2004 Pennsylvania State Meet
May 28-29, 2004 at Shippensburg State U.

Day 2

Story and photos by Don Rich, PennTrackXC.com

Highlights - Summary - Complete Results AA - AAA

Chris Spooner - Kate Vernon - Frances Koons - Peter Habegger - Craig Miller - Haverford girls - Ian Fitzgerald - Eric Sparks - Regan sisters - Angela Hoover - Marco Radocaj

Craig Miller, Manheim Township, breaks Sam Bair's PIAA 1600 record, going 4:09.33

Haverford's third leg, Fiana York, splits 2:11.2 to bust open a close race, as Haverford gets a US#5 9:09.06

Chris Spooner in the 4x800, splitting 1:51.8 to lead Lewisburg to US#2 7:44.44.
Going it alone, North Hills' Ian Fitzgerald goes 9:01.49 in the 3200, after going 9:04 a week ago at Districts

 


Frances Koons, Allentown Central Catholic, has improved her 1600 weekly, this time going 4:48.78.
Lindsay Regan, Easton, clears 13-0 to win the AAA championship, and take the AAA state record.

Highlights

TEAM:
AA Girls Gwynedd Mercy 59
AAA Girls McDowell 33
AA Boys Elmer L. Meyers, 51
AAA Boys Central Dauphin 33

Chris Spooner triples, spits 1:51.8 to anchor Lewisburg to US#2 4x800 of 7:44.44, and wins 1600 in 4:13.99 and 800 in 1:54.27. Lewisburg gets 3rd in 4x400 of 3:23.14 with Spooner split of 50.5.

Kate Vernon, double individual and double relay wins, anchors 4x800 to 9:15.30; win 1600 in 5:00.98, 800 in 2:15.01, and is on
winning 3:56.98 4x400 to lead Gwynedd Mercy to AA team title.

US#2 -- Frances Koons, Allentown Central Catholic 4:48.78 1600

US#2 -- Peter Habegger, Cedar Crest, 24-08 Long Jump

US #3 -- Craig Miller, Manheim Twp. 4:09.33 1600

US#5 -- AAA Girls, Haverford wins the 4x800 in 9:09.06

US#6 -- Ian Fitzgerald, North Hills 9:01.49 3200

Andrew Rademacher, Hickory, upset in AAA PV by teammate Eric Sparks, a junior, who PRd by 3" at 15-09.

AA Girls PV, Easton sisters Lindsay Regan, 13-0, Courtney 11-06

AA Girls Jav: Angela Hoover, Bald Eagle 150-01.00

Ruby Radocaj's brother, Marco Radocaj, keeps the AAA Jav titles in the family, winning with a US#9 throw of 204-07.00

Day 2 Summaries

Special thanks to Mark Schwartz of Three Rivers USATF, and Aaron Rich for their full-time, enthusiastic help in covering the meet. Mark took up residence near the finish to get all the splits you'll see in the stories, and Aaron talked with athletes, posted stories and downloaded pix so that the coverage could be more complete.

Distance

Kate Vernon, Gwynedd Mercy, wins both AA 800 and 1600 races, while Lewisburg's Chris Spooner accomplishes the same feat in AA boys. Both athletes also anchored their teams to wins in the 4x800 earlier in the day. Monster races from sophomore Craig Miller, Manheim Township, in the AAA 1600, and Ian Fitzgerald, North Hills, in the AAA boys 3200. Included are some splits and race flow descriptions for the 800, 1600 and 3200 races. Times in a few of the races were among the best in years.

800
Lewisburg ace Chris Spooner got his 3rd gold of the meet by controlling the early pace, and the closing charge to go 1:54.27. Spooner's splits were 57.2, 57.0. In girls' AAA, freshman Liz Kearins of Central Bucks West wasn't intimidated by all the senior talent, pulling away on the final stretch to win in 2:12.98. Henderson's Melissa Ferry was less than a second back. Seniors took places 2-7. Kate Vernon finished her individual golds with the 8000 win in 2:15.01, holding off fellow junior Faye Korich of Springfield (Montco), just .06 back. In AAA boys, the west remained in charge as Connellsville junior Ken King ran the perfect race, steadily picking up the pace from 200 in to win in 1:53.94. Shaler's John Balouris was 2nd in 2:54.19.

