Pennsylvania Week
By Don Rich, Penntrackxc.com/Milesplit Network

Week Ending March 25, 2006

3/25: 22nd Pennsylvania Track Classic @ Plymouth Whitemarsh HS:
DyeStat Elite
G-300H: 43.94 Ryann Krais, Methacton, 10, (12.68 100m, 57.31 400m, 57.0 split 4x400)
G-TJ: 38-04.00 Erin Hannon, Bradford, 12, (5-06 HJ, 17-02.50 LJ)

It was cold, damp, cloudy... and basically a great day for ducks and distance runners. But for sprinters and jumpers, it was a day to be careful with hamstrings and not risk the season on an early meet. But that didn't stop two sprinters from earning Track Athletes of the Meet... as Ryann Krais of Methacton and Kenneth Talley of Simon Gratz dominated their events.

Krais made it through the day unscathed, while Talley shut down after anchoring the winning 4x100 with a tweaked hamstring (no pull, thankfully). Their time was 43.46 after a tough challenge from Penn Charter, 2nd in 43.79. He had posted a 22.93 in the 200 Trials, fastest on the day. Krais swept her three individual events, going 12.70 in the 100 Trials and winning the event in 12.68. In between, she went 43.94 in the 300 Hurdles; then came back to win the 400 in 57.31 and anchor the 2nd place 4x400 with a 57.0 split to 4:13.61. Gratz's Khaliff Featherstone and teammate Kevin Talley went one-two in the 400, 50.87 to 51.10. Gratz also took the 4x400 in 3:29.95.

The day started with two strong DMRs, as the Cardinal O'Hara girls went 12:48.15, leading wire-to-wire, and the Wissahickon boys caught Simon Gratz at the line to win 10:45.51 to 10:45.55. In the 4x800, the Wissahickon girls went 9:50.22 to beat Radnor by just under five seconds. Penn Charter's Kamal Marell won the 110 Hurdles in 14.84. Hatboro-Horsham's Kerry Swayne marked Allentown Central Catholic's Marcie Sobrinski for most of the 1600, pulling away to win in a quick 5:07.77, with Sobrinski just under four seconds back.

In the 3200's, there were two great two-person races. State College's Katherine Ward ran off the shoulder of Bradford sophomore Sarah Lonzi, and then used a final kick over the last 200 to win in a PR of 11:08.56. Lonzi set a seven second PR of 11:10.89. And in the boys' race, Hatboro-Horsham's Josh Hibbs pushed the pace most of the way, and in the final mile, had gapped Cardinal O'Hara senior Greg Thomas by up to ten meters. But Thomas held tough, and fought back to run on Hibbs' shoulder the final lap-and-a-half before kicking to the win in 9:35.95. Hibbs went 9:37.75.

In the field events, Bradford's Erin Hannon, still fighting a respiratory infection, did only what she had to do to win two events and narrowly miss a third. Her 5-06 took the High Jump. Her 38-04 won the Triple Jump. And she was a half-inch short of tying Upper Darby's Bintou Dibba in the Long Jump. Dibba cleared 17-03.

Bradford's Rob Bleem won a great Javelin competition with a throw of 172-03. Cheltenham's Matt Daniele took 2nd with his throw of 171-05. Archbishop Ryan's Kevin Breen was 4th, but did win the Pole Vault with a jump of 14-06.

3/25: Brother Jerome Benway Invitational @ Saint Basil Academy:
Archbishop Prendergast and host Saint Basil dominated the relay part of the meet, with Basil taking the 4x800 in 9:58.9 and the DMR in 13:03.3; and Prendie winning the 4x200 in 1:39.5 and tying Bishop McDevitt in the 4x100 at 52.4.

Erinn McMahon of Saint Basil won the 100 Hurdles in 15.4 and the Long Jump with a leap of 17-02. Her teammate Beth Crossin took the 300 Hurdles in 46.4. Chanel Tartt- Minor of Girls High won the 400 in 58.2 and was 2nd in the 300 Hurdles. Julia Dougherty of Archbishop Wood won the Javelin with a throw of 126-03. In the boys' competition, Dane Davis, Neumann- Goretti, went 50.4 to take the 400, with Central's John Kennedy 2nd at 50.4.

3/25: Chichester Relays @ Chichester HS:
It mattered not that the Strath Haven girls were competing in the small school division. They would have won six of the track/field relays in either division. As it was, they captured a whopping 11 of the events in Division II, six on the track and five in the field. Their best performances on the day included a 50.8 4x100, 4:04.4 4x400, 1:07.4 Shuttle Hurdles, and 12:47.7 DMR.

In the Division I girls action, Downingtown East won the team title taking the 4x400, Sprint and Distance Medley relays, and the Long Jump and Pole Vault relays, as well. Cardinal O'Hara set a meet record in the 4x1600, going 21:48.5. There were four meet records on the boys' side. Upper Darby won the Sprint Medley Relay in Division I, which helped them capture the team title by one point over Downingtown East.

In Division II, Strath Haven won the team title behind two meet records, one in the 4x1600 at 18:33.5, and a 2nd in the DMR with their 10:45.5 using three of the same runners in both events (Chris Free got to race the mile twice.). And Penncrest set a meet record in the Pole Vault Relay, with Tim Ohm and Jerry Thompson combining to tally 25'. Upper Darby posted a quick 3:22.4 SMR and Academy Park took the two sprint relays, winning the 4x100 in 44.2 and the 4x200 in 1:31.9.

3/25: Phoenix Relays @ Phoenixville HS:
The West Chester Henderson girls showed their depth in relays with three top four finishes at the PTFCA Indoor State Championships... and simply picked up where the left off in their first outdoor meet... taking the 4x100 in 50.16, the 4x200 in 1:47.44, the 4x400 in 4:05.99, the Sprint Medley Relay in 4:34.11, and the Distance Medley Relay in 12:56.32. Three of the marks were meet records, the 4x100, the 4x400 and the DMR.

Coatesville's Tierra Flowers and Sequoia Mcball teamed to set a meet record of 33-11.75 in the Long Jump Relay, pretty much splitting the difference as Flowers leapt 16-11.75, a quarter inch beyond her teammate. Pottsgrove's Megan VanBuskirk went 36-02 in the Triple Jump. Coatesville's Kaleena Gray put the shot 41-01.50. The Phoenixville girls set a meet record in taking the 4x800 in 10:04.54.Travis Savidge, Exeter, went 43-05 in the Triple Jump. The West Chester Henderson boys went 18:15.39 to set a meet record in the 4x1600. Coatesvllle captured the DMR in 10:57.86.

3/25: "Pop Emrey" Warm-Up Relays @ Bethleham HS:
DyeStat Elite
G- PV: 11-06, Beki Finn, Liberty

The host Liberty girls captured six of the contest relays on both the track and in the field events to take the team title with a whopping 174 points. The Liberty boys were 2nd to East Stroudsburg South by just 3.5 points. Two of the top relay performances of the day belonged to Pocono Mountain West, who went 51.2 in the 4x100 and 1:54.8 in the 4x200. Individually, Liberty's Beki Finn and Becky Frye were best in the Pole Vault, clearing 11-06 and 11-00, respectively. Liberty's Mike Edwards long-jumped 21-07, and teammate Kristi Conti won the girls' LJ with her 16-07 effort.