Today and Friday, District 9 Class AAA and Class AA teams will
face off in their annual track and field championships.
Bradford, Punxsutawney, DuBois, Clearfield and St. Marys will
square off in Kane today, while the Class AA squads — Kane,
Brookville, Coudersport, Otto-Eldred, Elk County Catholic,
Johnsonburg, Cameron County, Northern Potter, Port Allegany, Oswayo
Valley and Smethport among them — will compete Friday at
Brookville.
Districts signal a time of the year where upper-echelon athletes
are weeded out from the field, and it’s at this point of the season
when high schoolers reach their potential, even surpass
expectations. Just as a basketball team may play its best toward
March, a sprinter, jumper, javelin thrower or relay team may record
their best times or distances of the year in May.
That could be why tracksters circle this date at the beginning
of each campaign during the dreary days of April. Foremost, it’s
qualify for districts. Then, at districts, try to cement a spot at
the PIAAs.
Still, with that said, some high school athletes have already
made a name for themselves throughout the season, weeks before they
even thought about defining themselves at districts.
When you transcend the opposition not only in your region, but
in the entire state, recognition is an absolute. And while it seems
unlikely for high school athletes in less obscure schools in
northwest Pennsylvania to do so, 11 of them have reserved their
spots as the commonwealth’s top performers in track and field.
Starting with the boys, there are a combined seven athletes from
double-A and triple-A schools who have made the state’s short list
in their respective events. To note, all the following results have
been attributed to www.athletic.net’s most updated
rankings.
At Bradford High, there are five athletes with such a
distinction. Cody Coats is tied for seventh in the state with
Chester’s Martin Solomon in the 300-meter hurdles, both with a time
of 39.50 seconds. Then, there’s the Owls’ 3200-meter relay team of
Evan Feura, Matthew White, Adam Barnes and Michael White who own
Pennsylvania’s eighth-place time of 8:06.87.
The last two student-athletes have made their marks in field
events, literally. At Class AA Brookville, Ryan Kerr made his with
a throw of 178’8” in the javelin, which is ranked 10th in
Pennsylvania. Another double-A school, Kane, saw Patrick Anderson
reach fourth among the state’s top 10 high school pole vaulters
with a height of 14’4” cleared.
Moving on, there are four girls earning spots within the state’s
apex of performers. Two of them, Kady Weisner and Megan Dornish of
Elk County Catholic (AA), hold not one but two rankings.
Talking shot put, there is no one better statistically than
Dornish. She owns the best mark in Pennsylvania with a throw of 44’
1/4”. The Lady Crusader holds another top-five distinction in the
discus, where a distance of 130’6” has put her in fourth place.
Headed for a track career at Division I Bucknell University,
Weisner solidified a seventh-place time of 2:17.46 in the 800-meter
run and a fifth-place time of 5:01.48 in the 1600-meter event.
In the 3200-meter run, Coudersport’s Emily Giannotti is second.
Her time of 10:58.6 trails only Sara Sargent of Pennsbury, who has
paced the state up to this point in the year with a time of
10:46.09.
Kane’s Ashley Rolick will have judges and spectators buzzing at
the shot put competition in Brookville on Friday. Third in the
state with a 41’2 1/2” mark, Rolick is the imminent contender to
challenge Dornish for the district title.
This group of 11 deserves credit, but that doesn’t take away
from all the other athletes who have worked just as hard and in
some cases are equally talented. Like most athletic events, if you
show up ready, you’re already in the mix to win by default. And, in
districts, that saying couldn’t be more true.
Below are the top times, heights and distances recorded by Class
AAA and AA boys and girls in District 9 this season.
