Rachel Finn of Liberty soared to a new PA#1 12-3 in the pole vault (Photo by Patty Morgan)
Check out one of three photo albums from Burdette: Patty Morgan | Don Rich | Kathy Leister
The leaderboard saw a big shakeup with the winter's first major indoor meet of the season. PA#1s fell and new PA#1s were made. We were there and here's our recap of all the action (be sure to check back throughout the night and tomorrow for hundreds of photos, and race videos and interviews):
Girls Relays: The highlight of the day had to be two great battles between the same programs: Penn Wood and North Penn. In the spirit medley to begin the day, Agnes Mansaray came from behind to give Penn Wood the win in a state best time of 4:15. Penn Wood got the best of North Penn in the afternoon, winning the 4x800. Mansaray ran the second leg in a split of 2:17 and Terri Turner anchored the winners in 2:18. North Penn did pick up the win in the distance medley, bettering their own PA#1 time by ten seconds to take the win. Susquehanna Township won the 4x200 in a PA#3 time of 1:46.90 for the win. Norristown closed out the meet with a win, holding off Susquehanna Township for the win in 4:03.
Boys Relays: Central Dauphin East followed up a good Dickinson meet with a win in the 4x200 meter, a PA#2 1:34.97 from the team of Shyheim Brown, Amin Amin, Emmanuel Niang and Aaron Arp. Pennridge was second in the 4x200 in 1:35.23 and then the Rams won the 4x400 in a PA#3 3:32.47. Central Bucks West, behind a stellar anchor leg from Rock Fortna, won the 4x800 to move up to PA#2. Abington, already PA#1 in the 4x400, won the SMR in 3:42.18, a state best and US#6. Bonner Prendie won the DMR in 10:57 for the state's No. 2 time.
Julia Howard took the triple jump win in a new indoor PR (Photo by Kathy Leister).
Girls Field: Early in the day, Janese Lynch of Neumann Goretti went a foot further than her previous PA#1 mark. She easily walked away with the win, marking a great start to her season heading into 2016. Her 45-5.75 puts her at US#5 for the young season. Rachel Finn of Liberty started her season off the right way, taking the pole vault in a state-best clearance of 12-3. Greensburg Salem's Julia Howard bested a good field in the triple jump with a 37-00, good enough for an indoor PR and PA#2. Souderton's Moira O'Malley made it a perfect three-for-three in the high jump, winning for the third consecutive meet, clearing 5-4 for the win.
Darnell Randall made his name known in a crowded high jump field today (Photo by Patty Morgan)
Boys Field: Darnell Randall defeated a really solid field in the high jump and ended up with a PR of 6-5, the win, and a new PA#1. The Perkiomen Valley senior bested GA's Kyle Garland, Pennridge's Matt Moyer, Penn Wood Dennis Manyeah, and Coatesville's Dondre Pittman. Looking ahead, the high jump has the possibility of becoming one of the state's most hotly contested events at states with a number of guys capable of winning it. Nicholas Marino went over 14 again in the pole vault. He didn't better his top state time, but is proving to be one of PA's most consistent vaulters in the early stages of this indoor season. Ache Hall of Springfield (Delco) won the triple jump, soaring 44-00, in a close matchup that saw three others go past 43 feet. Naquise Childs of Neumann Goretti was the winner in the shot put with a throw of 47-11.
Girls Sprints/Hurdles: Jameela Muhammad of Paul Robeson made a strong season debut, winning the 60 meters, a PA#4 mark for the win. Central's Taylar Dallas edged out Susquehanna Township's Yasmin Brooks to win the 60 meter hurdles in close final. Alysha Evans of Susquehanna Township took down the top time in the 200 meters by a large margin, winning in 26.08 for the win over Delaware Valley Charter's Tikki Nero for the win and PA#1. Half mile specialist Maddie Villalba from CB West stepped down in distance to take the 400 meters in the only sub-60 time of the day, a PA#4 59.08
Monte Guess retained his PA#1 time in the 60m hurdles, PRing with an 8.33 (Photo by Patty Morgan)
Boys Sprints/Hurdles: Anthony Maurent of GAR Memorial broke a 4-year-old meet record in the 60 meter dash, becoming the first boy in the state to go under 7 seconds with a time of 6.93. Maurent edged out Imhotep's Ade Jones-Roundtree, who ran a PA#2 7.06. Monte Guess stayed hot in the 60 meter hurdles, winning a close on over Ache Hall and Eric Moul of North Hunterdon. Guess's 8.33 helps widen his advantage as PA#1 in the event. CD East's Aaron Arp, fresh off a win in the 200m last week at Dickinson, won again at the distance bettering his time from last week at 23.02. Abington's Isiah Smith won a photo finish with Pennridge's Austin Howell and Upper Darby's Gianni Lawerence in the 400. Smith's 51.29 doesn't improve on his state-leading time, but the come-from-behind win was impressive nonetheless.
Girls Distance: Jenn Mickens of Pleasant Valley pulled away late from Owen J. Robert's Allison Brunton and Pennsbury's Maddie Sauer for the win in the 800 in a time of 2:22.49 (PA#3). The mile was a duel between XC standouts, Mady Clahane of Cumberland Valley and Hannah Molloy of Pennsbury. Clahane took the win in 5:09, in her first race of the indoor season. Germantown Academy's Maggie Hallahan made it two solid 3Ks in two weeks. Hallahan pulled away from the field at about the halfway point to win it in 10:20, 19 seconds faster than last weekend at the Armory.
DiCintio and Wills at the line (Photo by Don Rich)
Boys Distance: Carlisle's Matt Wisner didn't look like he was in the race after the first lap. Turns out that was all part of his plan. He went out slow and reeled the leaders back in. Wisner roared back to overtake Quakertown's Brett Wolfinger on the final lap to win in a BIG PA#1 in 1:57.52. The Burdette 800 accounted for the current top four spots in the state with Wolfinger taking second in 1:58.47, OJR's Liam Conway fourth in 2:00.72 and CB West's Jake Claricurzio fifth in 2:00.81. Wyomissing's Jack DiCintio and Malvern Prep's Collin Wills went down to the wire, with DiCintio grabbing the narrow victory in 4:26.96, a PA#3. The 3K was a four man race with Voorhees (NJ)'s Robert Whitney pulling away late to take the win. Souderhon's Connor McMenamin was second, CR South's Joe Maguire was third and CB West's Brian Iatarola (all snagging PA #1, 2, and 3, respectively) was fourth in a good race.