Altoona's DeRon Lee proved that you can call your shot in track and field as well as baseball.
Under excellent conditions at Mansion Park for the 62nd annual West Central Coaches Invitational Track and Field Meet, the usual suspects like Altoona's Wade Endress, Bellwood-Antis' Brian Leap and Tyrone's Nick Patton were in top form on the boys side.
However, the event also turned out to be a showcase for less-heralded performers like Altoona's Tyler Mandley, Dylan Mountain and Dreux Stamford, Bellwood's Deryck Montgomery, Chestnut Ridge's Matt Dull and Tyrone's Charles Wilson-Adams.
Article Photos
Mirror photo by?Gary M. Baranec
Altoona’s Drew Stamford gives it his all at the end of the race to win the 100-meter dash Friday at Mansion?Park.
Taking center stage among of all them was Lee, who broke the record of one of the greatest track stars to come through the area in the Class AAA triple jump.
Lee took his last attempt trailing sophomore teammate Kevin Johnson by a quarter-inch - Johnson had set an Altoona sophomore class record with a distance of 45 feet, 7 1/2 inches on his last jump.
"I told him I was getting him there,'' Lee said, "and I'm winning today.''
Lee was good to his word, flying 47-0 1/2 to set a new Class AAA boys meet record in the event.
Lee's final jump obliterated the mark posted by Brady Gehret, his former teammate who now runs at Penn State, by more than 7 inches.
"I just had a little adrenaline going all week. I was working for that record,'' Lee said. "I like to set goals high.''
Lee's coaches told him to move up a little bit and sprint as hard as he could into his leap. The winning leap was 3 inches shy of a school record.
"I've been working on my phases, working on my technique a lot. You have to get your knee up, you have to get out there, and you have to land clean," Lee said.
With all that, triple jump isn't the easiest event to master. It's not even a natural event to take up.
"In ninth grade, I just wanted to try it," Lee said. "I found out I was pretty decent at it. So I just kept sticking with it, and it started to pay off."
Lee's junior teammate, Ryan Steinbugl, didn't set a record in the pole vault, but he did put on a show, surpassing his best effort of the year by 7 inches by clearing 15-3. That was the fifth-highest pole vault in Altoona history.
Unbelievably, he did that while using a pole just 14 feet long.
"That's just what I was comfortable jumping with today," Steinbugl said. "I just set goals as high as I can during a meet. It doesn't really matter what pole I'm on, just so I go out and do my best. Technique is the biggest thing. If you can't get upside down, you can't do anything."
Endress finished the mile in 1:55.17. Despite the congratulations of many Altoona fans, he was visibly displeased.
"It's disappointing. That record [1:53.71] was set when I was a sophomore, and I came in second," Endress said.
Endress's best time of the year was almost 2 seconds ahead of the record, but the Penn State-bound Mountain Lion senior has missed a lot of time this year with various injuries and had been battling a sinus infection this week.
Endress still cruised to an easy victory in the mile. His 4:22.51 had him across the finish line in almost 6 seconds fewer than Indian Valley's Jon Colwell. In addition, he anchored Altoona's 3,200 relay, which also included Tyler Lidwell, Zach Price and Korey Replogle. The team ran 8:03.35, bettering its seeded time by more than 17 seconds and checking in little more than a second off the state qualifying result.
"I can't catch a break this year, but I'm coming back strong. I'll be fine come May 28 [for the state championships], Endress said.
Lee and Endress closed out the meet by teaming with Mandley and Danny Moyer to win the 1,600 relay.
Patton didn't match his record time of last season in the 400, but he still won the race by just short of a second with a time of 49.93. He came back to win the 200 in 22.06, just 16-hundredths off the record of Westmont's Brad Kanuch from 2006.
"I feel good. I was looking for a little bit better in the four, but it's really my first invitational of the year, so I was happy with the times," Patton said.
Patton also ran a blistering second leg of the 400 relay, keying the Golden Eagle team that also included Zach Burke, Derrick Emigh and Stevie Franco to a winning time and school record of 43.83.
