The Philipsburg-Osceola High School girls track and field team lost all of its long jumpers to graduation last year.
P-O coach Doug Perry was desperate for someone to fill the void at the beginning of this season, and leaping to the rescue was senior Alison Patrick.
"I opened up the long jump competition to anyone that wanted to try it,'' Perry said Wednesday night during the District 6 Class AA Championships at Mansion Park. "[Alison] tried it, and it worked out real well for her - and us.''
Patrick won two events, including the long jump, and qualified for the PIAA meet in a third event to lead a small group of area girls who punched their tickets to the May 27-28 state meet at Shippensburg University.
In addition to Patrick, Huntingdon senior Bethany Ledford defended her pole vault title and qualified for states in the high jump, Penn Cambria senior Jess Delic won the javelin, and Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic junior Kate Meck prevailed in the high jump.
Also, the Central Cambria 3,200-meter relay team of Kendall Seymour, Alyssa Brandis, Emily Wright and Ashley Stump was victorious. Seymour also qualified for states by placing second in the 3,200 run, and Stump will run the 800 at states after placing third but having first-place finisher Angel Piccirillo of Homer-Center opting to not run the 800 at Shippensburg.
The only other girl from the Mirror coverage heading to states is Huntingdon senior Natalie Isett, who was the runner-up in the 100 dash.
Patrick came in to the meet as the top seed in the long jump despite her inexperience, and she jumped 16 feet, 11 inches to win the event by more than 3 inches. Her seeded distance was 17-2.
"I wanted to break the school record,'' Patrick said of coming up short to Kaylee Adams' record of 17-3.
Patrick did break the Philipsburg-Osceola record in the 200 dash, running it in 26.22 seconds, but she finished second to Penns Valley's Carolyn Darr by .21 seconds. Earlier, she won the 400 dash in a blazing time of 59.27 to start her day off successfully.
"I wanted to break 1 minute,'' Patrick said. "That's been my goal for two years.''
Perry said Patrick, ranked second academically in her class, has been injury-free all season, and it's helped her take her athleticism to a higher level. She went to states last year in the 400 and 400 relay, but she has higher hopes this year with three events to keep her focused.
"I hope to beat some people this time,'' Patrick said. "I think I was last in my [400] heat last year.''
Delic also is hoping for a better showing at states after placing 11th as a junior. She said the experience last year will give her a boost of confidence.
"I'm not exactly sure of the competition out there,'' Delic said. "I just want to [throw a personal best] down there and get on the medal stand [top eight]. Those are my biggest goals.''
Delic was the overwhelming favorite in the javelin and didn't disappoint with a throw of 138-4 on her first attempt of the day. She didn't do any better the rest of the meet, but she was consistent in the 130s and won by more than 11 feet.
"I would have liked to hit 140, but that's a pretty good mark going to states,'' she said.
Delic's career best is 143-8, and she said she'll stay mentally focused and train hard at the end of this week and then concentrate on her form next week in preparation for states. She also finished third in the long jump and seventh in the high jump Wednesday, but she only advanced in the javelin.
"I like to do the other events,'' Delic said. "But now my sole focus will be on the javelin. It's been my bread and butter all year.''
Ledford's main event has been the pole vault, and she vaulted to a meet-record height of 11 feet to easily prevail. She didn't miss an attempt until she missed three straight at 11-3.
"I made 10 feet, and they moved [the bar] up and didn't tell me [the new height],'' she said. "I made that, and they moved it up again and didn't tell me. When I made that, everyone was like, 'Oh my god.' I didn't know [I broke the record].''
Ledford said it works to her advantage if she doesn't know the height she's attempting to clear.
"If I get it in my head, I'll probably screw up or something,'' she said.
The Robert Morris-bound Ledford finished fifth in the state last year by clearing 10-6, the same height with which she won last year's district meet. She is hoping to at least get 11-0 this year, which should have her in contention for a gold medal.
She'll also be competing in the high jump at states after finishing in a four-way tie for second place with a height of 4-10. Meck won the high jump by being the only competitor to clear 5-0.
Meck was one of three tied for the top seed coming into the meet at 5-2.
"I was definitely nervous,'' she said. "I had to shake my nerves and just jump.''
Meck, a member of the BG basketball team that placed second in the state this year, wanted to clear 5-2 and is hoping she can accomplish the feat at states to be in contention for a medal. She will be competing at states for the first time after sitting out last year as a sophomore.
