A six-part series on the 2014 Central Bucks South girls 4x800 meter relay that made Pennsylvania history on Saturday, May 24th when they claimed the all-time Pennsylvania best clocking in the event in 8:51.49.
Coverage
Abington Heights senior Tessa Barrett qualified for states in XC as a freshman and sophomore, and after an eye-opening 17:58 at the 2012 Tennett Invitatonal, she looked destined to challange for a state AAA title. But a mud-fest at the District 2 meet led to an injury, and the opportunity was lost. She bounced back in indoor with a solo 10:02 3k in February 2013. Her 3000 at PTFCA champs was an epic battle with Courtney Smith and Regan Rome - one she ultimately won in a state record 9:47.73. She would go on to take 4th at the Penn Relays 3000 in 9:40, and then 2nd (to Smith) in another battle at outdoor states, going 10:25 for 3200 meters. This year she opened with a stunning 17:26 at Cliff Robbins, and then not only won the Gold Race at PIAA Foundation, but set the course record for the Poop-Out Hill layout in 17:48. And then she followed in the recent spike-prints of Neely Spence and Angel Piccirillo, winning the Foot Locker Northeast Regional... then trumping all of the past Foot Locker finalists from PA by winning the championship at storied Balboa Park. But she was only beginning an incredible final high school campaign - resetting her state 3K record four more times - first at the Susquehanna High School Classic in late January; then again at the PTFCA State Championships on March 1, and then twice more at New Balance Indoor Nationals - both en route, first in the 5000 meter championship in which she set a national record of 16:11.85, and then two days later in (9:31.09) winning the two-mile title in a PA record and US#1 10:08.05. And we still have outdoor! WHEW!
Event 26 Girls 1 Mile Run ======================================================================= State Meet: * 4:44.20 2/25/2012 Angel Piccirillo, Homer Center Name Year School Finals Points ======================================================================= Section 2 1 Schwartz, Brianna 11 Shaler Area 4:42.58* 10 2 Weisner, Kennedy 12 Elk County Catholic 4:51.87 8 3 Clahane, Mady 10 Cumberland Valley 4:54.43 6 4 Davison, Madeleine 10 North Allegheny 4:55.11 5 5 Heinicke, Kaelyn 12 Council Rock North 5:00.63 4 6 Potts, Kelsey 10 Mount Lebanon 5:02.37 3 7 Sargent, Olivia 10 Pennsbury 5:07.61 1 8 Galligan, Grace 12 Springfield (Delco) 5:12.31 9 Burd, Emily 9 Friends' Central 5:12.32 10 Alm, Gina 12 Hampton 5:15.60 11 Gordon, Audrey 12 Mount Lebanon 5:17.37
Event 6 Boys 1 Mile Run ======================================================================= State Meet: * 4:12.61 2/24/2007 Paul Springer, Unionville Name Year School Finals Points ======================================================================= Section 3 1 Russell, Tony 12 WC Henderson 4:12.65 10 2 Belfatto, Jim 12 Cardinal O Hara 4:17.15 8 3 Wilson, Ross 12 Council Rock North 4:17.17 6 4 Hoey, Jaxson 10 Malvern Prep 4:17.38 5 5 Caldwell, Billy 12 Downingtown East 4:18.80 4 6 Bilotta, Brendan 12 LaSalle Coll 4:19.57 3 7 Grace, Ryan 12 North Penn 4:20.41 1 8 Becich, Michael 12 North Allegheny 4:20.52 9 Cooper, Austin 12 Upper Merion 4:23.01 10 Ritz, Sam 12 Germantown Academy 4:28.82 11 Smith, James 12 Upper Saint Clair 4:31.55
