BELLWOOD - Don't be misled by the fact that Maria Snyder didn't turn in one of the slew of record performances at Monday's fifth annual Inter-County Conference Track and Field Championship Meet.
Northern Bedford High School's star junior was still completely dominating.
Snyder, a defending PIAA silver medalist, won three individual distance events and was named the outstanding runner to help her Lady Panthers edge Bellwood-Antis for the girls team title at a cool and overcast Memorial Stadium.
Bellwood won the boys team crown decisively behind record-setting performances by Zach Sinisi in the 300-meter hurdles and its 400 relay team, along with Jeremy Claypoole's two victories in the jumps and a pair of Seth Worthing firsts in the sprints.
Snyder won the 800 by 7 seconds, the 1600 by 14 seconds and the 3200 by more than a minute. Snyder also was the anchor leg of the winning 3200 relay of Jillian Bottenfield, Kit Fink and Alyssa Smith.
"Our four-by-eight's doing a lot better. We had the girls in that step up, which makes it a lot easier on me,'' Snyder said. "And I was happy with my 800, because that's near my best [time].''
Although she's rarely defeated, Snyder's times this spring have been somewhat up and down. However, she put together some good performances Monday despite running five miles in a meet that moves quickly and offers very little rest time.
That bodes well for her - and not so much for her competition - as she heads into next week's District 5 meet and probably states in multiple events.
"Today was a lot better. I was more consistent,'' Snyder said. "I'm just going to keep working towards my best times. That always pushes you, trying to run them.''
Snyder was the only competitor in the meet to win three individual events, and she and Worthing were the only two to be part of four victories. The Lady Panthers needed all of her wins, too, as they finished just 10.5 points ahead of Bellwood in the team standings. The Lady Panthers also got first-place points from Leah Hershberger in the 400.
The Lady Devils were paced by victories from its 400 relay team of Lauren Nevling, Bailey Swogger, Katy Leamer and Michelle Miller and its 1600 relay of Swogger, Anna Lynn, Ana Hollen and Ellen Crook. Leamer also won the long jump and was second in the triple jump to Juniata Valley's Rachel Kyper.
Two area girls established meet records. Senior Keira Bair raised the pole vault mark she already held from last year 6 inches to 10 feet to help Everett to a third-place team finish, while Tussey Mountain sophomore Allyson Gearhart nearly a full second off the one-year old standard in the 300 hurdles.
Bair's top vault matched her best of the season.
"It feels good. I'm glad. I beat my own record. That was my goal today,'' Bair said. "The weather conditions were good. They were actually better than I thought, and, luckily, the wind didn't blow too hard.''
Gearhart completed her race in 48.95 seconds; Southern Huntingdon's Marie Revercomb ran 49.94 last year. It was just the latest performance in what has been a breakout spring for the Tussey hurdler.
"I think I conditioned a little bit better this year than I did before. I'm more in shape for it,'' said Gearhart, who has been hurdling since she was in seventh grade. "I wanted the school record, and, once I got it, I wanted to keep going. I was pretty excited [to get the ICC meet record]. I couldn't wait to call my mom, because she couldn't be here.''
Sinisi and the Bellwood four-by-100 were responsible for two of the five meet records recorded on the boys side. The Blue Devils 400 team of Seth and Cameron Worthing, Andrew DeGol and Ian O'Shea set their third conference or invitational meet record in eight days - they broke the Bellwood Invitational mark last Monday and set a record at the West Central Coaches meet on Friday.
This time they turned in a time of 44.51.
"Our goal each time is just to beat the time in the previous meet. Today, we had a bad handoff, and we still managed to get a good time. Basically, we all try to push each other,'' O'Shea said.
O'Shea later joined with Seth Worthing, DeGol and Sinisi to finish first in the 1600 relay. That capped a big meet for Sinisi, who won the 110 hurdles before breaking the record of former Blue Devil Lance Hughes in the 300 hurdles from 2008, running a 40.91.
"Coming out in the beginning of the season, I wanted to break the school record. I knew the record was higher today, so I wanted to get it. It meant a lot to me,'' Sinisi said. "This is the first time I've broken into the 40s. I really want to bring my record down to the 39s.''
Bellwood won eight events to score 162 team points, followed by Northern Bedford with 85 and Southern Fulton with 82. Worthing took first in the 100 and 200 dashes and was voted outstanding male runner, while Claypoole went home as the outstanding jumper by triumphing in the long and triple jumps.
