Altoona Area High School senior Kelly Davis established herself as the top sprinter in the area two years ago when she was a sophomore.
But, her stranglehold on the 200-meter dash began to slip this season when she had trouble running against State College junior Gina Toretti.
"Toretti beat me all season whenever we raced,'' Davis said. "I don't know why I couldn't beat her.''
Article Photos
Kelly Davis wins the 100-meter dash.
Davis picked an opportune time to emerge from her mini-slump by blazing past Toretti in the 200 dash finals, the final race of her successful career at Mansion Park, in the District 6 Class AAA Championships on Thursday night.
"This was my last time on this track running,'' said Davis, who finished in a personal-best 25.49 seconds to Toretti's 25.76. "I had to win.''
Davis, who also won the 100 dash, was one of four Altoona girls who advanced to the May 27-28 state meet at Shippensburg University. Joining her are junior Nikki Kerns, who won the 300 hurdles and qualified in the 100 hurdles, senior Makenzie Wilt, who won the discus, and freshman Abby Wagner, who claimed the long jump title despite not being with the Altoona varsity for most of the season.
State College won the team title with 254 points, and Altoona was second, followed by Central Mountain and Hollidaysburg.
Davis' wins in the 100 and 200 were both her third straight at districts. She won the 100 with little problem, scorching her way to a time of 12.34 seconds.
"I always do well at this meet,'' said Davis, who will run at Indiana University of Pennsylvania next year. "This is where I really prove myself. I did it tonight for myself and my mom [Christine].''
Davis said she'll concentrate on trying to medal in the 100 dash, her favorite race, at states after placing 10th last year. She said she's looking forward to competing in both events because she really wants to focus on the 100 but have a backup plan in place with the 200 in case the 100 doesn't go so well.
Davis also competed at states the last two years in the long jump but won't get that chance this year after placing sixth. But she helped Wagner thrust herself into the state meet long jump picture by giving her a few pointers.
"I always give [Wagner] advice,'' Davis said. "I was telling her to jump up high, get her hips up and arms out. I was so happy for her. She really impressed me.''
"Kelly told me to go for it and make states,'' Wagner said. "She wanted me to be there.''
Wagner was stuck in fifth place with a jump of 16 feet, 5 inches but then hit the board and flew 17-10 on her final attempt to not only better the state qualifying standard by more than 7 inches but also win the event by more than 10 inches.
"I didn't think I'd make it that far,'' Wagner said. "I was just thinking about our drills where we jump over hurdles, and I was thinking about getting over the hurdle to get out farther.''
Wagner had competed with the freshman team all season but then stood out in the Altoona 9-10 meet and was entered into the District 6 meet. She finished fourth in the triple jump but was 2 inches away from qualifying for states with a 36-3.
"It was intimidating - I was scared,'' Wagner said. "When I didn't make it in the triple jump, I told myself I have to make it in the long jump to go to states.''
In contrast to Wagner was Wilt, who is finally getting an opportunity to compete at states as a senior after just missing out on qualifying the last two years.
Wilt threw the discus 118 feet, 3 inches on her third attempt and clinched her spot by eclipsing the state qualifying standard of 118-0. The throw held up for a first-place finish, too.
"I didn't care if I was first, second or third - as long as I went to states,'' said Wilt, who at 6-feet tall was a volleyball all-star for Altoona. "When I threw it 118-3 and [set a personal best] and knew I was going to states, I was ecstatic. I couldn't describe my feelings. I've been waiting three years, and I finally got it.''
Wilt, who will be walk-on at IUP next year, said Thursday's nice weather and the fact that her entire family was there to watch inspired her. She later placed fourth in the shot put, but her day had already been a success.
She said she's hoping to throw in the 120s in the discus at states.
"I've always wanted to go to states, and I finally accomplished it,'' she said. "I just did what my coaches [head coach Steve Rhodes and throwing coach Rob Veloz] told me to do. The quote from coach Rhodes was, 'I want you on that state bus.'''
Kerns will be riding the state bus for a second straight year and will compete in two events, but she was a little disappointed she won't be competing in three. She finished second in the high jump by clearing 4-11 after coming in as the top seed at 5-4.
