Woodland Hills jumper consistent and long
He can't explain it, but there is something about the long jump runway at Mars that brings out the best in Woodland Hills' Isaiah Brooks. Two years ago, he soared to a then PR of 23 feet, 7.5 inches.
He defended his title a year ago, and on Friday, he was the best he has ever been in southern Butler County. His final round leap of 23-8 matches his outdoor PR and is his longest jump since he soared 23-9.25 in the Tri-State Coaches indoor championship in 2014.
“It's a great experience here for me," Brooks said. “I like jumping, especially in long. Here I have just a good meet, a good jumping experience. Once I get my steps down, I am good to go."
Brooks opened at 23-5.5 and followed up with a 22-7.5. He didn't back off the accelerator, bounding 23-7.5 and then the new state leader. He was the winner by almost 2 ½ feet.
“Me and my coach went over my steps, made sure where I was, where my footing was and made sure I was confident in everything that I could be, I could do, in my abilities to jump," the senior said. “He said I knew I did it a million times, I'm comfortable with it. We did it at practice so many times."
Brooks concluded his warm-up for Saturday's long jump at the Penn Relays by running the second leg on the Wolverines' 4x100-meter relay team, which finished first in a PA#7 42.86 and won by 1.3 seconds.
Distance winners take state leads
Their victories were convincing, and their times are the best in the state so far this year.
Both Mike Kolor and Marianne Abdalah showed their fitness in the second half of PA#1 victories, putting wide margins between them and their closest pursuers.
"Coming in today, I kind of knew I needed to focus on myself and my splits," said Kolor, a junior at Seneca Valley. "I went out a bit slower than I wanted - 400 in 64, (800) in 2:09. I negative split, I felt really strong running against this wind. I am really happy with that and how I felt."
The end result for Kolor was a 1,600 win in a PR 4:16.17. Second place was more than 10 seconds behind.
"It just happens, I don't really plan for it," Kolor, who also was an easy winner in the 800, said of his negative-split pace. "The past few races I have negative split, and I am happy because that means I've got something left in the tank."
In the girls' 3,200, Vincentian Academy's Abdalah picked up the pace just before the 1,200 mark, moving around leader Lauren Gronbeck of Eden Christian. Five laps later, Abdalah lowered her state-leading mark to 10:48.14.
"The first mile I always try to go around 5:20, and then that second mile has always been a real struggle for me," the sophomore said. "So right off the bat I wanted to try to push the second mile and try to get a PR."
A week ago, Abdalah and Gronbeck dueled into late in the race at the Butler Invitational, with the duo moving to the top two spots on the state list as a result.
"That first race taught me that I don't always have to take it out," Abdalah said. "Last year, all of the girls used to draft off of me, so I thought maybe I try it once or twice. But I always like to take the lead."
In the non-distance races, double winners were the order of the day. Pine-Richland senior hurdler Kat Quigley won twice in a pair of state top 10 marks. Her 14.76 is now 10th statewide in the 100s and was a winner over Sewickley Academy's Aja Thorpe and a PA#12 14.87.
"The Sewickley girl really pushed me," Quigley said. "I didn't see here coming, and it was a pretty tight race."
Quigley's margin of victory in the 300s was more substantial, and her time of 44.74 is PA#7.
"I'm very happy about that, too," she said. "It's a hectic day, my shins are hurting, but I'm just so happy I pulled through. It was a really good feeling."
Hickory's Elena Marchand and Tori McKinley put up 1-2 finishes in both the shot put and discus, with Marchand throwing 44-5.5 and McKinley adding a T-PA#5 41-10.5 in the shot. Burrell's Lizzie Weimer is now PA#8 after a 41-1 for third.
In the discus, Marchand's best measured 135-7, while McKinley was next in an extremely competitive field at 125-8. Greenville's Molly Montalvo was third at PA#10 124-5, while Moniteau's Maura Kimmel was next at 123-11 and Weimer placed fifth in a T-PA#12 123-9.
Sophomore Nicole Scherer moved up to PA#5 in the 100 at 12.14 and PA#10 in the 200 at 25.54.
In the boys' 100, Miles Sanders of Woodland Hills warmed up for his 4x100 anchor with a T-PA#9 10.95.
Another double was turned in by Mars Area's Ori Rinaman, who won the 400 dash and claimed the 110 hurdles in a PA#4 14.59.
Hickory's Evan Blaire and Austin Aikins went 1-2 in both the shot and discus, holding off a pair of thirds by Knoch's Brennan McTighe. Blaire threw 53-0.5 and 161-9 for the gold medals.