"I just wanted to get personal-bests in all of my events today. I didn't really care about placing. I set certain goals in the times," said Patton, who did set personal season marks.
Leap jumped a 21-2 1/2 to beat Huntingdon's Jeremy Posey by 6 1/2 inches in the long jump. Later, he lived up to his No. 1 seed in the with a 46-2 1/2 triple jump to best the second-best finisher, Montgomery, by nearly 3 feet.
To finish the day, he held on against Patton to give Bellwood first-place points in the 1,600 relay. Seth Worthing, Andrew DeGol and Montgomery comprised the rest of the team.
"I'm definitely pleased about it, coming out and getting the marks again and bettering myself," Leap said. "You can never read too much into seedings."
Unfortunately, Leap was deprived of a chance to go head to head with Forest Hills' Luke Gallaher, the defending PIAA Class AA champion in the high jump and the top seed in the long jump, as well.
"It definitely would have been exciting to see him and compete against him, but that's the way it turned out," Leap said. "You've just got to be prepared for what comes in. It's all about personal performance."
Just a sophomore, Wilson-Adams denied Leap the chance to be a triple individual winner, going 6-6 to win the high jump. Leap achieved 6-4, as did Posey, but the Huntingdon competitor took second on fewer misses.
Wilson-Adams had beaten Leap in a dual meet last week, but Leap returned the favor at the Bellwood-Antis Invitational on Monday.
"Before, we did a nice little work out to get me ready for this. That's why I didn't do as good on Monday. Today, it showed up for me," Wilson-Adams said. "I like [going against him]. I don't feel the pressure's on me, so I can just go out and do what I can do."
Wilson-Adams now has reached 6-6 three times this year.
"In eighth grade, my highest was 6 foot, so I knew I could jump pretty high. But, I think the workouts have made me jump even higher," Wilson-Adams said.
Bellwood still won the AA team championship, helped by the first-place points Montgomery got in the 800.
Montgomery roared out to a fast start and finished in 2:00.94, more than a minute better than his previous best.
"I just tried to get out fast so I didn't get in a mess at the start and stay out front," Montgomery said.
Montgomery was seeded behind Purchase Line's Bo Blose entering the meet but believed he could win the event.
"I've been running pretty good times. I knew I could step it up a little bit," Montgomery said. "I've been training hard the last week, getting ready to break two."
Dull turned in a first place in the 300 hurdles and a second place in the 110 in Class AA. The 39.87 he posted in the 300 not only was his personal record and met the state qualifying time, it also was a school record.
"I was pretty happy," Dull, a junior, said.
Dull needed every hundredth of a second to win the event, too. He trailed Tyrone's Robert Huff the whole race, and they finished with identical times, but Dull got the win -- coincidentally, Dull and Huff were even with 41.04 seeding times coming in.
"I hit the first hurdle and just tried to give it my best the whole way. I tried to stay as low as possible and make my way to first place," Dull said. "I just got a little edge on him at the end. I made it up right at the finish line. I kind of knew I could make a 39. That's what I was shooting for."
Mandley was seeded second to State College's Dan Collins in the Class AAA 300 and trailed for much of the race. But he was even with Collins on the next to last hurdle and pulled out the victory.
"I had to move. I made it up as I kept progressing," Mandley, a senior who also finished second to Collins in the 110 hurdles, "It was just him going over a little higher and me going over a little cleaner.
"The key to the 300s is just to finish. It's a brutal race."
Mandley, third in District 6 at the longer distance last year, recorded a time of 41.09, 31-hundredths of a second ahead of his previous season-best and 24-hundredths ahead of Collins.
"We've been working really hard," Mandley said of his dramatic improvement. "I've been working harder on the 300s than the 110s, just to get stronger and get better. That was my better event last year, and I wanted so bad to qualify for states. I thought today I'd just go out hard. I haven't had the best starts this year, but this is the time to shine."