1600
In the AAA boys 1600 Craig Miller wanted to sit on the pace for the first 800 meters and then try to negative split and hope that no one went with him. He did exactly that, as he pulled away from the field after halfway, leaving the other runners to fight it out for second place. Miller's time of 4:09.61 set a new PIAA record The old record of 4:09.61 was set by Sam Bair in 2002. Miller ran the first half of the race with splits of 63.6 and 64.6, before dropping the hammer for a 2:01 last 800, with splits of 60.7 and 60.3. James O'Toole, Rich Ryan, and Brian Fuller all finished within .04 seconds for 2nd through 4th places with respective times of 4:14.72, 4:14.75, and 4:14.76. In the AA boys race Chris Spooner ran unchallenged from the gun, winning in a time of 4:13.99. Spooner established his lead with a 59.9 opening lap, before running a 64.1 2nd lap and a 66.8 second lap. He then closed in a 63.1. Spooner was followed across the line by David Mock who turned in a time of 4:19.71 only an hour after winning the 3200 meters. In the AAA girls race Frances Koons ran away with the race after 800 meters, finishing with a time of 4:48.78. Koons was 2:26.5 at the 800, before negative splitting to close out the last 800 in 2:22.1.

4x800
Koons had lead her team to a 2nd place in the girls' AAA 4x800, splitting 2:09-point to nearly close a 30 meter gap on champion Haverford. In the AA girls race the Gwynedd Mercy duo of Kate Vernon and Kahki Mealey finished 1-2 with
times of 5:00.98 and 5:02.11. Vernon closed in a 71.3.

3200
William & Mary-bound duo win 3200 meter titles. Ian Fitzgerald, North Hills, wins in 9:01.49 with a dominating performance over Sam Luff of Emmaus. In the AAA boys race Ian Fitzgerald took the lead from the gun and ran the first mile of the race in 4:31. He ran the next few laps slower than he would have liked and came in to the final lap having to run a 61 to break 9 minutes. He ran a 62 point to seal his victory in 9:01.49. Also under 9:20 in the race were Sam Luff, 9:10.14, Jeff Weiss, McGuffy, 9:12.26, and Brian Soder, Harbor Creek, 9:18.34. In the AA boys race David Mock took to the lead from the first lap and led the whole race with Jake Strayer trailing closely behind. With two laps to go Strayer took the lead and Mock was content to sit on him until 200 meters to go in the race. Then Mock opened up a 20 meter lead and held it to the finish to win in a time of 9:10.95. Strayer was timed in 9:14.61. Mock split 4:37.4 for the 1600. Also under 9:20 was sophomore Jacob Walker with a time of 9:16.41.
In girls' AAA, AA XC Champ Adriene Beltz set much of the pace, trailed closely by two juniors, Freedom's Lauren Dezubay and Unionville's Katie Thaeder. With a couple of laps remaining, Dezubay broke to the lead, followed only the Thaeder. Dezubay pulled away over the final 300 to win in 10:34.13, four second ahead. Beltz was 3rd, with Kylee Schuler, Chambersburg, 4th, also under 10:50.Dezubay split 5:17.2 at the 1600. The AA race belonged to Palisades senior Christa Plummer, who beat the defending champ, Lynn Morelli of St. Basil Academy, by eight seconds, going 10:49.42.

Relays

West Mifflin overcame two rough handoffs in the 4x100, Conestoga took the wide-open girls AAA 4x400, while Elk County Catholic took two seconds to Gwynedd-Mercy; and Lewisburg boys posted the US#2, Haverford girls the US#5 4x800's.

4x100
In AAA boys, West Mifflin staked claim to the best in PA with their 42.32, despite some minor trouble with handoffs. Penn Hills was the favorite going in, and was never challenged down the stretch as they ran 47.81. Despite a fantastic closing leg by Jasmine Rogers, who brought her Quaker Valley team up to second, Lewisburg held on for a 49.61 win in AA girls. The Jannea Bridgeford anchored Upper Darby Royals were 2nd in 48.42. Elmer L. Meyers had the 4th fastest time of the meet, taking the AA boys race in 42.75.

