Despite all the warm weather in PA for most of March, it was a cool but sunny day to start the 2010 outdoor season. But despite the weather, many athletes picked up where they left off in the winter.
Tom Hopkins of The Haverford School was a triple winner on the day, winning the 100 meters in 11.03, the 200 meters in 22.00, and the long jump of 23-00.25. Other guy performances include Alex Beardsley of North East (District X) who made the cross state trip to win the 3200 in 9:39.72. Matthew Fischer of Unionville made his outdoor track debut a good one with his 1600 meter win in 4:25.94. Teammate Evan Ulatowski of Unionville won the 400 in 49.10.
In relay action, Cheltenham kept their top spot in the 4x400 with a swift time of 3:21.95 and Haverford Township won the distance medley with a time of 10:39.34.
Haverford Township's 10:39.34 DMR, L to R: Woo Kim- 3:18, Dan O'Tool- 50.4, Ryan Thompson- 2:07, Ed Donnelly- 4:22.7.
In the In the field events, Jim Budzinski got off to a hot start in the javelin with his victory toss of 192-06 and won the discus with a throw of 156-07. Scott Rushton of Episcopal Academy won the shot put with a throw of 54-08.25 and Carlton Lavong won the triple jump with a mark of 47-09.50.
The girls action was also spectacular and the sprints stole the show. Tymerah Burgess of Simon Gratz won the 100 meters with a solid time of 12.10, Maura McKendrick needed 8 thousanths of a second to win the 200 meters in 25.51.
Tamisha Thomas of Archbishop Ryan won the 100 hurdles in a quick 15.05, and Cierra White of Engineering and Science won the 400 with a time of 57.67. Other individual performances include Anna McCloskey of Cardinal O’Hara winning the shot put (39-00.50) and the discus (107-03), Iyisha Weaver of Paul Robeson winning the triple jump with a mark of 37-07.50, Mel Leszcynski of Methacton won the javelin throw with a mark of 128-05 and Emma Keenan of Gwynned Mercy won the 800 in 2:19.79. In the relays, Chester won the 4x100 meter relay in 50.07, and Central Bucks West was a double relay winner in the 4x400 (4:05.51) and the distance medley (12:47.78).
Altoona’s Brady Gehret got to put on a show on his home track to start the 2010 season and he didn’t disappoint anyone who was in attendance by setting two meet records on the day in the 400 meters (48.43) and the 200 meters (21.57). Teammate Wade Endress also had two victories of his own. He won the 1600 meters in 4:23.51 and he set a meet record in the 800 meters with a time of 1:55.85. Alex Kenney of State College ran 11.09 to win the 100 meters and Vince Fadale of Selinsgrove won the 3200 with a time of 9:44.59. In the relays, State College ran 44.39 to win the 4x100 meter relay and Altoona ran 3:30.56 to win the 4x400. In the field events, Jarred Gambrell of Athens Area set a meet record in the triple jump with a mark of 47-05.50, Brice Beals of Bald Eagle Area won the discus with a throw of 165-10, and Chris Carper of Altoona won the javelin with a throw of 179-11.
Angel Piccirillo of Homer Center picked up right where she left off from indoor season with two solid victories in the 1600 (5:02.10) and a meet record in the 800 (2:16.35). Emily Giannotti of Coudersport won the 3200 meter run with a solid opening season time of 11:00.77. Megan Dornish of Elk County Catholic won the shot put with a solid throw of 40-03 and won the discus with a mark of 111-01. Felicia Reid of Kiski Area won the javelin with a mark of 138-06. In the relays, Central Cambria won the 4x800 with a time of 9:56.11 and Penns Valley Area won the 4x100 with a time of 51.89.
Trevor Foley of Titusville won both hurdle events running 15.3 in the 110 meter hurdles and 41.5 in the 300 meter hurdles. Adam Tuzikow of Knoch won the shot put with a throw of 50-02.
