Cory's Stories: Defiance, family predictions, and taking care of business

 

In the boys’ PIAA Class AAA 3,200-meter run, it was one special effort by Council Rock North senior Ross Wilson that took everyone’s collective breath away.

 

Racing on the heels of West Chester Henderson’s Tony Russell in the final 100 meters, Wilson put hammer to nail and finished one of the most impressive performances in the 3200 in the state’s history, scoring a PIAA record 8:56.29. 

 

“It’s a surreal feeling,” said Wilson, a University of Pennsylvania recruit. “You work for it every day, and you feel it in every 400 at the end of practice. Every workout that I’ve done since last year, this has been in the back of my head. It all paid off today.” 

 

This race was something to remember. Whether it was Dallas’ Dominic Deluca taking out an ambitious field through the first mile and a half, or whether it was Russell’s impressive will power that motivated him through the final 800 – he was running on a bum left ankle, it didn’t disappoint. 

 

Russell, for what it’s worth, finished in 8:58.26, which technically would have also been a state meet record. But after Wilson passed him in the final few meters, you could sense the wind was taken out of the Penn State commit. 

 

“I wanted to win, because I’ll have other chances to break the state record,” he said. “I can do nationals. I don’t know. It’s kind of disappointing to lose.” 

 

The same rationale befit Deluca, who had enough stamina to last through the first six laps. He finished in fifth at 9:07.33, while Fox Chapel’s Colin Martin was third in 8:59.90 and Cardinal O’Hara’s Kevin James was 9:03.19. 

 

The field was completely stacked, and nearly eight runners were with the top of the pack through the first mile, which came through in 4:28. 

 

But it was Wilson and Russell and Martin who stayed on pace throughout. While Russell and DeLuca battled for control almost the entire way, Wilson was content to sit back and let the pace dictate itself. 

 

“I wasn’t in front of the race until the final 80 meters and I took it from there,” Wilson said. “They took it out in perfect time for me and I do well going out hard and staying at that pace.” 

 

The chance to beat Russell was firmly in Wilson’s mind, too. 

 

“Tony hasn’t lost a race in Pa. since last year,” Wilson said. “He’s dominated the space. He’s unbelievable. I got tired of losing to him. I like him. He’s a good kid. But I didn’t want to lose. You get sick of seeing the same kid ahead of you every race. So I just said, ‘Today will not be the day.’”

 

And in the end, regardless of how he got there, Wilson is sure that the feeling of gold in the final race of his career is worth more than words can describe – although he does a very good job of that, too. 

 

“There’s never been a race I’ve run where I didn’t tell myself I wasn’t going to win,” Wilson said. “Every single one, I say ‘this is my day. Many state championships I haven’t been right. But as long as you’re right in one of them, it makes you feel pretty darn good.” 

 

 

 

Over-achiever.

 

But on Saturday at the PIAA Class AA championships, the Northern Bedford senior also came to the realization that sometimes the plan doesn’t necessarily always have the best outcome. 

 

Seeded 17th heading into the long jump – of which he barely squeaked into the field from District 5 – Over outclassed the rest of the field en route to a winning leap of 22-4, a personal record by over five inches. 

 

He also scored a third-place performance in the triple jump with a mark of 44-2.75. It was his second consecutive third-place outing in the triple jump at states. 

 

“We were thinking the triple jump [would be his best event] just based on the seeding,” his coach Jeff Batzel said. “But I’ve said all along that I think his best event is the long jump. He picked the right day to have the best jump of his life.” 

 

The 6-foot-5 senior, an impressive athlete who will be competing in both football and track at St. Francis College next fall and spring, didn’t even arrive at the long jump with the mentality that he would medal. 

 

“That was a little scary knowing I was in the bottom half of the seeding,” he said.

 

But he managed to qualify for the finals anyway, uncorking the winning leap on his fifth attempt. 

 

Then again, it wasn’t too much of a surprise. Over certainly had the potential to win. 

 

He had been training in the events since the seventh grade and had been routinely hitting jumps in the high 21s and scratching in the low 22s throughout the season, he said. 

 

By Saturday, he thought, anything could happen. The gold medal wasn’t the expected outcome, but he certainly wasn’t going to argue with it. 

 

“I wanted to see if I could get my best jump ever,” Over said. “I knew it was my last meet as a high school [athlete], so I just wanted to put everything I had in it and do my best.” 

