Several athletes were golden in a big day for SOL athletes at the District One meet Thursday.
By DENNY DYROFF
CALN TOWNSHIP -- The annual District 1 Class AAA Track and Field Championships are held each year in mid-May -- a two-day meet at Coatesville High. On the first day of competition, the weather frequently goes south. Sometimes, it’s a cold day. Sometimes, it’s a rainy day. And, sometimes it’s both.
The first day of this year’s competition was staged Thursday at Coatesville as usual. The weather was beautiful. It never went south. But, a lot of medals headed south -- as in Council Rock South.
There were five girls’ field event finals contested Thursday and the Golden Hawks collected six medals -- including a pair of coveted gold medals.
Council Rock South’s Shannon Taub won one of the gold medals when she claimed the top spot in high jump with a height of 5-8. Her twin sister Allison Taub placed fourth in shot put with a heave of 38-6.5 and fifth in javelin with a distance of 123-3.
Shannon Taub was the only one to clear 5-8. The district record was 5-9 so she attempted to jump 5-9.25. She came close on all three attempts but the record, which was set in 1985 and tied in 1987, stayed intact.
“I did 5-1, 5-3, 5-5, 5-7 and 5-8 and made the first three on my first jump and the next two on my second attempt,” said Shannon Taub. “The 5-8 is a new p.r. (personal record) for me. It just felt like a complete jump.
“It helped that I had good competition. Grace (Central Bucks East’s Grace Becker) and I train together at Sports Extra in Hatfield and she jumped really well today. Next is states and I’m ready. In track, what matters is what happens in May.”
Allison Taub said, “Shot put was good today and javelin was great. I had an 11-foot p.r. in javelin -- a huge p.r. This is the first meet I’ve actually gotten to run on a track for javelin instead of grass. So, I was able to get my speed up. And, my release was really good.”
The Golden Hawks’ other three medals all came in pole vault with Dominique Franco taking first at 11-6, Savannah Wood finishing second at 11-6 (with more misses than her teammate) and Kaitlyn Deissler placing fifth at 10-0. All three qualified for next week’s PIAA Class AAA Championships at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.
“My p.r. is 12-0, which I did at states last year,” said Franco, a junior. “This year, I keep getting right on top of it and miss by a little.
“Today, I came in at 10-0 and then did 10-6, 11-0 and 11-6. I made all on first attempts until my jump at 11-6. When I made 11-6, I felt like I was gliding high in the air. I definitely had a lot of height on it.”
Wood, also a junior, said, “I did 10-0, 10-6, 11-0 and 11-6 but I missed my first attempts at 10-6 and 11-6. Today was all right. Usually, I go through without any misses.
“Dominique and I have a good competition going. We did gymnastics together at Arena Gymnastics in Hamilton, New Jersey when we were younger so we’ve been competing against each other for quite awhile. At times, it gets really competitive. Other times, it’s more friendly.”
Deissler said, “My jumps were good today. I almost made it at 10-6.The bar was hanging on by a hair -- and then it fell off.”
Athletes from the SOL accounted for seven of the eight medals in pole vault -- Upper Dublin’s Samantha Starosta (third, 10-6), Pennsbury’s Alexis Mongielleo (sixth, 10-0). Council Rock North’s Gianna Lescas (seventh, 10-0) and North Penn’s Sarah Wiener (eighth, 10-0).
The league also dominated the medal stand in high jump. In addition to Taub, the SOL’s medalists were Central Bucks East’s Grace Becker (second, 5-7), North Penn’s Uche Nwogwugwu (third, 5-5), Abington’s Victoria Matthews (fourth, 5-3), William Tennent’s Miranda Laskey (fifth, 5-3), Upper Merion’s Regie Robinson (seventh, 5-1) and Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Taylor O’Brien (eighth, 5-1).
Cheltenham’s Madison Langley-Walker was gold medalist in long jump with a leap of 18-5.25. Pennridge’s Ariana Przybylowski was third at 17-10 and C.B. West’s Hannah Sexton placed seventh at 17-6.
“I was very nervous coming into the meet,” said Langley-Walker, a Panther freshman. “When I got to the second jump, I was good. I got the 18-5 on my second jump and was first heading into the finals. I also had the second-fastest time today in the 100 hurdles trials.”
Other SOL medalists in the girls’ portion of the meet were Council Rock North’s Erica Rummel (seventh, javelin, 119-10), Cheltenham’s Ashley Alexander (sixth, shot put, 37-3.5) and Bensalem’s Amelia Ali (eighth, shot put, 36-11.5).
The Suburban One League also accounted for one of the three gold medals awarded in the boys’ portion of the meet. In the discus event, William Tennent’s Sam Collazo captured first place with a throw of 156-2 while Upper Dublin’s Kieran Moore was sixth at 146-1.
“My throws in the trials were good,” said Collazo, a senior who also was a linebacker and running back for the Panthers’ football team. “They were consistent. My third throw in the trials -- the 156 -- was the one that won it.
“My best this season is a 161-1. At states, I’d like to get 165 or close to 170. Last year, I was fifth at districts in shot put and then I finished 11thin shot at states. This year, I’m just focusing on discus.”
There were five medalists from the SOL in triple jump -- Cheltenham’s Saahir Bethea (third, 45-9), Souderton’s Shamar Jenkins (fourth, 45-5), Bensalem’s Caleb Appiah-Owusu (fifth, 44-7), Truman’s Eric Parson (sixth, 44-5.25) and C.B. East’s Alex Parasky (eighth, 43-11.75). Jenkins was also seventh in high jump at 6-1.
In Boys’ Class AA action, Springfield’s Chris Stone finished first in javelin at 177-9 -- well ahead of New Hope-Solebury’s Bobby Quinby, who was runner-up at 173-10.
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