William Tennent’s Stephen Testa was one of the surprises at last weekend’s PIAA Class AAA Championships. Denny Dyroff tells Testa’s story as well as some of the other interesting stories featuring SOL squads.
By DENNY DYROFF
Frequently, things go as expected at the annual PIAA Class AAA Track and Field Championships. Athletes who are expected to win medals return home from the meet at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium with medals and top-seeded competitors often hold their seeds and claim gold medals.
But, just as frequently, things do not go as expected at the highly competitive state meet, which is held each year on the Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend.
Most of the surprises are short-term but some are long-term. One of the long-term surprises this year was produced by William Tennent’s Stephen Testa.
In the 2013 spring track season, Testa was a freshman competing for Archbishop Wood in the Philadelphia Catholic League. His main event was long jump and his goal was to perform well at the PCL Championships.
“I started track when I was in fifth grade at Nativity of Our Lord School in Warminster,” said Testa. “Jumping seemed like something fun to do -- like a little kid jumping in the sand. I was decent at it because I had the speed and I could jump.
“I spent my freshman and sophomore year at Wood and then transferred to William Tennent. I just thought Tennent would be better for me. At Tennent, you can even wear shorts to school when it’s 100 degrees -- but not at Wood.
“A lot of my good friends are still going to school at Archbishop Wood. But, I’ve also made a lot of good friends here at William Tennent.”
Over the years, Testa developed into one of the top long jumpers in the area -- only in the Suburban One League instead of the Philadelphia Catholic League. He developed into such a good jumper that he was offered -- and accepted -- a track scholarship from Villanova University.
Testa finished fourth in long jump at this year’s indoor state championships with a distance of 22-9.5 -- a new school record. He started his outdoor championship season with a bronze medal at the SOL National Conference Championships with a leap of 21-0.25.
A week later, Testa claimed the silver medal at the District 1 Class AAA Championships at Coatesville with a jump of 21-9.75 and that sent him to Shippensburg as one of the top seeds in long jump.
Testa returned home from the Cumberland Valley last Saturday with a coveted state medal. And, it was a silver medal -- emblematic of the second-best finish in the state.
Surprisingly, Testa -- as expected -- did not win his medal in long jump. Instead, he placed 24thin the event with a distance of 21-0.25.
Testa nabbed his silver medal in the 300-meter hurdles. In Friday’s trials in the 300 hurdles, he had the third-fastest time at 39.06 behind Souderton’s Stephen Scott (38.72) and North Allegheny’s Ayden Owens (38.81).
In the championship final Saturday afternoon in the blazing heat at Seth Grove Stadium, Testa clocked a 38.44 and was topped only by Owens at 37.48.
“I long jumped at states but that didn’t go too well,” said Testa. “I only jumped 21 feet. I was a little unfocused in the jumping Saturday morning. I was more focused on the 300 hurdles.”
William Tennent coach Charlie Kistner said, “Stephen had a good week of practice in the hurdles. He stayed focused and kept his eye on the prize. He ran two beautiful races at states.
“He won his heat in the trials. He came around the corner and made his move on the last two hurdles. In the finals, he was in fourth place heading into the homestretch. He moved up and passed the second-place guy going over the last hurdle. He just fought through it. He was William Tennent’s first state medalist in a hurdles event.”
Villanova recruited a jumper and got a hurdler thrown in as an extra bonus.
“Talen Singer, Villanova’s jump coach, has already talked to me about doing the hurdles there,” said Testa. “He also talked about maybe the decathlon. I’ll be ready to do whatever they want me to.
“I’ve been hurdling since freshman year but I never took it seriously. I’ve always thought of myself as a jumper. Running hurdles was just for fun. As the beginning of this season, I didn’t see myself as much of a hurdler.
“Then, I started with a 39.7 at the Bensalem Invitational. I had just run a time that was faster than the state-qualifying time. So, I thought to myself -- maybe I can do something with this. And, it just progressed from there.”
It progressed so well that it carried him to the second loftiest place on the medals podium at the state championship meet.
“That was my first time to compete in the state meet at Shippensburg and it was a great experience,” said Testa. “Getting on the podium, it was so cool to look at the huge crowd. I could see everyone standing and cheering. It was great.”
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Things definitely didn’t go as planned for Wissahickon’s boys’ team.
“We were in third place in the prelims in the 4x100 and then our anchor Rasheed Wright pulled his hamstring,” said Trojans’ coach Don Betterly. “That knocked him out of the 400, the 4x100 and the 4x400.
“We shifted the lineup for the 4x100 and finished seventh. Rasheed only ran the prelims in the 400. Then, we had to scratch our 4x400. We just ran out of bodies.”
The Trojans did have some good news at the state meet too.
Darien Williams advanced in the100 with the third-fastest time in the trials (11.08) and then posted the second-fastest time in the semifinals (10.64) behind Meadville’s Journey Brown (10.62). Williams’ state-meet journey ended behind Journey with the Meadville runner first at 10.73 and Williams second at 10.76.
“We thought Darien had a good chance of winning,” said Betterly. “His 10.64 in the semis was a p.r. (personal record) and he was second to the eventual gold medalist.
“In the finals, he had a really good start. He got out with the kid (Journey) and then the kid pulled away. Darien came back strong but he just couldn’t catch him.”
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Abington’s 4x800, which featured Jake Good, Camron Mitchell, Josh Coleman and Keion Broadus, also met with problems at the state meet -- but the Ghosts successfully emerged unscathed from a potentially dangerous situation.
