SOMERSET - The cold, sometimes rainy conditions and fast pace were as tough as the opposition, making it almost impossible to record top performances and taking a big toll on top seeds and returning winners.
Nothing, though, could stop Cambria Heights' Zack Prohonic from getting a leg up on his competition, or deter Central Cambria's Alyssa Brandis from making it eat her dust.
Prohonic defended his boys triple jump championship, and also added a long jump medal to his trophy case, while Brandis continued her school's dominance in the distance runs with a pair of victories at the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships on Monday.
Article Photos
Photo for the Mirror by Roger Vogel
Cambria Heights’ Zack Prohonic won the long jump and the triple jump at the LHAC Track and Field Championships Wednesday.
Bedford's Dylan Evans also overcame the odds to capture first in the boys 400-meter dash for the second consecutive year to power the Bisons to a second-place team finish. There were 10 event winners from the Mirror coverage area.
"I really wanted to come in and do my best, being seeded No. 1 in both the long and the triple jumps,'' Prohonic said. "I was hoping to pull out good jumps.''
Prohonic's 42-foot long jump was 8 inches shorter than his best result at last year's LHAC meet, but it was enough to win the event by 16 inches. He'd already jumped 20-1 to take the long jump, improving by 6 inches over last season and finishing 4 inches beyond any other competitor.
Prohonic was wary that the chilly weather was going to be perhaps his toughest adversary, and he made sure to prepare for it.
"I was warming up and my coach said to make sure I stayed loose,'' Prohonic said. "The cold affects you. The first couple of jumps, I was really tight.''
After getting stretched out, he got his winning result on his second attempt in both events. Prohonic, though, is looking at this as a stepping stone.
"It's a great feeling,'' Prohonic said."Everybody wants to do well here. I'm just trying to focus on districts and states, because that's what really matters most.''
Evans posted a time of 51.48 in the 400. Richland's Nick Poponvak was second at 52.42.
Evans' winning time last year was 52.4. However, that was hand-held, not fully-automated timing. Adjusted, Evans' time from last year only would have been good for fifth this year.
"This year, it was more exciting. There was better competition than there was last year,'' Evans said. "When I have good competition, it pumps me up. So I was excited, but, at the same time, it made me more nervous.''
Evans said his nervousness was replaced by adrenaline as he got ready for the race itself. The cool, damp conditions were just a minor impediment.
"You just have to warm up harder,'' Evans said. "This isn't my best time this year, but it was cold, so I'm not complaining.''
Central Cambria finished third in the boys team race, getting three first-place performances. The Red Devils' 3200 relay team of Grant Barber, Jacob Fedore, Tim Hite and Brandon Long clocked in at 8 minutes, 30.05 seconds, more than 8 seconds ahead of second-place Bedford, while Matt Pride captured the 110 hurdles and Will Seymour triumphed in the shot put.
Pride overcame top seed Zach Hanley of Richland, posting a time of 15.38. Hanley checked in at 15.96.
Just a freshman, Seymour threw 46-1, more than 3 feet farther than Bishop McCort's Zach Rugg.
Bishop Carroll's Jake Hegemann and Bedford's Kody DeMoss engaged in a batted in the javelin, with Hegemann coming out on top by 6 inches at 154-10 for the area's other boys event win. Barber gave a strong push at the end of the 1600 but was held of by Westmont Hilltop's Kevin Dailey and finished second by fourth-tenths of a second with a time of 4:39.21.
Brandis, though, wasn't going to be held back by anything, not the weather or even a long stray piece of athletic tape that caught on her shoe early in the girls two-mile run.
"I stepped on it, and it stayed on my shoe the whole time,'' Brandis said. "
It really was the only company the CC junior had. Her 4:26.48 in the mile was about 6.5 seconds ahead of Westmont Hilltop's Maura Glennon, and her 12:00.49 had her across the finish line almost a full 20 seconds before Glennon or anyone else.
