SHIPPENSBURG – There is no known gold mine in Shippensburg, but Lebanon County athletes seemed to find one during the final day of the District 3 Track and Field championships.
There were 12 local gold medalists on Saturday at Seth Grove Stadium (plus one on Friday).
Actually, there were more people than that coming home with gold medals because much of the success came in the relay events, and no one did better in the relays than the Annville-Cleona girls. The Dutchmen swept the three 2A relay events.
More medals to win: These athletes are contenders to strike gold at the District 3 track and field meet
Annville-Cleona teamwork
A dreary Saturday morning at Seth Grove Stadium turned bright, figuratively at least, for the Annville-Cleona 4x800 relay team. In the first race on the track, the Dutchmen won the gold with a 9:56.03. Mackenzie Stellmach clinched the victory in the anchor leg, surpassing Susquenita’s Aubrey Richards in the last 30 meters and breaking out a smile with 10 meters to go when she realized there was nothing between her and the finish line. Megan Brophy, Addison Sanchez, and Emily Maag ran the opening legs.
Having already won the longest relay, A-C also won the quickest. The Dutchmen posted a 49.18 in the 4x100, leading before the first handoff and cruising to the top of the medal stand. Miracle Hershey, Jada Morales, Sophia Caporaletti and Kendall Cooper shared the triumph.
The Dutchmen capped off their day by also winning the 4x400 in 4:08.23. This victory was by the same four runners as the 4x100, though in a different order: Caporaletti, Morales, Hershey and Cooper.
In between the relays, the Dutchmen accumulated some solo medals as well. Cooper would win another gold and silver in individual events.
“Sometimes I think I trick myself into thinking I have more energy,” Cooper said of her busy day. “It’s kind of difficult, especially going from the 200 to the 4x400. I just try to get some rest in and get some energy back when I’m not doing anything.”
Cooper, running out of Lane 5, snared a solo gold medal for the Dutchmen with a 12.42 in the 2A 100. Hershey was fourth for the Dutchmen with a12.86.
Cooper and Hershey medaled again in the 200, with Cooper taking a silver medal in 26.29 and Hershey placing sixth with a 27.22.
Stellmach claimed a bronze medal on her own with a 5:29.21 in the 1600. Caporaletti was fourth in the 400 with a 1:02.34.
Ups and downs for Cedar Crest's Howard
Kaddel Howard of Cedar Crest had a full run of emotions on Saturday.
Howard’s heroics started early, turning a close event into a runaway in the 3A girls 4x800 relay. She turned in a 2:16.43 final leg to finish off the Falcons’ gold-medal winning 9:20.29 final time. Eliana Schneider, Audrey Fugate and Lizzie Lowe put the Falcons ahead of Carlisle by a couple steps after 2400 meters before Howard took a hold of the lead for good.
Her next time on the track, Howard won the 400 with a 54.93. That beat Marissa Helderman of Warwick by over two seconds, but Howard accomplished that without even a great start. Or at least, not a great start by her standards.
“I felt like I just strode out, I didn’t go hard,” Howard said of her start. “I wanted to save for next week.”
And while Howard was adding to her collection of gold medals, next week’s state meet was on her mind even when seeing her name appear on top of the results.
“I wasn’t aiming for any time today,” Howard said. “I just wanted a time that would put me in a good spot to do better next week.”
Unfortunately, the day did not end as well as it began, as Howard false started in the 200 to take her out of that competition.
Whigham’s best for last
Lebanon’s Zariyah Whigham needed to unleash her best jump of the day on her last attempt, and she did so to win the 3A triple jump with a 37-10.
Whigham entered the last attempt with a 37-5 ½ in prelims, which would have left her behind Anne Gardner of Hershey, who recorded a 37-6 ¼.
“I had nothing to lose,” Whigham said of her last jump. “I want to give my all and see what I could do.”
The senior hopes to not leave so much up the last leap next week at states.
“I definitely want to PR, to do better phases than today, and get on the board because I was not on the board at all today,” Whigham said.
Palmyra's Burgess in the record book
Palmyra’s Tyler Burgess grabbed two gold medals in the hurdle races, and in the 300 hurdles, put his name in the District 3 record book.
Burgess set a meet record in the 3A 300 hurdles, posting a 36.82. That bested the 44-year old mark by 0.25 seconds, and beat second-place Marcus Quaker of West Perry by 1.88 seconds.
“Yesterday [in prelims], I had my PR, which was just 1.9 seconds off the record,” Burgess said.
The Cougar junior cleared all but one of the hurdles cleanly, and even a slight nick on the last hurdle did not seem to slow him.
