A GOAL MET WITH ONE THROW TO GO
Tamaqua junior Allison Updike took a minute to soak in her surroundings, because after a full outdoor season of waiting, she finally was on top of the javelin world in the Pennsylvania high school track & field universe.
With a throw of 158 in the bag, nearly 20 feet better than last year‘s state champion, Lakeview’s Fawn Miller -- who won it in 2008 and 2009 -- Updike knew she finally broke through and was the title holder.
She probably could have scratched her last throw if you she wanted to. But she decided against it -- and really, why would she have done it?
As touching stories like these always unfold, something remarkable followed.
With tears in her eyes, Updike reached a milestone mark in her career. She pitched a throw of 161-2, which now stands all-time PA#5. It was also the #2 all-time best throw at the PIAA Championship Class AA meet.
“I have so much emotion in my body right there,” Updike said. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s amazing times ten.”
Miller finished in second with a throw of 141-6. But even with a sizable lead, Updike didn’t get complacent. Then again, she doesn’t remember the throw either. Everything’s just flashing through her head at this point.
“Honestly, I can’t really tell you,” said Updike, who used a javelin that used to belong to Casey Wagner, a former state javelin medalist at Tamaqua. “I don’t really remember it. But I think it went over pretty well. I don’t think everything was perfect, so there’s room to improve. But everything felt right. And I just let it go.”
Updike still has a year left, but that doesn’t mean she has no clue about her future. She’s looking into schools like Duke and Stanford. Mainly, she says, she wants to go to a school with a good javelin record. Because ultimately, she says, that’s where her love lies.
THE WORLD HAS USAIN BOLT, PENNSYLVANIA HAS CARLTON LAVONG
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Google him. Go ahead.
After a performance like Saturday’s, where Methacton’s Carlton LaVong won the Class AAA long jump with a mark of 24-8.5, he’ll show up everywhere on your browser.
And the thing is, he wants you to do it. The senior wore a custom designed T-shirt on Saturday that read on the back, “Google me.”
But don’t think he’s arrogant. The state gold medalist knows what the term self-preservation means, but behind the entertainer is also a realist.
He’s got swagger, sure, but he also has the mentality to succeed.
“It’s not really like something off my back that I’ve been holding on to,” he said, sporting dark sunglasses, a flat brim cap and a smile. “Every meet to me is the same. You win some, you lose some.
“I train to win, but if something happens, I never hold it on to me. I never have a chip on my shoulder because then that’ll bring you down.
That philosophy has served him well. It’s made him honest. And to see LaVong honest is to see the person that he is. A crowd pleaser.
At times on Saturday, the state meet was as dry as a four-month old potato. But as the Class AAA long jump got underway at 12:30 p.m. with it came LaVong and his clever ability to initiate the crowd.
Before his jumps in the finals of the event, he roused up the crowd with a simple, continuous clap. He even secured his gold medal jump in the moments after engaging with the crowd.
So in some small way, that’s why LaVong made sure to give some love back on the podium. The senior raised his hands above his head when his name was called, giving kudos back to the people that made him deliver.
SHE HAS THREE STATE MEDALS … AND SHE’S ONLY A FRESHMAN. WHO IS THIS GIRL?
By now if you haven’t heard of Pennsbury freshman Sara Sargent, hurry up and do your homework. You aren’t a fan of high school track if you don’t know who this girl is.
She’s simply torn up the high school long distance circuit over the past year. And she’s not in any position to slow down.
In the fall, she won the Class AAA cross country championships at Hershey. She also because a Foot Locker Finalist in cross country. In the winter, she won the 3,000-meter run at indoor states. And on Saturday at Shippensburg University, she managed the trifecta, beating Central Bucks East junior Katie Kinkead by three seconds to win the outdoor 3,200 run in AAA meet record 10:21.06.
“Waking up this morning, I said it’s time I take care of this myself and just win it, so I can get my third state championship as a freshman,” she said. “So it was good. I broke the record by a second.”
Her final lap was an unofficial 67.4.
But there’s also the way in which she does it. Take Saturday for example.
Trailing by at least 30 meters to Kinkead heading into the final lap, nearly everyone in attendance believed her to be out of the race. But then a roar made its way through the stands. And then there she was, on the final stretch, bulling her way toward Kinkead, who was losing steam.
In a maneuver that could be considered preventative, Kinkead widened her arms out as Sargent neared, hoping to make the freshman go around her.
Nope. Sargent went right through -- and in the process Kinkead fell down.
“We’re friends,“ Sargent said of her relationship with Kinkead. “But when it comes to on the track, we are absolutely total enemies. But right when we’re done we’re friends again.”
It seemed odd, considering the pair just battled it out on the track for supremacy in the two mile. But there they were on the winner’s bench, chatting it up.
