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CC’s Brandis adds to her list of accomplishments

SOMERSET – Alyssa Brandis has had a great track and field career at Central Cambria.

Bedford’s Zane Baker and Will Kachman are off to starts that seem to have them following a similar path.

Brandis closed out her Laurel Highlands running career with her best conference meet ever, winning two individual events and anchoring a winning relay on a rainy Tuesday at Somerset Area High School Athletic Field.

Meanwhile, on the boys side, Baker won an individual events and was part of two first-place relays, and Kachman won a race and also took part in a winning relay to lead the Bisons to the team title.

“I’m sick right now, so my goal was just to try my best and get first. I wasn’t trying to PR. I have a really bad cough, and it was really getting to me in my breathing,” Brandis said. “I just told myself, the sooner I get done, the sooner I can feel better.”

“It feels really good. I can’t describe it. I’m going to miss [this meet] next year.”

Brandis completed the mile in 5 minutes, 29.57 seconds. Teammate Jordan Hayward was next at 5:35.88. Only one other competitor was within 10 seconds of Brandis.

The Seton Hill-bound Lady Red Devil distance standout then took the lead early in the two-mile run and cruised in with a time of 12:04.51. Penn Cambria’s Arlee Simendinger placed second at 12:21.20.

Brandis’ day started off well. In the first running event of the day, she anchored the winning four-by-800 relay that also included Jackie Bracken, Jordan Hayward and Sam Elkin. The Lady Devils lapped about half of the field and finished in 9:45.93, only about 3 seconds off a meet record pace.

Brandis said it was a good way to build momentum for next week’s District 6 Class AA meet.

“I think I did decent. I didn’t do really bad, but I didn’t PR. I feel really good, actually,” Brandis said.

Brandis only has been running distance for six years. She took it up when her family moved from the suburbs of Chicago when she was in seventh grade and the Seymour sisters were at their height at Central Cambria, winning high medals at states every year.

“I saw how good Randy [Wilson] was coaching all of them. I wanted to be a part of that,” Brandis said.

Elkin also posted an individual victory. She turned in a 2:26.08 in the 800. Second went to Hannah Dorian of Westmont Hilltop, 41-hundredths of a second off Elkin’s pace. Central Cambria finished second with 121 team points, 24 behind Forest Hills.

Only two other area girls took first place. The conditions did little to affect Penn Cambria sprinter Carly Petney. Petney won the 100 dash by almost three-tenths of a second and was less than two-tenths off her seeded time, running a 12.71.

Meanwhile, top-seeded Carrie Baker of Bedford won the pole vault, clearing 9-6.

Forest Hills’ Marlee Zubek was a double winner. She took first in both the javelin and the discus.

The Bedford boys scored 135 team points, and a big reason was a pair of talented freshmen who just seem to be getting better and better, Zane Baker – Carrie Baker’s younger brother – and Kachman.

Baker, the No. 1 seed, won the 400 dash, clocking at 52.42. Proven Richland senior Bobby Colvin was second; he ran 53.92.

Baker seemed unfazed by the early success.

“Coming in as a freshman, I just wanted to put down wherever they put me. I didn’t really know what I was going to do. I didn’t really have expectations,” said Baker, an 800-run and relay specialist in junior high. “I try not to think about [individual success]. They tell me to go run, and that’s my goal. My dad always told me, ‘You’re only good as your last job.’ You have to continually do something good, or try to do as good as you can. What I’ve progressed to, I try not to let that get in my mind.”

Baker finished the night by running the final leg in the four-by-400, as Bedford posted a 3:37.80 to win easily. Steven Stroup, Nicholas Wendt and Blake Baer ran the first three quarters of the race.

Kachman was inserted into the second leg of the Bisons 3200 relay, and Bedford overcame top seed Richland to win with a time of 8:28.96. Alex Kendall started off, and Baker and Stroup ran the last mile.

Kachman finished first in the two-mile run, too, his 10:17.32 almost 20 seconds faster than anyone else.