Not that that was any surprise - Brandis, a junior, was handed the torch by Central Cambria's terrific distance runners like Carly and Kelsey Seymour, who hold virtually every LHAC record in those events and parlayed those into Division I college scholarships. For Brandis, though, these were her first individual conference titles.
"It means a lot,'' Brandis said. "We have such a tradition going from when the Seymours ran. Me keeping it [going] just means a lot.''
Brandis was part of the second-place effort in the 3200 relay.
"The four-by-eight and the mile were the two biggest [races] I had to focus on. I worked really hard for them,'' Brandis said. "In the [3200], I just had to get in front and cruise.''
Now, like Prohonic, she has her sights set on next week's District 6 Class AA meet, and, hopefully, the state meet on Memorial Day weekend.
"There are a lot [of good distance runners at districts],'' Brandis said. "I think I'm ready. I think I'm prepared.''
The area's other two gold medals came courtesy of throwers. Bedford's Kelly Beegle was a surprise winner in the javelin, surpassing her season-best by almost a foot and a half, throwing 106-3. Favorite Marlee Zubek of Forest Hills finished second at 97-1.
Later, 10th-seeded Sonya McConnell of Cambria Heights won the shot put by an inch and a half with a throw of 29-9.5.
Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic's Kate Meck almost joined them but finished second to Forest Hills' Samantha Deitle in the high jump on misses. Both cleared 5 feet, but Meck missed on her first attempt.
Central Cambria's Taylor King-Brothers, the top seed, was outdueled in the long jump by Somerset's Jayna Coyle. Coyle jumped 17-3.75. King-Brothers jumped 16-4. Meanwhile, top-seeded Carrie Baker of Bedford was relegated to second in the pole vault by Christine Connors of Westmont, who finished 2 inches shy of a meet record with a 10-7.
King-Brothers also was second in the 400.
Richland's Paige Lumley was responsible for both new meet records, setting them in the girls 300 hurdles and triple jump. Richland won the boys team championship, with Forest Hills running away with the girls team award.
BOYS
KEY, TEAM SCORING: 1, R-Richland, 115; 2, BD-Bedford, 103; 3, CC-Central Cambria, 95; 4, S-Somerset, 94.5; 5, FH-Forest Hills, 61; 6, CH-Cambria Heights, 60; 7, BM-Bishop McCort, 59; 8, J-Johnstown, 31.5; 9, PC-Penn Cambria, 30; 10, WH-Westmont Hilltop, 26; 11, BC-Bishop Carroll, 18; 12, BG-Bishop Guilfoyle, 10.
100 dash: 1, Meyer, S, 11.62; 2, Reed, BM, 11.70; 3, Burkey, FH, 11.79; 4, Simon, J, 11.89; 5, Shutty, BC, 11.96; 6, D. Hess, BD, 11.98; 7, Flick, R, 12.01; 8, J. Rizzo, R, 12.03.
200 dash: 1, Meyer, S, 23.28; 2, Flick, R, 23.67; 3, Burkey, FH, 23.86; 4, Koval, BM, 24.04; 5, Reed, BM, 24.23; 6 (tie), Mayer, S, and Simon, J, 24.29; 8, Sabo, 24.69.
400 dash: 1, Evans, BD, 51.48; 2, Popovnak, R, 52.42; 3, Mayer, S, 52.46; 4, Koval, BM, 52.58; 5, Snedden, CH, 53.86; 6, Walker, J, 54.47; 7, Stroup, BD, 54.58; 8, Ter-Horst, J, 54.80.
800 run: 1, Colvin, R, 2:04.33; 2, Stroup, BD, 2:05.04; 3, Long, CC, 2:06.22; 4, Gibson, S, 2:06.31; 5, Fedore, CC, 2:09.32; 6, Snedden, CH, 2:10.37; 7, Troll, S, 2:12.17; 8, Popovnak, R, 2:13.88.
