The final notebook of the 2015 season highlights some of the top performances at the PIAA Track & Field Championships last weekend. Check Kathy Leister's PIAA Track & Field action photos in our gallery...CLICK HERE.
By DENNY DYROFF
With more than 75 leagues across the state, it’s quite an accomplishment when a league has one of its teams place first at the PIAA Class AAA Track and Field Championships. Most leagues would be elated just having one if their schools finish in the top five in the team scoring at the annual state meet at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.
At the Girls Class AAA Championships last weekend, the Suburban One League accounted for the team champion when Cheltenham outscored every other team in the huge two-day meet.
A team from the SOL also returned with the runner-up trophy. Pennsbury scored 50 points and finished just behind Cheltenham at 54.
But, wait -- there’s more.
North Penn finished third in the team standings with 37 points and Pennridge placed fifth at 25 with Harrisburg taking fourth place with 34 points.
Suburban One League teams also put on an impressive show in the boys’ team scoring. Cheltenham took the team title with 54 and Pennsbury placed fourth at 30 with Upper Darby (34) and Carlisle (31.7) sandwiched in between.
It’s been a long time since any league put on such a dominant display at the state championship meet.
“What we did was pretty impressive,” said Pennsbury’s Tim Cass, who is the head coach of both the boys’ and girls’ teams. “Our boys’ fourth-place finish was the best we’ve done since 2003 when we were state champs.
“That was the fastest we’ve ever run in the 4x800 team. They set a school record and had the fourth-fastest time in Pennsylvania history. Every single one of them improved.”
The Falcons’ foursome of Eric Kersten, Sam Webb, Matt Mulvaney and Alek Sauer snared the gold medal with a time 7:38.42.
“Eric ran a 1:55 and that put us into second,” said Cass. “Sam ran a 1:53 to give us the lead. Matt’s 1:59 kept it close and he was third at the handoff. Alek anchored with a very fast 1:50. He took the lead for good in the first 150 meters. Our old school record was 7:45 at this year’s Penn Relays. Before that, it was a 7:48 from the early 1990s.
“Kornelius Klah was third in the 110 hurdles at 14:54. That was a good performance. Sam Webb was fourth in the mile (1,600) with a p.r. (personal record) at 4:12.76.
“And, Alek won the silver medal in the 800 at 1:51-flat. That was a p.r and a school record. The previous record was 1:52.3. He improved throughout the whole race and was really strong in the last 400. He went from fourth to second in the final 100 meters.”
Pennsbury’s girls were led by Dasia Pressley who won the 200 at 23.52 and was second in the 100 with a clocking of 12.08.
“That was a state record in the 200,” said Cass. “And, it was the fastest ever run by a Pennsylvania girl athlete. The old state record was 23.72 by Wissahickon’s Krista Simpkins. Dasia also had a p.r. in the 100 but (Cheltenham’s Chanel) Brissett had a better start.”
The Falcons also received key scoring from Olivia Sargent. The speedy junior was silver medalist in the 3,200 at 10:29.09 and finished fourth in the 1,600 with a time of 4:56.41.
“States went really well for me,” said Sargent. “I was happy with it. Running the 3,200 earlier in the day Saturday definitely had an effect on running the 1,600 later in the day but it wasn’t terrible. I wasn’t that tired coming back.
“I was fresh for the 3,200. But, I started my kick too late. I went out in 5:12. It was quick -- a lot faster than at districts. I wasn’t really used to going out that fast. Mentally, it was tough. With two laps to go, I picked it up. I was in third and not far out of second.
“With one lap to go, I caught up to second (Downingtown West’s Aislinn Devlin) in the first 100 meters. Then, with 100 to go, I really went. I knew I could out-kick her so I really went for it. I just wanted a p.r. My old p.r. was 10:36.
“And, I wanted a medal. Last year, I finished ninth and missed getting on the podium by one place. That motivated me lot this year. I was hungry. After the race, I was very, very happy with my time and my place.
“My 1,600 time was very close to a p.r. The race went out fast and just kept picking up. It was crazy. I had no strategy other than to run hard. I felt really strong and kicked really hard at the end. Getting two medals at states was a huge accomplishment.”
Cass said, “Olivia had an incredible meet. She had a p.r. in the 3,200 and an outdoor p.r. in the 1,600. Her efforts were phenomenal.”
Also in the 3,200, Pensbury’s Hannah Molloy finished fifth at 10:42.47. In the 4x800 Erin O’Connell, Maddie Sauer, Meridith Twomey and Lizzy Kirk placed seventh at 9:14.88. Uche Onuocha took fourth in the 300 hurdles at 43.37 and fifth in the 100 hurdles at 14.67. Husniyyah Rogers was fifth in the 400 with a 55.86.
“Our 4x800 ran its fastest time of the year,” said Cass.”That was a good time for Hannah in the 3,200 and Uche finished better than she did last year. Husniyyah had a p.r. and a school record in the 400.
