NEW BALANCE NATIONALS
PHOTOS: Don Rich, Lisa McArthur, Chuck Martin
FRIDAY UPDATES
Casey Comber of Hatboro Horsham and Dominic Hockenbury of Lake Lehman became PA's first indoor All Americans for 2015! The duo put themselves in the hunt and never looked back, getting on the shoulder of the top two with one mile to go. Comber held on well in the last mile to finish 3rd in 14:51.83, while Hockenbury held on for 5th in 15:08.59. Aaron Gebhart of New Oxford was one place and 2 seconds off All American honors, running 15:11.78 to finish 7th.
Friends Central girls snagged the 6th and final All American position in the distance medley relay, running a state leading 12:04.32. Gabrielle Wilkinson split 3:36 on the lead off leg and Emily Burd split 5:01 on the anchor. Unionville finished 10th in 12:15.23 to finish 10th. Abby Jones of Franklin Area cleared 5-6.50 to finish 10th in the girls championship high jump.
In Emerging Elite action, we had one gold medalist and that went to Kornelius Klah of Pennsbury, who had to recover from a slow start to come from behind after the final hurdle and win the boys 60 meter hurdles in 8.08. His teammate Uche Onuoha finished 2nd in the girls 60 meter hurdles in 8.76.
Evan Blaire of Hickory threw a PA#2 56-4.50 to finish 2nd in the boys shot put.
Jahvel Hemphill of Bloomsburg ran 7.04 in the 60 meter dash to finish 4th. Katie Kravitsky of Dallas cleared 5-4.50 to finish 2nd in the high jump. Grace Becker of CB East finished 6th with the same clearance. Maggie Toczko of Tunkhannock finished 7th in the 3200 meter run in 11:00.14. Natasha Fedkina of State College ran 2:16.13 to finish 10th in the 800. Madison Langley-Walker of Cheltenham had a pair of 8th place finishes in the long jump (17-8.75) and the 60 meter hurdles (9.13).
Scott Schlegel of Emmaus became the new state leader in the high jump after winning the emerging elite event with a clearance of 6-7.50! Abington boys finished 3rd in the emerging elite 4x4 with a season best 3:24.67. Hayden Fox of Hempfield (7) finished 4th in the pole vault with a clearance of 14-10.25
SATURDAY UPDATES
Cheltenham recorded two state records to highlight the PA performances on day 2 of the New Balance National Indoor championships!
First, the Cheltenham girls earned a trip to the 4x200 meter relay final for the 2nd straight year. Their time of 1:38.64 was the 3rd fastest in qualifying and it breaks their old record of 1:39.00 they set in the finals of last year's national championships! Chanel Brissett split 24.09 on the anchor leg, the 2nd fastest in the event on the day.
The Cheltenham boys followed suit and broke their own state record in the sprint medley relay. The US#1 team entering the race ran 3:25.32 to break their old record of 3:26.11 they set back on January 24. But despite a 1:51.45 800 meter split by John Lewis, it was 2 seconds slower than the split of the winning team, meaning the Panthers had to settle for silver.
PA did have two winners on the day. Gabrielle Wilkinson of Friends Central led four PA athletes into the top ten with a gold medal performances in 4:56.44. It's her 2nd straight mile win at the New Balance Indoor National meet. The other winner was Miles Green of St Joe's Prep, as he ran 50.84 to win the freshmen 400 meter dash!
The 4th All American honor for PA on the weekend went to the Germantown Friends girls sprint medley relay. The Lady Tigers finished 4th with a time of 4:02.99 with a 2:09.85 800 meter split from Sarah Walker!
Ryan Wilkes of Valley View also earned All American honors in the pole vault, finishing in 4th place with a PA#2 all time clearance of 16-6, missing the all time state record by just two inches! Jordan Geist of Knoch also earned a 4th place finish at nationals, throwing 61-7.75 in the shot put.
As for the rest of the meet, Aspen Gaita of Strousdburg finished 7th in the girls pentathlon with a score of 3368, which included an 8.88 60 meter hurdle performance. Emily Stauffer of Cocalico threw 44-7 to finish 10th in the shot put. Alexandra Kitchell of Springside Chestnut Hill ran 58.77 to finish 5th in the girls shot put. Her teammate Brooklynn Broadwater was 10th in the 400 meter prelims in 56.24. Methacton girls also secured a 10th place finish, running 34.70 in the shuttle hurdle relay. Upper Darby boys missed the 4x2 final by .006 seconds with a 7th place finish of 1:28.977.
Lastly, in the infield prelims, Ciara Leonard of Cheltenham (8.46) and Sierra Brabham-Lawrence of Harrisburg (8.55) cruised to the semifinal round of the 60 meter hurdles. Mitch Valko of South Fayette ran 8.11 to make the boys 60 meter hurdle semifinals. Mason Weh of Upper Darby ran 8.16 to take the last spot in those semifinals. Taylor Chapman of Pennridge ran 7.61 to make the girls 60 meter dash semifinals, while PA will have 3 athletes in the boys 60 dash semis led by Christian Brissett of Cheltenham, and the Church Farm duo of Nkosi Pile and Osiris Nicholson.
SUNDAY UPDATES
Cheltenham boys proved they belonged in the US#1 spot in the 4x4 by securing the national championship in comfortable fashion! The team of Cordell Richardson, Christian Brissett, Kyle Davis, and John Lewis ran 3:17.38 to become national champions of the 4x4!
Prior to their success, PA had their best day of the weekend on the final day of the competition!
Sam Ritz of Germantown Academy was at his best once again in his final indoor high school race. Ritz finished a controversial 3rd in the mile run, but despite the controversy, he broke the state record in the event for the 3rd time in a month. His time of 4:08.67 breaks his 4:09.56 from the state meet two weeks ago!
Ciara Leonard of Cheltenham and Sierra Brabham-Lawrence earned All American honors in the 60 meter hurdles. Leonard ran 8.40 to finish 4th, while Brabham-Lawrence ran 8.49 to finish 5th. This is Leonard's 2nd All American certificate in this event!
She then joined her teammates in the finals of the 4x200 meter relay. They earned their 2nd straight 3rd place finish at Nationals, running 1:38.94, the 2nd fastest in PA history. Cheltenham now hold the three fastest 4x200 meter relay performances in state history!
Sarah Walker of Germantown Friends and Gabrielle Wilkinson of Friends Central held their own in the 800 meter run, with the two of them earning All American honors! Walker finished 4th with a indoor best 2:08.97, while Wilkinson ran 2:10.65 to snag the last All American spot. The duo earned two All American certificates on the weekend!
While Cheltenham were being crowned national champions in the 4x4, their toughest competition all year, Penn Wood, moved up to 3rd from the unseeded section, running 3:20.52!
Other highlights from the final day included a 9:15.50 2 mile performance for 15th place from Kevin James of Cardinal O'Hara in his final high school indoor race. Jocelen Ruth of Kutztown Area threw 53-5.50 to finish 8th in the girls weight throw. Deshawn Millington of Carlisle impressed in his first track meet of 2015, finishing 9th in the triple jump with a PA#2 48-3.25! Marissa Sheva of Pennridge ran 4:57.35 to finish 13th in the mile.
NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
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03/13 - 03/14 |
University of Arkansas |
Fayetteville, AR LIVE RESULTS |
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03/13 - 03/14 |
None |
Birmingham, AL LIVE RESULTS |
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03/13 - 03/14 |
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Winston Salem, NC LIVE RESULTS |