"My height was there, but I didn't get my snap down,'' Kerns said. "There's no reason why I couldn't qualify in that event. It's upsetting whenever you know you're capable of doing something and you don't do it. I'm excited to be going to states in two events, but the high jump would have topped it off.''
Kerns was shooting for the district record of 45.41 in the 300 hurdles and came up just .11 seconds short, but she defended her title by beating her next closest competitor by more than 2 seconds.
"You don't realize you're alone [out in front],'' said Kerns, who was 16th at states in the 300 hurdles as a sophomore. "You hear them behind you, but you don't know where they are. It's scary.''
Kerns had State College's Paige Fry right with her out in front in the 100 hurdles. The two battled to the finish with Fry winning in 15.05 and Kerns .03 seconds behind her. Both earned spots in the state meet by bettering the state qualifying time of 15.65.
"I hit one of the hurdles near the end,'' Kerns said. "I scraped it a bit, and that was the difference.''
Kerns is glad to have at least two events to concentrate on at states. She said her main goal is making the finals in the 300 hurdles.
"It was terrifying down there last year,'' Kerns said. "You don't even know you're racing until three-fourths of the race is over. But having two events will break up the day, so I won't be sitting around all day. It won't be as nerve wracking.''
Meet notes: Kerns and Hollidaysburg's Alexis Preston were presented the Blair County Chapter of PIAA Track and Field Officials Outstanding Performer Awards. Other individual event winners were State College's Chloe Schmidt in the 800 and 1,600 runs, Niara Valentine in the 400, Emma Cousins in the 3,200, Shannon Daniels in the triple jump, Lauren Kenney in the javelin and Molly Love in the pole vault, Lewistown's Logan Snyder in the high jump and Johnstown's Tyneshia Smith in the shot put.
Key, standings: 1, SC-State College, 254; 2, A-Altoona, 161.5; 3, CM-Central Mountain, 79; 4, H-Hollidaysburg, 59.5; 5, IV-Indian Valley, 48; 6, J-Johnstown, 46; 7, L-Lewistown, 19; 8, SO-Somerset, 17; 9, B-Bellefonte, 6.
100 dash: 1, Davis, A, 12.34; 2, Bonness, SC, 12.80; 3, Smothers, J, 12.94; 4, Toner, CM, 12.95; 5, Altomare, SC, 13.16; 6, Hay, SC, 13.18; 7, Williams, A, 13.22; 8, Aungst, H, 13.27.
200 dash: 1, Davis, A, 25.49; 2, n Toretti, SC, 25.76; 3, n Bonness, SC, 25.83; 4, Toner, CM, 26.52; 5, Hay, SC, 26.55; 6, Smothers, J, 26.63; 7, Williams, A, 27.29; 8, Walters, L, 27.51.
400 dash: 1, Valentine, SC, 59.92; 2, Preston, H, 1:00.91; 3, Book, SC, 1:01.95; 4, Christensen, SC, 1:02.78; 5, Walizer, CM, 1:03.44; 6, Black, H, 1:03.93; 7 Aly. Palfey, A, 1:04.30; 8, Donley, A, 1:04.77.
800 run: 1, Schmidt, SC, 2:12.21; 2, n Long, IV, 2:15.47; 3, McNaughton, SC, 2:20.47; 4, Ebersole, A, 2:22.20; 5, Becker, L, 2:23.22; 6, Adams, SC, 2:24.83; 7, Preston, H, 2:29.24; 8, Heckman, SOss, 2:30.03.
1,600 run: 1, Schmidt, SC, 5:10.67; 2, n Adams, SC, 5:12.01; 3, Pheasant, H, 5:17.77; 4, Grubb, SC, 5:27.36; 5, Lidwell, A, 5:28.72; 6, Becker, L, 5:30.17; 7, Strohecker, IV, 5:30.34; 8, Aly. Beyer, H, 5:39.33.