“We got the 12th(and final) seed for the finals after a rough race in Friday’s prelims,” said Abington coach Bill Neely. “We were seeded fifth going into the prelims and then Jake lost the stick in Friday’s race.
“Jake dropped it on the last turn on the second lap. Somebody hit it from behind and knocked it out of his hand. He picked it up and went from 11thto fifth. We finished the prelim race with an 8:00.11 and made finals by two seconds.”
In the big race on Saturday, the Ghosts’ foursome clocked a 7:44.17 and was topped only by State College.
“We ran a pretty good race in the finals,” said Neely, whose boys also placed fifth in the 4x400 at Shippensburg. “I was satisfied with everybody’s times.”
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The Suburban One League also accounted for both silver medals in Class AAA pole vault -- Hatboro-Horsham’s Nicholas Marino at 15-9 and Council Rock South’s Dominique Franco at 12-6.
Franco’s results at the state met did not match up to what she was looking for when the season started.
“At the start of the season, I wanted to finish with a gold medal at states and I wanted to break 13-0,” said Franco, who is heading to Villanova University in the fall. “But my two other goals -- to train more and to get more knee drive in my vaults -- I was able to get them.”
Council Rock South coach Deric Lynch said, “Dominique did a great job this year. At the league meet, she jumped 12-7.5 and set a league record. She did 12-6 at districts and tied the district record.
“And, she was just coming back from an undiagnosed injury from the indoor season. She had a foot injury and had to take a month-and-a-half off. She wasn’t cleared to vault until just before the Penn Relays.”
Franco came back well enough to finish with the same height as gold medalist Greer Gumbecht from Easton.
“The other girl had fewer misses,” said Lynch. “Dominique had one miss -- at 11-6. She was running so fast, she just blew through her pole. She moved up a pole and cleared it by a foot-and-a-half on her next jump.”
Franco said, “I really wanted to break 13-0 and I came close. The time I missed earlier in the season with my injury set me back a bit. If I had been able to get more training in, I’m pretty sure I would have gone over 13-0.”
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When Springfield’s Sydney Stovall competed in the 400 at the PIAA Class AA Track and Field Championships last weekend, things did not go the way she expected -- and that was a good thing.
“Based on how I was doing throughout the season, I went to states not expecting to get a medal,” said Stovall, a junior, who entered the season with a 57.59 p.r. from last year’s district meet.
“At the American Conference Championships, I was really disappointed because I ran a 57.07. That .07 killed me. I don’t know why I wasn’t running that good. At districts, I expected to run a good time. My time wasn’t that great but I was happy to be moving on to states.”
In the big meet at Shippensburg, Stovall had the second-fastest time in the trials at 56.97 and then finished second in the championship heat with a 56.48.
“This was Sydney’s third year winning a state medal in the 400 and she got her first indoor state medal in the event this year,” said Springfield coach Chris Mazurek. “She broke the school record last year and then got p.r.’s this year at districts, in the prelims at state and in the finals at states.
“One of the big differences this year is that she’s stronger. And, she’s begun to narrow her focus -- from the 400 and 800 to just the 400. All season, everything has been on track for the 400.
“She keeps improving her 400 and it’s hard to argue with success. She’s always been mature beyond her years. This year, she emerged as a real team leader.”
Stovall said, “I was super happy with states. I was so focused -- no 800 just the 400. After the finish in the trials, I was screaming. I was so happy that I won my heat. Then, I looked at the scoreboard and saw 56 and I was ecstatic. It gave me a lot of confidence for the finals.”
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In the girls’ Class AAA state meet, Cheltenham was the overwhelming favorite to win its second straight state title, and while Panthers did capture the state title, it was not accomplished without having to overcome some adversity.
“It did not at all go as we expected,” said Cheltenham coach Kelly Jensen. “Friday, quite frankly, was one of our worst days ever.”
It started with Chanel Brissett in the 100 hurdles.
“Chanel hit her knee on a hurdle and it swelled up,” said Jansen. “We didn’t know if she would be O.K. for the rest of the meet. Then, Madison (Langley-Walker) tripped in the 300 hurdles and didn’t finish -- and she was the top seed.
“All day, we didn’t perform like we should. At dinner, I let them know that their backs were to the wall. We sat and talked after dinner. I told them -- you guys are too tough to let this happen to you.”
Saturday, fortunately, was a new day -- and a new vibe.
“Chanel’s knee felt fine,” said Jensen. “She ran a 13.45 in the semis which shocked me. I had a contusion like that when I was a runner so I knew how you lose strength when it happens. Chanel didn’t lose strength.
“She came back in the finals and ran a 13.19. I put her in the (4x100) relay and we won with a 45.78. I was really pleased with that time. Then, we lost Madison in the semifinals of the 100 hurdles. She hit a couple hurdles and almost went down.”
Cheltenham lost a few expected points along the way but also added some. MaryGrace Rittler added to the Panthers’ point total when she picked up an eighth-place medal in the 3,200.
“MaryGrace, a sophomore, ran awesome,” said Jensen. “It was her first state meet and she positioned herself well throughout the race.”
All of the Panthers responded and demonstrated how tough they were. On Saturday, they handled the pressure and they handled the heat.
“The heat took its toll on a lot of teams -- especially teams that rely on distance and middle-distance runners,” said Jensen. “On Saturday, it was in the 90s with high humidity. Sprinters need heat -- so that was to our advantage. In the 4x400, we finished second but still had a time faster than the old state record.”
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