1600 run: 1, Dailey, WH, 4:38.81; 2, Barber, CC, 4:39.21; 3, Kutruff, CH, 4:46.67; 4, Dimond, FH, 4:53.37; 5, Eckroth, R, 4:54.36; 6, Walsh, WH, 4:54.91; 7, Marx, R, 5:01.26; 8, Eckenrod, BM, 5:01.79.
3200 run: 1, Dailey, WH, 10:30.12; 2, Marx, R, 10:35.58; 3, Barber, CC, 10:38.97; 4, Fapore, S, 10:40.48; 5, Dimond, FH, 10:46.81; 6, Barfield, J, 10:51.00; 7, Eckroth, R, 10:51.11; 8, Desai, S, 10:51.11.
110 hurdles: 1, Pride, CC, 15.38; 2, Hanley, R, 15.96; 3, Lewis, PC, 16.31; 4, Wakefield, BD, 16.47; 5, Arnold, BD, 16.83; 6, Holsinger, CC, 16.85; 7, Brown, CH, 16.87; 8, Snedden, FH, 16.88.
300 hurdles: 1, Hanley, R, 40.91; 2, Wakefield, BD, 42.10; 3, Pride, CC, 43.36; 4, Dell, FH, 43.58; 5, Luciew, R, 43.64; 6, Lieb, CH, 44.14; 7, Lewis, PC, 44.52; 8, Brown, CH, 44.57.
400 relay: 1, Richland (Hanley, J. Rizzo, M. Rizzo, Flick), 45.33; 2, Bedford, 45.81; 3, Central Cambria, 46.10; 4, Somerset, 46.26; 5, Johnstown, 46.52; 6, Forest Hills, 46.57; 7, Bishop Guilfoyel, 47.15; 8, Bishop McCort, 47.15.
1600 relay: 1, Somerset (Law, Gibson, Meyer, Mayer), 3:32.15; 2, Richland, 3:33.38; 3, Bedford, 3:34.15; 4, Central Cambria, 3:39.35; 5, Bishop McCort, 3:41.86; 6, Johnstown, 3:51.52; 7, Cambria Heights, 3:53.03; 8, Bishop Guilfoyle, 3:54.99.
3200 relay: 1, Central Cambria (Barber, Fedore, Hite, Long), 8:30.05; 2, Bedford, 8:38.31; 3, Richland, 8:43.13; 4, Somerset, 8:55.73; 5, Cambria Heights, 9:00.88; 6, Johnstown, 9:08.71; 7, Penn Cambria, 9:28.64; 8, Bishop McCort, 9:32.22.
High jump: 1, Civis, R, 6-2; 2, Mardula, PC, 6-2; 3, D. Hess, BD, 5-10; 4, Lacue, CH, 5-8; 5, Prohonic, CH, 5-8; 6, Donoughe, FH, 5-6; 7, Law, S, 5-6; 8, Shaffer, R, 5-6.
Long jump: 1, Prohonic, CH, 20-1; 2, Reed, BM, 19-9; 3, Burgo, BM, 19-0; 4, Long, CC, 18-11.5; 5, Georgevich, WH, 18-10.5; 6, Donoughe, FH, 18-6; 7, Braxton, J, 18-2; 8, Shertzer, R, 17-11.
Triple jump: 1, Prohonic, CH, 42-0; 2, Snedden, FH, 40-8; 3, Vliet, WH, 40-1; 4, Donoughe, FH, 39-6; 5, Burgo, BM, 39-1; 6, Somiari, R, 38-9.5; 7, Tsikalas, PC, 38-6; 8, Delerme, PC, 38-1.
Shot put: 1, Seymour, CC, 46-1; 2, Rugg, BM, 42-9.5; 3,Buck, S, 41-10; 4, Kinley, CC, 41-0; 5, Hegemann, BC, 40-8.5; 6, Ceschini, BG, 39-9; 7, Krupa, BD, 39-5.5; 8, Wysocki, FH, 38-10.
