We have reached the midseason point of the season. PennTrack looks back at some of the highlights of the first half and attempts to predict what will happen in the 2nd half of the season.
Athletes of the First Half
Girls
Track
This one didn't take too much time to figure out. After winning 9 out of her 11 races and spending time in the national top five in the 55m, 60m, and 200m dashes, Taylor Chapman of Pennridge is the girls track athlete of the first half. Chapman started with a 25.52 performance at the opening DVGTCA meet and hasn't looked back since. She's won the last two major Armory 200 meter dashes, and she was 2nd in the Hispanic Games 55 meter dash. She has either equaled or broken her all of her personal bests from 55 meters up to 300 meters. She currently sits on top of the state rankings in the 55m, 60m, and 200m dashes, and sits in the US top five in the 55 and 200 meter dashes.
Honorable Mentions
Ciara Leonard, Cheltenham
Sarah Walker, Germantown Friends
Field
The winner of the field event award could be part of one of the best shot put duals in PA girls shot put history. The story becomes even more remarkable considering Emily Stauffer of Cocalico missed the majority of last season with injury, opening the door for Courtney McCartney of Selinsgrove to run away as the shot putter of the year in 2014. This season, Stauffer has gone unbeaten in the shot put, with one of those victories being against the reigning indoor champion McCartney. She is throwing better now than she did prior to her injury last January. Her mark of 47-10 is US#3, while her rival sits at US#4 at 47-8.50. Stauffer has the field athlete of the first half award, but what will it take for her to keep that honor when it matters?
Honorable Mentions
Erica Voyzey, Tyrone Area
Aspen Gaita, Stroudsburg
Boys
Track
We may have never seen an athlete have as hot an opening month to a season as Sam Ritz of Germantown Academy had this season. Ritz ran three races to start the season and ran a US#1 time in each race. It started with a mile run a week after the Foot Locker Regionals, followed by a US#1 win in the 1000, and then the huge 1:52.81 800 meter run he had at the Marine Corps Games against John Lewis of Cheltenham. To cap it all off, Ritz qualified for the Millrose Games mile in February. Ritz has his 800 meter time sitting at US#2 and his 1000 meter time at US#3.
Honorable Mentions
John Lewis, Cheltenham
Christian Brissett, Cheltenham
Field
Perhaps the toughest award to give out, as several athletes are deserving of this honor. But having the state lead in two events gives Isaiah Brooks of Woodland Hills the edge. The long jump champion has held the state top spot since before Christmas, with a US#2 23-6, which is only an inch and quarter off the national lead. He tops the triple jump at 46-2.5 at the moment, and he has yet to taste defeat this season. Will anyone be able to catch the champion?
Honorable Mentions
Ryan Wilkes, Valley View
Jordan Geist, Knoch
Meet of the season
Two meets have been huge for PA athletes this season, but the Marine Corps Holiday Classic on December 29 in New York created the most buzz inside the Armory Track and Field Center. You had Sam Ritz and John Lewis dual it out in a blazing 800 meter run, with the two of them breaking 1:53 and recording the two best times in the country. Taylor Chapman of Pennridge and Christian Brissett of Cheltenham both ran US#2 times in the 200 meter dash. Cheltenham girls nearly missed breaking 1:43 in the 4x200 meter relay. Those performances send shockwaves through the building and got PA fans excited for what is to come for the rest of the season!
Honorable Mentions
Hispanic Games
Burdette Classic
Event of the season
Boys
As mentioned earlier, the dual between Sam Ritz of Germantown Academy and John Lewis of Cheltenham in the 800 meter run at the Marine Corps meet was a huge race for both competitors. Both individuals ran big indoor personal bests in a dual that saw Lewis lead from the beginning, only for Ritz to hang tough and pass him in the final 100 meters. Ritz won by .07 seconds to earn US#1 honors at the time. Both athletes ran huge personal bests in that performance.
Honorable Mentions
Hispanic Games 4x400 Meter Relay (Cheltenham vs Penn Wood)
Yale Classic 3000 Meter Run (Five under 9 minutes)
Girls
The Lebanon Valley College Invitational featured the first of what may be several head to head match ups between the last two indoor state shot put champions. Emily Stauffer of Cocalico took a huge step on her road back to the top with an inch and a half win over reigning indoor champion Courtney McCartney of Selinsgrove. Both got close to 48 feet, which begs the question of how far the two can get come March 1 and beyond.
Honorable Mentions
Yale Classic 800 Meter Run (US#1 Sarah Walker leads PA 1-2-3 finish)
Hispanic Games 200 Meter Dash (Taylor Chapman vs Brooklynn Broadwater)
How does PA's top marks rank nationally?
The girls of PA have the edge against the boys of PA in terms of number of US top 5, top 10, and top 20 performances this season. The girls have 41 top 20 performances, including 12 US top five's and 8 US top three's. The boys have 30 US top twenty performances, but only have 8 top five marks and 5 US top three's. Sarah Walker of Germantown Friends is the lone girls US#1 performer (2:10.52 800), while Cheltenham has the lone boys US#1 (3:20.08 4x400).
What to expect in the 2nd half
Now that Western PA has started to get their spikes on and record some marks, the rest of the indoor season should be very exciting. Saturday will mark the beginning of the TSTCA Indoor series at Edinboro University. We also have big meets at Penn State and the Armory to look forward to in the next several weeks, as well as all of the PTFCA Indoor Carnival and the Meets of Champions across the state.
We expect a lot of excitement in the next few weeks, especially with the new state qualifying format, which will keep relay teams and athletes that are on the bubble on their toes and they wait to see if they will make the March 1 state meet.
What kind of impact will the Western PA schools make? Can they make a huge dent in what has been a season where the Eastern part of the state has been flying since day 1? Or will they struggle to make up the gap created?
Any state records at states? Absolutely! We will call for 2 new state records.
How many defending champions will keep their titles? We say 7 out of 20 defending champions (including relays) will keep their titles.
Event to watch? Girls shot put. This could be the best chance PA has of having two 50 foot throwers in one season.
Athlete to watch: Jordan Geist, Knoch. He's a special talent who is close to the 62 foot mark in the shot put as a 10th grader. From the state that produced world champion Ryan Whiting, perhaps we are seeing the next great thrower to come out of PA.
Our wish for the 2nd half: For Mother Nature to keep blessing us with no crippling storms and for PA improve their current US top 20 numbers (41 for girls, 30 for boys).
Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to seeing you in the 2nd half!