“They’ve really matured as the year’s gone on,” Bedford coach Brian Creps said of his young standouts. “We knew that they had a lot of potential, but we had to let them grow and figure some things out. As the year’s gone on, they have.”

Stroup, one of two seniors on Bedford’s team, earned his own individual medal, placing first in the 800 with a time of 2:03.54. That was 1.44 seconds ahead of Colvin.

Bedford’s Cody DeMoss continued his strong run in the javelin. In the wet conditions, DeMoss came nowhere near his typical results for the season, but his best throw of 155-9 still was 23 feet beyond anyone else’s.

The Bisons’ Jacob Wirick and Josiah Koontz finished one-two in the discus. Wirick threw 131-5. Koontz’s best result was 124-5.

Penn Cambria’s James Mardula beat out a solid field for the top medal in the triple jump. Seeded second to Forest Hills’ Joseph Donoughe coming in, Mardula was at the top of five competitors to surpass the 40-foot mark when it was all said and done, going 42-8.

Mardula knocked off another top seed by overcoming Cambria Heights’ Shawn Lacue in the long jump. Seeded second, Mardula registered a 19-7, just 6 inches off his season-best. Lacue took second, jumping 18-5.

“It feels good to get a couple of wins under the conditions we were under,” Mardula said. “I just tried to stay warm and stretch out. I haven’t had to compete under those kind of conditions much before. I just stepped up.”

Lacue got his revenge in the high jump, where he won and Mardula placed second. Lacue’s winning height was 6-2.

Cambria Heights’ Drew Brown came from the fifth seed to win the 110 hurdles. Brown finished in 16.02, three hundredths of a second ahead of Bishop Guilfoyle’s E.J. Madey.

Central Cambria had one individual winner on the boys side, thrower Will Seymour. Seymour tossed the shot 46-5. That was a half-inch farther than Linnie Joy of Richland.

Bishop Carroll mixed up its order in the 400 relay, and the move paid off. Owning the sixth-best seeded time entering the meet, the Husky team of Jesse Switzer, Brody Shutty, Dan Lesney and Matt Karlheim ran almost a full second better, crossing in 45.07. Second-place Forest Hills had a 45.89.

Forest Hills’ Quinn DiFlauro won the 100 and 200 dashes.

BOYS

KEY, TEAM SCORING: 1, BD-Bedford, 135; 2, R-Richland, 117; 3, FH-Forest Hills, 90; 4, CC-Central Cambria, 74; 5, BC-Bishop Carroll, 55; 6, CH-Cambria Heights, 47; 7, S-Somerset, 44; 8, PC-Penn Cambria and WH-Westmont Hilltop, 37; 10, BG-Bishop Guilfoyle, 34; 11, J-Johnstown, 27; 12, BM-Bishop McCort, 4.

100 dash: 1, DiFlauro, FH, 11.56; 2, Karlheim, BC, 11.59; 3, Sabo, WH, 11.79; 4, Sarver, S, 11.79; 5, Flick, R, 11.80; 6, Gibson, J, 11.93; 7, Friant, BD, 11.99; 8, Deblase, S, 12.04.

200 dash: 1, DiFlauro, FH, 23.39; 2, Shutty, BC, 32.46; 3, Karlheim, BC, 23.82; 4, Flick, R, 23.85; 5, Madey, BG, 24.00; 6, Smith, FH, 24.17; 7, Close, S, 24.28; 8, Cook, BD, 24.32.

400 dash: 1, Baker, BD, 52.42; 2, Colvin, R, 53.92; 3, Law, S, 53.92; 4, McClintock, FH, 54.87; 5, Abraham, J, 55.48; 6, Eriksson, BG, 55.66; 7, Logue, BG, 55.81; 8, Wendt, BD, 56.13.

800 run: 1, Stroup, BD, 2:03.54; 2, Colvin, BD, 2:04.98; 3, Long, CC, 2:08.27; 4, Chiappini, CC, 2:13.32; 5, A. Kendall, BD, 2:15.34; 6, Barfield, J, 2:16.91; 7, Troll, S, 2:17.36; 8, Lowstetter, FH, 2:18.81.

