Philadelphia Area 12/11 weekend
by Don Rich
Click links for detailed results
(HIGHLIGHT, 1:57.6 800m by Nash of Cardinal O'Hara , 12/11 at Haverford
College).
While Dan Coval was representing Pennsylvania distance runners well in
Orlando with his 7th place sub-15 at Footlockers, the rest of the area's
track and field athletes focused their attentions on three Indoor meets
last weekend.
All schools, public, parochial and private...both large and small,
compete as one in the meets sponsored by the Delaware Valley Girls Track
and Field Coaches Association. On Friday, December 10, the girls
competed at Lehigh University for the first time this season. While many
schools use indoor to prepare for Spring, others take the opportunity to
learn the finer points of competition and test their conditioning
against the best the area has to offer.
The early indoor season for the girls has shown several strong
performances, and this week was no exception. Conestoga, in Delaware
County's Central League, has a strong distance program. Their DMR team
posted a Nike qualifying run of 12:46, with five other teams, including
Pennsbury, William Penn, Nazareth Academy, Wissahickon and North Penn
all posting times at 13:00 or under. 4x400 squads from Simon Gratz and
Pennwood should challenge each other all season. Friday night saw both
run Nike times... Gratz winning 4:06, about 4.5 seconds ahead of
Pennwood. Other strong early season performances (and all Nike
qualifying) were turned in in the 4 x 200, with William Penn (1:48.1)
nipping Chester by .2. Chester's Ruby Jackson ran a 7.3, 55 meters to
beat Pennsbury's A.Glick and West Chester Henderson's R.Hunt, both of
whom were clocked in 7.4. In the 600 yard run, Stacey Holmes of Simon
Gratz pulled out a narrow win (1:27.5) over Ridley's Dana Early
(1:29.8).
On the boys side... Small schools and large schools compete
independently, both sponsored by the Track and Field Coaches Association
of Pennsylvania. The second week of competition saw a few of the
athletes step out, including several meet records and a few Nike
qualifying performances.
In the Division I (large schools) meet Saturday, December 11 at
Haverford College, the highlighted performance was turned in in the 800m
by Cardinal O'Hara's Nash, who responded to a surge at 300 meters by
West Chester Henderson's Joe Plevelich (1:59.1), and pulled away to win
in a quick 1:57.6, both Nike qualifiers. Qualifiers were also run in the
200m by Day of Simon Gratz (22.7), Diggs of Glen Mills (23.0), and Huff
of West Catholic (23.1). In the 60m dash, Bain of Glen Mills nipped
Schultz of Hatboro Horsham, both clocking Nike times of 7.2.
In the Division II (small schools) meet Friday, December 10 at Haverford
College, there were three meet records, two of which were qualifying
times for Nike. Galli, of Phoenixville, ran a 7.2 60m dash to win
easily. Penn Wood's Williams sprinted away from a strong field in the
60m hurdles, winning the trial by a second, and the finals by more than
half a second, setting a meet record, with a Nike qualifying time of
8.4. The other meet record was set by Judge of Malvern Prep, who won the
400m by more than a second, posting a 52.1.
The Girls take a break until the Y.E.S. (Year End Special) meet, Tuesday
December 28 at Lehigh, a meet also attended by the boys. Both boys
division have meets this coming weekend.