Discus: 1, Buck, S, 128-1; 2, Davis, BD, 123-1; 3, Zearing, CC, 117-1; 4, Sokira, CC, 115-6; 5, Ceschini, BG, 112-1; 6, Wirick, BD, 111-11; 7, Lewis, PC, 103-1; 8, Weaver, FH, 102-8.
Javelin: 1, Hegemann, BC, 154-10; 2, DeMoss, BD, 154-6; 3, Speicher, R, 152-10; 4, Stiffler, PC, 147-1; 5, Brett, BD, 145-10; 6, Buck, S, 135-4; 7, Wysocki, FH, 131-6; 8, Woloschuk, BM, 130-10.
Pole vault: 1, Hemminger, S, 13-0; 2, Mikulsky, R, 12-6; 3, Bottenfield, BD, 11-6; 4, Heider, WH, 11-0; 5, Menser, S, 10-6; 6, Kozorosky, CC, 10-6; 7, McBreen, CC, 10-0; 8, Barron, WH, 10-0.
GIRLS
KEY, TEAM SCORING: 1, FH-Forest Hills, 162; 2, CC-Central Cambria, 88; 3, BD-Bedford, 78; 4, WH-Westmont Hilltop, 76; 5, R-Richland, 75; 6, S-Somerset, 74; 7, J-Johnstown, 48; 8, BM-Bishop McCort, 36; 9, CH-Cambria Heights, 24; 10, BG-Bishop Guilfoyle, 10; 11, BC-Bishop Carroll, 8; 12, PC-Penn Cambria, 5.
100 dash: 1, Smother, J, 13.21; 2, Smith, J, 13.28; 3, Coyle, S, 13.35; 4, Bealonis, WH, 13.43; 5, Schrift, FH, 13.44; 6, Petney, PC, 13.49; 7, Hunt, CC, 13.68; 8, Gould, FH, 13.69.
200 dash: 1, Schrift, FH, 27.02; 2, McKee, S, 27.08; 3, Bealonis, WH, 27.55; 4, Corson, FH, 27.90; 5, King-Brothers, CC, 28.17; 6, Hunt, CC, 28.34; 7, May, BD, 28.38; 8, Hershberger, R, 28.43.
400 dash: 1, Heckman, S, 1:01.36; 2, King-Brothers, CC, 1:02.09; 3, Helsel, BM, 1:02.41; 4, B. Kostan, FH, 1:03.49; 5, Smith, J, 1:03.50; 6, Baker, BD, 1:03.86; 7, Maestri, BM, 1:04.18; 8, Elkin, CC, 1:04.58.
800 run: 1, Gallaher, FH, 2:24.81; 2, Baker, BD, 2:27.13; 3, Heckman, S, 2:27.96; 4, Chizmar, FH, 2:30.79; 5, Bodenschatz, R, 2:33.85; 6, Elkin, CC, 2:34.21; 7, Chobany, J, 2:42.25; 8, Diehl, BD, 2:39.25.
1600 run: 1, Brandis, CC, 5:26.48; 2, Glennon, WH, 5:32.92; 3, Hayward, CC, 5:33.18; 4, Simendinger, PC, 5:35.08; 5, Dorian, WH, 5:36.67; 6, Snyder, S, 5:38.81; 7, Phillips, BM, 5:52.21; 8, Schrock, S, 6:00.09.
3200 run: 1, Brandis, CC, 12:00.49; 2, Glennon, WH, 12:20.44; 3, Erb, FH, 12:27.09; 4, Simendinger, PC, 12:41.99; 5, Dorian, WH, 12:47.20; 6, Schrock, S, 12:55.86; 7, Rogers, J, 12:58.83; 8, Phillips, WH, 13:18.17.
100 hurdles: 1, Lumley, R, 15.39; 2, Niovich, FH, 16.53; 3, Warshel, R, 17.28; 4, Novotny, FH, 17.44; 5, O'Reilly, BM, 17.64; 6, Rievel, WH, 17.66; 7, Burtnett, BD, 18.36; 8, Minemyer, J, 18.45.