Event 21 Girls 60 Meter Hurdles ================================================================ State Meet: * 8.45 2/26/2011 Leah Nugent, Abington Name Year School Prelims ================================================================ Heat 1 Preliminaries 1 Leonard, Ciara 11 Cheltenham 8.63Q 2 Guy, Bridget 12 Hempfield Area (7) 9.05Q 3 Shields, Brittany 12 Ridley 9.30q 4 Martin, Jenny 11 Methacton 9.37q 5 Serratore, Nicolette 11 Methacton 9.54 6 Slowly, Janiel 11 Cheltenham 9.59 -- Corrado, Natalie 12 Mount Lebanon DNF
Event 26 Girls 1 Mile Run ======================================================================= State Meet: * 4:44.20 2/25/2012 Angel Piccirillo, Homer Center Name Year School Finals Points ======================================================================= Section 1 1 Young, Olivia 11 Unionville 5:03.63 2 2 O'Shea, Alexis 11 West Allegheny 5:11.73 3 Malmberg, Alexis 11 Episcopal Academy 5:12.08 4 Mills, Gretchen 11 Unionville 5:13.47 5 Fisher, Emily 12 Unionville 5:15.17 6 Burka, Larissa 11 State College 5:17.56 7 Concannon, Rita 12 Conestoga 5:17.70 8 Catalano, Hannah 12 State College 5:18.46 9 Twomey, Meridith 10 Pennsbury 5:18.82 10 Kennedy, Abby 12 Strath Haven 5:18.84 11 Young, Samantha 12 Pleasant Valley 5:19.34 12 Stovall, Sydni 9 Springfield (M) 5:21.25
Event 6 Boys 1 Mile Run ======================================================================= State Meet: * 4:12.61 2/24/2007 Paul Springer, Unionville Name Year School Finals Points ======================================================================= Section 1 1 Willig, Matt 12 Great Valley 4:25.33 2 Abert, Colin 11 Easton Area 4:26.75 3 Weidner, Sean 11 Lower Dauphin 4:26.94 4 Kravitz, Matt 10 North Pocono 4:28.40 5 Van Kooten, Jeff 11 Pitt Central Cat 4:28.64 6 Sponaugle, Will Hershey 4:29.54 7 Hanson, Watson 12 Radnor 4:30.27 8 Diestelow, Eric 11 West Chester East 4:32.72 9 Miller, Patrick 12 Kiski Area 4:33.45 10 Milligan, Alex 10 State College 4:33.61 11 Collins, Seamus 12 WC Henderson 4:36.40
Event 6 Boys 1 Mile Run ======================================================================= State Meet: * 4:12.61 2/24/2007 Paul Springer, Unionville Name Year School Finals Points ======================================================================= Section 2 1 Groh, Jeff 12 Lower Dauphin 4:20.24 2 2 Coakley, Mitchell 12 Central Dauphin 4:25.17 3 Moy, Kevin 12 WC Henderson 4:25.49 4 Kolor, Mike 10 Seneca Valley 4:26.26 5 Fowler, David 12 Haverford Twp 4:26.66 6 Louco, Cordon 12 North Allegheny 4:28.70 7 Hopkins, Pat 12 Methacton 4:28.90 8 Wills, Colin 10 Malvern Prep 4:29.54 9 Barchet, Reiny 12 WC Henderson 4:31.06 10 Lerda, Ryan 12 South Fayett 4:32.25 11 Sullivan, Joe 12 Bonner Prendie 4:35.62
Our second athlete of the week award for 2014, January 8-14!
A friendly reminder: Marks achieved in a race with post-HS athletes can't be used as state qualifier
Pennsylvania Milesplit will be live streaming the 2014 PTFCA Indoor State Championships on March 1, 2014 from Penn State University. The live broadcast will be available on this page to all Milesplit Insider members.
(File photo from 2013 PTFCA Indoor Champs) It appears nobody told Brianna Schwartz that you shouldn’t run a PR, let alone a state record, in the opening race of your indoor season.