Burgess started his day with a dominant victory in the 3A 110 hurdles. Leading from the first leap, Burgess finished with a 13.88. In second was Seth Beardsley of Cumberland Valley with a 14.54.
“My goal was to get a good spot for states,” Burgess said. “I think I’m in a good position, but the goal is always to get better.”
Another Cougar, Jonathan McDannell, was fifth with a 15.17.
Bucks goes indoors to get gold
The heavy rains early in the day moved the pole vault competition indoors. In the end it made little difference to Mason Bucks, who won the 3A pole vault by clearing 16-3 on his second attempt. He also cleared 16-0 on his second try.
“It’s a little disappointing,” Bucks said of competing in the Heiges Field House. “I like jumping in front of a crowd. They give hype. But I’ve vaulted indoors before, and there’s no wind. … You just got to adapt.”
Annville-Cleona goes the distance
Saturday was a big day for the Annville-Cleona distance runners in 2A, and the Dutchmen made sure to get everyone’s attention in the 4x800 relay. Landon Hostetter, Oliver Funck, Matt Clemson and David Moran put together a gold medal effort with an 8:06.66. Moran had to make up a step on Oley Valley when he grabbed the baton for the last leg but took the lead for good after 150 meters and won by over two seconds.
Moran wasn’t done. He led the 800 from the opening gun to the finish line and took the gold medal with a 1:57.31. Even with that success, Moran was not fully satisfied with his performance after stepping down from the medal stand.
“I ran slow today,” Moran said. “I was supposed to set the record for the school. I thought I was on pace for it, but I must not have finished strong.”
Moran did finish strong in the 4x400, the final race of the day, helping the Dutchmen to a silver medal. Jon Moran, Matt Clemson, Samuel Domencic and Moran combined for a 3:33.09, second only to Susquenita’s 3:30.18.
Funck added a fifth-place 4:30.90 in the 1,600.
Quick recovery for Schneider
Friday, Cedar Crest sophomore Eliana Schneider faulted on her first throw in the girls' Class 3A javelin. She recovered nicely with a second throw that put her ahead.
"I had a little bit of trouble getting myself hyped up to throw," Schneider said. "But the second one I got it back up to the usual throwing distance."
That second throw, 143-6, was 23 feet beyond the best throw by silver medalist Jada Lubin of McCaskey. But Schneider wasn't finished. She launched her winning effort of 149-11 on the last throw to seal the gold.
"I was definitely having a little bit of trouble getting myself hyped up after that second throw," she said. "But I really wanted to finish with a strong throw."
The gold was Schneider's second medal of the competition. She finished fourth in the high jump with a leap of 5-2.
Saturday's local medalists
Girls' Class 2A 4x800 relay: 1. Annville-Cleona (Megan Brophy, Addison Sanchez, Emily Maag, Mackenzie Stellmach), 9:56.03.
Girls' Class 3A 4x800 relay: 1. Cedar Crest (Eliana Schneider, Audrey Fugate, Lizzie Lowe, Kaddel Howard), 9:20.29.
Boys' Class 2A 4x800 relay: 1. Annville-Cleona (Landon Hostetter, Oliver Funck, Matt Clemson, David Moran), 8:06.66.
Boys' Class 3A 4x800 relay (winning time 7:47.10): 7. Palmyra (Jake Vottero, Ethan Yorty, Cohen Claar, Comelius Cummings), 8:10.82; 8. Elco (Luke Macchione, Ben Macchione, Chad Keller, Camden Marquette), 8:11.42.
Boys' Class 3A 110 hurdles: 1. Tyler Burgess, Palmyra, 13.88; 5. Jonathan McDannell, Palmyra, 15.17.
Girls' 100 meters: 1. Kendall Cooper, Annville-Cleona, 12.42; 4. Miracle Hershey, Annville-Cleona, 12.86.
Girls' Class 2A 1600 meters (winning time 5:11.25): 3. Mackenzie Stellmach, Annville-Cleona, 5:29.21.
Boys' Class 2A 1600 meters (winning time 4:25.95): 5. Oliver Funck, Annville-Cleona, 4:30.99; 7. Ramon Urena Batista, Lebanon, 4:17.18.
Girls' Class 3A pole vault (winning vault 11-6): 6. Ruby Wolfe, Cedar Crest, 11-0.
Boys' Class 2A long jump (winning jump 20-10): 5. Wesley Heller, Annville-Cleona, 19-10.75.
Girls' Class 2A 4x100: 1. Annville-Cleona (Miracle Hershey, Jada Morales, Sophia Caporaletti, Kendall Cooper), 49.18.