1600 run: 1, Dailey, WH, 4:46.04; 2, Kachman, BD, 4:51.31; 3, Dimond, FH, 4:58.24; 4, Eckroth, R, 4:58.96; 5, Jeffers, CC, 5:02.02; 6, Williams, BD, 5:02.64; 7, Johnson, S, 5:05.08; 8, Sutton, PC, 5:05.33.

3200 run: 1, Kachman, BD, 10:17.32; 2, Descavich, CC, 10:36.51; 3, Eckroth, R, 10:40.20; 4, Marx, R, 10:45.20; 5, Karns, BD, 11:00.20; 6, Ickes, S, 11:14.57; 7, Huffman, BM, 11:15.40; 8, Hogue, BC, 11:37.87.

110 hurdles: 1, Brown, CH, 16.02; 2, Madey, FH, 16.05; 3, Holsinger, CC, 16.25; 4, Arnold, BD, 16.36; 5, Snedden, FH, 16.47; 6, Luciew, R, 16.58; 7, Piner, FH, 17.55; 8, Smith, BC, 17.65.

300 hurdles: 1, Luciew, R, 43.60; 2, Lieb, CH, 43.92; 3, Warshel, R, 44.34; 4, Piner, FH, 45.56; 5, Ohler, FH, 45.90; 6, Arnold, BD, 46.22; 7, Marhefka, CC, 47.33; 8, Spencer, BM, 47.51.

400 relay: 1, Bishop Carroll (Switzer, Shutty, Lesney, Karlheim), 45.07; 2, Forest Hills, 45.89; 3, Westmont Hilltop, 45.92; 4, Richland, 46.70; 5, Bedford, 46.77; 6, Bishop Guilfoyle, 47.00; 7, Somerset, 47.06; 8, Johnstown, 47.66.

1600 relay: 1, Bedford (Stroup, Wendt, Baer, Baker), 3:37.80; 2, Central Cambria, 3:43.79; 3, Somerset, 3:46.09; 4, Richland, 3:48.36; 5, Bishop Carroll, 3:51.24; 6, Johnstown, 3:55.25; 7, Bishop Guilfoyle, 3:56.53; 8, Bishop McCort, 4:05.00.

3200 relay: 1, Bedford (Kendall, Kachman, Baker, Stroup), 8:28.96; 2, Richland, 8:41.83; 3, Central Cambria, 8:46.54; 4, Somerset, 9:13.30; 5, Johnstown, 9:20.57; 6, Bishop Guilfoyle, 9:21.87; 7, Bishop Carroll, 9:23.18; 8, Forest Hills, 9:27.52.

High jump: 1, Lacue, CH, 6-2; Mardula, PC, 6-0; 3, Lee, BC, 5-10; 4, Civis, R, 5-8; 5, Stroup, BD, 5-8; 6 (tie), Mayo, J, Switzer, BC, and Tsikalas, PC, 5-6.

Long jump: 1, Mardula, PC, 19-7; 2, Lacue, CH, 18-5; 3, Shertzer, R, 18-3; 4, Donoughe, FH, 18-3; 5, Sabo, WH, 18-3; 6, Gresko, BC, 18-2; 7, Long, CC, 18-0; 8, Jones, J, 17-8.

Triple jump: 1, Mardula, PC, 42-8; 2, Donoughe, FH, 41-9; 3, Tsikalas, PC, 40-10; 4, Somiari, R, 40-6; 5, Lacue, CH, 40-5; 6, Snedden, FH, 39-2; 7, Gresko, BC, 39-1; 8 (tie), Dick, S, and Li, R, 37-7.

Shot put: 1, Seymour, CC, 46-5; 2, Joy, R, 46-5; 3, Wysocki, FH, 42-5; 4, Ceschini, BG, 42-0; 5, Koontz, BD, 41-1; 6, Dell, FH, 40-1; 7, McConnell, CH, 39-10; 8, Wirick, BD, 39-8.