BOYS
Class AAA
100 Dash – Robert Huff (DuBois), 11.20; 200 Dash – Cody Coats
(Bradford), 23.40; 400 Dash – Coats (Bradford), 51.50; 800 Run –
Michael White (Bradford), 1:58.19; 1600 Run – Matthew White
(Bradford), 4:23.77; 3200 Run – Cody Foster (St. Marys), 9:58.93;
100 Hurdles – Alexander Anderson (St. Marys), 15.25; 300 Hurdles –
Coats (Bradford), 39.50; 400 Relay – DuBois, 44.66; 1600 Relay –
Bradford, 3:25.46; 3200 Relay – Bradford, 8:06.87; Shot Put – David
Reinhardt (Bradford), 50’3 1/2”; Discus – Reinhardt (Bradford),
146’11”; Javelin – Brody Morgan (Punxsutawney), 171’1”; High Jump –
Benjamin Johnson (Clearfield) and Zachary Vleminckx (Bradford),
5’10”; Pole Vault – Preston Murrell (Bradford), 12’3”; Long Jump –
Mike Marasco (Bradford), 19’10”; Triple Jump – Scott McKenrick
(Clearfield), 40’8 1/2”
Class AA
100 Dash – Andrew Hepler (Cranberry), 11.40; 200 Dash – Hepler
(Cranberry) and Brett Zuck (Keystone), 23.50; 400 Dash – Hepler
(Cranberry), 51.70; 800 Run – Dan Steudler (Elk Catholic), 1:58.19;
1600 Run – Caleb Lecker (Elk Catholic), 4:40.23; 3200 Run – Harley
Thompson (Elk Catholic), 10:11.88; 110 Hurdles – Andrew Lake
(Kane), 15.30; 300 Hurdles – Lake (Kane), 40.24; 400 Relay –
Redbank Valley and Otto-Eldred, 46.90; 1600 Relay – Elk Catholic,
3:27.77; 3200 Relay – Elk Catholic, 8:13.26; Shot Put – Trevor
Miller (Johnsonburg), 51’5”; Discus – Nathan Guterry (Moniteau),
144’10”; Javelin – Ryan Kerr (Brookville), 178’8”; High Jump –
Vinny Dougherty (Brookville), 6’2”; Pole Vault – Patrick Anderson
(Kane), 14’4”; Long Jump – Zuck (Keystone), 20’10 1/2”; Triple Jump
– Dougherty (Brookville), 42’10 1/2”
GIRLS
Class AAA
100 Dash – Alyssa Sciremammano (DuBois), 13.0; 200 Dash – Anna
Pfingstler (DuBois), 26.90; 400 Dash – Pfingstler (DuBois),
1:00.10; 800 Run – Jordan Ball (DuBois), 2:26.31; 1600 Run – Adair
Gennocro (St. Marys), 5:14.93; 3200 Run – Samantha Thompson
(DuBois), 11:41.44; 100 Hurdles – Danielle Sciremammano (DuBois),
16.02; 300 Hurdles – Emily Marshall (Bradford), 48.01; 400 Relay –
DuBois, 51.87; 1600 Relay – DuBois, 4:12.6; 3200 Relay – St. Marys,
9:47.38; Shot Put – Alexis DeNapoli (DuBois), 33’4”; Discus –
Natalie Frisina (Bradford), 108’4”; Javelin – Nikki Martz
(Punxsutawney), 110’1”; High Jump – Alexis Bianco (Punxsutawney)
and Kayla Hoohuli (St. Marys), 5’1”; Pole Vault – Nicole Teribery
(Bradford), 6’; Long Jump – Kirsten Dean (Punxsutawney), 15’11”;
Triple Jump – Danielle Sciremammano (DuBois), 33’8
Class AA
100 Dash – Lanae Newsome (Brookville), 12.40; 200 Dash – Newsome
(Brookville), 26.00; 400 Dash – Emily Gregory (Elk Catholic),
1:01.34; 800 Run – Kady Weisner (Elk Catholic), 2:17.46; 1600 Run –
Weisner (Elk Catholic), 5:01.48; 3200 Run – Emily Giannotti
(Coudersport), 10:58.6; 100 Hurdles – Jessy Mathewson (Brookville),
16.30; 300 Hurdles – Aisha Newsome (Brookville), 48.70; 400 Relay –
Brookville, 51.20; 1600 Relay – Elk Catholic, 4:10.66; 3200 Relay –
Johnsonburg, 10:19.92; Shot Put – Megan Dornish (Elk Catholic), 44’
1/4”; Discus – Dornish (Elk Catholic), 130’6”; Javelin – Kiesha
Dornish (Johnsonburg), 122’3”; High Jump – Amelia Kepler (Kane),
5’; Pole Vault – Jocelynn Cochran (Otto-Eldred) and Megan Werner
(Elk Catholic), 10’; Long Jump – Molly Eshbach (Elk Catholic), 16’9
1/2”; Triple Jump – Lanae Newsome (Brookville) and Gina Kane
(Kane), 33’4”
