For most teams in the state, this weekend was meant for hunkering down in houses and waited out the blizzard. But some took to the track for a few of the non-canceled meets occurring across the state. And what a weekend it was (so far!). PA saw two state records go down--one broke his own record, while the other broke her former teammate's record.
Kevin Dare Invitational
WATCH RACE VIDEOS HERE! (More videos to come!)
At Penn State, many team opted to stay home, but a select few made the trip to State College. One team that walked away with the most medals didn't have to travel far at all...State College Area.
But let's start first with the record. Chanel Brissett breezed a 8.56 in the prelim, looking smooth. Then she unleashed something special in the finals. Brissett, only a junior, smoked a 8.28, beating former Cheltenham athlete Ciara Leonard's record by .11 seconds! Brissett noted afterwards that she wasn't happy with her start and that she clipped the final hurdle, so that begs the question: what is she possibly capable of? Brissett then won the 200 in a tim of 24.65. Watch her race and post-race interview below:
State College's Veronika Karpenko had a big day in the jumps. She had a pair of season-bests, one of which an indoor PR. In the long jump, Karpenko took third with a jump of 17-10, a PA#3. Then she got a huge PA#1 and indoor PR in the triple jump of 38-10.75 for the win. That's also a US#7. Watch her interview below:
Cocalico's Emily Stauffer took the shot put win in 44-6.5, just off her PA#1. Cedar Cliff's Dazjanique Williams had a busy day running a pair of sprints events and jumps. In the jumps is where she collected her hardware, though. She cleared PA#3 5-4 in the high jump for third place (Erika Voyzey won with a 5-6) and Williams won the long jump with a PA#2 of 18-0.
Dominique Shultz of Conestoga took the mile win a PR (counting indoor and outdoor) time of 5:12. She spoke with PennTrackXC afterwards:
The boys side saw a lot of action as well.
Kellin Valentine of State College was a triple winner on the day. First, he claimed the long jump, just off his own PA#1, but still a solid 22-9. Then he led off on the winning 4x200 for State College, which went a PA#4 1:32.90. He followed that up with a win in the triple jump at 44-3. Valentine spoke with us afterwards:
Alex Milligan ran a smart mile, taking the lead with a couple laps to go to claim the win in a 4:24.09, which is a PA#4. He also ran on the 4x800 that cruised to the win in a PA#3 8:05.45. Watch his interview below:
State College had two pole vaulters go over 14 feet. Griffin Thompson took second clearing 14-0, while teammate Lucas Gray took the win at 14-6, a PA#3. Surely, State College will move up in the team power rankings with this strong showing. It could set up a good state meet team race between them and Downingtown West.
A pair of Pennridge boys moved themselves up in the state rankings. Austin Howell ran 49.98, a PA#4 for the easy win in the 400 meters. Howell went 49.77 outdoors last year, so he appears to be in good shape for solid junior season. Tucker Desko took the win in the 800 meters, dropping his previous time and moving up to PA#2 in the 800m with a 1:54.86.
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Youngstown State HS Meet #2
Jordan Geist made history once more. The Knoch junior threw 69-11.5 for the win in the shot put. That betters his own PA#1 all-time indoor throw. He remains at US#9 all-time. He remains the nation's top shot putter by three feet. He just missed the 70 foot barrier, but Geist will surely look to top that in the coming weeks. Watch a video of his throw below (courtesy of Keith Woods, Hickory T&F)
Domenic Perretta is used to running track. He has some state medals to prove it. But Perretta tried something different Saturday: indoor track. Perretta took to Youngstown State where he doubled in the 1600 and 800 meters. He took the double win, running a PA#2 4:22.40 in the 1600 and a PA#4 1:56.01 800 meters. Not a bad start, eh?
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Summit University HS Invitational #1
On Friday night at the former Baptist Bible College in Summit (now Summit University) a few teams took to the their facilities for a meet. A few names we haven't seen for a while showed up.
GAR's Anthony Maurent took the 55 meters in 6.48, just shy of his own PA#1 in the event. Here's some race video from the Twitter of The Time-Tribune's Joby Fawcett to give you an idea of what the facilities looks like:
Some familiar PA distance runners returned to the track for the first time this year. The girls' mile featured a matchup between District 2 rivals, Erin Feeney of Scranton Prep and Ally Rome of Dallas. They went 1-2 at the PIAA AA XC championships and they were 1-2 again on Friday night. Only this time, Feeney got the better of Rome, winning in 5:17 to Rome's 5:19.
Another AA XC state champ, Dom Hockenbury, took back the track on Friday winning the mile in 4:29. The Lake Lehman senior and Syracuse recruit was second in the state in the indoor 3000 meters last year and we'll see where he goes from here.
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New Balance Games
This weekend's snowstorm shifted some things around for the New Balance Games at The Armory. When the dust settled, meet organizers opted to cancel the mile races, which, based on the entries list, was expected to be PA-heavy (though that didn't stop New York's Conor Lundy, who ran the mile with the pros and set a new US#1). But we still had some solid performances from the Keystone State up in New York.
Gabrielle Wilkinson shined once more at The Armory. Wilkinson ran two events and walked away with two PA#1s. The Friends' Central sophomore won the 1000 meters in a time of 2:52.45. That time is slightly slower than her PR in the event that she ran at The Armory Track Invitational last year, but only herself and PA legends Chanelle Price and LaTavia Thomas have run faster.
Wilkinson then finished second in the 600 meters to New York standout Sammy Watson. Wilkinson's time of 1:34.36 is still a state-leading time and PR.
Another PA#1 came from Bishop Shananan's Chris Kolimago, who finished fourth in the 1000 meters in a time of 2:37.47. Shananan teammate Keegan Hughes was ninth in the 300 meters (36.12) and Logan Yoquinto was fifth in 1:25.29.