2/18 WKND: Futch US#3 HH, Nesmith T-PA#1 LJ, Evans PA#1 60 @ DVG MOC-Angel 4:54.83-10:06.17 @ TSTCA

Doubling up.
Taking two.

Just about any way you look at it, one just wasn’t good enough at the Tri-State Coaches championship meet as several competitors picked up a pair of victories and teammates used 1-2 finishes to push their squads up the final standings.

Angel Piccirillo of Homer Center cut her recent workload in half and produced a pair of state bests in the process. The Villanova signee pulled away from a competitive field in the mile, chopping almost five seconds off her season best with a US#13 4:54.83.
“It’s been there in practice, everything she’s doing has been there in practice,” coach Michael Gentile said of Piccirillo’s 2012 indoor season. “It just hasn’t translated yet into a meet for whatever reason. I keep telling her if she panics a little bit – ‘My time’s not that good’ – but all the numbers in practice are saying this is it. Today it was there.”

Margo Malone of North Hills led four others under 5:10 with a runner-up PA#9 5:04.40, followed by Norwin’s Autumn Greba (PA#10 5:05.81), Sewickley Academy’s Caitlin Bungo (5:07.80) and Hickory’s Morgan Richards (5:08.21).

“I have been waiting to run a decent mile time, and it’s a good time to go into states with,” Piccirillo said. “Hopefully on a banked track, everything will be faster than that.”

Piccirillo doubled back in the 3,000 meters, running alone from the start for a season-best PA#1 10:06.17 and an almost 40-second victory on the Edinboro University oval.

“The 3,000 today felt kind of difficult,” she said. “It’s hard to run from the gun all by myself. I haven’t done that much this season, especially in the 3,000, but I needed it.”

Bungo and Malone came back from the mile to go 1-2 in the 800, with Bungo’s 2:21.06 nipping Malone’s 2:21.08.

Altoona’s Nikki Kerns moved up to a PA#6 9.28 seconds to win the 60 hurdles, with Mt. Lebanon’s Beatrice Goodyear second in PA#10 9.37. With Richards anchoring, Hickory opened the meet with a PA#5 4:26.88 in the sprint medley relay.

Anna Chodubski of Erie McDowell put together a pair of wins in the horizontal jumps. Her marks of 17 feet, 4.25 inches and 35-8.5 were both season bests.

In the other field events, teammates dominated. The state’s top two throwers finished atop the shot put field as Taylor Woods bested Hickory teammate Jennifer Neider, 41-10 to 41-2. Andrea Pattera of Elizabeth Forward added more than two feet to her best in 2012 with a PA#4 40-4 for third.

Larisa Debich of Hempfield Area was first at 12-0, and teammate Lexi Masterson topped 11-6 for second in the pole vault. Paige Rittelmann of Butler cleared 5-4 to best a high jump field that had 10 slip over at least 5-0. Her victory was the lone win for the Golden Tornado, which finished atop the team standings with 81.75 to Hempfield Area’s 67.25.

Exciting distance races, triple duty stand out

The boys mile again produced a tight finish on the 236.621-meter track as Alex Moran of Mt. Lebanon barely held off hard-charging Ryan Smathers of North East. Moran is now PA#4 at 4:22.78, with Smathers PA#5 at 4:22.85.

“My strength is really good right now, so I just tried to hammer the pace and kill their legs,” Moran said.

Moran and Grove City’s Daniel Jaskowak continued their season-long battle during the opening laps before the Mt. Lebanon standout opened a gap leading into the drive for the finish. His effort was just enough as he was matched stride for stride with Smathers in the final 60 meters.

“Honestly, I was trying the last couple times I raced them, but I just couldn’t bring it,” Smathers said of racing the AAA runners. “Today I did a little something different.” Jaskowak came home third at PA#10 4:24.26.

Meanwhile, Fox Chapel’s Ethan Martin used a strong last 300 meters to steal the boys 3,000 run from Shaler Area’s Caleb Wakeley in a battle of diminutive sophomores. Martin sprinted across in 9:01.41, with Wakeley second in 9:06.81.

“I thought it played out perfectly,” Martin said. “I didn’t want to take it out too fast and burn myself out. It’s a PR.”

Penn Hills used its three standout middle distance runners – seniors Tyree Squires and Wil Bailey and sophomore Dylin Wilhoite – to post strong finishes as the meet wound to a close.
Squires ran a PA#7 1:57.71 to top Bailey’s 1:59.19 for the top spots in the 800, with Wilhoite in seventh. The trio came back to dominate the first half of the 4x800 before scrambling for third behind Bethel Park’s 8:18.58 and Altoona’s 8:21.23.

In the next event and final race of the day, the Indians ran away from the field in the 4x400, storming to a PA#8 3:27.65 with the same trio contributing legs.
 

“I’m really proud of them,” coach Lee Zelkowitz said. “When they did that two weeks ago to get the state (qualifying) times in both the 4x8 and 4x4, and it seemed like less rest than today, that showed me something.

“That’s the way we train. I’m not taking credit for it, but these guys put up with my workouts. We try to do multiple days because at the end of the year, you have to go back to back.”

Junior Clay Allen of West Middlesex managed the “awkward running” of straightaway to turn back to straightaway to clock a PA#4 22.33 to win the 200 dash and then was third in 51.10 at double the distance. Greater Latrobe’s Tyler Ross backed up his state-leading time from last weekend with a 49.66 win over Seneca Valley’s Oliver Philogene (50.73).
 
On the straightaway, Jeff Elam of Greater Latrobe edged out Central Catholic’s Anthony Nixon to win the 60 hurdles, PA#7 8.29 to PA#8 8.32. In the 60 dash, Ricky Jordan of Linsly (Wheeling, W.Va.) ran 6.93 ahead of the PA#4 7.00 by West Mifflin’s Jimmy Wheeler and the PA#7 7.03 by Tyrell Jones of Woodland Hills.

Other highlights in Edinboro’s year-round dome included another victorious 6-7 clearance – and a solid attempt at 6-9 – by John Mudrey of Hickory, teammate Matt Bell’s 58-6 bomb in the shot put and a 22-2 first-place leap by De’vion Tate of Erie McDowell in the long jump. Altoona Area reeled in Trinity in the final stages of the distance medley relay with a PA#2 10:31.95.

Patrick Anderson of Kane Area wrapped up the afternoon with a 15-0 clearance for the pole vault victory, with runner-up Ryan Steinbugl of Altoona Area moving to PA#7 with a 14-6.

“I’ve vaulted with Ryan a lot, he’s a good jumper and it’s nice to have other people in,” the winner said. “It gives me some competition especially when states is next week. It’s always good to have people in at heights.”

Altoona Area won the boys team trophy with 59, while the quartet from Greater Latrobe was next with 50.