North Penn girls won all but one of the AAA relays on the track. They won the shuttle hurdles in 1:14.59, the distance medley in 12:56.64, the 800 meter sprint medley in 1:55.39, the 4x800 in 10:07.03, the 4x200 in 1:52.48, and the 4x400 in 4:14.44. In AAA field events, Brianna Dugan of Muhlenberg won the discus with a throw of 111-05, Aman Hottenstein of Fleetwood won the shot put with a throw of 38-09.75, and Kayla Charles of North Penn won the long jump with a mark of 16-07.75.
In AA girls action, Kutztown Area won four track relays while Schuylkill Valley won three track relays. Kutztown won the distance medley, the 4x100, the 4x800, and the 4x200 while Schuylkill Valley won the shuttle hurdles, the 800 meter sprint medley and the 4x400. In field event action, Shannon Smith of Schuylkill Valley won the shot put with a throw of 33-11.50 and Janelle Biehl of Oley Valley won the javelin with a throw of 104-09.
In boys AAA, North Penn set two meet record in the distance medley (10:42.24) and the 4x200 meter relay (1:32.76). North Penn also won the 4x100 (44.18) and the 4x400 meter relays (3:28.64). In the field events, Nuku Hill of Wilson won the shot put with a throw of 47-07 and Lequan Chapman of Exeter won the triple jump with a mark of 42-09.
In boys AA, Kutztown Area had four relay victories. They won the distance medley, the 4x100, the 800 meter sprint medley, and the 4x800. In the field events, Jean Joseph of Schuylkill Valley led a 1-2-3 finish in the triple jump with his winning mark of 40-06, Trevor Stutzman of Kutztown Area won the javelin with a throw of 161-04 and he won the discus with a throw of 147-02.
Abington's Leah Nugent started the season in style with a 14.2 in the 100 hurdles and 44.0 in the 300 hurdles - both state-leading times. The Upper Darby girls made quick work of the 4x100 in 50.5, with Saint Basil and Swenson on their heels in 50.5 and 50.8, respectively. Abington's girls topped the field in the 4x200 at 1:43.3. Host Saint Basil captured the 4x800 in 9:54.9 and the DMR in 12:48.0. Abington's Jordan Matthews took both horizontal jumps, going 17-9 in the long, and 36-11 in the triple.
Father Judge senior Tom Kehr took a break from the mile and posted a quick 1:56.8 for 800. He also anchored his team to victory in the 4x400 as they posted a 3:29.6.
Lawrenceville won all of the girls sprint relays on the track as well all of the girls jumping relays in the field, while Agnes Irwin won the distance relays. For the boys, Gilman won all of the track relays but the distance medley, which was won by Hill School in 11:00.97. Gilman also took four of the seven field event relays.
Great Valley girls set a new meet record in the 4x1600 with a time of 22:27.96, Boyertown won the distance medley with a time of 12:58.29, and Coatesville won the 4x400 with a time of 4:07.66. Hatboro Horsham won two of the three throwing relays, taking home the shot put and discus victories.
For the boys, Boyertown ran 10:58.63 to win the distance medley, Wissahickon won the 4x100 with a time of 43.56, and Spring Ford won the 4x200 (1:31.03) and the 4x400 (3:27.68). In the field relays, Hatboro Horsham won the shot put and the discus relays and Coatesville won both the high jump and the triple jump relays.
Normally a day of second place finishes wouldn't be noteworthy... but when the times are pretty good for the time of the season and the temperature, the day is memorable. Foot Locker finalist and indoor 3000 meter champ Rad Gunzenhauser of Mount Lebanon took 2nd in the four and eight-lap events, posting a 4:21.11 behind Central Catholic's Bob Gasior (4:19.07), and a 9:22.86 behind North Allegheny's Ryan Gil (9:21.66). McDowell's Patrick Cochran set a meet record with his 6-6 high jump. Baldwin's Dennis Logan set a meet record with a 1:59.75 800.