300 hurdles: 1, Lumley, R, 46.43 (new meet record); 2, D'Andrea, BC, 48.39; 3, Diflauro, FH, 49.37; 4, Rievel, WH, 50.48; 5, Warshel, R, 51.16; 6, Hagens, CC, 51.33; 7, Downey, BM, 51.91; 8, Novotny, FH, 52.04.
400 relay: 1, Forest Hills (Smay, Bard, Schrift, Gould), 51.21; 2, Richland 52.28; 3, Westmont Hilltop, 52.30; 4, Bedford, 53.77; 5, Bishop McCort, 54.34; 6, Central Cambria, 54.73; 7, Bishop Guilfoyle, 55.82.
1600 relay: 1, Forest Hills (B. Kostan, Gould, Gallaher, Bard), 4:12.14; 2, Central Cambria, 4:19.19; 3, Bedofrd, 4:21.75; 4, Richland, 4:22.82; 5, Somerset, 4:27.58; 6, Bishop McCort, 4:29.60; 7, Cambria Heights, 4:36.06; 8, Johnstown, 5:16.63.
3200 relay: 1, Forest Hills (B. Kostan, Chizmar, Erb, Gallaher), 9:45.87; 2, Central Cambria, 9:48.84; 3, Penn Cambria, 10:47.60; 4, Bedford, 10:57.70; 5, Cambria Heights, 11:10.20; 6, Johnstown, 11:26.44.
High jump: 1, Deitle, FH, 5-0; 2, Meck, BG, 5-0; 3, Stollar,J, 4-10; 4, Grimes, BD, 4-10; 5, Beyer, FH, 4-10; 6, Illig, CH, 4-10; 7, Helmick, WH, 4-8; 8, Fisher, WH, 4-8.
Long jump: 1, Coyle, S, 17-3.75; 2, King-Brothers, CC, 16-4; 3, Smay, FH, 16-0.74; 4, McKeel, CC, 15-5; 5, C. Smith, FH, 15-1.5; 6, Lippincott, BD, 15-0.5; 7, McKee, S, 14-4.75; 8, Melendez, BM, 14-4.
Triple jump: 1, Lumley, R, 38-4 (new meet record); 2, Coyle, S, 37-0.75; 3, Smay, FH, 34-6; 4, Lippincott, BD, 32-10.75; 5, McClemens, S, 32-8; 6, C. Smith, FH, 32-7; 7, Warshel, R, 32-4; 8, McKell, CC, 31-10.5.
Shot put: 1, McConnell, CH, 29-9.5; 2, Wilson, J, 29-8; 3, Foster, WH, 28-11; 4, Lippincott, BD, 28-8.5; 5, Lane, CH, 28-7.5; 6, Pecora, R, 28-5; 7, Lingsch, BD, 28-4; 8, Swanson, FH, 27-5.
Discus: 1, Pecora, R, 98-2; 2, 2, Foster, WH, 85-7; 3, Lingsch, BD, 82-1; 4, Boring, CH, 81-11.5; 5, Long, FH, 78-4; 6, M. Kostan, FH, 76-10; 7, Simenick, R, 76-5; 8, Brumbaugh, CC, 75-10.5.
Javelin: 1, Beegle, BD, 106-3; 2, Zubek, FH, 97-1; 3, Barron, S, 91-3.5; 4, J. Smith, FH, 91-3; 5, Shaffer, S, 91-2; 6, Lu, BM, 90-10; 7, Wasser, CC, 90-1; 8, Dautlick, CH, 82-10.5.
Pole vault: 1, Connors, WH, 10-7; 2, Baker, BD, 8-6; 3, Boyd, FH, 8-6; 4, Morris, FH, 8-0; 5, Fetter, BD, 8-0; 6, Minemyer, J, 8-0; 7, Mackanick, CC, 7-0; 8, Wasser, CC, 7-0.
