field with a jump of 5-6 -- six inches higher than any other jumper in the meet. It also qualified her for the 2015 PTFCA Indoor State Championships on March 1.
At the state meet, which was staged at Penn State University’s Multisport Facility, O’Malley placed eighth with a height of 5-2. She had already qualified for the New Balance Indoor National Championships with the 5-6 she posted over the Christmas holidays.
“When Moira jumped 5-6 at the Burdette meet, at that time, it was the highest jump in the country by a sophomore,” said Hess. “That height qualified her for states and nationals. She medaled at states and then had the top jump by a sophomore at nationals.
“I jumped 5-2.5 at nationals and tied for 31stplace,” said O’Malley. “I was disappointed. I really wanted 5-4.5 but I got stuck at 5-2. Still, I’ve qualified for Penn Relays and I’m hoping for 5-4 there.”
Hess said, “This is a girl who has only been jumping two years. She did a lot of weight work and training with A.O.C. over the summer and that helped a lot. She’s shown a lot of improvement with technique -- also with strength and confidence. High jumping is becoming a passion with her.”
Souderton’s head coach Mike Feliciani said, “Moira’s results in the indoor season were a pleasant surprise. But, I also knew she put in a lot of hard work over the summer and fall.”
Several other Suburban One League Continental Conference athletes fared well at the New Balance Indoor National Championships, which were held from March 13-15 at The Armory Track & Field Center in New York.
Hatboro-Horsham’s Casey Comber won the bronze medal in the 5000-meter run with a time of 14:51.83. He was third behind Elijah Armstrong from Pocatello, Idaho (14:41.72) and Mike Brannigan from Northport, New York (14:42.33).
Pennridge’s Marissa Sheva clocked a 4:57.35 to place 13thin the mile in a very close finish with Kaleigh Hughes. The runner from Needham, Massachusetts, finished a micro-second faster at 4:57.34.
Taylor Chapman from Pennridge took fourth in her heat of the 60-meter dash at 7.61 and then placed eighth in the semifinals with a clocking of 7.67.
The meet had two classes of competition -- the National Championship for the top athletes and the Emerging Elite for the next level of national-caliber competitors.
Central Bucks East’s Grace Becker finished sixth in the Emerging Elite high jump. The defending Continental Conference outdoor champion cleared 5-4.5. Also, the Patriots’ 4x800 team -- Elizabeth Huuki, Sommers Moyer, Hannah Morris and Elzabeth Morris -- placed 11that 9:40.38.
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The SOL’s National Conference had seven entries at the New Balance Indoor National Championships with Pennsbury’s Olivia Sargent and Council Rock South’s Shannon Taub in the top tier and the other five in the Emerging Elite category.
Sargent ran the mile in a highly-competitive field and finished 18thoverall. She crossed the line at 5:00.20 and was just nipped by a Canadian entry -- Grace Thompson, who clocked at 5:00.20.
In Emerging Elite competition, Pennsbury’s Husniyyah Rogers finished 11thoverall in the 400 with a time of 57.91. Her Falcon teammate Uchechi Onuoha placed third in her preliminary heat of the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.92.
Council Rock South’s Taub, who was the 2014 District 1 champion in high jump with a 5-5, jumped 5-5.75 in the national portion of the New Balance indoor meet. The height would have put her in the top 15 of the high jump event. but it wasn’t in the high jump event.
The high jump was just one of five events Taub did at the meet when she competed in the pentathlon event. She had the second-best high jump behind the 5-7 by Dalyssa Huggins (unattached) and the eight-best distance in shot put at 32-2. She also ran a 10.16 in the 60 hurdles, a 2:08.23 in the 800 and did 16-0.5 in long jump.
Taub’s overall point total of 3028 put her in 14thplace. Huggins captured the pentathlon gold medal with an impressive score of 3656. Rock South’s Domenique Franco competed in the Emerging Elite pole vault and took 22ndplace with a height of 11-1.
On the boys’ side, Abington snagged the bronze medal in the Emerging Elite 4x400 relay. The Ghosts were in first place at the 300 mark and then got passed by New York’s Thomas Jefferson and Connecticut’s Windsor High -- both of which had anchors running sub-50.0 splits.
Jefferson finished first at 3:24.03 followed by Windsor at 3:24.47 and Abington at 3:24.67. The Ghosts’ runners were Isaiah Smith, Jordan Neely, Martin McCall and Keith Broadhus. Smith also logged a 19th-place finish in the 400 with a time of 50.58.