Discus: 1, Wirick, BD, 131-5; 2, Koontz, BD, 124-5; 3, Jeffers, J, 120-4; 4, Dill, CC, 119-6; 5, Ceschini, BG, 113-10; 6, Hoover, R, 112-1; 7, Lee, BC, 111-10; 8, Yonko, WH, 108-10.

Javelin: 1, DeMoss, BD, 155-9; 2, Hoover, R, 132-6; 3, Myers, CC, 130-6; 4, Irwin, CH, 129-9; 5, Z. Kendall, BD, 129-3; 6, Wysocki, FH, 128-10; 7, Shugars, FH, 128-7; 8, Schrengost, CC, 128-3.

Pole vault: 1, Barron, WH, 12-0; 2, Menser, S, 11-6; 3, Bottenfield, BD, 11-6; 4, Kozorosky, CC, 11-0; 5, Mikulsky, R, 10-6; 6, Clapper, BD, 10-6; 7, Ickes, S, 10-0; 8, Gould, FH, 10-0.

GIRLS

KEY, TEAM SCORING: 1, FH-Forest Hills, 145; 2, CC-Central Cambria, 121; 3, S-Somerset, 85; 4, BM-Bishop McCort, 81; 5, WH-Westmont Hilltop, 62; 6, R-Richland, 58; 7, BD-Bedford, 50; 8, PC-Penn Cambria, 36; 9, J-Johnstown, 36; 10, CH-Cambria Heights, 21; 11, BG-Bishop Guilfoyle, 9; 12, BC-Bishop Carroll, 8.

100 dash: 1, Petney, PC, 12.71; 2, Miller, BM, 12.98; 3, Schrift, 13.32; 4, Sheehan, WH, 13.43; 5, Smay, FH, 13.46; 6, Hunt, CC, 13.49; 7, McKee, S, 13.56; 8, Betts, J, 13.60.

200 dash: 1, Schrift, FH, 26.47; 2, Miller, BM, 27.34; 3, McKee, S, 27.46; 4, Hunt, CC, 27.64; 5, Helsel, BM, 27.85; 6, Griffith, S, 28.54; 7, Johnson, J, 28.74; 8, Corson, FH, 28.76.

400 dash: 1, Helsel, BM, 1:02.92; 2, King-Brothers, CC, 1:03.47; 3, Heckman, S, 1:04.89; 4, Johnson, J, 1:05.46; 5, Rozich, R, 1:06.02; 6, K. Bracken, CC, 1:06.48; 7, Kaseler, WH, 1:06.90; 8, Rogish, BD, 1:09.25.

800 run: 1, Elkin, CC, 2:26.08; 2, Dorian, WH, 2:26.49; 3, Baker, BD, 2:34.92; 4, Chizmar, FH, 2:35.66; 5, Chobany, J, 2:36.94; 6, Marteeney, S, 2:37.71; 7, Diehl, BD, 2:40.71; 8, J. Bracken, CC, 2:45.39.

1600 run: 1, Brandis, CC, 5:29.57; 2, Hayward, CC, 5:33.88; 3, Simendinger, PC, 5:39.28; 4, Rohrer, S, 5:43.89; 5, Glennon, WH, 5:51.33; 6, Winfield, BM, 5:52.15; 7, Slobodnik, BG, 5:54.78; 8, Phillips, BM, 6:00.35.

3200 run: 1, Brandis, CC, 12:04.51; 2, Simendinger, PC, 12:21.20; 3, Erb, FH, 12:21.89; 4, Glennon, WH, 12:28.93; 5, Swope, CC, 12:42.06; 6, Slobodnik, BG, 12:51.79; 7, Winfield, BM, 12:57.78; 8, Rogers, J, 13:03.61.

100 hurdles: 1, Warshel, R, 16.33; 2, Novotny, FH, 16.67; 3, Yuhas, FH, 16.67; 4, Papuga, CC, 17.22; 5, Downey, BM, 17.50; 6, O’Reilly, BM, 17.77; 7, Devore, R, 18.21; 8, McCall, BG, 18.22.