4x400
Central Dauphin East ran an incredible race, taking control and never letting up with splits of 49.5, 49.7, 50.4 and 48.7 in the boys AAA, timed in 3:18.28. Without Krista Simkins, Wissahickon was not able to defend their title. That left the field open for a team to step up, and that's exactly what Conestoga did, running 3:55.66. General McLane was 2nd in 3:57.03, and Henderson was 3rd .15 back. Chris Spooner got the stick with the lead, but he was facing his 7th race of the weekend, and 4th of the day, plus a Milton Hershey team that was determined to take the day's final race. They did in 3:21.95, splitting 51.8, 50.7, 50.3, and 48.9. Spooner was caught at the line and they were edged by Greenville 3:23.01 to 3:23.14. Gwynedd-Mercy put an exclamation point on their AA team championships with a solid 3:56.98 win. Elk County Catholic was 2nd to the Monarchs for the 2nd time in the day (4x800),
going 3:58.05.

4x800
Lewisburg set a new AA boys record in the 3200 relay with a time of 7:44.44, eclipsing the old record by 7 seconds. The record was 7:51.74, set back in 1981 by Greenville. Lewisburg was in complete control of the race from the gun and had the victory in hand before the fast anchor leg by Chris Spooner, who ran a 1:51.8 to close out the win. The time is #2 in the US. Lewisburg's other splits were 1:57.1, 1:58.3, 1:56.4. In the AAA girls race, Haverford Township won with a time of 9:09.06, the 5th best in the US. The Fords were in 8th place during the second leg of Julia Summers, who held them close enough to the lead that when Fiona York got the baton she was able to close on the leaders during her first lap, pass everyone with 400 to go and have a 40 meter lead with 300 to go. She literally sling-shotted off the first turn of the last lap after tearing down the straight in lane three wide of the group. York handed off to Adriana Boyle with a 50 meter lead, and Adriana was able to hold off the charge from Allentown Central Catholic's Frances Koons. Haverford's splits were: Alicia York, 2:20.53, Julia Summers, 2:23.43, Fiana York, 2:11.20, and Adriana Boyle, 2:13.78. Koons anchored in 2:09.8 for Allentown Central Catholic, which went 9:10.76, another school record for the six-year old program. If you wanted a medal in AAA boys, you had to break 7:57. Central Dauphin held off a late charge by Cumberland Valley and North Penn to win in 7:47.28. Central Dauphin controlled the race but Cumberland Valley and North Penn shadowed them on every leg until they pulled away during the third and fourth legs. CD, which won the state AAA title, held a 20 meter lead until the last 100 meters when the gap closed and all 3 teams finished within a second of each other. For AA girls, Gwynedd Mercy was able to outdistance an incredible effort by Elk County Catholic to win with a time of 9:15.30. Elk County Catholic led most of the race before Gwynedd Mercy took the lead on the last lap and held on for the win. Gwynedd Mercy anchor Kate Vernon made up a 30 meter gap with a split of 2:14.7. The other Monarch splits were 2:19.6, 2:23.9 and 2:16.9.

Sprints/Hurdles

Jannea Bridgeford, Upper Darby defends on title and adds a new one. Knowledge Timmons does the same in AAA boys. Andre Broussard gets two golds. And Jasmine Rogers takes home two individual titles with 100 and 100 Hurdles win.

100
In AAA girls, Jeannea Bridgeford of Upper Darby, defended her 2003 title with an 11.83. William Penn (York) junior Knowledge Timmons took the 100 in the boys AAA race, outleaning North Hills' senior Andrew Johnson, the defending champ, by .09 in 10.56. Seven guys were under 11 seconds. After her 100 Hurdles win, Jasmine Rogers completed her day in AA with a 12.36 win in the 100, holding off a quick sophomore from Boiling Springs, Mary Dell, 12.36 to 12.54. Andre Broussard of Elmer L. Meyers in Wilkes-Barre, started his two individual gold day with an 11.02 win.

200
Not content with her defense of her 100 AAA title, Jannea Bridgeford of Upper Darby, added more gold in the 200, posting a 24.69 to old off Athens Area sophomore Melissa Miller, who went 24.98. Knowledge Timmons defended his 200 title in 21.87 seconds. Andre Broussard, Elmer L. Meyers, added more gold with a 22.42 in AAA boys. Sophomore Mary Dell of Boiling Springs did get her state championship, powering away from her competition over the final 40 meters for a 25.39.