Claypoole, who surpassed the 45-foot mark in finishing second at the West Central meet, almost did it again, missing by a quarter-inch. He's been consistently in the high 44s.
"I just want to be able to jump consistent 45s and hopefully win districts,'' Claypoole said. "Everything's put together pretty well. I've got everything down.''
Claypoole's come from jumping in the 42-foot range last year to contending for a District 6 championship. Tussey Mountain's Gabriel Goizueta came all the way from Madrid, Spain through a foreign exchange program to break the ICC meet record by 18 seconds in running a 10-minute, 13.39-second 3200 meters.
"I ran two years. I had pretty good times, but never the kind of times I've had here,'' Goizueta said. "I feel I keep my pace pretty good. I would be excited to win [the district championship]. I've run in one really big meet in Shippensburg, and I had my best.''
Northern Bedford's Zach Pressel was the only other area boys winner, defeating teammate Justin Baker in the high jump at 6-2 by virtue of fewer misses.
Meet notes: Everett's Theole Feuillet won the shot put and finished second to Tussey's Carlee Bussard in the discus en route to being voted girls outstanding thrower. ... Kyper, who was second to Leamer in the long jump, was girls outstanding jumper. ... Mount Union's Alana Saulen won the girls 100 and 200. ... Southern Fulton's Jason Ashkettle and Mount Union's Zach McKeehan set meet boys records in the 400 and 1600, respectively. ... McConnellsburg's Ryan Stoeckle, who won the shot put, was boys outstanding thrower.
BOYS
KEY, TEAM SCORING: 1, BA-Bellwood-Antis, 162; 2, NB-Northern Bedford, 85; 3, SF-Southern Fulton, 82; 4, MB-McConnellsburg, 43; 5, TM-Tussey Mountain, 32; 6, MU-Mount Union, 27; 7, E-Everett, 26; 8 (tie), SH-Southern Huntingdon and WB-West Branch, 21; 10 (tie), FM-Fannett-Metal and WIL-Williamsburg, 20; 12, JV-Juniata Valley, 19.
100 dash: 1, S. Worthing, BA, 11.42; 2, Sipes, TM, 11.64; 3, Grissinger, JV, 11.65; 4, C. Worthing, BA, 11.77; 5, Slippey, WB, 11.83; 6, Barnes, NB, 11.84.
200 dash: 1, S. Worthing, BA, 22.61; 2, Barnes, NB, 22.80; 3, Claypoole, BA, 22.80; 4, Slippey, WB, 23.50; 5, Sipes, TM, 23.53; 6, Horton, SF, 24.00.
400 dash: 1, Ashkettle, SF, 50.64 (new meet record); 2, White, FM, 51.66; 3, Barnes, NB, 52.30; 4, Slippey, WB, 52.31; 5, Kristofits, WB, 53.17; 6, Wolfe, BA, 53.71.
800 run: 1, Gladfelter, MU, 2:07.08; 2, Wheland, WIL, 2:08.58; 3, Russell, NB, 2:09.67; 4, Kirk, SF, 2:10.94; 5, Miller, E, 2:14.47; 6, Albright, WB, 2:15.18.
1600 run: 1, McKeehan, MU, 4:40.75 (new meet record); 2, K. Bartlett, BA, 4:43.50; 3, Miller, E, 4:43.78; 4, Goizueta, TM, 4:44.79; 5, England, WIL, 4:47.46; 6, Shields, SH, 4:55.90.
3200 run: 1, Goizueta, TM, 10:13.39 (new meet record); 2, K. Bartlett, BA, 10:19.80; 3, Dean, SH, 10:29.49; 4, England, WIL, 10:38.38; 5, Heck, NB, 10:43.59; 6, Voight, SF, 10:45.61.
110 hurdles: 1, Sinisi, BA, 15.96; 2, Hill, MB, 16.28; 3, Davis, BA, 16.86; 4, I. O'Shea, BA, 16.89; 5, Cornelious, SH, 16.99; 6, Kristofits, WB, 17.23.
300 hurdles: 1, Sinisi, BA, 40.91 (new meet record); 2, I. O'Shea, BA, 41.89; 3, Hill, MB, 42.40; 4, Parson, FM, 44.60; 5, Bard, SF, 44.79; 6, Cornelious, SH, 44.99.
