SELECT PIX AND PHOTO GALLERIES
FROM THE 2/17 DVGTCA AND 2/18 TFCAGP MEETS OF CHAMPS
ARE LINKED TO THE RIGHT AND BELOW. PLUS ELEVEN PHOTO GALLERIES OF PENN STATE HS INV. BY KAREN WARD
Ryann Krais continued to set PRs and records,
winning the Long Jump in a PA best of 19-02.50 and the
60 Hurdles in 8.74. She also split 24.6 in her team's 2nd place
4x400. The next day at the Coca-Cola Hallf of Fame Classic,
she was 2nd in a PA#5 400 of 55.62 and
then split 56.5 in the 4x400.
Photo Gallery by Don Rich of the 2/17 DVGTCA Meet of Champions @ Lehigh University
Select Pix by Don Rich from 2/17 DVGTCA Meet of Champions @ Lehigh University
Photo Gallery by Don Rich of the 2/18 TFCAGP Meet of Champions @ Lehigh University
Select Pix by Don Rich from 2/18 TFCAGP Meet of Champions @ Lehigh University
Eleven Photo Galleries by Karen Ward of the 2/18 Penn State HS Invitational @ Penn State University
Weekend Highlights: Losing a few atheltes to Saturday meets in NY and State College, the DVGTCA Meet of Champs was still its usual high quality. Ryann Krais PRed in the Long Jump, going a US#5 19-02.50. But there was more... The very next day, she is in NY at the Hall of Fame Classic. In the Invitaitonal 400, she gets 2nd in a huge PR and US#5 55.62!!! Less than an hour later, she splits 56.5 to help her Methacton 4x400 to a 4:01.77. The West Chester Henderson girls won the race in a state-leading 3:58.31. Henderson also took a strong 2nd in the 4x800, going 9:23.27, now PA#1. West Catholic improved their PA#1 4x200 to 1:41.26 with a 2nd place. Up in State College, Manheim Township's Craig Miller run his first indoor race ever and nearly sets a state record in the 3000, going a US#6 8:38.65. Glen Mills, Harrisburg and Neshaminy were fast in the sprint relays, but still trail Simon Gratz in the state rankings. At Lehigh in the TFCAGP, Wissahickon pulled off the DMR (10:31.75) - 4x800 (8:06.38) double in great fashion. North Penn's Brandon Turner Triple Jumps 45-08.50 a couple of hours after Academy Park's Aaron Hunter Long-Jumped 23-0, a tie for US#8. Wayne Crawford of Chestnut Hill Academy, took over the top spot in the state with a Shot Put of 57-11. Reggie Carter of Bensalem ran the #1 400 in PA with a 49.45. Chichester's Carrington Queen continued his dominance in the 60 Hurdles, but he had some great competition from Penn Charter's Kamall Marell as the two went 8-02, 8.09, respectively. Queen was 2nd in the 200 to
2/18: Coca-Cola National HS Hall of Fame Classic @ NY Armory: A night after long-jumping a big PR at the DVGTCA Meet of Champs (and winning another hurdles title), Methacton sophomore Ryann Krais was in New York amazing everyone who is following her young career. Expecting something under 58 in the Invitational 400, Krais blew away the expectations with another huge PR, going 55.62, taking 2nd, and earning a US#5 ranking. She also anchored Methacton's 4x400 to a 4:01.77 with a 56.5 split within an hour of her open 400 PR. The West Chester Henderson girls won the race in a state-leading 3:58.31. Henderson also took a strong 2nd in the 4x800, going 9:23.27, now PA#1. West Catholic was 2nd in the 4x200 in 1:41.26 to improve their PA#1 time. In the Shot Put, Karen Shump won with a throw of 44-07.25. Archbishop Carroll and Henderson went 5-6 in the boys' 4x800, now among the top times in PA with their 8:06.19 and 8:07.30 finishes, respectively. Meghan Van Buskirk of Pottsgrove now is PA#3 with her Triple Jump of 37-07.
Weekend Preview: This is it. Last chance to qualify for PTFCA Indoor States and tunng up for others in meets from New York, to Lawrenceville, to Philly, State College and even the Moon (Township, that is)... The girls of the Delaware Valley kick off the weekend with the DVGTCA Meet of Champs Friday night at Lehigh University. The Philly-area boys (TFCAGP Meet of Champs) compete Saturday night, also at Lehigh. These meets could be important for a few athletes from the Philadelphia Catholic League who missed a big chance at top performances when their League Champs were posted last Sunday because of the snowstorm. That meet has been rescheduled for Monday March 6 at Haverford College with their LJ, TJ and PV at a site TBD. Archbishop Carroll, Archbishp Prendergast, Central, Hatboro-Horsham, West Chester Henderson, Holy Ghost Prep, Methacton, Monsignor Bonner, Penncrest (girls), Pottsgrove, Ridley, Susquehanna (not sure if Twp or Community), and West Catholic will compete at the Hall of Fame Classic Saturday at the Armory in NY. Many PA teams (and a few from out-of-state) use the chance on the PSU track at the Penn State University HS Inivtational to post some quick times. And the best in the west compete on Saturday at the TSTCA Indoor Champs at Robert Morris University.
At Lehigh on Friday night,
Latavia Thomas anchored the winning 4x200 of 1:44.60
and won the 400 in a PA#2 56.68.
