Weekend Wrap: TSTCA, DVG, TFC, Ocean Breeze, Susq.

The highlight of weekend--and really when has it not been the highlight?--was Jordan Geist. You can read Phil Grove's feature on Geist here. Elsewhere around the state, there was plenty more action to go around (with a couple more meets Sunday). Here's what caught our eye this weekend so far.

Friday 1/29 - DVGTCA Indoor Meet #6 @ Lehigh

North Penn had the top time in the state in the DMR and then lost it to Penn Wood a few weeks ago. Now the Maidens have it back. North Penn clocked a PA#1 12:24.22 for the win, reclaiming that top state spot. It wasa fast race overall, with Cardinal O'Hara second in a PA#4 12:34.27 and Friends' Central in third with a PA#6 12:36.

Cheltenham's Madison Langley-Walker became just the second PA girl to leap past 38 feet in the triple jump, winning in a PA#2 38-4. Langley-Walker also took second in the long jump to Padua's Christina Allen.

Springside Chestnut Hill's Brookylnn Broadwater captured the 200 meters in a season-best 25.86, which is a PA#9, but considering it's on a flat track, it's a sign of good things to come for Broadwater. Uche Nwogwugwu of North Penn won the 400 meters in 57.94, only slightly off her winning time from a few weeks ago. Agnes Mansaray of Penn Wood took the 600 in 1:39.46.

Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury pulled away from a nice field to claim the mile in 5:07, a PA#11 time. After a long cross country season, it looks like Sargent is returning to form.

Perkiomen Valley's Christina Warren won the 60 meter hurdles in a PA#7 time of 9.28. Warren then came back to take second in the triple jump with a leap of PA#6 36-1.25

Moira O'Malley of Souderton won the high jump yet again, clearing 5-4, while Dominique Franco of Council Rock South won the pole vault at 12-0, off her PA#1 12-4. Janese Lynch of Neumann Goretti won the shot put with a throw of 44-4.75.

Saturday 1/30: TSTCA Indoor Meet @ Edinboro

AJ Byham of Meadville is a new PA#1 and US#7 in the high jump! (Photo by Phil Grove)

After last week's snowstorm derailed the first Tri-State Coaches meet, many western PA athletes lost a precious opportunity to compete. But a week later, we're back for the second TSTCA meet. PTXC was on-site for coverage.

FULL RESULTS

WATCH RACE VIDEOS AND INTERVIEWS HERE

PHOTOS BY PHIL GROVE HERE

GIRLS: Ashley Amato of Plum had a busy start to her meet. First, she won the 60 meters along with Amanda Oliver of South Fayette. The she had to make the trek back to the start line for the 60 meter hurdles, where she won that as well. 

Saturday also marked the return of Madeleine Davison. Davison, who used to run for North Allegheny and is home-schooled, returned to the track after a long cross country season that saw her win Foot Locker Northeast and race for a second straight year at Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego. After some time off, she came back to win the mile come in second in the 800. She made decisive moves in both races. She hung on in the mile and was caught in the 800. Watch her post-race interview below:

In that 800, Davison was caught by Mt. Lebanon's Claire Dougherty. Doughery improved on her time from a few weeks ago and appears to be rounding into form nicley after finishing fourth in the event at indoor states last year. Watch her interview, too:

In the 3000 meters, there was a nice finish with a host of runners. In the end, Eden Christian's Lauren Gronbeck was able to hold on for the win in 10:24 over North Hills' Ava Pietrzyk. Gronbeck talked with Phil Grove afterwards:

Greensburg Salem's Michelle Karabin took the pole vault over Hempfield Molly DeBone. Both cleared 11-9 and Karabin took the win on jumps. That's a big PR for Karabin.

Julia Howard was a double winner on the day. The Greensburg Salem senior was golden in both the long and triple jumps, setting a pair of season bests. She won the long jump at 17-5.25, a PA#6, and won the triple jump with a leap of 37-9.5, a PA#3. Watch her interview below:

Tori McKinley of Hickory also set a season-best in the shot put. She improved on her own PA#3, winning in 45-3. Less than a foot seperates her from PA#1 Emily Stauffer and PA#2 Janese Lynch. The state meet will be very interesting to say the least when all three (from different parts of the state) square off. Watch McKinley's interview below:

BOYS: Geist was obviously the big story of the day on the boys side. What was (hopefully not) lost in that hype was a nice battle behind Geist. Evan Blaire (57-5), Tom Bojalad (56-3) and Dom Marshall (55-4) were 2-3-4 in a tight competition. While Geist is the heavy favorite for gold at Penn State, the race for second is shaping up to be a hot one.