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Not surprisingly, the American Conference’s banner was carried by Cheltenham at the national championship meet.
The Cheltenham boys posted the top time in the nation in the 4x400 and captured the gold medal with a time of 3:17.38. The Panthers finished comfortably ahead of New York’s Clara Barton, which took the silver at 3:19.78. Delaware County’s Penn Wood was third at 3:20.52.
Cheltenham was in fourth place after 400 meters. Then, Lewis moved ahead of the runners from Clara Barton, Penn Wood and Ohio’s Pickerington North and the Panthers never relinquished the lead.
Kyle Davis led off with a 50.05 and John Lewis followed with a 49.33. Cordell Richardson posted a 49.68 in the third leg and Christian Brissett anchored with a glowing split of 48.32.
Individually, Brisset was second in his heat in the prelims of the 60-meter dash and fourth in his semifinal heat with identical times of 6.93.
Earlier in the meet, the same Panther foursome won the silver medal in the sprint medley with a time of 3:25.32. The only team faster was Baltimore’s Paul Laurence Dunbar High, which crossed at 3:24.16 and set a new national record.
“We were ranked number one in the nation going into the sprint medley,” said Cheltenham’s highly-respected coach Dr. Robert Beale. “We broke the record with a 3:26.11 back in January.
“In this race, we knew we’d have good competition from a team from Detroit and a team from New York but we were blindsided by Dunbar. They gave an outstanding performance. It took a national record to beat us. They had an outstanding half-miler who ran a 1:49.4. He also won the 800 the next day.”
That runner was Brian Bell. The Owls’ senior won the gold medal in the open 800 with a clocking of 1:51.08.
“We came back and had a stellar 4x400,” said Beale. “We entered with the number one time in the nation and improved on it -- with a fully accurate automatic time. We’re very happy. Hopefully, we can keep them healthy for the Penn Relays. We like to get in the Championship of America 4x400 there.”
Cheltenham’s Saahir Bethea was 16thin the championship long jump at 21-1.5. He was also first in his heat of the Emerging Elite 60-meter dash with a 7.12. The top 10 advanced to the finals and the 10th-best time was 7.11. His teammate Richard Abram Austin finished 13thin the Emerging Elite triple jump at 44-2.75.
The American Conference had two other competitors in the boys’ Emerging Elite.
Norristown’s Andrew Dillon was nipped at the line in the finals of the 400 and placed 13that 50.30 behind Aaron Robinson of Oxon Hill, Maryland, who was 12that 50.28. Dillon also won his heat in the 200 at 22.46 but did not qualify for the finals.
Upper Dublin’s Kieran Moore finished 13thin shot put with a heave of 51-7.75. The event was won at 56-4.5 by Evan Blaire from Hickory High in Hermitage, Pennsylvania.
On the girls’ side, it was also Cheltenham leading the way.
The Panthers took the bronze medal in the national 4x200 race with a time of 1:38.94. They were topped only by Mustang (NC) at 1:38.10 and Medgar Evers (NY) at 1:38.72. Cheltenham had the third-fastest time in the prelims at 1:38.64.
“Our time in the trials broke the old school record which was 1:39.00,” said Panthers’ coach Kelly Jensen. “Cheltenham now has the three fastest times in Pennsylvania history.”
The quartet featured Nicole Burke, Alexis Crosby, Ciara Leonard and Chanel Brissett.
Leonard, who is heading to the University of Virginia, also won her prelim heat in the 60 hurdles at 8.46, was second in her semifinals heat at 8.56 and then finished fourth overall at 8.40. Brissett finished seventh in her heat of the 60 dash at 7.83.
“Chanel Brissett anchored with a 24.09 which was the second fastest time in the trials,” said Jensen. “Ciara, who is a two-time indoor All American, only had 20 minutes between the 4x200 and the finals of the 60 hurdles so she never had time to recover.”
In the Emerging Elite competition, Cheltenham’s Madison Langley-Walker placed eighth in long jump at 17-8.75. She also took first in her prelims heat in the 60 hurdles at 8.87.
“Madison is freshman who won states in long jump,” said Jensen. “She turned her ankle at nationals while long jumping and then still ran the finals.”
Norristown High’s Jayana Webb finished eighth in the finals of the 60 dash at 7.74 after placing third in her preliminary heat with a 7.75. She also was runner-up in the prelims of the 200 with a 25.44 while the last qualifying time for the finals was 25.25.
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