“All of our girls performed really well at the meet. It was Pennsbury’s second-best finish ever at states.”
The state meet at Shippensburg was the scene of the farewell performance by two of the SOL’s premier competitors in recent years -- Pennridge’s Marissa Sheva and Council Rock South’s Shannon Taub.
Sheva’s swan song performance featured a gold medal in the 1,600. The Penn State-bound distance ace crossed first with a time of 4:44.73.
“In my freshman year, I was second to Pennsbury’s Sara Sargent at states,” said Sheva, who will play varsity soccer and run track for the Nittany Lions. “I was sick my sophomore year and didn’t have a good meet.
“Last year, I was first in the 3,200 and sixth in the 1,600. This year, I only ran the mile (1,600). Running both last year wasn’t too much but this year I wanted to just focus on one race.
“Last weekend, I went out to the track to watch all the two-mile (3,200) races in the morning, saw my parents and then went back to the dorm to lay down for awhile -- and to get out of the heat. I went back to the track an hour before the race, warmed up for 45 minutes.
“I was extremely nervous -- but that’s typical. I knew the race would be fast. But, I knew I was capable of running fast and winning. I wanted to break 4:50 but my main goal was to win, I wanted to leave high school with an outdoor 1,600 gold medal.”
Sheva ran fast. She broke 4:45 by over five seconds. And, she got the gold medal she coveted.
“When I looked at the time on the scoreboard, I was really excited,” said Sheva, who plays an attacking center midfielder in soccer. “It took a day for it to hit me that I really ran that fast. I’ve gotten a lot more excited the more I think about it. It was a USA Number 9 at the time and now it’s the 10th-best in the country.”
Taub fared well in the high jump at states when she took the silver medal with a height of 5-7. The finals also featured C.B. East’s Grace Becker, who was third at 5-6, and Abington’s Victoria Matthews, who was fifth at 5-6.
“It went pretty well, said Taub, who was also ninth in triple jump at 37-4. “I made 5-2, 5-4 and 5-7 on first attempts. At 5-6, I missed my first attempt and that’s what made me get second. I had a feeling it was going to come back to haunt me.
“After 5-7, there were just two of us left and we went up to 5-8. I was really close to making 5-8. I clipped the bar with my leg twice.
“At first, I was a little frustrated at missing the gold medal. Then, I thought about getting seven state medals in my career and realized that it was a pretty good accomplishment.”
North Penn’s girls also registered a pretty good accomplishment at this year’s state meet. The Maidens’ completed the rare feat of winning medals in all three relays.
The 4x400 team of Uche Nwogwugwu, Leianna Dean, Mikaela Vlasic and Allison King captured the gold medal at 3:46.73. The 4x100 foursome of Jessica Brenfleck, Kathleen Stevenson, Dean and King placed fourth at 47.78 and the 4x800 quartet of Stephanie Bresadola, Ali Valenti, Mikaela Vlasic and Phoebe Clowser finished sixth at 9:14.30
Individually for the Maidens, Nwogwugwu was silver medalist in the 400 at 54.71 and triple jump at 38-5 and Allison William was fifth in triple jump at 37-9.75.
Two other Suburban One League athletes captured gold medals at last weekend’s state meet. Central Bucks West’s Maddie Villalba posted the meet’s fastest time in the 800 at 2:07.33. Neshaminy’s David Marrington, who was the top seed in the 300 hurdles, held his seed and finished first with a clocking of 37.99.
In Class AA competition, Springfield won the state championship for the second year in a row. The Spartans, who were led by Chris Stone, scored 33.5 points to edge Schuylkill Valley (31), Camp Hill (27), Wyomissing (24) and Northwest Area (24).
For Stone, racking up points was easy as “one-two-three.” Actually, it was easy as “one-two-three-four.”
Stone finished first in high jump (6-8.25), second in long jump (22-2), third in pole vault (14-0) and fourth javelin (180-11).
“I got some of my best throws of the year in javelin -- and my best throws ever at states,” said Stone, who will compete collegiately at Auburn next year. “That started things off well. It was a nice confidence builder.
“In high jump, I came in at 6-2 and that was enough to win it. 6-4 was kind of a release. I made 6-6 on my first attempt and 6-8 on my second. I had two good attempts at 6-10. I was too relaxed at 6-10. I needed someone to push me.
“My p.r. in long jump is the 22-7 I did at districts this year. I followed with another 22 at states so I’m happy with that. In pole vault, my calf and my whole right leg cramped up on me and I only got 14-10. Just clearing that height was big. Without those points, we wouldn’t have won states.”
The Spartans’ other points came from Aaron Morris who placed fourth in the 800 with a time of 1:57.22. In the Girls Class AA meet, Springfield’s Sydni Stovall won the bronze medal in the 400 at 57.64.
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