Photo by: Jackson Polin
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Winning one PTFCA Indoor State Championship is a major accomplishment. Registering back-to-back event victories in Pennsylvania's under-cover finale for all classes AND public and private schools makes it extra special.
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.
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