Girls' Long Jump
State College's Veronika Karpenko jumped to PA#1 at the PTFCA Carnival and is the top seed Sunday (Photo by Don Rich)
A crazy year in the long jump, but who brings 'it' on Sunday?
Perhaps no event has fluctuated more this season than the
girls' long jump. Seemingly out of nowhere, State College's Taylor Givens took
over the top spot in the state with a huge PR at Susquehanna on January 31.
Then the PTFCA Carnival shook everything up, as the top three long jump
performances occurred in one meet.
At last year's state meet, a freshman---Madison Langely-Walker of Cheltenham---pulled an upset victory with a jump of 17-11. But this year, six girls enter the state meet having jumped over 18 feet. Langley-Walker isn't under that radar anymore. She's the fourth seed coming in, but will certainly have the state champ target on her back.
The top seed is Veronika Karpenko of State College. Karpenko was maybe seen more as a triple jump specialist coming into the season, but she went over 18 twice this season, including a huge indoor PR in the long of 18-10.25 to win at the Carnival. That shot her up to PA#1, and awarded her the top seed for Sunday.
Yasmin Brooks of Susquehanna Township is the second seed after a huge PR a few weeks ago (Photo by Don Rich)
Yasmin Brooks of Susquehanna Township was the breakthrough performer of the Carnival in the long jump, PRing by over foot to finish just a half-inch behind Karpenko. All of sudden, Brooks has made herself a threat this weekend. Cedar Cliff's Dazjanique Williams, who has put together a very consistent season all around the track and field, took third in that Carnival long jump at 18-8.5, and will be in the mix at states. After Givens' big jump at Susquehanna, you can't forget about her.
After that, Downingtown East's Evelyn Berecz, Seton-LaSalle's Raja Rutherford, Greensburg Salem's Julia Howard, and Perkiomen Valley's Christina Warren complete a field where only a little over a foot separates the top nine seeds. Someone in that group will walk away from Penn State without a long jump medal, making this one of the deepest fields in the state. There's really no clear favorite here. Last year, Langley-Walker was "on" on the right day. That's the key this year, but who will step up this time around?
List of entries:
Event 27 Girls Long Jump (15)
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9 to the finals
State Meet: 20-01.25 3/5/1994 Angie Brown, Villa Maria Academy
Name Year School Seed Mark
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1 Karpenko, Veronika 12 State College 18-10.25
2 Brooks, Yasmin 11 Susquehanna 18-09.75
3 Williams, Dazjanique 12 Cedar Cliff 18-08.50
4 Langley-Walker, Madison 10 Cheltenham 18-06.00
5 Givens, Taylor 10 State College 18-04.50
6 Berecz, Evelyn 11 D-Town East 18-02.00
7 Rutherford, Raja 12 Seton-LaSalle 17-10.50
8 Howard, Julia 12 Greensburg Salem 17-10.25
9 Warren, Christina 9 Perkiomen Valley 17-09.00
10 Dorsey, Avani 11 Imhotep 17-06.00
11 Dunham, Rainah 11 Methacton 17-05.25
12 Jones, Alison 12 Arch Ryan 17-05.00
13 Bondi, Rebekah 11 Perkiomen Valley 17-02.00
14 Ponton, Trinity 11 Wyomissing 17-01.75
15 Long, Karina 10 Lower Dauphin 16-11.00