Just a freshman, Stamford was tied for third seed entering the 100 dash, but he pulled out an 11.31 in the finals to best Red Lion's Ryan Knisely, who checked in at 11.37.
"It was amazing, considering I'm just a freshman and I still have room to blossom," Stamford, who tackled on a third-place finish in the 200, said. "I was actually setting [a goal] for 11.4."
Stamford's goal before the season was just to qualify for districts.
"It's an eye-opening experience. I think I'm going to do better than expected," Stamford said.
Mountain was in an unaccustomed role with the time to beat in the Class AAA 3,200 meters, but it was a position he liked.
"It gave me a lot more confidence. I haven't been the top seed too often with Wade around," Mountain said.
Mountain and Replogle, the second seed, wanted to pace each other but got separated. Hoping to clock in the 9:30s, Mountain settled for a 9:55.97, but he was still happy with the place, if not the time.
"It's really a great feeling. It's one of our biggest meets," Mountain said.
Altoona was seeded first in the 400 relay but had to settle for second when South Western caught and edged the Mountain Lions at the tape, winning by seven-hundreds of a second. The top seed in the Class AA 3,200 relay, Tyrone finished third despite being just a second off its seeded pace. Elk County Catholic won the event, followed by Central Cambria.
Meet notes: Endress and Patton were voted the meet's outstanding boys performers. ... Altoona won the Class AAA team title with 157 points. State College was second with 116 1/2. ... Other Class AA boys to finish second included Bellwood's Seth Worthing in the 100 and Tussey Mountain's Chris Foore in the mile.
Boys AAA
Key, TEAM SCORING: 1, AA-Altoona, 157; 2, SC-State College, 116.50; 3, RL-Red Lion, 64.50; 4, SW-South Western, 64; 5, DB-DuBois, 56; 6, IA-Indiana Area, 40; 7, LT-Lewistown, 36; 8, CM-Central Mountain 33; 9, SM-St. Marys, 33; 10, HB-Hollidaysburg, 26; 11, IV-Indian Valley, 23; 12, BF-Bellefonte, 18; 13, PX-Punxsutawney, 17; 14, JT-Johnstown, 12; 15, CF-Clearfield, 4.
100 dash: 1,Stamford, AA, 11.31; 2, Knisely, RL, 11.37; 3, Felton, SW, 11.43; 4, Murray, SC, 11.78; 5, Kellar, SC, 11.81; 6, Shrift, HB, 11.87; 7, Minter, JT, 11.87.
200 dash: 1, Knisely, RL, 22.53; 2, Felton, SW, 23.11; 3, Stamford, AA, 23.28; 4, Appleman, HB, 23.50; 5, Kellar, Sc, 24.03; 6, Haight, RL, 24.14; 7, Beck, IV, 24.15, .
400 dash: 1, Shisler, SC, 50.08; 2, Clinchoc, DB, 51.31; 3, Shrift, HB, 51.92; 4, Bowman, Sw, 52.15; 5, Gipson, BF, 52.21; 6, Logan, IA, 52.96; 7, Merrit, SM, 53.35; 8, Hughes, PX, 53.65.
800 run: 1, Endress AA, 1:55.17; 2, Jordan, SC, 1:58.55; 3, Meterko, PX, 1:58.84; 4, Moon, LT, 1:59.71; 5, Price, AA, 2:03.24; 6, Kitchen, CM, 2:03.59; 7, Colwell, IV, 2:04.16; 8, Clinchoc, DB, 2:04.26.
1600 run: 1, Endress, AA, 4:22.51; 2, Colwell, IV, 4:28.09; 3, Moon, LT, 4:28.81; 4, Croft, RL, 4:30.17; 5, Crowe, SC, 4:32.82; 6, Fisher, CM, 4:37.71; 7, LIdwell, AA, 4:41.41; 8, Woelfel, SM, 4:42.82.