"I finished seventh in the district my freshman year,'' she said. "I didn't do track last year because I was busy with other sports.''
Seymour has been busy throughout her career, being a part of two 3,200 relay teams that earned silver medals at states. She also was 10th in the 3,200 run last year as a junior.
She ran a time of 11:22.10 in the 3,200 to finish behind Piccirillo, but Piccirillo also pulled out of the two-mile for states. The Lady Devils' 3,200 relay team dropped its best time by 12 seconds in winning in 9:43.58.
Isett was second to Darr in the 100 dash with a time of 12.88 to secure her a spot at states.
Meet notes: Forest Hills won the team title with Penns Valley second and Central Cambria third. Other individual event winners included Piccirillo in the 1,600 run the only individual event she'll run at states Richland's Paige Lumley in both hurdles and the triple jump, United's Samantha McGaha in the shot put and Juniata's Mariah Williams in the discus. Blair County Chapter of PIAA Track and Field Officials Outstanding Performer Awards were presented to Bellwood-Antis' Emiley Stapleton, BG's Katherine Crocker, Central's Stephanie Miller, Tyrone's Jordyn Swogger and Williamsburg's Caitlin Phelps.
Key, standings: 1, FH-Forest Hills, 107; 2, PV-Penns Valley, 66.5; 3, CC-Central Cambria, 56; 4, HC-Homer-Center, 53; 5, R-Richland, 51; 6, PO-Philipsburg-Osceola, 47; 7, H-Huntingdon Area, 45.75; 8, U-United, 41; 9, PM-Penns Manor, 30; 10, SH-Southern Huntingdon, 29.75; 11, WH-Westmont Hilltop, 27; 12, (tie), NC-Northern Cambria and J-Juniata, 23; 14, LV-Ligonier Valley, 19; 15, (tie), BM-Bishop McCort and PC-Penn Cambria, 17; BA-Bellwood-Antis, 13; 18, (tie), MC-Marion Center and BG-Bishop Guilfoyle, 10; 20, CH-Cambria Heights, 6; 21, (tie), CN-Central; BEA-Bald Eagle Area; WB-West Branch; T-Tyrone and SB-Saltsburg, 2.
100 dash: 1, Darr, PV, 12.80; 2, Isett, H, 12.88; 3, Witter, PV, 12.95; 4, Gould, FH, 13.00; 5, Schrift, FH, 13.13; 6, Davis, WH, 13.27; 7, Ritzman, J, 13.32; 8, Swogger, T, 13.40.
200 dash: 1, Darr, PV, 26.01; 2, Patrick, PO, 26.22; 3, Isett, H, 27.00; 4, Davis, WH, 27.12; 5, Schrift, FH, 27.19; 6, Bealonis, WH, 27.38; 7, Knupp, LV, 27.49; 8, Swogger, T, 28.65.
400 dash: 1, Patrick, PO, 59.27; 2, Stiteler, MC, 1:01.01; 3, King-Brothers, CC, 1:01.74; 4, Kostan, FH, 1:02.33; 5, Granlun, SH, 1:03.85; 6, B. Bernard, NC, 1:03.94; 7, Sherry, CH, 1:04.21; 8, M. Bernard, NC, 1:04.31.
800 run: 1, Piccirillo, HC, 2:14.42 (meet record); 2, Gallaher, FH, 2:18.91; 3, Stump, CC, 2:21.31; 4, Mattis, PM, 2:22.96; 5, Rajter, WH, 2:31.88; 6, Benfer, PV, 2:32.65; 7, Stiteler, MC, 2:36.57; 8 Bodenschatz, R, 2:37.63.
1,600 run: 1, Piccirillo, HC, 5:09.99; 2, Spisak, BM, 5:30.34; 3, Mattis, PM, 5:33.21; 4, Lipnic, CC, 5:35.48; 5, Stapleton, BA, 5:42.26; 6, Yoder, PV, 5:44.70; 7, Livingston, SB, 5:44.78; 8, Burns, J, 5:46.26.
3,200 run: 1, Piccirillo, HC, 11:17.57; 2, Seymour, CC, 11:22.10; 3, n Wirfel, FH, 11:30.17; 4, Brandis, CC, 11;53.61; 5, Erb, FH, 12:23.50; 6, Paronish, NC, 12:38.24; 7, Burns, J, 12:42.16; 8, Simcox, PO, 12:55.55.