400
Four guys busted 49, led by West Chester Henderson senior Tracy Robinson in 48.26. With five sophomore and a freshman in the finals, the chance were good a soph would win, but the top three places seemed much less likely. The less likely happened, as Kaetlyn brown of Shenley held off Melissa Miller of Athens, (who would later get 2nd in the 200), and Katie Orchowski of Upper Saint Clair, the top three at 56.26 - 56.91 - 57-06. Freeport junior Lacy Cochran ran a 56.99 to secure the AA championship. Fellow junior Joey Wagner of Biglerville posted a .02 win of 49.09 over Reading Central Catholic junior Michael Coe.

100/110 Hurdles
A week ago, Quaker Valley senior Jasmine Rogers set a WPIAL record of 14.18 in the 100 hurdles in beating Mycaiah Clemons, Valley, who was scratched from the state meet with a hamstring injury. Rogers wasn't going to be denied for the state title, either, easily taking the finals in 14.37. Penn Hills' junior Sha Tira-Snell went 14.30 for her win. In the boys AA race, Scotland's John Howie went 14.57; while in AAA, Cathedral Prep's Tom Dance, a senior, defended his 2003 title, edging Chichester sophomore Carrington Queen by .08 in 14.25.

300 Hurdles
With only one senior in the finals, the AAA girls race was definitely a preview of the next year's battles. Plymouth Whitemarsh junior Chanel Williams saved her best for last, topping Cumberland Valley's Kristin Jones by over a second, going 43.73. Michael Mitchell of Smethport, will happily accept his .03 win in 38.42. Senior Tyler Kulp of Boyertown, ran 38.47 to secure the AAA title. And Samantha Snukus of Nativity BVM went 45.21 for the AA win.

Saturday Field

Peter Habegger goes 24-08 for a US#2 Long Jump. A Regan wins the Pole Vault, while another takes second. A Hickory pole vaulter wins the state title, but it's not who you think. Two sophomores show their older competitors the way to Triple Jump. And another Radocaj wins the Javelin. Just business as usual in PA.

Cedar Crest's Peter Habegger launched a US #2 Long Jump 24-08.00. In AA, Samuel Aleshinolye of Milton Hershey leapt 22 00.50.

Easton's Lindsay Regan cleared the magic 13-0 for the third time this season in sometimes swirling winds. She missed on three attempts to break the US National sophomore record of 13-4. Courtney Regan took 2d with an 11-06 effort. The upset of the day came in the boys AAA Pole Vault, as Andrew Rademacher, in his final PIAA performance, was beaten by teammate Eric Sparks, a junior. Sparks graciously referred to Rachemacher's performance as "a bad day", but nonetheless, had to PR by 3" at 15-09 to claim his first state title. Both cleared 15-09. Rademacher came in at 15-03 and missed his first attempt, while Sparks made his. That was the difference.

The girls Triple Jump was led in AAA by two sophomore who set PRs, both on their final jumps. Altoona's Rachel Gehret is a multi event (not necessarily Multis) star-in-the-making, who reached for 39-03.00. The next jumper was Bradford's Erin Hannon, wh extended her best to 38-08.50. McDowell junior Nicole Smith fouled on her final attempt, and took third with a 38-06.50. The only other girl over 38' was Wissahickon senior Alex Baptiste at 38-01.75. In AA girls, Penn Manor senior Christina Sgriccia went 38-00 to win.

Angela Hoover of Bald Eagle ended her career as a four-time state AA champ in the Javelin. Her throw of 150-01 an inch below her US#7. PA leader Ruby Radocaj won her event Friday, so it was fitting that brother Marco take his on Saturday to keep it all in the family. His 204-07.00 is top 10 US.

Auston Papay won the Discus with a 178-00 throw. Coatesville's Tayvon Gray, a junior, took the girls Discus with her 136-03.00.

6-09 won the boys AAA High Jump, as Carlisle senior Jeff Porter had the stamina for the long competition. Elmer Meyer's Anthony Masi cleared 6-07 to win AA.

It seemed that there was a wall at 60' in the boys Shot Put competition. Rob Rankin, an Upper Saint Clair junior, outlasted favorite Ryan Whiting of Central Dauphin, throwing 59-10.50 to win by nine inches. One girl cracked 40' in the girls AA competition with a throw of 40-04.75.

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