Boys' Class 3A 1600 meters (winning time 4:11.96): 7. Ramon Urena Batista, Lebanon, 4:17.18.
Girls' Class 2A 4x100 relay: 1. Annville-Cleona (Miracle Hershey, Jada Morales, Sophia Caporaletti, Kendall Cooper), 49.18.
Boys' Class 3A 4x100 relay (winning time 41.99): 6. Palmyra (Travis McDannell, Jonathan McDannell, Tyler Burgess, Jacob Burgess), 42.88.
Girls' Class 2A 400 meters (winning time 1:00.08): 4. Sophia Caporaletti, Annville-Cleona, 1:02.34
Girls' Class 3A 400 meters: 1. Kaddel Howard, Cedar Crest, 54.93.
Boys' Class 3A 300 hurdles: 1. Tyler Burgess, Palmyra, 36.82 (district record); 8. Luke Macchione, Elco, 40.92.
Girls' Class 2A 800 meters (winning time 1:11.81): 8. Megan Brophy, Annville-Cleona, 2:29.58.
Boys' Class 2A 800 meters: 1. David Moran, Annville-Cleona, 1:57.31.
Girls' Class 2A 200 meters (winning time 25.73): 2. Kendall Cooper, Annville-Cleona, 26.29; 6. Miracle Hershey, Annville-Cleona, 27.22.
Boys' Class 2A 200 meters (winning time 22.58): 5. Joe Moran, Annville-Cleona, 23.60.
Boys' Class 3A 200 meters (winning time 21.55): 7. Jalik Hill, Lebanon, 22.91.
Girls' Class 2A long jump (winning jump 16-8.5): 5. Madison Long, Annville-Cleona, 15-9.5.
Boys' Class 3A pole vault: 1. Mason Bucks, Palmyra, 16-3.
Girls' Class 3A triple jump: 1. Zariyah Whigham, Lebanon, 37-10; 4. Makenna Haas, Elco, 36-9.25.
Girls' Class 2A 4x400 relay: 1. Annville-Cleona (Sophia Caporaletti, Jada Morales, Miracle Hershey, Kendall Cooper), 4:08.23.
Friday's local medalists
Boys' Class 3A javelin (winning throw 185-2): 5. Dylan Groff, Cedar Crest, 174-1.
Girls' Class 2A pole vault (winning vault 13-0): 7. Caitlin Shay, Annville-Cleona, 8-6.
Boys' Class 3A long jump (winning jump 23-9): 4. Jacob Burgess, Palmyra, 22-9.25.
Girls' Class 3A high jump (winning height, 5-6): 4. Eliana Schneider, Cedar Crest, 5-2.
Girls' Class 2A triple jump (winning jump 35-9.75): 2. Madison Long, Annville-Cleona, 35-3.
Girls' Class 3A javelin throw: 1. Eliana Schneider, Cedar Crest, 149-11; 3. Sofia Price, Palmyra, 119-9.
Girls' Class 3A long jump (winning jump 19-0.5): 3. Zariyah Whigham, Lebanon, 17-10.5.
Girls' Class 2A 3,200 meters (winning time 11:24.90): 2. Mackenzie Stellmach, Annville-Cleona, 11:39.46; 3. Emily Maag, Annville-Cleona, 11:57.72
Boys' Class 2A 3,200 meters (winning time 9:34.00): 3. Landon Hostetter, Annville-Cleona, 9:39.61; 4. Oliver Funck, Annville-Cleona, 9:40.40; 6. Matt Clemson, Annville-Cleona, 9:59.58.
Team scores
Here are the top five teams in each class for boys and girls:
Girls' Class 2A: 1. Wyomissing, 105; 2. Annville-Cleona, 99; 3. Greenwood, 65; 4. Susquenita, 64.33; 5. Bermudian Springs, 63.50.
Boys' Class 2A: 1. Wyomissing, 104; 2. Schuylkill Valley, 85; 3. Greenwood, 80.50; 4. Columbia, 58; 5. Annville-Cleona, 56.
Girls' Class 3A: 1. McCaskey, 72; 2. Spring Grove, 55; 3. Cedar Crest, 37; 4. Conestoga Valley, 29; 5. Carlisle, 28.
Boys' Class 3A: 1. Carlisle, 64; 2. Palmyra, 44; 3. Hershey, 34; 4. Berks Catholic, 33; 5. Chambersburg, 31.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: District 3 track and field: Lebanon County athletes bring home the gold
Most Popular
Comments / 0