100 hurdles: 1, Lumley, R, 15.83; 2, Revercomb, SH, 15.91; 3, n Niovich, FH, 15.98; 4, Paden, J, 16.44; 5, Luther, CC, 16.98; 6, Plummer, FH, 17.02; 7, Meersand, PO, 18.12; 8, O'Reilly, BM, 19.06.
300 hurdles: 1, Lumley, R, 47.59; 2, O'Reilly, BM, 48.07; 3, Cunningham, NC, 48.12; 4, Revercomb, SH, 49.23; 5, Diflauro, FH, 49.34; 6, Wasilko, PO, 49.93; 7, Plummer, FH, 49.99; 8, Luther, CC, 50.06.
400 relay: 1, Penns Valley (Darr, Linsday, Gover, Witter), 50.17 (meet record); 2, Forest Hills, 50.71; 3, Westmont Hilltop, 51.26; 4, Huntingdon, 52.54; 5, Richland, 52.69; 6, Juniata, 53.21; 7, Philipsburg-Osceola, 53.39; 8, Central Cambria, 53.77.
1,600 relay: 1, Forest Hills (Kostan, Gould, Gallaher, Bard), 4:05.30; 2, Penns Valley, 4:11.08; 3, Philipsburg-Osceola, 4:12.67; 4, Central Cambria, 4:13.15; 5, Northern Cambria, 4:18.16; 6, Richland, 4:21.29; 7, Penns Manor, 4:21.98; 8, Huntingdon, 4:25.01.
3,200 relay: 1, Central Cambria (Seymour, Brandis, Wright, Stump), 9:43.58; 2, Homer-Center, 9:46.73; 3, Forest Hills, 9:52.37; 4, United, 10:28.71; 5, Northern Cambria, 10:32.83; 6, Cambria Heights, 10:33.87; 7, West Branch, 10:39.26; 8, Philipsburg-Osceola, 10:58.32.
High jump: 1, Meck, BG, 5-0; 2, (tie), Ledford, H; Granlun, SH; Gover, PV; and Wasson, PV, 4-10; 6, Henderson, HC, 4-10; 7, (tie), Beyer, FH; Delic, PC, and Deitle, FH, 4-8.
Long jump: 1, Patrick, PO, 16-11; 2, Smay, FH, 16-7.5; 3, Delic, PC, 16-4; 4, Lumley, R, 16-3; 5, Bridge, LV, 16-3; 6, Wood, PO, 15-10.5; 7, Plummer, FH, 15-7.75; 8, Townley, HC, 15-4.5.
Triple jump: 1, Lumley, R, 36-6; 2, Smay, FH, 35-8; 3, Kirsch, NC, 35-5; 4, Knezovich, PM, 35-3.75; 5, Bridge, LV, 33-10.5; 6, Townley, HC, 33-9.25; 7, Revercomb, SH, 33-7; 8, Czar, PO, 33-6.75
Shot put: 1, McGaha, U, 34-5; 2, Galasso, HC, 34-4.75; 3, Giger, FH, 31-8.5; 4, Daughenbaugh, CC, 31-6.5; 5, Snyder, U, 30-11; 6, Damiano, BA, 30-9.75; 7, Bean, CN, 30-3.5; 8, Yeager, CH, 29-11.25.
Discus: 1, Williams, J, 112-10; 2, Misner, PM, 106-4; 3, Fletcher, U, 102-11; 4, Roth, H, 101-0; 5, Skedel, U, 97-9; 6, Damiano, BA, 96-4; 7, Norris, H, 93-8; 8, DaBella, PM, 92-1.
Javelin: 1, Delic, PC, 138-4; 2, Skedel, U, 127-0; 3, Zubek, FH, 114-9; 4, Jones, LV, 113-2; 5, Holmes, PV, 112-10; 6, Misner, PM, 111-0; 7, Simcisko, BEA, 105-6; 8, Krepps, BA 105-2.
Pole vault: 1, Ledford, H, 11-0 (meet record); 2, Feather, R, 9-6; 3, Connors, WH, 9-6; 4, Thomas, SH, 9-6; 5, Spitzer, LV, 9-0; 6, Cunningham, H, 8-6; 7, Mercer, BA, 8-6; 8, Paolini, PV, 8-6.
n-Met state qualifying standard
