Both teams came into the 2nd day of the two-day snow-delayed, multi-venue Philadelphia Catholic League Championships confident they could control their own destinies. And for the most part, everything went as planned for the West Catholic girls and Cardinal O\'Hara boys. The Burrs won their 3rd consecutive title, while the Lions of O\'Hara captured their sixth straight. Both teams utilized their talent in a measured way to gain maximum points.
The depth of the West Catholic squad showed repeatedly as they placed four girls in the finals of the 55 Dash (19 points) and three in the finals of the 55 Hurdles (16 points). Three girls were double champs. Kneshia Sheard contributed 1st place points in the 400 with a comfortable 58.66 win, and the 55 Hurdles, going 8.82 (8.52 Trials); plus a 2nd place in the 200 at 25.57. Teammate Simone Carter, a junior, won the 200 in 25.26. Carter also captured the 55 Dash in 7.23, and was 2nd in the Long Jump at 17-06.75. Also getting two individual titles for West Catholic was Latavia Thomas, who went 2:19.73 in the 800, and a 5:12.89 Mile in a strategic win over Prendergast\'s Colleen Boland (5:16.07). West Catholic won the 4x200 in 1:48.81 and the 4x400 in 4:08.43. The Cardinal O\'Hara girls broke their own meet record in the DMR from last year, going 12:43.74. O\'Hara was 2nd with 92 points, 39 behind West Catholic.
The boys\' team competition was a bit closer as Cardinal O\'Hara tallied 97, with Monsignor Bonner 2nd with 73.75. O\'Hara\'s John Dempsey was responsible for 18 points as he captured a very close 55 in 6.69 seconds, the same time credited to Dougherty\'s Ryan Hofmann. Dempsey was 2nd in the 200 in 23.12. Neumann-Goretti\'s Kyle Tucker went 22.97 for the win. Distance ace Greg Thomas also contributed 18 individual points, taking 1st in the 800 in 2:00.79, and a 2nd in 4:29.42 in the Mile on a narrow sprint loss to Carroll\'s Chris Tilger, 4:29.16. The O\'Hara 4x200 went 1:33.70, missing McDevitt\'s 2001 meet record by just six-tenths of a second. LaSalle\'s Pat Jeffers and Bob McCullough went 1-2 in the 3000 with times of 9:06.52 and 9:08.50, respectively. The winning mark just missed Greg Thomas\' 2005 record by .03. LaSalle did break Archbishop Ryan\'s 2001 record of 8:17.44 in the 4x800, going 8:13.13. LaSalle also won the DMR in 10:46.81, just under two seconds ahead of O\'Hara.
Three of the field events had been held on Sunday the 5th at Widener University. Kevin Breen led a sweep of the top three in the Pole Vault for Archbishop Ryan. His 14-09 jump set a new PCL indoor meet record, breaking the 14-03 by Father Judge\'s John Dornison in 1977. His mark moved him from 4th to 3rd in PA. Bonner\'s Mike Tomasco won the Long Jump at 22-04.50, while McDevitt\'s Carey Smith leapt 43-10.75 to secure a title in the Triple Jump. Smith moves up to PA#5 with the mark. Tomasco moves up to PA#6 from #12. Hallahan senior Shanae\' Thomas won the Long Jump in a PCL-record leap of 18-08.75, breaking the 2003 mark of 17-10.50 set in 2003 by Ryan\'s Denise Tetkowski. That moved her from 5th to 2nd in the PA rankings. In the Triple Jump, Thomas tied the 1988 37-06.50 meet record of Hallahan\'s Donna Crumtey.