AA Boys' Discus Preview
As is sometimes the case, who's hot at the right time determines the finishing order at the PIAA championships. The Class AA discus looks like it could be a case of just that.
Dante Manetta of Trinity (3) turned in the best district performance, with his PR 161-7 throw in District 3 also being the third-best AA toss of 2018. In his first PIAA meet a year ago, Manetta was fifth.
Brock Grundy of Hickory has the best throw this season in AA at 163-8, topping the 163-7 from Alex Martin of Dock Mennonite. Weather played a factor at both of those district meets, but the top duo will be looking to return to the form that put them above 163 in the first full month of the outdoor season and led Martin to third in the 2017 PIAA final.
Chestnut Ridge sophomore Duane Knisley has a trio of meets over 150 feet thus far, including his 159-10 to win District 5, while Moniteau's James Parenti (158-0), North East's Isaiah Bartlett (156-5) and Johnsonburg's Drew Kilhoffer (156-4) all had season bests in qualifying for Shippensburg.
Darien Yeager of Danville Area returns in this year's discus field. A year ago, he placed seventh.
Alex Pherson of Shenango and Noah Drudy of Hopewell also are back again from District 7, along with Evan Bobby of Cambria Heights, Quameer Francis of Conwell-Egan and javelin standout Ethan Dabbs of Richland.
ENTRIES:
Event 617 Boys Discus Throw AA (27)
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NFHS Record: 236-06 2009 Mason Finley, Buena Vista HS, CO
PIAA Record: 206-03 1991 Brian Milne, Ft LeBoeuf HS 10
NFHS Hnr Rol: 190-00
148-00 SQS
Name Year School Seed Mark Finals
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1 Manetta, Dante 12 Trinity 03 161-07 SQS
2 Knisley, Duane 10 Chestnt Ridge 05 159-10 SQS
3 Parenti, James 11 Moniteau 09 158-00 SQS
4 Bartlett, Isaiah 12 North East 10 156-05 SQS
5 Kilhoffer, Drew 12 Johnsonburg 09 156-04 SQS
6 Blint, Bailey 11 Kane Area 09 152-10 SQS
7 Park, Adam 11 Saint Marys 09 152-00 SQS
8 Grundy, Brock 11 Hickory 10 151-02 SQS
9 Drudy, Noah 12 Hopewell 07 149-07 SQS
10 Dippre, Cj 9 Lakeland 02 148-06 SQS
11 Rose, King 12 Riverside 02 148-02 SQS
12 Pherson, Alex 12 Shenango 07 147-02
13 Blackburn, Jordan 11 Beth-Center 07 146-09
14 Martin, Alex 12 Dock Menn 01 145-08
15 Lindsay, Hunter 11 South Park 07 145-04
16 Almoney, Isaac 11 Delone Cath 03 145-01
17 Dabbs, Ethan 12 Richland 06 144-09
18 Lagnese, Dom 11 Quaker Valley 07 144-01
19 Bobby, Evan 12 Cambria Hts 06 143-09
20 Cooper, Ken 12 Danville Area 04 138-07
21 Yeager, Darien 12 Danville Area 04 136-09
22 Elgin, Eric 12 Forest Hills 06 131-02
23 Milkovitz, Allan 10 Notre Dame GP 11 128-10
24 Disbrow, Tyler 11 Tamaqua Area 11 127-01
25 Francis, Quameer 12 Conwell-Egan 12 126-01
26 Richardson, Lawrence 10 Bish McDevitt 12 115-09
27 Tran, Duy 11 Bish McDevitt 12 111-00