SHIPPENSBURG – Bradford High’s Erin Hannon picked up a gold
medal on Friday at the girls PIAA Class AAA Track and Field
Championships, but the best may be still to come.
Amid heavy rain at times, the Nebraska-bound senior cleared the
high jump bar at 5’7″ to take first place.
Afterward she pointed out that the weather wasn’t a big deal for
her.
“We have this kind of weather all the time in Bradford, so it
wasn’t that bad,” she said. “It happens, you can’t control the
weather.”
Hannon won the event by three inches. The next four positions
were decided on tie breakers after jumpers could do no better than
5’4″.
“This is a big moment for Erin and our program,” said Larry
Stillman, Bradford coach. “This is the first ever gold medal for a
girls track and field athlete in our program’s history.
“We’ve had many silver medals, but Erin is the first to win a
gold.
“She didn’t let the weather bother her. There was on and off
heavy rain, but she just went out, did her job and came through.
It’s the result of years of hard work.
“All of our coaches are very happy for her,” Stillman added.
Today, Hannon will be competing in possibly her best event, the
triple jump, where she is seeded in the top position following a
leap of over 40 feet during the season.
She won her third straight District 9 gold medal in that event
last week with a measurement of 38’10 1/2″.
Hannon also competed in the long jump and 100 hurdles on
Friday.
In the long jump, she placed 6th with a leap of 17’9″. The event
was won by Ryann Krais of Methacton with a measurement of 20’3″
“Erin jumped well. She was going against the best jumpers in the
state, and was able to come away with a medal,” said Stillman.
Hannon ran in Heat 3 of the 100 hurdles where she finished in
third place with a time of 15.31 to qualify for today’s semifinals.
The heat winner was Terhea Doaty of Pine-Richland in 15.11
The best time of the day in the event was a 14.64 posted by
Brianna Broyles of Allentown Allen.
“She did well in the hurdles and is looking forward to today in
both the hurdles and the triple jump,” said Stillman.
The Lady Owls’ Sarah Lonzi placed 7th in her heat of the 1600
run with a time of 5:10.82, which breaks her own school record of
5:12 set earlier this year.
Liz Costello of Conestoga posted the best overall time with a
5:02.73.
“Sarah qualified for the 1600 finals today,” Stillman noted.
“She will run the 3200 in the morning and the 1600 in the
afternoon.
“That’s quite an accomplishment for a sophomore,” he
emphasized.
Bradford’s Chloe Nickel ran a 47.32 in the 300 hurdles which was
one of her best times, according to her coach. This is her first
trip to the state championship meet.
“We’re off to a good start and hopefully we’ll have a good day
Saturday,” Stillman offered.
Bradford’s boys team, meanwhile, was led by the 1600 relay squad
of Shane Hvizdzak, Shroy Mukerjee, Andy Preston and Alex Ita. The
team finished second in their race with a Bradford High record time
of 3:22.59 to advance to the finals today.
The finish guarantees the boys a medal from the PIAA
championships.
“That was the highlight of the meet. It was a super race all the
way around,” said Tom Tessena, Bradford coach. “We were in third
place and we had to finish second to make it to the finals. Alex
Ita caught one of the other teams and passed him right before the
line.
“Alex’s split was 48.8, but all four of these guys really ran
well to make the finals in this relay,” Tessena remarked. “We’ve
never won a medal in this relay. In fact we’ve only ever won one
relay back in 1970 in my first year coaching when we took fourth in
the 3200 relay.”
In this year’s 3200 relay race, however, the Owls team of Steve
Kirkland, Rich Bartlebaugh, Colton Langianese and Shroy Mukerjee
just missed the finals. The top 12 teams advance to the
championship round and Bradford finished 13th in 7:58.92 – the Owls
second-fastest time ever.
“They ran a good race but we just missed making the finals,”
Tessena recalled.
The 400 relay team of Ita, Hvizdzak, Ben Walter and Vanere
Maynard grabbed 20th in 44.3.
Also for Bradford, Colton Langianese ran a time of 1:59.81 in
the 800 meter for 16th place, Rob Bleem turned in a throw of 132′
in the discus to finish 21st and Shane Hvizdzak’s time of 11.48 was
good for 21st in the 100 dash.
Maynard’s 22.70 earned him 21st place in the 200 dash and Dave
Rivera’s leap of 41’10” in the triple jump grabbed him 21st
place.
“It was a day of a lot of mixed emotions as we ran very well in
the 3200 relay but just missed the finals and then the last race of
the day (1600 relay) when every man ran well. It was a dog fight
all the way around. It was a long, hard day, but it had a good
ending.”
Taking part in today’s events at the PIAA championship are Rob
Bleem in the shot put and javelin, Rivera in the long jump and high
jump and the finals of the 1600 relay.