The high jump saw some unexpected fireworks on Saturday. AJ Byham of Meadville cleared a PA#1 and US#6 6-8 in the high jump to take the win. It's a huge improvement from his previous PR of 6-4, as he takes over as the new state leader. He described it all as a "dream." Watch Byham's interview below:

Like Amato on the girls' side, Jace Roundtree of Kiski also had a hectic start to his day. He raced both the 60 dash and 60 hurdles--trials and finals--one after the other. He survived to take 6th in the dash and 2nd in the hurdles. First in the hurdles was Patrick Kimball from Mt. Lebanon. Kimball tied Roundtree's state leading time of 8.28 in the 60 meter hurdles. Phil Grove caught up with Kimball:

Cathedral Prep had a pair of winners in the sprints. John Orlando won the 200 meters in 22.82 and Dominic Frisina won the 400 meters in 50.63.

Penn Trafford's Nick Wagner made a good move and solidified it with a good kick to take the 800 meters in 1:58.08. It's not as fast as he went a few weeks back at SPIRE, but surely Wagner will take the win. Nick Wolk of Peters Township was the winner in the mile, taking the win in 4:28.15, using a nice kick to outlast Winchester Thurston's Tristan Forsythe.

It looked like Will Loevner was shot from a cannon. The Winchester Thurston senior made his move on North Alleghney's Marc Migliozzi and quickly expanded his lead with about 800 meters to go. From there, Loevner finished strong, winning in a PA#7 9:00.14. Watch his interview below:

The pole vault was another exciting event. Caleb Sanford, who's been nothing short of unstoppable lately, took another win, clearing 15-3 (just short of his PA#1 he set earlier in the week at Butler High School). The McDowell senior faced some competition from Hempfield's Hayden Fox. Fox had a big day, returning to the form he had last year, clearing 14-9 for second place.

TFCAofGP Indoor Meet #7 @ Glen Mills

DIVISION I: Quakertown's Hudson Delisle won the 800 meters, breaking the Glen Mills facility record with a 1:59.31. He won a close decision over Abington's Cameron Mitchell. Delisle broke Jason Weller's 2007 record. Isiah Smith of Abington won a close race with CR North's Mike Welde in the 200 meters, running 23.49 and 23.53--both solid times on Glen Mills' track.

DIVISION II: Cardinal O'Hara's Rob Morro took the win in the mile with a time of 4:32. The 3000 meters was down to the wire between Epsicopal's Jakob Jorgensen and West Chester Rustin's Jack Carmody, with Jorgensen taking the narrow win with a facility record of 9:07.

Ocean Breeze Invitational @ Ocean Breeze - Staten Island, NY

Liam Galligan raced out to the lead in the boys' mile at Ocean Breeze (Photo by Kyle Brazeil)

BOYS: The mile proved to be a huge display of PA's depth in the event. Springfield (Delco)'s Liam Galligan took out the race hard, settled back in with the pack, then unleashed a furious last lap to finish second, nabbing a PA#3 4:19.20. Josh Hoey was right behind him taking third in a PA#4 4:19.93. Malvern Prep's Collin Wills took fifth in 4:20.09. Camp Hill's Cooper Leslie (4:22.90) and Lake Lehman's Dom Hockenbury (4:23.67) also posted season bests. Watch that mile race here.

Matt Wisner of Carlisle won the fast section of the boys 800 meters for a new PA#4. Garnet Valley's Jack Armand was fourth in 1:58.39

The 200 was another display of PA depth; this time in the sprints. In the Red 200 (the fastest section) Coatesville's Terrance Laird took the win, dropping a US#7 21.69. We in PA already knew about what Laird can do, but now it looks like the national scene will have to take notice. Taking second was Ade Jones-Roundtree of Imhotep and Keon Rantin of Glen Mills (both running 22.01, but Jones-Roundtree slightly faster). Those are both PA#2s! Imhotep's Kristian Marche (PA#5 22.21), Dock's Austin Kratz (PA#5 22.21), LaSalle's Charles Headen (PA#7 22.50), and LaSalle's Winston Eubanks (PA#10 22.77) all ran season bests.

Justin Moscoe of The Haverford School ran a PA#7 50.56 to finish seventh in the fast section of the boys 400m.

In the 55 meter dash, St. Joe's Prep's D'Andre Swift tied his own PA#7 for second place in the invite. Jeremy Jennings of Downingtown East ran a 6.68 for fifth place.

Methacton's Jeff Kirshenbaum blazed a 9:19 2 mile to win the unseeded heat. That converts to an 8:40.95 3000m, which is just off Nick Dahl's state-leading time in the 3K. Not to be lost in that 2 mile is Pleasant Valley's Seth Slavin, who ran a 9:34.

The LaSalle 4x200 shook up the state rankings in a big way, taking second place in the relay in a new PA#1 1:30.79, dethroning Downingtown West. The team was made up of Winston Eubanks, Kyle Johnson, Chris Della Donna, and Charles Headen.