 

 

 

 

But she said she didn’t want to be, well, too confident. 

 

“I was trying to mentally prepare,” she said of entering the event Saturday morning, “but I didn’t want to be cocky in any way. I was excited and I was ready. I knew Tamaqua were going to give me a fight.” 

 

Turns out, that reserved attitude served her just right, as Lucas claimed her second straight state title with a heave of 153-5, which was almost 20 feet farther than second-place Anna Bailey of Bishop McDevitt (135-3). 

 

It wasn’t a personal best – she had done that in early May at the WPIAL AA South Section Qualifier with a mark of 157-4 – but it was a good throw. 

 

“I came this year hopeful and thinking I could take it again,” Lucas said. “I’m overjoyed about it. I’ll cherish these moments.”

 

Ultimately, Lucas said, her competitive nature guided her on Saturday. A year ago, she had won the state title, but Tamaqua’s Christine Streisel had thrown the state’s top throw of 164-6. 

 

It kind of got to her. The senior wanted to throw 160 this year. She had grown up in a family of mostly men, around a father who had four brothers. She had a brother and two step siblings herself. 

 

Whether she was playing ping pong or chess, Lucas always wanted to win. 

 

“I’m so competitive,” she said. “I want to win so bad.”

 

She took the javelin on Saturday, but it almost seemed too easy. Which is why she left a little to be desired – almost like a fighting spirit – though she was certainly content with the gold. 

 

“It’s definitely a big deal,” she said. “I’ll always have these memories.” 

 

 

 

Phillips make a family prediction come true.

 

You could fail and wallow in your misery. Or you could rise to the occasion. 

 

On Saturday, Phillips certainly did that, coming back from a deficit on the sixth and last jump of her event to win the triple jump in 37-7. It was the first state title of her career. 

 

She had placed fifth as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore, but she failed to qualify as a junior, finishing fourth at the District 4 meet in 2013. 

 

That was probably the straw that broke Phillips for the last time. 

 

“States is about being the best on this day, not necessarily getting your personal record,” she said. “So I’m grateful with how it turned out. 

 

“I’ve been working toward this for four years. I’m finally on top of that podium with that gold medal and I really wanted to do it for my coaches, my family, my supporters and my mom.” 

 

Turns out, they had all been predicting it since Phillips was in the eighth grade. It was then when they first announced that Phillips would earn a gold medal. 

 

It’s guided her the rest of the way. Earlier this winter, she had placed sixth in the triple jump at the PTFCA Indoor State championships. Last week, she hit her PR of 38-5 at the District 4 championships, exactly a year after she failed to qualify the season before. 

 

“I’ve been going through some adversity the past few years,” Phillips said. “And they’ve been there, through thick and thin, whether it was about jumping or not. Sometimes I’d just have a bad day.

 

“It means a lot, because they’ve wanted this, too. They said I’d be a state champ. It’s just big. Go big or go home on your last year, right?” 

 

Phillips had qualified for the finals and stood at 37-1 on her final jump. She trailed second-place Abby Martin of Boiling Springs (37-6.5) by a considerable margin. 

 

But that’s when Phillips rose to the occasion. The leap wasn’t her PR, but it was certainly the best of the morning, which she was not going to deny.   

 

“The pressure was unreal,” Phillips said. “I never want to go through that again. It makes the victory feel that much more real.” 

 

 

 

Davis reaches new heights.

 

That’s not a metaphor. Davis, a Shippensburg University commit, is literally a giant, standing close to 6-foot-7 – maybe even 6-foot-8 on a good day. 

 

But it has taken just a year for Davis to integrate into an event that seemingly was built for him. He won the PIAA Class AAA boy’s high jump on Saturday with a mark of 6-10, a personal best. 

 

“It feels good and it makes you less stressful,” Davis said. 

 

It started at indoors just a year earlier, when Davis was asked to try out. He had played basketball earlier, but it didn’t suit him, he said. He followed his friends to the track. 

 

Within weeks on the track he had risen over the bar at 6-3.

 

By the end of the season in January, he had landed a 6-7 leap at the Chester County Indoor championships. 

 

By May, he had raised that to an inch, and on Saturday, he stunned the crowd when he hit 6-10. 

 

Davis, quiet and to the point, said about of his improvement that it was “countless hours and lifting weights,” though more likely went into it. 