3200 run: 1, Mountain, AA, 9:55.97; 2, Monroe, IV, 10:01.54; 3, Hertzog, SW, 10:03.37; 4, Replogle, AA, 10:06.24; 5, Fisher, CM, 10:08.54; 6, Crowe, SC, 10:13.66; 7, Meterko, PX, 10:14.45; 8, Foultz, IV, 10:15.22, .
110 high hurdles: 1, Collins, SC, 15.72; 2, Mandley, AA, 15.79; 3, Nyman, CM, 16.112; 4, Hine, DB, 16.25; 5, Prechtl, SM, 16.45; 6, Mann, IA, 17.15; Menges, RL, 17.62; 8, Crouse, SC,21.35.
300 intermediate hurdles: 1, Mandley, AA, 41.09; 2, Collins, SC, 41.33; 3, Crouse, 41.84; 4, Mann, IA, 42.20; 5, Menges, RL, 43.41; 6, Romanowicz, AA, 43.61; 7, Biddle, HB, 43.71; 8, Posteraro, DB, 43.82.
400 relay: 1, South Western, 43.84; 2, Altoona, 43.91; 3, State College, 44.98; 4, DuBois, 45.02; 5, Hollidaysburg, 45.95; 6, Lewistown, 46.25; 7, Indian Valley, 46.59; 8, Clearfield, 46.76.
1600 relay: 1, Altoona, 3:27.06; 2, State College, 3:32.08; 3, South Western, 3:33.59; 4, DuBois, 3:37.97; 5, Indiana, 3:38.47; 6, Lewistown, 3:39.73; 7, Hollidaysburg, 3:41.64; 8, Punxsutawney, 3:41.64.
3200 relay: 1, Altoona, 8:03.35; 2, State College, 8:25.22; 3, DuBois, 8:33.22; 4, Indiana, 8:34.42; 5, Central Mountain, 8:341.81; 6, South Western, 8:38.42; 7, Bellefonte, 8:52.25; 8, Punxsutawney, 8:52.46.
High jump: 1, Penrose, IA, 6-06; 2, Clemons, IA, 6-04; 3, Shepher, LT, 6-04; 4, McCloy, CM, 6-02; 5, Lee, AA, 6-00; 5, Haight, RL, 6-00; 7, Watson, JT, 5-10; 8, Lee, AA 5-08; 8, Irwin, SC, 5-08.
Long jump: 1, Norrie, RL, 20-11.25; 2, Randecker, CM, 20-07; 3, Pugh, SW, 20-05; 4, Lowber, LT, 20-04.50; 5, Wagner, SC, 20-03.50; 6, Johnson, AA, 20-02; 7, Byars, PX, 19-11; 8, Moyer, AA, 19-08.
Triple jump: 1, Lee, AA, 47-00.50 (New Meet Record); 2, Johnson, AA, 45-07.25; 3, Milton, RL, 45-03.75; 4, Wagner, SC, 43-07.50; 5, Kirkland, RL, 42-08; 6, Lowber, LT, 42-08; 7, Byars, P, 42-04.50; 8, Schreiber, SM, 41-02.50.
Shot put: 1, Werner, SM, 46-03; 2, Reed, DB, 45-05.50; 3, Hawkins, AA, 45-02.50; 4, Posatko, SC, 42-11.75; 5, Luciano, AA, 42-10; 6, Zeller, RL, 42-05.75; 7, Williams, SW, 42-03; 8, Terrell, SC, 42-03.
Discus: 1, Werner, SM, 141-10; 2, Williams, SW 140-03; 3, Reed, DB, 135-00; 4, Dixon, DB, 132-02; 5, Ackerman, SW, 126-04; 6, Posatko, SC, 124-04; 7, Luciano, AA, 120-10; 8, Kuta, AA, 120-08.
Javelin: 1, Hefkin, SC, 201-70; 2, Shalom, JT, 162-02; 3, Butler, DB, 161-04; 4, Werner, SM, 154-00; 5, Daisley, HB, 151-01; 6, McGary, CF, 145-04; 7, Thompson, AA, 145-04; 8, Denlinger, IA, 144-10.
