Indoor States Preview: Girls' Sprints/Hurdles

Girls' 200 meters

Pennsbury's Dasia Pressley won the 200 at states as a sophomore. Can she do it again as a senior? (Photo Steven Pisano)

The senior and the freshman: Pressley and Peace set for close race

Kouri Peace of Pennridge enters the 200-meter dash as the top seed, with Dasia Pressley of Pennsbury hot on her tail. Both are the clear favorites (their seed times are over a second faster than the next closest girl). While Pressley beat Peace at the Hispanic Games, Peace's 200 meters has improved greatly since then. It culminated with her dominating performance at the DVGTCA Meet of Champions, coming off the 60 meters. Peace dropped a flat-track 24.32, which converts to a 23.97. Meanwhile, Pressley hasn't run the 200 since Hispanic, instead focusing on the shorter stuff. But Pressley threw down a US#1 300 meters at the Armory Track Invitational in February, showing that the strength is absolutely there. Like the 60, we'll get the veteran versus the rookie narrative, but I doubt that will be on their minds once the gun goes off.


Kouri Peace of Pennridge has run some very fast flat track 200 times in the past few weeks (Photo by Joe Swift)


Last year proved that being a top seed, or even being in the fast heat, doesn't guarantee anything, though. Brooklynn Broadwater of Springside Chestnut Hill won from the fourth of five heats last year. That brings us to a good number of girls seeded behind Peace and Pressley with their eyes on the upset. Caroline Duffy of Methacton has that senior grit that will make her dangerous, and Thelma Davies of Girard College has been a quick riser as a freshman.  The most interesting case in the field might be Nicole Scherer of Burrell. After a quick start to her season in January, Scherer has been MIA this season. If she's healthy enough, Scherer has upset potential.

 This is definitely an event to keep an eye on the state record. William Penn's Juanita Broaddus ran a 24.02 in 2002 and that record has stood since then. Peace and Pressley will have a number of rounds in the 60 dash to deal with, but it's certainly something to watch for.

List of entries:

Event 13  Girls 200 Meter Dash (26)
===============================================================================
  State Meet:  24.02  3/2/2002    Juanita Broaddus, William Penn               
     Name                        Year School                 Seed           
===============================================================================
  1  Peace, Kouri                   9 Pennridge             23.97 
  2  Pressley, Dasia               12 Pennsbury             24.14 
  3  Duffy, Caroline               12 Methacton             25.22 
  4  Davies, Thelma                 9 Girard Colle          25.25 
  5  Scherer, Nicole               11 Burrell               25.29 
  6  Crawford, Haley               12 State College         25.44 
  7  Evans, Alysha                 12 Susquehanna           25.49 
  8  Miles, Porsha                  9 Coatesville           25.51 
  9  Morales, Zea                  12 CB East               25.65 
 10  Rutherford, Raja              12 Seton-LaSalle         25.73 
 11  Horstman, Emily               12 Butler                25.77 
 12  Nero, Tikki                   11 Del Val Charter       25.78 
 13  Collier, Alicia               12 Penncrest             25.80 
 14  Muhammad, Jameela             12 Paul Robeson          25.87 
 15  Ruffin, Ariana                11 Neumann Goretti       25.88 
 16  Dorsey, Avani                 11 Imhotep               25.89 
 17  Shewbrooks, Meaghan           11 CB East               25.89 
 18  Mangan, Molly                  9 Mount Lebano          25.92 
 19  Hill, Sarah                   11 Williamsport          26.01 
 20  Dietrich, Jennifer            11 Baldwin Scho          26.04 
 21  Myers, Teneisha               11 O J Roberts           26.06 
 22  Young, Gloria                 12 Imhotep               26.09 
 23  Klag, Sarah                   12 Hempfield (3          26.09 
 24  Prusacki, Lauren              10 Methacton             26.17 
 25  Berry, Nierra                 11 Chichester            26.20 
 26  Evankovich, Bethany           12 General McLa          26.22