 

With long arms and legs, Davis had to learn how to contort his body at the right angles. He had to learn what speed to employ on the runway. And he had to tilt his back over the bar almost for a lifetime, that huge frame gliding with each pop off the track. 

 

He came into states on Saturday with a mission. “I wanted to win,” he said. “And have no misses. I did that.” 

 

 

 

SHIPPENSBURG –  It’s not often that a freshman steps to the line at the PIAA Class AA boys’ 100-meter dash and blows away the field. 

 

But perhaps 2014 was no ordinary year. 

 

Bloomsburg freshman Jahvel Hemphill secured a gold medal on his first attempt, finishing in 10.80 seconds. He defeated Springfield’s Jhaloni Johnson (10.86) and Shady Side’s Louis Berry (10.91) in one of the quickest finals in recent memory. 

 

But during the preliminaries and semifinals, Hemphill didn’t run under 11 seconds. 

 

Which is what makes the sub-11 time so much more thrilling. 

 

“I had kick in me,” said Hemphill, who is an up-and-coming football player with Bloomsburg. “Usually sprinters, when you’re pressed after 60 meters, it’s your top speed. But I just had it in the end.” 

 

Perhaps a little bit more went into the perfect race. We can start with the block start, Hemphill said, which was whip fast.  

 

“I was practicing my start for the last two weeks,” he said. 

 

And the end-of-race lean didn’t hurt, either. 

 

“Practicing on that lean from the last race,” he said. “It’s that lean. 

 

Tracing back into the season, however, revealed that Hemphill wasn’t actually healthy. He had dealt with a nagging hamstring injury all season. It may be one reason why he came into states under the radar. 

 

Maybe the field forgot his 10.4 hand-held time – which, he said, couldn’t exactly be trusted – but Hemphill had run under 11 one previous time. 

 

That came at the Susquehanna University High School Classic in April, when he ran 10.95 seconds. 

 

“I’ve done it before.” 

 

But when it came again on Saturday he didn’t necessarily, you know, trust what he was seeing. 

 

“I didn’t really believe it at first,” he said. “I still can’t believe it.” 

 

 

 

 

That certainly was true for Hempfield Area’s Bridget Guy on Saturday, who scored the PIAA Class AAA girls’ pole vault with a winning mark of 12-6. 

 

It had come on her second attempt at the height, and it couldn’t have been, she said, a moment too soon. 

 

“It was incredibly special because this whole year I’ve been working hard,” she said. “In practice the bungy is up at 13 feet and I’m right there. 

 

“So for it to happen here, in my last meet as a senior, it’s incredibly awesome.” 

 

It’s also special when you win your first individual title. 

 

Guy had experienced it as a team before with Hempfield’s 400-meter relay team – and she experienced it again later in the day Saturday, when the team won the title again in 47.04 seconds. 

 

But never as an individual. 

 

Originally a gymnast who converted to the pole vault in the seventh grade, it wasn’t until high school when she decided to prioritize the event over everything else. 

 

“I had to,” she said. “Gymnastics were too risky and I didn’t want to get hurt.” 

 

On Saturday, she used a 13-7 foot, 150-pound pole. Also a sprinter, she negotiated a 81-foot spread between the runway and the box, placing in her correct position to secure a successful jump.

 

“It depends on the runway,” she said of her parameters. “All athletes are different. If I’m not matching the mark where I’m supposed to be, then I have to adjust my steps or adjust my run.” 

 

The only time she became nervous arrived when a handful of others were still in the competition at 12 feet. But that quickly subsided after she cleared the height and moved ahead of the field. 

 

“I got a little nervous. I missed 12 on my first attempt,” she said. “I knew I had to jump higher. And I did.” 

 

 

 

SHIPPENSBURG –  It was only her third 3,200-meter race of her career. To say Pennridge junior Marissa Sheva was inexperienced in the 3200 would be an understatement. 

 

She was a down right novice. 

 

Still, there’s a huge difference between racing experience and actual fitness.

 

And on Saturday, no one could deny how impressive Sheva looked in the 3,200-meter run, sitting for six laps before unleashing a gorgeous half-mile kick to take the field in 10:25.85. 

 

She let others do the work, before she eventually stole it in the final laps. 

 

It almost looked easy, as if the hard working Regan Rome of Dallas was destined to finish in second – which she did in 10:31.58. 