400 relay: 1, Bellwood-Antis (C. Worthing, S. Worthing, DeGol, I. O'Shea), 44.51 (new meet record); 2, Everett, 46.79; 3, Juniata Valley, 47.13; 4, West Branch, 47.94; 5, Southern Fulton, 48.36; 6, Southern Huntingdon, 54.80.
1600 relay: 1, Bellwood-Antis (Sinisi, DeGol, I. O'Shea, S. Worthing), 3:29.65; 2, Southern Fulton, 3:37.03; 3, Northern Bedford, 3:37.27; 4, Fannett-Metal, 3:43.05; 5, Mount Union, 3:44.44; 6, Southern Huntingdon, 3:46.83.
3200 relay: 1, Southern Fulton (Richards, Voight, Ashkettle, Kirk), 8:29.01; 2, Bellwood-Antis, 8:24.03; 3, Southern Huntingdon, 8:49.95; 4, Northern Bedford, 8:58.00; 5, McConnellsburg, 9:39.43; 6, West Branch, 10:01.77.
High jump: 1, Z. Pressel, NB, 6-2; 2, Baker, NB, 6-2; 3, Claypoole, BA, 5-10; 4, Chilcote, FM, 5-8; 5, Confer, WB, 5-6; 6, Patterson, SH, 5-6.
Long jump: 1, Claypoole, BA, 20-8.75; 2, Ashkettle, SF, 20-5.5; 3, Grissinger, JV, 20-1.25; 4, T. Pressel, NB, 19-11; 5, Over, NB, 19-7.25; 6, DeGol, BA, 19-6.75.
Triple jump: 1, Claypoole, BA, 44-11.75; 2, T. Pressel, NB, 43-1.75; 3, Steffan, BA, 40-10.25; 4, Over, NB, 39-2.5; 5, Ward, E, 38-2.75; 6, Keiser, MU, 37-10.
Shot put: 1, Stoeckle, MB, 47-0; 2, Hixson, NB, 43-5.5; 3, Hess, MB, 42-9.5; 4, House, MU, 42-8.5; 5, Leidy, WIL, 42-3.5; 6, Jenkins, BA, 42-3.5.
Discus: 1, Ensor, SF, 128-3; 2, Stoeckle, MB, 127-6; 3, Thompson, BA, 126-4; 4, Hixson, NB, 125-0; 5, Thomas, SH, 119-7; 6, Daniels, MB, 119-6.
Javelin: 1, Meyer, SF, 151-6; 2, Schmit, E, 144-9; 3, Wright, SF, 142-3; 4, Biddle, WIL, 137-10; 5, Shawley, BA, 137-4; 6, Gardner, JV, 136-6.
Pole vault: 1, Cross, SF, 12-0; 2, Runk, TM, 11-6; 3, Denny, BA, 11-6; 4, Baker, NB, 10-6; 5, Whitsel, MB, 10-6; 6, Helsley, BA, 10-0.
GIRLS
KEY, TEAM SCORING: 1, NB-Northern Bedford, 118; 2, BA-Bellwood-Antis, 107.5; 3, E-Everett, 69; 4, SF-Southern Fulton, 61; 5, MB-McConnellsburg, 49; 6, JV-Juniata Valley, 38; 7 (tie), MU-Mount Union and TM-Tussey Mountain, 33; 9, WB-West Branch, 21; 10, SH-Southern Huntingdon, 13.5; 11, WIL-Williamsburg, 8; 12, FM-Fannett-Metal, 6.
100 dash: 1, Saulen, MU, 13.20; 2, Hershberger, NB, 13.46; 3, Nevling, BA, 13.73; 4, Swogger, BA, 13.75; 5, Pittman, E, 13.76; 6, Kyper, JV, 13.85.
200 dash: 1, Saulen, MU, 27.37; 2, Swogger, BA, 28.10; 3, Beegle, E, 28.38; 4, Pittman, E, 28.84; 5, A. Smith, NB, 29.29; 6, Folk, TM, 29.49.
400 dash: 1, Hershberger, NB, 1:02.04; 2, A. Smith, NB, 1:04.02; 3, Folk, TM, 1:04.96; 4, Worthing, MB, 1:06.78; 5, Dinges, BA, 1:07.13; 6, Miller, JV, 1:07.58.
