Sheena Gordon and Tiffany Abney
launch quest for 4 golds
by Don Rich
Sheena Gordon, McDowell, is one half of the
way to four individual
medals, after taking the High Jump in a PIAA
record 5-11, and the
Long Jump, going 19-10.25, plus moving on
easily in the 100
Hurdles. Her Triple Jump will be contested
Saturday. Meanwhile,
the other possible four-gold champ, Tiffany
Abney of Merion Mercy,
cruised through prelims in the 300 Hurdles,
400, 200 and 4x400.
She'll have one semi Saturday and four finals, if
all goes as
planned. She won three individual
championshipls two years in a
row, and was a member of the first place 4x400
in 2001.
Gwynedd Mercy and Lewisburg came through
unscathed in their
4x800 trial, ready to face off Saturday for the AA
girls State
Championship. In AAA, the Council Rock girls
went 9:17.84, just a
nose ahead of North Penn, for the fastest time
in PA this season.
Manheim ran 9:20 to win the other heat. Last
year's runner up
Haverford, survived to run another day when
senior Gen Story
stepped in in place of the injured Adriana Boyle,
who was
diagnosed this week with a stress fracture. It's
anybody's race
tomorrow. For the boys, North Penn did their
best to take it easy,
but was forced to run a 7:55 as Warwick,
Tennent, Lebanon and
Strath Haven closed over the final lap. Mount
Lebanon ran 7:57 to
claim the other heat. If you ran over 8:02 you
were gone. Tamaqua
had the fastest AA qualifier.
In the 100 Hurdles, Schuylkill Valley's Heather
Patch had the
fastest qualifier, 15.29. Sheena Gordon and
Dominique Darden
will square off in the tomorrow after both went
under 15 to get to
the next level. Windber's Jeff Kiss blasted
through with the top time
in the 110 Hurdle prelim, while in AAA, there's
another
Cumberland Valley hurdler vying for a title, as
Marques Pinkas had
the best time of the Prelims, followed very
closely by Penncrest's
Steve Nichbols and Cheltenham's Jesse
Patterson.
In the 300 Hurdles, Melissa Sopher of Slippery
Rock was almost a
second better than anyone in AA. In AAA, Tiffany
Abney, Merion
Mercy, was just as dominant in this early round.
In the boys' AA,
Chris Clark of Milton Hershey, had the best
qualifier. In AAA, it was
Pinkas again, with eight runners within a
second.
In the 100 Dash, Judith Agyepong, Milton
Hershey, went 12.77,
while teammate Kandance Ferguson won
another heat in 12.83.
Kennett's Jakki Bailey dominated her heat and
the field with a
12.10 prelim win. For AA boys, Mercyhurst's
Lavonne Rowan had
the best early time of the meet, 11.05, while in
AAA. Jaron Hayes,
Cedar Crest, went 11.14 and Akeem Vance,
Greensburg-Salem,
went 11.16.
Domiinique Darden, Tiffany Abney, and
Abington's Takia Brooks
are heading for the anticipated showdown after
each took their
heat. Again, Darden will be the top seed, going
24.81. Also
qualifying were Norristown's Courtney Clark,
Wissahickon frosh
Krista Simkins, and Kennett;'s Jakki Bailey.
Mercyhurst's Lavonne
Rowan posted a 22.21 to lead the AA qualifiers.
In AAA, Maurice
Sales, Peabody, went 22.07.
In the 400 prelims, Meredith Troutman,
Myersdale, went 57.34 in
one heat, while Maggie Borden, Delone
Catholic, went 57.39 in the
other. Dominique Darden, Harrisburg, had the
fastest time of the
early round, 55.78. Westinghouse's Yvonne
Ferguson went 55.69,
while defending champ Tiffany Abney, Merion
Mercy, won her heat
in 56.20. The top three seeds in boys AA held to
form. In AAA,
Abington's Lester Caesar pushed through to a
48.25. He was
joined by seven other competitors undere 49.