Baldwin's Krista Kuss (Right in photo by William McBrtide) highlighted the girls' competition with triple wins, taking the 100 in 12.65, the 200 in 25.67, and the 400 in 59.38... all three meet records. Jessica Merckle of Fort Cherry also had a big day, taking the early season lead in the javelin with a throw of 145-10, a meet record by over 20 feet. Brittany Edwards of Baldwin had a double win in the long jump (16-2) and she also tied the meet record in the high jump, clearing 5-0. Haley Pisarcik, South Park won the 800 with a time of 2:22.62. The Mount Lebanon 4x100 relay went 50.61, also a meet record.
Leigha Anderson won by a wide margin in her 2010 outdoor debut in the 3200, winning the race with a time of 11:06.62. Jessica Whitemore of Chambersburg won both the 100 meters (12.63) and the 200 meters (26.33) and teammate Daniesa Lyles won the 100 meter hurdles in 15.87. In the relays, Harrisburg won both the 4x100 (50.60) and the 4x400 meter relays (4:11.62). In the field events, Kaila Baughman of Mechanicsburg won the high jump with a height of 5-4, and Ashley Corum of Carlisle had a magnificent jump double, winning the long jump with a mark of 18 feet even and the triple jump with a big early season mark of 39-05.25, a US#4 performance.
Braheem Harvey of William Penn ran 15.41 to win the 110 meter hurdles, Conroy Smith of Chambersburg won the 200 meters with a time of 22.39, and Nebiyu Osman of Mercersburg just slid under 10 minutes in the 3200 meters with his winning time of 9:59.43. In the relays, Chambersburg won the 4x100 meter relays in 43.99 and Harrisburg won the 4x400 with a time of 3:31.09. In the field events, Victor Cotton of Hershey won the triple jump with a mark of 44-02.50 and Ben Nichols of Waynesboro won the javelin with a throw of 164-09.
Matt Bundy of Penncrest ran a 13.9 hand time to win the 110 meter high hurdles, Ed Donnelly of Haverford High won the 3200 meters in 9:34.1, and Roheem Roten of Chester ran 39.2 to win the 300 meter hurdles. In the field events, Derrick Dawson of Ridley won the triple jump with a mark of 41-07.25 and in the relays, Chester ran 3:29.5 to win the 4x400 and Great Valley ran 44.4 to win the 4x100 meter relay.
For the girls, Samantha Finsterbusch of Penncrest won the 300 meter hurdles in 46.3, Emma Keenan of Gwynedd Mercy ran 2:22.8 to win the 800 meter run, and Frances McNally ran 5:29.2 to win the 1600 meter run. In the field events, Lauren Tusar of Penncrest won the triple jump with a mark of 35-7.50 and in the relays, Gwynedd Mercy ran 4:06.4 to win the 4x400 meter relay and Great Valley ran 9:53.1 to win the 4x800 meter relay.
Eric Young of Glen Mills School ran 1:57.24 to win the 800 meter run, Tyler Smith won both the 100 meters (11.08) and the 200 meters (22.59), Marcus Blakely of Coatesville won the high jump with a mark of 6-8, Blake Davenport of Kennett won the discus with a throw of 156-2, and Brent Charlton of Downingtown West won the javelin with a throw of 160-11. In the relays, Glen Mills won the 4x100 meter relay in 43.59 and Norristown won the 4x400 meter relay in 3:27.34.
For the girls, Deborah Douglas of Coatesville won the 300 hurdles with a time of 48.45, Geena White of Avon Grove won the triple jump with a mark of 35-5.75, Kayla Owens of West Chester Rustin won the shot put with a throw of 36-3.75, and Kenya Woodall of Coatesville won the both the 400 (1:00.68) and the 200 meter dashes (25.86). In the relays, West Chester Rustin won the 4x100 meter relay in 50.67 and Norristown won the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 4:10.34.