The 4x400 was also fast. St. Joseph's Prep won it, clocking a PA#2 3:21.60, just off Abington's state-leading time. Spring Ford ran extremely well, coming in third in a PA#4 3:27.74.

Owen J. Roberts claimed the 4x1600 meter title, winning in a 19:03.17.

Aislinn Devlin and Mady Clahane ran 1-2 in the girls' 2 mile (Photo by Kyle Brazeil)

GIRLS: On Friday night, North Penn took over the state lead in the DMR. On Sunday, the girls of North Penn improved on their own state lead in the 4x800. The team of Ariana Gardizy, Mikaela Vlasic, Natalie Kwortnik, and Phoebe Clowser ran a 9:24.14 for the win over Cardinal O'Hara (second in PA#2 9:36). The North Penn girls also won the 4x1600 in 22:12.12

The Penn Wood girls focused on the 4x400 ran a PA#1 3:53.70. That's also a US#7 for the team consisting of Agnes Mansaray, Maisha Coleman, Rokia Kaba, and Terri Turner.

The 2 mile was one of the premiere events, especially from a PA prospective. It didn't disappoint. Downingtown West's Aislinn Devlin took gold, winning in a 10:43.30. Cumberland Valley's Mady Clahane was second in 10:52.63. Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury was fourth in 10:55.89. GA's Maggie Hallahan was fifth in 10:58 and Pennsbury's Hannah Molloy was sixth in 11:04.23

Pennridge's Kouri Peace improved on her own PA#2 in the 200 meters, finishing second in 24.25. Norristown's Jayana Webb took fourth in 25.07. Peace also took second in the 55 meters in 7.18. 

Downingtown East's Evelyn Berecz won the triple jump at 37-9, matching her own PA#4. She also won gold in the long jump with a leap of 17-4-5, a nice PA#9.

Friends' Central Gabrielle Wilkinson won the mile in 4:58, which is just off her season best from earlier in the season. O'Hara's Olivia Arizin kept up her successful indoor campaign with a win in the 800, clocking a 2:15.31. That's a PA#3.

Jessica Milligan of Pennridge ran a PA#7 8.71 for a PR to take fourth in the 55 meter hurdles.

Susquehanna University High School Classic

Chris Petraskie of Shamokin leaps to a PA#2 6-7 in the high jump (Photo by Barbara Krohn)

FULL RESULTS

PHOTOS BY BARBARA KROHN

Susquehanna was the home of a handful of breakout performances on Saturday.

Let's start at the girls long jump where three (yes, three) girls went over 18 feet! Those performances now make up three of the top four in the state. Taylor Givens of State College was the big surprise of the day, jumping a new PA#1 18-4.5. That's over a foot better than er jump at Kevin Dare last week. Her teammate, Veronika Karpenko was second. Karpenko soared 18-3 for a new PA#2. Cedar Cliff's Dazjanique Williams kept up her huge season with a PA#4 18-1. Karpenko then won the triple jump with a 36-11.5.

Dallas' Katie Kravitsky tied the PA#3 in the high jump, clearing 5-4, starting her season off well.

Ally Rome of Dallas took home the 3000 meter win in 10:12, a nice second race of her season, putting her at PA#2. It's also the fastest 3000 meters she has run in her career.

In the mile, Carlisle's Maddie Kole out-dueled Chambersburg's Abby Yourkavitch for the win in 5:15 and 5:17 respectively. In the 800, the Unionville duo of Anna Juul and Kacie Breeding returned to the track after a long layoff. They went 1-2 running 2:19 and 2:22 with Juul taking the win. They also helped Unionville's winning 4x800 team.

Carlisle's DeShawn Millington made his return to the runway in a big way on Saturday. The junior has yet to compete yet this indoor season, but quickly made his presence know. Millington won the triple jump in a PA#2 45-2.5.

Shamokin's Chris Petraskie put down a big result in the high jump with a 6-7, making him PA#2.

Milton's Ian Nieves won both the 60 meter hurdles and 60 dash in a PA#5 8.38 and PA#5 7.11.

Carlisle's Matt Wisner, a day after winning the 800 in 1:55 at Ocean Breeze, came down to Susquehanna to win the mile in 4:27.97--very solid, especially considering the travel. Mount Carmel's David Fletcher was second to Wisner in a 4:36, but Fletcher also won the 800 in 2:00.74. In the 3000 meters, Brody Beiler of Selinsgrove won in 9:03.

Last week, it was Lucas Gray. This week, it was Griffin Thompson. The State College pole vaulter cleared 15-0 to take the win in a huge new PA#2. Thompson went 14-6 last year outdoors, but it looks like this is a new competition PR for him.

Girls Highlights