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SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – It was a banner day for District 10 at the PIAA Class 2A Track and Field Championships on Friday at Shippensburg University, highlighted by a pair of bookend titles for Wilmington.
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The Greyhounds’ Connor Vass-Gal took home gold in the shot put, and the day ended with the Wilmington girls 4×400 relay team of Grace Mason, Becka Book, Lindsey Martineau, Lizzie Miles taking first, fighting off a steady rain and running a school-record time to do so.
In between, Slippery Rock’s Maryann Ackerman took gold in the javelin, as did Lakeview’s Isaac Lightcap in the pole vault.
Vass-Gal, in an event dominated by District 10 and District 9, had a heave of 62-6 ¼, which was followed by a second-place finish by Cale Ayers of Coudersport with a toss of 55 8 ½. They were two of four medalists in the event from District 9 and District 19, as Reynolds’ Luke Faber was fourth and Karns City’s Nathan Waltman seventh.
“It feels amazing,” Vass-Gal said. “Coming down and winning a state title caps off everything I’ve wanted. There were nerves coming in as the favorite. I had to put that aside. My coach and my mom came and calmed me down and I was able to get into a groove and got the job done.”
For good measure, Vass-Gal added a silver to his collection in the discus with a throw of 158-9, while Redbank Valley’s Cam Wagner was fourth in the event at 155-9.
Likewise, Ackerman won the javelin with a throw of 147-6, over seven feet farther than her seeded toss at the District 10 championships. She needed it, to, as the Oregon State recruit just edged Belle Bosch of Chestnut Ridge, who went 146-10, 18-feet farther than her seeded throw. Audrey Friedman of Fort LeBoeuf was fourth at 135-2 and Karns City’s Ashley Fox fifth at 132-9, both bettering their district throws.
“Obviously it’s a very, very good feeling, but it’s not what I expected it to be,” Ackerman said. “I think that nothing else could be better right now. Throughout high school, javelin has always been my No. 1 event. The whole goal was to be here with this medal around my neck.”
Ligthcap cleared 15-feet to win gold in the pole vault, and, along with Brody Myers of Camp Hill, who cleared 14-6, were the only two competitors to clear 14-feet.
“Honestly, I thought it was a real possibility and I knew I could do it,” Lightcap said. “When I made 15 on my third attempt I felt really, really good. I love (Myers) to death, but when I saw him touch the bar, I was psyched, but at the same time I felt that because I wanted to go up to the bigger height with him.”
Like the Wilmington 4×400 relay team, the event finished through the raindrops. Kane’s Josh Greville also medaled in the event by clearing 13-0 to tie for fifth.
The Wilmington quartet ran a time of 4:01.95, with Lewisburg Area coming in second at 4:03.62. It was the culmination of a season’s worth of hard work for the group.
Gold is nice, but silver is also pretty darn good, and Youngsville senior Jake Hogg had a pair of those medals around his neck at the end of the day.
Hogg cleared 6-6 in the high jump, finishing second to Chestnut Ridge’s Logan Pfister, who cleared 6-7. Hogg barely nicked the bar on his final attempt at the height.
“I did pretty good in the prelims triple,” Hogg said. “I was a little worried about saving my legs for the high so I scratched the finals. I felt good, but I just wore out. But I got two seconds.”
Nevertheless, he had that along with his second place in the triple with a leap of 44-11. Only Idris Ali of Loyalsock went farther at 45-2 ½. Ali and his Loyalsock team knocked off Brookville in the Class 3A state championship in boys’ basketball in the winter.
Youngsville’s Jake Hogg. Photo by Paul Burdick. See more of Burdick’s work here.
“It’s been a lot of workouts, a lot of grinding, and I’m happy,” Hogg said.
In fact, both the high jump and long jump were standout events for the D10 boys. Grove City’s Josh Dreves finished in a tie for third in the high jump at 6-5, while, followed by Johnsonburg’s RJ Miller in seventh at 6-2.
In the triple jump, Cranberry’s Cam Russell was right behind Hogg at 44-3 ¼ for third, while Smethport’s Ryli Burritt fifth (44-3 ¼) and Reynolds’ Dietrich Williams seventh at 42-11 ¾.
Back to Martineau, she had a monster day for Wilmington, taking second in the 300 hurdles (45.76) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.21). Mason also added an eighth-place finish in the 800 to get to the medal stand in that event in 2:19.01. Johnsonburg’s Chloe Trumbull was fifth in the 300 hurdles at 47.05.
Slippery Rock’s Anna Kadlubek was also a double medalist with a fifth in the 100 (12.54) and a fourth in the 200 (25.45).
The 1600 was absolutely loaded. Fairview’s Maddie Hayes took a distant second at 5:01.28, followed by Willow Myers in fifth (5:08.48) and Punxsutawney’s Olivia Roberts sixth at 5:10.58.
Punxsutawney’s Olivia Roberts. Photo by Rich Rhoades.
The 3200 featured a pair of District 10 medalists as well, with Gianna Labbiento of Sharon coming in third at 11:04.02 and Meara Shannon fifth (11:10.85).
In the field for the ladies, Slippery Rock’s Gianna Bedel took third in the high jump at 53, while Anna Bayer of Fort LeBoeuf cleared 5-2 for fourth.
The shot put saw D9’s Roz Page of Coudersport finish sixth at 38-4 ½ and Punxsutawney’s Mackenze Martin seventh at 38-½.
Also garnering medals were Oil City’s Emma Horn (7th, pole vault), Reynolds’ Grace Bresnan (8th, triple jump and Clarion-Limestone’s Brooke Kessler (8th, long jump).
For the boys, Punxsutawney’s Tyler Elliott earned a fourth in the 110 hurdles (15.38) and a third in the 300 hurdles (40.25), followed by West Middlesex’s Ty Tate (40.83).
“Honestly, I thought about it, but wasn’t sure if it was reachable,” Elliott said after the 110 race. “I figured I could place maybe top 10, but I didn’t think top five was in the reach. But as the season went on I saw it was foreseeable.”
In the 3200, Fairview’s Michael Grechanyy was third (9:26.09), followed by a D10 and D9er, North East Brock Pennington (4th, 9:28.28), and Aidan McLaughlin of Punxsutawney (9:36.28).
It was also a big day for Kane’s Zuke Smith, who, along with teammate Josh Greville earned a pair of medals. Smith, Greville, Jack Bell, and Josh Bul finished fourth with a time of 3:29.64 in a rainy 4×400, while Smith garnered a fourth in the long jump (21-7 ½) and Greville a fifth in the pole vault (13-0).
Kane’s 4×400 relay team brining home the hardware. Photo submitted by Zuke Smith.
Grove City’s Gabe Nichols was fourth in an exciting 1600 (4:18.97), while Fairview’s Zach Buckner was seventh.
Hickory’s Cole Frazier had a silver in the 800 (1:54.82), beat only by Colby Belczyk of Riverside (1:53.97). Nichols finished third to add another medal to his collection. He was also on the fourth-place 4×800 relay team.
Brookville’s 4×100 relay team of Jack Krug, Hunter Geer, Kyle MacBeth, and Jace Miner was eighth, while Krug added an eighth in the 200.
Finishing behind Zuke Smith in the long jump was Hickory’s Luca Bertolasio (5th, 21-5), while Moniteau’s David Stamm was eighth in the javelin (168-5) and North East’s Nick Kerner eighth in the 400 (51.04).