Pole vault: 1, Steinbugl, AA, 15-02; 2, Eicher, BF, 13-09; 3, Crawford, RL, 12-03; 4, Terry, LT, 12-03; 5, Bone, BF, 12-03; 6, Campolongo, Sc, 11-09; 7, Presloid, PX, 11-09; 8, Harper, IA, 11-09.
Boys AA
Key, TEAM scoring: 1, BA-Bellwood-Antis, 119; 2, TY-Tyrone, 72; 3, BB-Berlin Brothersvalley, 57; 4, U--United, 56; 5, EC-Elk County Catholic, 36; 6, CC-Central Cambria, 32; 7, CR-Chestnut Ridge, 31; 8, BM-Bishop McCort, 28; 9, PV-Penns Valley, 27; 10 (tie), HD-Huntingdon and NB-Northern Bedford, 25; 12, BEA-Bald Eagle Area, 23; 13, BD-Bedford, 22; 14 (tie), J-Juniata and JB-Johnsonburg, 20; 16, K-Kane, 18; 17, PC-Penn Cambria, 15; 18, TM-Tussey Mountain, 11; 19, PL-Purchase Line, 10; 20, WH-Westmont Hilltop, 9; 21, CH-Cambria Heights, 8; 22, SB-Saltsburg, 7; 23, HC-Homer-Center, 5; 24 (tie) ET-Everett, NC-Northern Cambria, SH-Southern Huntingdon and WD-Windber, 5; 28, PO-Philipsburg-Osceola, 4; 29, MD-Meyersdale, 1.
100 dash: 1, Sayler, BB, 11.38; 2, S. Worthing, BA, 11.42; 3, Goshorn, J, 11.49; 4, Barnes, NB, 11.70; 5, Green, HD, 11.72; 6, Emigh, TY, 11.75; 7, Reed, BM, 11.75; 8, Bodley, J, 11.91.
200 dash: 1, Patton TY, 22.06; 2, S. Worthing, BA, 23.07; 3, Sweeley, PV, 23.08; 4, Barnes, NB, 23.29; 5, Goshorn, J, 23.31; 6, Sayler, BB, 23.32; 7, Bodley, J, 24.04; 8, Albert, BA, 24.08.
400 dash: 1, Patton, TY, 49.93; 2, Schaut, EC, 50.90; 3, Will, BB, 51.69; 4, Evans, BD; 5, Eason, PO, 52.75; 6, Keagy, PC, 52.79; 7, Brown, NB, 53.23; 8, O'Shea, BA, 53.88 .
800 run: 1, Montgomery, BA, 2:00.94; 2, Decker, PV, 2:02.42; 3, Blose, PL, 2:03.43; 4, Jones, SB, 2:03.62; 5, Will, BB, 2:04.24; 6, Foore, TM, 2:04.30; 7, Detsch, EC 2:06.63; 8, Howard, BM, 2:08.41.
1600 run: 1, Ofman, U, 4:30; 2, Steudler, EC, 4:36; 3, Foore, TM, 4:37; 4, Barber, CC, 4:38; 5, Dailey, WH, 4:43; 6, Coffield, BD, 4:46; 7, Knapic, U, 4:47; 8, Vyas, CC, 4:48.
3200 run: 1, Ofman, U, 10:01.93; 2, King, BM, 10:07.53; 3, Brown, PV, 10:10.38; 4, Dailey, H, 10:19.55; 5, Barber, CC, 10:21.41; 6, Coffield, BD, 10;23.41; 7, Stever, TY, 10:24.84; 8, Bartlett, BA, 10:25.59.
110 high hurdles: 1, Will, BB, 15.21; 2, Dull, CR, 3, Lewis, PC, 15.70; 4, Davensizer, BA, 15.74; 5, O?Reilly, BM, 15.80; 6, Magruder, BB, 16.06; 7, Starr, TM, 16.13; 8, Shaner, CH, 16.34 .
