Districts Recap: PA#1s Abound as We Look to Ship

Country Day of the Sacred Heart's Emma Seifried won a pair of district crowns, showing she's ready to compete at a high level next week. Seifried ran away with the 3200 to start off the day, clocking an 11:10.98 for the win. Then she outlasted Dock's Maddison Landis in the 1600, winning in a time of 5:09.19.

Dock's Niki Clements won both the 300 hurdles (46.75) and the pole vault (10-6).

Photo by Don Rich

AA BOYS: Christopher Dock's Austin Kratz continued his terrific sophomore campaign. Kratz ran away with wins in the 100 and 200. In the rain in the finals, Kratz ran 10.85 for the win and then came back to win the 200 in 22.16. The AA sprints are deep, but Kratz will certainly be a major factor in both events at states. Kratz also added a victory in the long jump with a jump of 22-1.5. We are seeing the blossoming of a star here.

AAA PHOTO ALBUM (By Don Rich)

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AAA GIRLS: There were plenty of storylines occurring on the girls' side at the District 1 Championships. But none were bigger than that of the sprints and hurdles. There were no shortage of stars, and while states are still about a week away, Saturday provided us with a preview of what's to come.

Photo by Don Rich

Let's start with Cheltenham's Chanel Brissett. The junior broke the district meet record in the 100 hurdles on Friday in the prelims with a time of 13.45. But in some bad weather on Saturday, Brissett opted to just do what she needed to do to win the district and look forward to states. Brissett, who mentioned some hamstring issues, won in a time of 14.16. Oxford's Katie Dodson took second in a time of 14.29. We'll see what next week has in store in the hurdles for Brissett.

The 100 and 200 meter dashes were also a pair of events to watch. The 100 pitted Pennridge freshman Kouri Peace with Pennsbury senior Dasia Pressley. Pressley had a picture perfect start and that carried her to the win there in a time of 11.75, a PA#1. Peace took second in 11.98. But Peace got the better of Pressley and Brissett in the 200 final. Peace ran a 23.91 for the win, while Brissett took second in 24.12 and Pressley third in 24.23.

In the loaded 400, reigning indoor champion Uche Nwogwugwu of North Penn pulled away for the win in a time of 55.18. Norristown's Jayana Webb was second in 55.79 and Cheltenham's Alexis Crosby took third in 56.04. All should be serious factors in a week at states.

Photo by Patty Morgan

Central Bucks West's Maddie Villalba took a big step in defending her state title in the 800, winning her third straight District 1 AAA championship in the event. Villalba held off a hard-charging Agnes Mansaray of Penn Wood. Villalba clocked a 2:09.65 and Mansaray came in at 2:09.69.

Aislinn Devlin of Downingtown West in a personal best of 10:28.38 for the event. Pennsbury's Olivia Sargent, who won in 2015, was second in 10:35.20. Both will be factors in what should be a very exciting state final on Saturday morning.

Downingtown West's Emma Planck came away a district champ in the 1600. She beat out Sargent, who was coming off the 3200 earlier in the meet. Planck finished in 5:01.89 for the win and appears to be in good shape and ready to contend for a state title next week.

Cheltenham's Madison Langley-Walker was one of the meet's premiere performers, walking away with three district gold medal. Langley-Walker won the long jump, triple jump, and 300-meter hurdles, and even adding third place finish in the 100 hurdles. Langely-Walker ran a PR in the 300 hurdles with a time of 43.41. In the long jump, she jumped a best of 18-7.5 for the win and in the triple jump, Langley-Walker edged out Downingtown East's Evelyn Berecz by a half inch. On her last jump, Langley-Walker jumped 37-0.75 to steal the win.

Central Bucks South's Valerie Przekop, who took second in her league last week, won the district championship, clearing 5-7 for the win in a competitive field.

Photo by Patty Morgan

Dominique Franco of Council Rock South, a week after setting the SOL National meet record in the pole vault, tied the district meet record and won with a 12-6 clearance. She tied the record set by former CR South vaulter Tory Worthen. Franco will be one of many contenders for the AAA state crown next week at Ship.

Current PA#1s Cheltenham won the 4x100, breaking the meet record in the prelims with a time of 46.70. In the finals in the rain, the Panthers clocked a 47.11 for the win. In the 4x400, Penn Wood just missed the meet record, but still won handily in a time of 3:47.86. North Penn, the PA#1 team, won the 4x800 in a time of 9:13.77. They did so without Nwogwugwu and with Ariana Gardizy having run the 3200 only a few events prior. The race for the other seven state qualifying spots was extremely close.

AAA BOYS: Downingtown East's Jeremy Jennings won the 100 meters running away from a good field in the final. He ran a wind-aided 10.63 in the prelims, but in the finals he won with a 10.73. Jennings was also apart of the new PA#1 Downingtown East 4x100 team. The defending state champs took over the top spot in the state with a 41.86 in the prelims. In the finals, they came across first in 42.39.

Downingtown West's Joshua McLemore will look to defend his indoor state titles outdoors and he made the right steps towards that goal on Saturday. Opting for the sprints over the hurdles, McLemore won district titles in both the 200 meters and 400 meters. McLemore ran a PA#1 48.07 in the 400 for the win and a 21.38 for the 200 win. The fastest time in the state came in the prelims, though, from Coatesville's Terrance Laird, who clocked a 21.30 for a PA#1.

In the 800 and 1600 it was all Hoey. In the 1600, it was the sophomore Josh Hoey (who we last saw winning the Penn Relays High School mile) taking the win in 4:15.92. Then his older brother Jaxson Hoey, who has battled illness for most of the season, won the 800 in 1:54.97.

Central Bucks East's Jake Brophy won a close 3200 meters where the top nine were separated by less than five seconds. Brophy timed in at 9:18.32 for the win.

In the 110 hurdles, Penn Wood's Sekou Kanneh edged out Souderton's Colin Harker for a close win. Kanneh ran 14.74 to Harker's 14.76 in a race that didn't feature indoor 60 hurdle champion Mason Weh of Upper Darby.

Kanneh then took third in one of the day's more wide-open races of the day, the 300 hurdles. Souderton's Stephen Scott claimed the district title there in a time of 39.05 to beat William Tennent's Stephen Testa.

Glen Mills' Tyrique Lyons won the high jump with a 6-5 clearance. Hatboro-Horsham's Nick Marino cleared 14-9 to win the pole vault on jumps over Kennett's Xavier Feliciano, who also cleared 14-9, but Marino took the win on jumps.

Souderton's Shamar Jenkins won the long jump and took second in the triple jump. He jumped 21-11 for the long jump win. Jenkins, PA#1 in the triple, took second to Downingtown West's Darian Alston, who jumped 47-6.5. Alston, the indoor champion in the event, along with Jenkins will be some of the contenders in the event headed to the state meet.

Boyertown's Elijah Shalaway just missed the 200 feet barrier, but still won the javelin with a best throw of 199-8. Glen Mills' Quadir Gibson won the shot put with a throw of 51-7.5, while Pennridge's Riley LaRiviere was a surprise winner in the discus, throwing a big PR of 160-9 for the win.

In the always-fast District 1 boys' 4x800, it was Pennridge that reigned supreme winning with a time of 7:48.46, running away from a fast field that saw seven teams dip under eight minutes.

Closing out the meet, the Downingtown West 4x400 took the win in a 3:17.42. The Whippets also won the team title.