 

Following a lead pack that separated within the first 800, Sheva stuck with Rome, Cumberland Valley’s Mady Clahane and Pottsville’s Paige Stoner through the mile at 5:15. 

 

It was a solid pace, but it was apparent, Sheva said, that whomever would win would negative split. 

 

Sheva was the last person standing, going hard in the last 600 to out leg Rome toward the finish. Stone finished third in 10:41.96 while Clahane was fourth in 10:47.25. 

 

“We knew the state meet record was 10:21 and I knew we would be close to that,” Sheva said. “I was kind of disappointed when we were four seconds off, because there were so many points in the race where I could have thrown a surge in that would have gotten me 10:20. 

 

“But I couldn’t really complain about it, because I came away a state champ.” 

 

Where this story picks up steam is in the fact that Sheva could be transitioning to the longer distance, after spending so many years dedicated to the mile. 

 

She still ran the race on Saturday and finished sixth in 4:55.69, but she didn’t look as good as she did earlier – a product, perhaps, of a two and a half hour gap between races. 

 

It left the question of whether Sheva would make the switch to the 3,200 more prominently in her senior campaign. 

 

“I’ve always focused on the mile,” she said. “I love the mile. I knew I would run both this year, knowing I could possibly sacrifice my mile race. I would have been in shape to run in the 4:40s. 

 

“But I’m thinking about it,” she added. “That was only my third time racing it. And it’s when you first start something, you know you can make leaps and bounds with it.” 

 

 

 

SHIPPENSBURG –  There’s a strategy to McKenna Keegan’s race in the 400. 

 

If she can hear footsteps, she says, she’s knows she has to make a move. 

 

On Saturday, she peeked to her right and heard footsteps – it happened to be second-place Sarah Helgeson of Hempfield, who finished in 55.60 seconds – and promptly proceeded to shift gears. 

 

The Avon Grove sophomore, after finishing seventh year ago, won the race in 55.15 seconds, a personal record. 

 

It was her first state championship. 

 

“That’s when I had to go,” she said of the footsteps, “because I knew I wasn’t going to give up. I put everything in me and just went for it.” 

 

A soccer player in the fall who has featured on state championship clubs in Delaware, Keegan isn’t exactly gushing about track just yet. 

 

But she enjoys the competition. The long-legged sophomore certainly has the talent for it. 

 

“I have a pretty good stride length,” she admitted. “In the straightaways I can usually open up and relax.” 

 

For now, it’s soccer. Two years from now? Who knows? 

 

“I like soccer better and have done it longer than track, so I guess you can consider this my side sport, but I enjoy soccer more.

 

“But mostly that’s because I’ve been doing that all my life.” 

 

 

 

 

It’s the pink headband. 

 

“I think I’ve had some of my better races in the pink headband,” she said. “I stopped wearing the purple one because I didn’t have good races with that one. It was really stupid.” 

 

While that sounds a little ritual – and Weisner herself dismisses the actual powers of the pink headband – there’s something to be said about routine and comfort. 

 

If the pink headband works, why not use it? 

 

On Saturday, Weisner defended her PIAA Class AA titles in the 800 and 1,600, winning both races with ease. However, she did it much more emphatically this time around, with more confidence and with a little more swagger. 

 

In 2013, she barely edged out Trinity's Shannon Quinn in the 800. This year, she left nothing to chance. 

 

“I felt a lot more relaxed this year, and just mentally I was better this year than last year,” she said. 

 

Weisner scored a win in the 1,600 in 4:45.99 and following in the 800 in 2:09.46 – the first a personal record and the second, agonizingly close to another. The 1600 time was also the fastest on the day.

 

There seemed to be a new confidence in Weisner at states this year. She had committed to Georgetown University earlier in 2014, and on Saturday, any type of mental pressure seemed under the rug. 

 

“I think overall I ran better than I did last year, so that’s good,” she said. 

 

Still, she didn’t overestimate what these wins meant in the grander scheme of her career. 

 

With four state titles in track and another in cross country, Weisner had the type of career that most will only dream. 

 

“Especially after cross country when I was injured, it reinforced to me not to take anything for granted,” she said of this fall’s PIAA Cross Country state championships, when she ran on a stress fracture. “Anything can happen and it can be out of your control.” 

 

On Saturday, Weisner left nothing to chance. 

 

Along with her pink headband, she finished out her career in style.