3,200 run: 1, Cousins, SC, 11:42.05; 2, Balogh, SC, 11:59.32; 3, King, IV, 12:03.44; 4, Ansley, H, 12:32.83; 5, Havice, IV, 12:34.81; 6, Catalano, SC, 12:35.82; 7, Peterman, A, 12:41.62; 8, Schrock, SO, 12:41.81.
100 hurdles: 1, Fry, SC, 15.05; 2, n Kerns, A, 15.08; 3, Robson, CM, 16.42; 4, Bland, SC, 16.97; 5, Shawver, IV, 17.09; 6, Luciano, A, 17.45; 7, Albright, A, 17.51; 8, Patterson, CM, 17.52.
300 hurdles: 1, Kerns, A, 45.52; 2, Bland, SC, 47.57; 3, Lake, IV, 48.48; 4, Robson, CM, 48.68; 5, Luciano, A, 49.03; 6, Fry, SC, 49.15; 7, Ruffner, SC, 49.92; 8, Ale. Palfey, A, 50.62.
400 relay: 1, State College (Fry, Hay, Toretti, Valentine), 49.45; 2, Johnstown, 50.05; 3, Altoona, 50.48; 4, Bellefonte, 53.68; 5, Somerset, 53.86; 6, Hollidaysburg, 54.04.
1,600 relay: 1, State College (Christensen, Bland, Valentine, Toretti), 4:01.93; 2, Altoona, 4:05.95; 3, Indian Valley, 4:06.70; 4, Hollidaysburg, 4:14.09; 5, Johnstown, 4:14.97; 6, Central Mountain, 4:20.81.
3,200 relay: 1, State College (McNaughton, Christensen, Cousins, Schmidt), 9:25.19; 2, n Indian Valley, 9:31.98; 3, Hollidaysburg, 9:50.21; 4, Altoona, 10:11.64; 5, Central Mountain, 11:56.24.
High jump: 1, Snyder, L, 5-1; 2, Kerns, A, 4-11; 3, Weston, A, 4-11; 4, Williams, H, 4-11; 5, (tie), Moltz, CM; Heggenstaller, CM, and Patterson, CM, 4-7; 8, (tie), Mulhern, A, and Altomare, SC, 4-7.
Long jump: 1, Wagner, A, 17-10; 2, Wyatt, J, 17-0; 3, Daniels, SC, 16-8; 4, Toner, CM, 16-7; 5, Fry, SC, 16-4; 6, Davis, A, 16-2; 7, Coyle, SO, 15-11; 8, Thal, B, 15-8.
Triple jump: 1, Daniels, SC, 37-11; 2, n Coyle, SO, 37-2; 3, n Wyatt, J, 36-6; 4, Wagner, A, 36-3; 5, Bonness, SC, 34-9; 6, Alexander, A, 34-5; 7, Marchione, SC, 34-4; 8, Robson, CM, 33-0.
Shot put: 1, Smith, J, 34-3; 2, Kenney, SC, 33-7; 3, E. Sikorskas, CM, 32-11; 4, Wilt, A, 32-0; 5, McCardle, IV, 30-4; 6, Laich, A, 30-0; 7, Goodman, A, 29-8; 8, Marshall, SC, 29-0.
Discus: 1, Wilt, A, 118-3; 2, E. Sikorskas, CM, 113-8; 3, K. Sikorskas, CM, 109-9; 4, McConnell, H, 108-5; 5, Allison, SC, 98-3; 6, Marshall, SC, 90-7; 7, Smith, H, 90-0; Barth, SO, 89-5.
Javelin: 1, Kenney, SC, 149-1; 2, E. Sikorskas, CM, 115-0; 3, Mirenda, A, 110-5; 4, Goodman, A, 100-6; 5, Lightner, SC, 100-1; 6, McConnell, H, 99-10; 7, Hileman, A, 99-3; 8, Lauver, L, 94-8.
Pole vault: 1, Love, SC, 10-6; 2, Pollick, SC, 10-0; 3, Mulhern, A, 9-6; 4, (tie), Williams, H, and Tillotson, SC, 8-6; 6, Asadi, CM, 8-6; 7, Hughes, A, 8-6; 8, Minemyer, J, 8-0.
n Met state qualifying standard
