PTFCA Carnival - Boys' Recap
SPRINTS/HURDLES
Germantown Academy's Kyle Garland had quite the day, picking up three wins during a busy Carnival. Let's start with the hurdles, where he ran a season best of 8.12 over the distance. He sits just back of Ayden Owens' PA#1 in the event, setting up what will be a very exciting battle at the state meet in a few weeks. More from Garland shortly.
In the 60 meter dash, it was Springfield (Delco)'s Philip Shovlin that brought his 'A' game to the 60 meters. Shovlin ran a time of 7.05 to win the finals of the 60 in what was a pretty open field coming into the day. Williamsport's Dante Wright was second and Norristown's Austin Montgomery was third in the final.
In the 400 meters, Abington's Aaron Sooknanan bested the field, winning in 52.39, and then Susquehanna Township's Jalik Smith took the win in the 200 meters in a time of 23.14.
Photo by Bill Shearn
DISTANCE
In the mile, we mentioned in our preview how Rustin's Brandon Hontz would matchup with Wyomissing's Joe Cullen and Springfield (Delco)'s Joe Cardie just like they did in a great race at Kevin Dare. While that race came down to the final lap, Hontz pulled away from the field earlier this time and took the win in 4:23.40. Cullen was second, Souderton's Connor McMenamin was third, and Cardie was fourth.
Owen J. Roberts' Liam Conway won the 800 meters in a time of 1:59.35, beating out Milton Hershey's Austin Padmore, who ran a 1:59.52.
JP McCaskey's Nathan Henderson looked very strong en route to a second straight win in the 3000 meters at the PTFCA Carnival. Henderson ran 8:43.79, about five seconds faster than his time at this meet last year. That's also a PA#2. While Nick Dahl may invest his energy in the relays again this year, Henderson could be the favorite in the 3K at states in a few weeks.
FIELD
Garland also took home wins in the high jump and long jump. Garland cleared 6-9 in the high jump, just shy of his PR of 6-10. He just missed on a few tries at 6-11. It was a good battle between him and Williamsport's Qayyim Ali, the defending champion in the event. Ali also cleared 6-9 (PA#2), but Garland had the advantage on jump.
Garland wasn't done, though. He also jumped 22-7, a PR and PA#3 in the long jump to take the win there, bringing his total to three golds on the day. Garland popped that jump on his first attempt and won by a mere quarter inch over Conestoga Valley's Jose Barbon, who jumped 22-6.75 for second (Barbon still sits at PA#2). Schuylkill Valley's Brendan Sparr was third in a T-PA#4 jump of 22-3.75. Watch an interview with Garland above.
Photo by Patty Morgan
The shot put was very competitive and it saw a huge throw from Chambersburg's Kelton Chastulik. Chastulik threw a PA#3 58-4.25 for the win, which moves him up in the state rankings. He wasn't the only one putting up big throws. North Pocono's Matt Slagus threw a PA#8 56-3.25 for second and Greencastle-Antrim's Campbell Parker tossed a PA#10 56-0 for third.
Kennett's Xavier Feliciano put on a great show in the pole vault. Feliciano cleared a big PR of 15-0 to win the event in a big way. His previous PR was 14-9 from outdoors, but now he sits at PA#3 as it's shaping up to be one of the more interesting events in the state.
RELAYS
Abington led off the meet with a win in the 4x800, running away with the win in a time of 8:16. Susquehanna Township won the 4x200 in 1:34.06, beating out second place Penn Wood, which ran 1:34.85.
West Chester Rustin took a big win in the DMR, running 10:49.63 for the win. Hontz, who won the mile earlier in the day, anchored the winning Rustin team. Then, in a back-and-forth duel in the 4x400, it was Milton Hershey that claimed the win in 3:28.08 over Abington and Overbrook.
Watch the 4x400 fast section below: