PIAA District 4 Championships
- Meet Date: Thursday, 5/17 & Saturday, 5/19
- District 4 Leaderboard Links: AA Girls | AAA Girls | AA Boys | AAA Boys
Who To Watch For: Breana Gambrell (Athens Area)
Why?: Gambrell, a Penn State recruit, has been unstoppable in her senior season. Gambrell hasn't lost once this year and has leapt a best of 20 feet or better on five different occasions -- only three girls in PA have jumped 19 feet this season. Gambrell earned a big win at the Penn Relays with a wind-legal 20-04.5. She's won three straight District 4 and PIAA Class AA long jump titles, so she's going for the four-peat. She's also the defending AA state champ in the triple jump.
What to expect: Gambrell jumped a season best of 20-07 at May 11's NTL Championships, a sign that she could be peaking at the right time. It's not far off her PR and NWI state record of 20-08.5 that she set last season as a junior. She also triple jumped 38-04.25 at NTLs, so look for her to want to put forth a big effort at District 4 before states.
Others to watch: Kate Allred (AA - Throws); Megan Hoffman (AAA - Sprints); Piper Klinger (AAA - Throws); Alexis Krall (AA - Javelin); Emily Lunger (AA - Jumps); Isabel Sagar (AA - Distance); Lauren Trapani (AA - Distance); Hailey Zurich (AA - Pole Vault);
Who To Watch For: Keith Dreese (Selinsgrove)
Why?: Dreese is the state's thrower, when you combine the shot put and discus. He enters Districts Week at PA#2 in the shot put with a throw of 56-06 and the PA#2 in the discus with a toss of 174-02. After taking seventh in the shot put and 13th in the discus last year, he's a prime candidate for the win in either of those events and possibly both.
What to expect: First comes this week's District 4 Championships, where Dreese will be the favorite to win both. He's the defending champion in both events and has only gotten better since then, showing off his versatility. He'll get good competition from his own teammate as Brennen Wolf, who isn't far off Dreese in both the shot put and discus.
Others to watch: Isaac Davis (AAA - Distance); Josh Dinges (AA - Javelin); Connor Hess (AA - High Jump); Keith Jason (AAA - Jumps); Tyler Leeser (AA - Mid-Distance); Quinn Serfass (AA - Distance); Allen Taylor (AAA - Hurdles); Brennen Wolf (AAA - Throws); Darien Yeager (AA - Throws)