Girls' 60-meter hurdles
Chanel Brissett will chase her own state record, but she'll have to do so with the dash lurking as well (Photo by Don Rich)Brissett chases history, but will she have the legs?
Going through preliminaries and semifinals ate the state championship is hard enough. Doing it back-to-back in the dash and the hurdles is even harder.
That's the challenge Chanel Brissett of Cheltenham is taking on on Sunday at Penn State. Brissett will have to race the hurdles and rush back to the start line for her 60 dash heats. It's no easy undertaking, but who better than the state record holder to attempt it? Back at the Kevin Dare Invitational on January 23 Brissett torched Ciara Leonard's previous top mark of 8.39. It may be a lot to ask for another state record, but we'll see what she has in store. Leonard's 8.39 is also the state meet record, and we'll look for that to go down Sunday.
Susquehanna Township's Yasmin Brooks has been on a tear this season. Brooks didn't make it out of semis last season, running a 9.21, but this year she enters as the #2 seed, having run under 9 seconds numerous times this season. She clocked a 8.34 hand-time adjusted 60 hurdles a week ago, and Brooks is a serious contender this weekend. She'll have the best shot at pulling the upset.
Madison Langley-Walker of Cheltenham was seventh in the state a year ago in the 60 hurdles (Photo by Patty Morgan)
Cheltenham's Madison Langely-Walker will be a force on the pits as well as the track on Sunday. The versatile jumper/sprinter/hurdler is the third seed in the hurdles has steadily improved, most recently taking the win at the DVGTCA Meet of Champions.
Mahendra McWhite of Dieruff is the top returner from states a year ago, where she placed fourth in 8.83. She's the fourth seed on Sunday and certainly will be one to watch. Another senior in the field is State College's Rachel Wylie, and she'll be looking to go out on a high note.
A pair of freshmen upstarts---Christina Warren of Perkiomen Valley and Jayla Ellis of Penn Hills---will be out to make some big statements in their first state meet appearances.
List of entires:
Event 3 Girls 60 Meter Hurdles (24) Prelims
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State Meet: 8.39 3/1/2015 Ciara Leonard, Cheltenham
Name Year School Seed
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1 Brissett, Chanel 11 Cheltenham 8.28
2 Brooks, Yasmin 11 Susquehanna 8.34
3 Langley-Walker, Madison 10 Cheltenham 8.80
4 Mcwhite, Mahendra 12 Louis E Dier 8.90
5 Warren, Christina 9 Perkiomen Valley 8.99
6 Wylie, Rachel 12 State College 9.14
7 Ellis, Jayla 9 Penn Hills 9.18
8 Cavanaugh, Brenna 10 Bentworth 9.20
9 Kendrick, Leah 12 CB East 9.21
10 Amato, Ashley 12 Plum 9.22
11 Rowe, Olivia 12 Oakland Cath 9.24
12 Dodson, Katie 12 Oxford Area 9.28
13 Dallas, Taylar 12 Central 9.28
14 Tull, Ayana 11 Ply Whitemarsh 9.34
15 Knecht, Elke 9 CR South 9.37
16 Valachovic, Tori 12 South Fayett 9.38
17 Curran, Caroline 12 Peters Towns 9.40
18 Milligan, Jessica 12 Pennridge 9.41
19 Beck, Chyna 11 Canon-McMillan 9.41
20 Traczynski, Bailey 10 Hempfield (7) 9.43
21 Bourdeau, Tamar 12 James Coughlin 9.44
22 McKoy, Teasha 10 Germantown Frien 9.44
23 Hinish, Kaden 12 Baldwin 9.44
24 Barnett, Sophia 11 Saint Basil 9.45