Shaler Area junior Brianna Schwartz was an all-American at Foot Locker, and now she has joined fellow PA all-American Tessa Barrett as the second athlete to take down a current all-time PA indoor state record BEFORE the state championships.
There is a bit of a mid-distance renaissance occurring this year in Pennsylvania on the indoor track circuit and it is incredibly exciting. To most fans in the know this should come as no surprise as there are a host of talented runners in the state. But the girls mile in particular now features 4 runners under 4:50, and that is pretty incredible for indoors.
The official acceptance list for the March 1 PTFCA Indoor State Championships
Girls preview for the PTFCA Indoor State Champs!
We have reached the grand finale of the 2014 Pennsylvania indoor season and the boys side of the competition may be the most competitive we have ever seen. Several events are too close to call, while other events have the potential to be special.
The place for complete coverage of the 2014 PTFCA Indoor State Championships
Sometimes good things come out of bad circumstances. Formerly PhillyBurbs (via Bucks County Courier Times)
Watch all race videos from the 2014 PTFCA Indoor Championships!
Cheltenham girls win 4x200 and meet title on appeal of DQ.
Video interviews from the 2014 PTFCA State Championships
Feature stories from the 2014 PTFCA Indoor Champs
Photos from the 2014 PTFCA Indoor State Championships at Penn State University.
The 2013 All-State Indoor Track & Field Team was selected by a committee of the PTFCA on March 6th, taking in to consideration honors won, quality and consistency of performance and head-to-head competition. Congratulations to all the new All-State athletes.
Abington Heights senior Tessa Barrett qualified for states in XC as a freshman and sophomore, and after an eye-opening 17:58 at the 2012 Tennett Invitatonal, she looked destined to challange for a state AAA title. But a mud-fest at the District 2 meet led to an injury, and the opportunity was lost. She bounced back in indoor with a solo 10:02 3k in February 2013. Her 3000 at PTFCA champs was an epic battle with Courtney Smith and Regan Rome - one she ultimately won in a state record 9:47.73. She would go on to take 4th at the Penn Relays 3000 in 9:40, and then 2nd (to Smith) in another battle at outdoor states, going 10:25 for 3200 meters. This year she opened with a stunning 17:26 at Cliff Robbins, and then not only won the Gold Race at PIAA Foundation, but set the course record for the Poop-Out Hill layout in 17:48. And then she followed in the recent spike-prints of Neely Spence and Angel Piccirillo, winning the Foot Locker Northeast Regional... then trumping all of the past Foot Locker finalists from PA by winning the championship at storied Balboa Park. But she was only beginning an incredible final high school campaign - resetting her state 3K record four more times - first at the Susquehanna High School Classic in late January; then again at the PTFCA State Championships on March 1, and then twice more at New Balance Indoor Nationals - both en route, first in the 5000 meter championship in which she set a national record of 16:11.85, and then two days later in (9:31.09) winning the two-mile title in a PA record and US#1 10:08.05. And we still have outdoor! WHEW!
For generations, countless Americans have trained in the “family business,” with the goal of one day taking over the grocery store, farm, restaurant or any other enterprise that their parents were operating.
Elk County Catholic senior Kennedy Weisner enters her final year of XC with a champion's resume. Her best year to date was last year as a junior when she won her first state cross country title - this one in the inaugural Class A Championship. Weisner also qualified for her first Foot Locker Nationals. During indoor, she was invited to her first Millrose Mile, and also to the Brooks PR meet, an elite gathering in the Northwest. She came back in outdoor to capture two state AA titles, winning the 800 and the 1600 - a very tough double. She began her final XC season at PTXC-5, setting a course record of 17:49. An injury hurt her chance to repeat in Class A in XC, and sidelined her until December. She won the Millrose Trials Mile and finished 2nd in the Millrose Games. This is her third year qualifying for the Penn Relaya Carnival Mile - taking 5th as a sophomore and 3rd as a junior.
Shannon Quinn is another soccer player turned track talent.