300 hurdles: 1, O’Reilly, BM, 49.32; 2, Kline, FH, 49.88; 3, D’Andrea, BC, 49.88; 4, Novotny, FH, 50.55; 5, Fisher, WH, 52.26; 6, Davidson, CC, 52.32; 7, Downey, BM, 52.79; 8, Zolnosky, WH, 53.52.

400 relay: 1, Forest Hills (Smay, Walls, Schrift, Corson), 52.98; 2, Bishop McCort, 53.23; 3, Somerset, 53.80; 4, Westmont Hilltop , 54.30; 5, Richland, 54.58; 6, Bishop Guilfoyle, 54.76; 7, Bishop Carroll, 55.19; 8, Bedford, 55.35.

1600 relay: 1, Forest Hills (Kostan, Chizmar, Schrift, C. Smith), 4:17.90; 2, Central Cambria, 4:19.61; 3, Bishop McCort, 4:23.65; 4, Bedford, 4:32.83; 5, Somerset, 4:36.28; 6, Richland, 4:42.22; 7, Johnstown, 4:43.42; 8, Westmont Hilltop, 4:47.85.

3200 relay: 1, Central Cambria (J. Bracken, Hayward, Elkin, Brandis), 9:45.93; 2, Forest Hills, 10:15.60; 3, Bedford, 10:25.83; 4, Somerset, 10:51.70; 5, Bishop McCort, 11:06.18; 6, Johnstown, 11:06.18; 7, Westmont Hilltop, 11:37.71; 8, Penn Cambria, 11:37.79.

High jump: 1, Coyle, S, 4-10; 2 (tie), K. Bracken, CC, and Myers, PC, 4-8; 4 (tie), Helmick, WH, and Illig, CH, 4-6; 6 (tie), Grimes, BD, Kline, FH, and Rogish, BD, 4-4.

Long jump: 1, Coyle, S, 16-3; 2, Smay, FH, 15-0; 3, King-Brothers, CC, 14-5; 4, McClemins, S, 14-4; 5, Melendez, BM, 14-2; 6, Petney, PC, 13-10; 7, Rodgers, WH, 13-5; Sheelan, WH, 13-5.

Triple jump: 1, Coyle, S, 35-9; 2, Smay, FH, 33-5; 3, Yuhas, FH, 32-4; 4, Illig, CH, 31-11; 5, Melendez, BM, 31-10; 6, Hildebrand, CC, 30-11; 7, McKeel, CC, 30-8; 8, Myers, PC, 29-11.

Shot put: 1, Pridgen, R, 32-0; 2, K. Bracken, CC, 31-5; 3, Foster, WH, 30-10; 4, Lippencott, BD, 30-10; 5, Swanson, FH, 30-3; 6, Lane, CH, 29-2; 7, Mitchell, S, 29-0; 8, Brumbaugh, CC, 27-11.

Discus: 1, Zubek, FH, 96-7; 2, Rizzo, R, 89-9; 3, Foster, WH, 88-6; 4, Lippencott, BD, 85-0; 5, Long, FH, 84-4; 6, Mitchell, S, 82-1; 7, Rhodes, S, 78-9; 8, Boring, CH, 77-9.

Javelin: 1, Zubek, FH, 111-2; 2, Cunningham, CH, 98-4; 3, Smith, FH, 93-6; 4, Rohde,R, 88-10; 5, Lyons, CC, 87-6; 6, Bortz, WH, 86-3; 7, Hildenbrand, CC, 86-1; 8, Meyers, BD, 83-7.

Pole vault: 1, Baker, BD, 9-6; 2, Feather, R, 9-0; 3, Minemyer, J, 7-6; 4 (tie), Lazorka, BD, and Miller, R, 7-0; 6 (tie), Albertelli, WH, and Luteri, S, 6-6; 8, Keim, S, 6-6.

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