The fields are set for Sunday's PTFCA finale at Penn State with track action kicking off at 10:30 AM,
and they feature a eight athletes looking to take home champion's watches
for a second consecutive year or more.
Kaddel Howard will be out to elevate the title defense game
to a completely different level in the 400-meter dash. The Cedar Crest senior
is a perfect 3-for-3 in PTFCA 400 finals, having registered watch-winning times
of 55.57, 54.93 and then 55.13 seconds a year ago. She is PA#1 and US#2 on the season in 52.83 in the 400 and
leads the indoor state meet list by almost 3.5 seconds. She also will be out to
defend her title in the 200. A year ago, she won in 23.87 and leads the 2026 PA
charts at US#9 23.63.
Mifflin County's Carter Smith edged Upper Darby's Josh Sharp
in 1:51.11 in a deep boys 800 final in 2025 and is back for his last PTFCA meet.
Smith, who tops the PA charts in 2026 at four distances, leads this year's 800 qualifiers
with his US#2 1:49.33 from early January at Penn State, while Joseph Murphy of
Hershey was second in that race and is No. 2 in the field at 1:52.06.
By the way, Smith also was a state indoor 800 winner as a
sophomore in 1:52.83.
In the girls 800 last year, Gwen Hamilton led a 1-2 finish
for Penn Charter with her indoor PR of 2:07.38. In 2026, Hamilton is the lone
PA runner under 2:10 thus far with a 2:09.54, but the next three qualifiers
have broken 2:11.
Chester's Damira Allen scorched the 60 hurdles field last year,
qualifying third at 8.83 before dropping down to 8.50 in the final to win by
0.13 seconds. She leads the field headed to State College this year with an
8.60 clocking, but three others also have run in the 8.6s.
A year ago, Kendra Williamson of Episcopal Academy set a
meet record with her 9:35.39 clocking to win the girls 3,000. The junior is
listed fourth on the qualifiers list as the top eight have run 9:59 or faster.
Avon Grove's Lexi Boiardi dominated last year's girls high
jump, clearing 5 feet, 10 inches and winning by 5 inches. She is No. 1 in PA
heading to State College with a 2026 best of 5-8.
In the boys shot put, Colin Sturges of Perkiomen Valley returns
after winning a year ago with a heave of 58-3.5. He is No. 3 in this year's
qualifiers with a best of 59-7.
Another former champion - Grove City Area's Milena Sciullo -
returns in a pair of events where she led the fields in 2024. Sciullo claimed the
state indoor high jump and triple jump titles as a sophomore and currently is
No. 2 in both of those events going to Penn State.
Related Links
- Pennsylvania Indoor Track Rankings
- Performance List
- Boys Meet Records
- Girls Meet Records
- Meet Page