300 intermediate hurdles: 1, Dull, CR, 39.87; 2, Huff, TY, 39.87; 3, Bussard, CC, 41.44; 4, Wakefield, BD, 41.84; 5, Clauto, PC, 42.35; 6, Sinisi, BA, 42.47; 7, Magruder, BB, 42.69; 8, O?Reilly, BM, 42.74 .
400 relay: 1, Tyrone, 43.83; 2, Bellwood-Antis, 44.24; 3, Penns Valley, 44.75; 4, Berlin Brothersballey, 45.28; 5, Juniata, 45.62; 6, Bishop McCort, 45.65; 7, Chestnut Ridge, 46.07; 8, Northern Bedford, 46.17.
1600 relay: 1, Bellwood-Antis, 3:28.76; 2, Tyrone, 3:29.52; 3, Bedford, 3:33.53; 4, Elk County Catholic, 3:35.04; 5, United, 3:37.67; 6, Juniata, 3:38.43; 7, Northern Bedford, 3:38.70; 8, Penns Valley, 3:39.30.
3200 relay: 1, Elk County Catholic, 8:28; 2, Central Cambria, 8:29; 3, Tyrone, 8:30; 4, Bellwood-Antis, 8:34; 5, Purchase Line, 8:35; 6, Northern Bedford, 8:37.28; 7, United, 8:37.67; 8, Saltsburg, 8:39.
High jump: 1, Wilson, TY, 6-06; 2, Posey, HD, 6-04; 3, Leap, BA, 6-04;4, Fletcher, BM, 6-02; 5, O?Reilly, BM, 6-02; 6, Pressel, NB, 6-00; 7, Will, BB, 6-00; 8, Grguric, SB, 6-00.
Long jump: 1, Leap, BA, 21-02.50; 2, Posey, HD, 20-06; 3, DeGol, BA, 20-04.50; 4, Wilson, TY, 20-03; 5, Prohonic, CH, 20-03; 6, Sayler, BB, 20-00.50; 7, Young, CR, 19-11.50; 8, Smith, HC, 19-10.
Triple jump: 1, Leap, BA, 46-02.50; 2, Montgomery, BA, 43.04.75; 3, Young, CR, 42-02.75; 4, Hicks, BE, 42-11; 5, Pileski, WD, 42-10.50; 6, Prohonic, CH, 42-04.25; 7, Mardula, PC, 41-05.50; 8, Schaut, EC, 41-05.25.
Shot Put: 1, Miller, JB, 52-08; 2, Moreaum U, 51-05; 3, Minori, BA, 48-02.75; 4, Beals, BE, 46-03.75; 5, Hixson, NB, 45-04.50; 6, Newhouse, HC, 44-05; 7, Kelley, CC, 44-01; 8, Byrne, CC, 43-05.50.
Discus: 1, Beals, BE, 164-00; 2, Moreau, U, 143-01; 3, Thompson, BA, 132-04; 4, Rush, ET, 132-02; 5, Sokira, CC, 131-06; 6, Stultz, CR, 131-02; 7, Miller, HC, 129-10; 8, Byrne, CC, 127-06
Javelin: 1, Shuey, JB, 192-01 ; 2, Anderson, U, 177-11 ; 3, Minori, BA, 175-01 ; 4, Houck, HD, 174-05 ; 5, Moreau, U, 173-09 ; 6, Leskovansky, BE, 170-06 ; 7, Bojalad, EC, 163-09 ; 8, Yachere, MD, 152-02.
Pole vault: 1, Anderson, K, 15-08 ; 2, Wolfe, K, 13-00 ; 3, Dull, BB, 12-06 ; 4, Cornelious, SH, 12-06 ; 5, Rocco, NC, 12-06 ; 6, Romesberg, BB, 12-06, 7, Yahner, NC, 12-00 ; 7, Tallyen, WD, 12-00 ; 7, Albert, BA, 12-00.