800 run: 1, Snyder, NB, 2:24.75; 2, Crook, BA, 2:31.76; 3, Bottenfield, NB, 2:37.55; 4, Lake, SF, 2:46.18; 5, Gower, WB, 2:46.92; 6, Worthing, MB, 2:48.36.
1600 run: 1, Snyder, NB, 5:21.29; 2, M. Hollenshead, SF, 5:35.34; 3, Crook, BA, 5:36.88; 4, J. Hollenshead, SF, 5:52.32; 5, Kurtz, SF, 6:05.68; 6, Turner, WB, 6:08.61.
3200 run: 1, Snyder, NB, 11:44.89; 2, Deneen, SF, 12:51.98; 3, J. Hollenshead, SF, 13:04.57; 4, Kurtz, JV, 13:14.75; 5, Ostroksky, WB, 13:39.33; 6, Taylor, MB, 14:13.45.
100 hurdles: 1, Grey, MB, 17.24; 2, J. Smith, NB, 17.52; 3, Jenkins, JV, 17.62; 4, Gearhart, TM, 17.65; 5, Hammon, MU, 18.24; 6, Nevling, BA, 18.26.
300 hurdles: 1, Gearhart, TM, 48.95 (new meet record); 2, J. Smith, NB, 51.42; 3, Grey, MB, 52.17; 4, Lynn, BA, 52.65; 5, Shimmel, WB, 54.31; 6, Morris, NB, 54.73.
400 relay: 1, Bellwood-Antis (Nevling, Ka. Leamer, Swogger, Miller), 53.21; 2, Southern Fulton, 54.55; 3, Juniata Valley, 55.21; 4, West Branch, 56.44; 5, Northern Bedford, 56.70; 6, McConnellsburg, 56.97.
1600 relay: 1, Bellwood-Antis (Swogger, Lynn, Hollen, Crook), 4:22.; 2, Northern Bedford, 4:26.97; 3, Southern Fulton, 4:33.41; 4, McConnellsburg, 4:34.88; 5, West Branch, 4:46.54; 6, Southern Huntingdon, 5:04.83.
3200 relay: 1, Northern Bedford (Bottenfield, Fink, A. Smith, Snyder), 10:54.54;2, West Branch, 11:10.04; 3, Bellwood-Antis, 11:53.44; 4, Southern Fulton, 12:55.44; 5, McConnellsburg, 13:04.04.
High jump: 1, Fleming, MB, 5-0 (tied meet record); 2, Morningstar, E, 5-0 (tied meet record); 3, Martin, BA, 4-10; 4 (tie), Diehl, NB, and Hammon, 4-6; 6, DeGol, BA, 4-6.
Long jump: 1, Ka. Leamer, BA, 15-2; 2, Kyper, JV, 15-0; 3, Hershberger, NB, 14-11; 4, Beegle, E, 14-9.5; 5, Bair, E, 14-3.5; 6, Hollen, BA, 14-2.
Triple jump: 1, Kyper, JV, 32-5; 2, Ka. Leamer, BA, 32-2.25; 3, Colledge, E, 31-5; 4, Bair, E, 31-5; 5, Hershberger, NB, 30-11.75; 6, M. Hollenshead, SF, 30-10.
Shot put: 1, T. Feuillet, E, 32-6; 2, White, MU, 31-1; 3, Roman, SF, 29-7; 4, Roberts, MB, 28-10; 5, Bussard, TM, 28-6; 6, Krepps, BA, 28-1.
Discus: 1, Bussard, TM, 96-2; 2, T. Feuillet, E, 94-11; 3, Swope, FM, 94-10; 4, N. Feuillet, E, 91-11; 5, Krepps, BA, 87-5; 6, Hanwell, BA, 86-8.
Javelin: 1, Walker, SH, 114-0; 2, Crouch, WIL, 99-10; 3, Strait, SF, 98-0; 4, Krepps, BA, 97-7; 5, Watkins, MB, 92-8; 6, Steckman, E, 91-0.
Pole vault: 1, Bair, E, 10-0 (new meet record); 2,Mercer, BA, 8-6; 3, Ellis, NB, 8-0; 4, Nero, MB, 7-6; 5, Varner, SH, 7-6; 6 (tie), Schmoke, BA, and Winter, SH, 7-6.