2/15: TSTCA Shot Put Competition @ North Allegheny HS: North Allegheny teammates Jade Hambrick and Garrett Larkin won the final Shot-Put-only competition by TSTCA, this on in their own school. Jade threw 36'4", while Larkin went 50'9.25" for his best throw.
2/16: TSTCA High Jump Competition @ Montour HS:
2/17: DVGTCA Meet of Champions @ Lehigh University: Losing a few atheltes to Saturday meets in NY and State College, the DVGTCA Meet of Champs was still its usual high quality. Ryann Krais PRed in the Long Jump, going 19-02.50 for a US#5. Upper Darby's Bintoo Dibba leapt 18-01 for 2nd. Krais also won the 60 Hurdles in 8.74, and anchored the 4x200 for Methacton in 24.6. Her team was 2nd in 1:46.74. West Catholic won the race in 1:44.60. Latavia Thomas, West Catholic, went a PA#2 56.68 400. Ijehoma Iheoma of Council Rock South was a strong 2nd in 58.01.Engineering & Science, from the next-to-last heat, won the 4x400 in 4:01.31. It's a PA#3. In the DMR, Strath Haven ran 12:33.48, a PA#1, thanks to a strong anchor by miler Lisa Vienneau. In the Triple Jump, Shanae Thomas of Bishop Hallahan, took over the top spot in PA with a leap of 38-06.50. North Penn started the meet with their PA#2 9:30.58 in the 4x800. Chester's Shaniel Chambers went 2:16.65 to win the 800. In the Pole Vault, Stephanie McDougal of North Penn cleared 11-06 for the win, a PR by three inches.
Craig Miller adapted well to the indoor track
in his first race back after a collapsed lung ended
his XC season. He won the 3000 in 8:38.68.
He raced at Penn State.
(Photo by Karen Ward)
2/18: Penn State High School Invitational @ Penn State University: Just a couple of seconds separated Manheim Township senior Craig Miller from the state indoor record in the 3000 as he went 8:38.65 my himself. It was Miller's first indoor race, and he obviously had no trouble adapting to the direction and the 200 vs. 400 meter track. The mark makes him the top seed for the state championships in a week. Glen Mills tuned up for states with a PA#2 4x200 of 1:30.56. Neshaminy and Harrisburg squared off in the 4x400 and took over PA#A2 and #3 with times of 3:24.39 and 3:24.44. In both the 4x200 and 4x400, these relay teams still trail Simon Gratz in the state rankings. To be continued in a week... Anthony Westbrook of Lancaster McKaskey won the Long Jump (22-05.25) and the Triple Jump (43-07.75. The State College boys moved into the top in PA with a 8:09.17 win in the 4x800. The 400 was quck as Neshaminy junior Chad Sargent ran 49.66. Mercersburg Academy's Whitney Matthew won the 200 in 25.59 and took 2nd in the 400 in 58.80. State College junior Katherine Ward moved into PA#5 with a 5:12.43 win in the Mile. And Cedar Cliff junior Kassandra Meholick went 10:23.14 to win the 3000.
2/18: Poreda Invitational @ Lawrenceville Prep, NJ: Allentown Central Catholic made the trip to the Mondo surface at Lawrenceville, and posted a 9:53.5 4x800 to earn their way into the state championship meet. Vikettes Marcie Sobrinski and Meghan Burns were 4th and 5th in the 1500, timed in 4:57 and 5:00, respectively. Neshaminy's Vanita Moses threw 36-07 in the Shot Put to take 2nd. Mike Font of The Hill School, won the 1500 in 4:10.5.
2/18: TFCAGP Meet of Champions @ Lehigh University:Six runners from Wissahickon chose to forgo individual events at the Meet of Champs to concentrate on putting their best distance relays on the track. With three hours between the DMR and the 4x800, the double for Doug Maisey and
Bensalem's Reggie Carter ran the fastest PA 400
at the MOC, going 49.45. Bonner's Mike Tomasco was 2nd in 50.35. 
2/18: TSTCA Indoor Championships @ Robert Morris University University: It was a great double kind of day for Breehana Jacobs of Laurel Highlands as she ran a PA#1 6.94 55 Dash, followed by a Meet Record of 24.89 in the 200, also a PA#1. Penn Trafford's Diana Filtz also set a meet record, going 10:24.51 in the 3000. Bradford senior Erin Hannon competed in four events,winning three and taking 2nd in just one, the 55 Hurdles, going 8.73 to Center's Lindsa Dolan, first in 8.46. Hannon High-Jumped 5-07, Long-Jumped 18-07.50, and Triple-Jumping 37-11.50. The Long Jump mark is an improvement on her PA#2 mark. Wumi Fapohunda of Gateway was 2nd in the Triple Jump with a leap of 36-08.25. Latrobe's Caitlin Hewitt cleared 11-07 to win the Pole Vault. In a preview of a third of the top contenders for the 3000 at States Northgate's Luke Zarzeczny bested Ellwood City's Jake Walker with his PA#2 8:40.15. Walker improved his season best to 8:42.39. Now it's a horse-race (or at least jumping) contest in the High Jump, as Thomas Jefferson's B.J. Wolfgang tied for PA#1, clearing 6-06. McDowell's Emmanuel Overare leapt 45-03 to win the Triple Jump. And North Allegheny's Sean Gil moved closer to the 16' level, clearing a PR of 15-07. Laurel Highlands' Jared Jodon cleared 15-01.25 for 2nd... also a PR.