Frosh Kaitlyn Urban of Bishop Mccort, took the
2nd heat in 2:18.45,
the best time of the AA day. In AAA, Merion
Mercy's Evelyn Dwyer
controlled the pace and cruised to a 2:12.01.
Pennwood's Danielle
Rodgers was less than a second back, but
appeared spent.
Dwyer teammate Kimarra McDonald, also a
freshman, went
2:17.78 to win the first heat. In AA Boys, East
Pennsboro soph Tim
Swartz went 2:00.19. In AAA, after a recall for a
tripped runner,
North Penn's Steve Craig was pinched at the
merge and for a very
brief time, was in last place. He was in position
for a final push at
the 400 and held off the competition to post a
1:56.81. Teammate
Dan Michael, running the 2nd heat, had a
similar experience, and
recovered to get second to top seed Matt Evans.
One of the toughest events to qualify for,
especially if you‚re also
running on a 4x800 squad, is the 1600. Run too
hard, and your
second day is tough. Run too easy, and there's
no second day.
The top AA girls controlled their races, with three
going one 5:10 in
the first heat, and Ashleigh Wetzel, Lewisburg,
going out very hard,
almost being caught at the line, to run 5:10.73.
In AAA girls,
Footlocker finalist and 1600 challengers
Jessica Cickay, Council
Rock, and defending AAA Champ Stephanie
Madia, North
Allegheny, handled the field trying to conserve
energy, but were
passed at the end when they had assured their
qualification for
Saturday's final. Top challenges ran about the
same pace in the
first heat. In AA boys, there were no surprises. In
AAA, all eyes
were on Shaler's Sam Bair as he cruised to a
4:19.48, holding off
Cedar Cliff's John Butler. Newcomer Eric
Fleming, Bishop
Shanahan, won the other heat in 4:21.10 over
the same challenger
he held off at the District One meet, Mike DiDio,
Council Rock.
The AA girls 4x100 will include Milton Hershey
again, as their
49.13 was the best of the afternoon in AA. Upper
Darby wasted
little time telling their competition their plans,
posting a 47.58. In
AA boys, Elmer L. Meyers posted a 42.88. And
in AAA, North Penn
went 42.25, but there are eight teams within a
second.
No team in AA girls went under 4:05, so
Saturday should be close.
In AAA, Merion Mercy comfortably went 3:53. In
the boys AA,
Wyomissing, Harriton and Milton Hershey were
heat winners. And
Glen Mills went 3:16.71, three seconds up on
North Penn and four
on Abington.
In the field events, where are all finals, it was
Sheena Gordon day
as the UCLA bound all-around athlete cleared a
PIAA record 5-11
in the High Jump, and went 19-10.25 in the
Long Jump. Jill McCoy
of Central cleared 5-6 for the AA
championship.Mycah Clemons,
Valley, went 17-05.25 in the AA Long Jump.
Senior Jocelyn Lindsay of Waynesburg Central
cleared 12-00 in
the Pole Vault. Charity Payne of Selinsgrove,
threw the Shot
44-08.00 to win AAA. Cassie Buckwalter of
Wilmington, won the AA
Discus with a toss of 145-00. Beth Crocus of
Freedom took the
AAA Javelin, going 148-01.
In the boys Field events,Nolan McCready of
Wyomissing went
45-05.75 to win the AA Triple Jump. In the AA
Discus, Mike Stewart,
an Allegheny senior went 189-02 for the victory.
Ed Ruiz of William
Tennent threw the Discus 176-06 for the AAA
title. Kurt Dunn of
Towanda cleared 14-10 to win the AA Pole Vault.
Dane Miller,
Schuylkill Valley, claimed the AA Shot Put title,
going 61-00.25. And
Mike Whitehead, Norristown, won the AAA Triple
Jump, going
48-04.50.
Pennsylvania State Meet
|