“I keep in touch with her a lot,“ Sargent said. “I text her. Sometimes we go for runs. We’re friends until it comes to the track, where we’re each other’s competition for a state medal.”
HE DIDN’T BREAK THE PA RECORD, BUT HE WAS SATISFIED
The 23 year old state record in the Class AAA 800-meter run was on Central Bucks South’s Tom Mallon mind. Set in 1987 by Archbishop Kennedy’s Paul Vandegrift, the 1:48.8 was swirling around in his head like wildfire.
He had every intention of breaking it Saturday before a massive crowd that was responsive to record-breakers.
But the senior, who’s heading to Stanford University next year, barely missed out, settling for a PIAA record of 1:49.31, which broke a 26 -year old record held by Penn Wood’s Mark Fowler in 1984.
“I’m not going to be disappointed about it,” said Mallon, who will have a meet at West Chester Henderson next week and will try to do it again. “I was really hoping to get there.”
What went wrong, Mallon figured, was that he went out too slow. He ran a 54 second first lap instead of a 52 or 53, which would have forced him to hit the final gear sooner. Part of the reason, he said, was the waterfall start.
“You never know what the people down low are going to do,“ he said. “So I thought maybe they would take it out faster but they didn’t.”
If the Henderson meet doesn’t work out, Mallon has plans on shutting it down for a week or too. At this point in the season, he said, he’s on the point of breaking down. And that’s the last thing he wants to do.
“Track is a sport where you can get so burned out so easily,” he said. “And you can go all season and by the end you can say, ’I have another race.’ I can’t do it anymore. I’m getting to that point. I just have to rest mentally.”
DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE THREE-TIME STATE CHAMP
Lewisburg’s Kalyn Fisher wasn’t letting go of her 800-meter title so easily, and her performance on Saturday proved exactly just how ready she was in defending it.
She recorded a then-PA#1 time of 2:10.62. How’s that for title defense?
Entering the race, Homer Center’s Angel Piccirillo was the prohibitive favorite to claim the championship, even though the sophomore had just started running the race this year and was competing in her first state championships.
Still, the numbers didn’t lie. Piccirillo had one of the top times in the state. Fisher was behind.
“She’s a really talented runner, so I was excited to race her,” Fisher said. “So it was kind of revenge in a way, but in a friendly way. Making sure that I was still out there. I wasn’t under the bus.”
Fisher, who will continue her career at Penn State University next year, crafted a 62-second first lap before finishing off her final straightaway with a defining touch of speed.
“I know that the last 100 in any race, no matter how tired you are, you have to run with heart,“ she said. “So that’s what I try to do. I don’t focus on how tired I am as much as I focus on getting to the line.”
11 YEARS AND COUNTING
It started 11 years ago and the trend continues to lengthen with each state meet.
It started before Bill Viccari was even coaching the Quaker Valley girls’ hurdlers, but it sure hasn’t ended since he took over.
In the nine years since he became coach, he’s guided Quaker Valley hurdlers to 11 straight years of medals at the state meet.
Quaker Valley senior Tabitha Bemis added a gold medal to the display case on Saturday, running a 14.74 final that was her personal best and a rather impressive time.
“We have been fortunate to have such great kids,” Viccari said.
So where do they come from? Where does the success breed?
Viccari says he mines former gymnasts into the program. He took Bemis as seventh grader and built her into a stud. The senior, who also won gold in the long jump and was second in the triple jump, has medaled in the previous two years in the 100 hurdles.
“It’s not focusing on how you want to do,” Bemis said. “It’s focusing on you’re right there right then. And you just have to go.”
During this decade-plus long run, only one medalist has been a male. All others have been females, Viccari said.
Bemis’ goal was to break 15 seconds on Saturday. Getting the gold? That was a bonus.
“Her first goal was to break 15 and her next goal was to win the gold medal,” Viccari said. “And her third goal was to be under 14.8. She ran 14.74. She got all three.”
HE’S NOT THAT BIG, BUT HE CERTAINLY PACKS A PUNCH IN THE SHOT PUT
One look up and down Kennett’s Blake Davenport and you might gather that he’s a javelin thrower. Perhaps he’s a jumper.
He’s athletic enough. But he certainly doesn’t have a thrower’s body.
Don’t be misled. Davenport is a beast. His 55-7.50 throw in the shot put gave him gold in the Class AAA field.
“I expected to win,” said Davenport, who puts four days of work in the weight room each week. “I just wanted a better performance, honestly. I was the best one today and that’s all that matters.”
The fire-red hair senior wasn’t completely content with his performance, but he knew that on a day he needed to be the best, he was.
“I usually bring out the best in everybody,” Davenport said. “Everyone usually throws their best against me. I bring out the best in them. But I’m really strong and usually really fast. I was slow today, but I have really good technique.”