Versatile Dillow helps CR to title
LOYSBURG — Chestnut Ridge senior Noah Dillow is keeping himself pretty busy this spring.
Dillow, an all-stater in both football and basketball, has been juggling baseball with track and field the last few months. On Wednesday, while competing at the District 5 Class 2A Track and Field Championships, he listened to music to try and relax during his chaotic schedule.
“I scratched on my first two jumps (in the long jump) before I hit the board,” Dillow said. “I don’t usually (listen to music), but I did today to help get me focused. I listen to whatever I have on — the top hits.”
Dillow was a big hit in the meet, winning the long jump and triple jump and helping Ridge claim the boys team title at Northern Bedford County High School’s Panther Community Stadium. It wasn’t that bad of a meet for someone who just played a few baseball games this week while others were trying to perfect their track specialties.
“It’s been a super busy year,” Dillow said. “We had a doubleheader in baseball (Tuesday) and had a game on Monday, too, and we have another doubleheader (today). I’ve been really busy, and my legs haven’t felt 100 percent yet. But I’m hoping with (the state meet) coming, the baseball games will be dying down.”
Dillow was joined as an individual champion by teammates Duane Knisely, a junior, in the shot put and discus, senior Scotty Miller in the pole vault and freshman Logan Pfister in the high jump. Other individual champions from the Mirror coverage area were Tussey Mountain junior Evan Germaux in the 100-meter dash and 200 dash, Tussey junior Cole Weist in the javelin, Everett junior Nathaniel Maxwell in the 400 dash and Northern Bedford freshman Ian Zimmerman in the 1600 run.
In addition, Germaux anchored the Tussey four-by-100 relay to a first-place finish. Winners in each event advanced to the state meet March 24-25 at Shippensburg University.
Dillow won the triple jump with a leap of 42 feet, 3.5 inches, a personal best. He won the long jump for the second straight year with a 20-9. He beat out teammates Ian Anderson and Levi Snyder to win both events.
“I was hoping for first in both,” Dillow said. “I knew I had a good jump in the triple, but the long was a little less than what I wanted. Everybody was getting close and (setting personal records). I knew I had to jump my best if I was going to finish first.”
Knisely also edged out a couple of teammates in his events. He threw 159-10 to win the discus over Levi Hobson and 46-5 to win the shot over Kaleb Milburn. He’s looking forward to his first time at the state meet.
“I’m gong to lay off the lifting a little longer,” Knisely said. “I was a little sore today, so I want to get better prepared to go down there (to Shippensburg) and throw.”
Miller won the pole vault by clearing 12 feet. He was one of three to reach that height but won on less misses. Pfister didn’t have to worry about that in the high jump — he was the only one who cleared 6-2.
“I was hoping to win, but there was some great talent here today,” Pfister said. “I jumped 6-2, and I didn’t think that would be good enough.”
Pfister’s teammate, senior Phillip Dull, was one of the talented jumpers in the field. But Dull, who’s been juggling baseball and track, like Dillow, went out at 6 feet.
“It helped having (Dull) to compete against all year,” Pfister said. “He’s a great athlete. I felt bad for him because it was his senior year, but he has a scholarship (at West Virginia University) for baseball.”
Ridge won the team title rather comfortably, but Tussey finished in second place, mainly because of Germaux.
Despite cutting his arm after falling at the end of the 100 dash trials, Germaux came back to beat a couple of Bedford runners. He edged out Andrew Foor in the 100 with a time of 11.37 and beat Mitchell Zembower in the 200 with a time of 23.23 while also winning the 400 relay.
“Three in the bag,” Germaux said. “This was my year to shine. The offseason training was good, and it got me to where I needed to be.”
Germaux ran at states last year but didn’t medal. He is hoping to place in the 200 this year.
“I feel great,” he said. “Being there last year is going to help this year – it will give me a lot of confidence. I won’t be as nervous.”
Germaux teamed with sophomore Tyler Rhodes, senior Zach Sumner and sophomore Jarred Sipes to win the 400 relay in 44.34, edging Ridge by 0.34 seconds.
“We felt some pressure from Chestnut Ridge,” Sumner said. “We concentrated on better handoffs. We knew if we could just get it to (Germaux with a lead), we’d be fine.”
Tussey’s Weist was somewhat of a surprise because he was seeded fourth in the javelin. But after throwing 153 feet in the Inter-County Conference meet, he followed that with a 172-1 to win by more than 30 feet. He threw the winning javelin on his first attempt.
“I’ve gotten strong support from my family and friends,” Weist said. “I knew if I let one rip, I could very well win.”
Maxwell won the 400 with a time of 51.85, edging out Bedford’s Zembower.
“I’ve run 51 and wanted to stay in 51 and maybe break 51,” Maxwell said. “I didn’t know what to expect – it was going to be a matter of who was the fastest today.”
Maxwell tried to complete a double-victory performance but was edged out by Windber’s Kobe Charney in the 800 run by 0.12 seconds.
“I was tired,” Maxwell said. “There were fewer heats between the (400 and 800), so I was not as fresh. I wanted it to be a good race, and (Charney) got me there at the end.”
Zimmerman didn’t have to worry about being caught at the end. He opened up a 100-meter lead in the 1600 and never was really threatened, winning with a 4:34.16.
“I look at the mile as four laps with the two in the middle being the hardest,” Zimmerman said. “I was scared to death (of Berlin Brothersvalley’s Silas Eckenroad). I had dropped 5 seconds recently, so I knew anything was possible. I got out to a lead and just imagined someone was out in front of me.”
Key, team standings: 1, CR–Chestnut Ridge 144; 2, TM–Tussey Mountain 85; 3, W–Windber 76; 4, Bd–Bedford 68; 5, CT–Conemaugh Township 39; 6, BB–Berlin Brothersvalley 30; 7, E–Everett 27; 8, MC–McConnellsburg 25; 9, NB–Northern Bedford 23; 10, SF–Southern Fulton 21; 11, ME–Meyersdale 11; 12, SH–Shade 8.
100 dash: 1, Germaux, TM, 11.37; 2, Foor, Bd, 11.56; 3, Sipes, TM, 11.57; 4, Rhodes, TM, 11.74; 5, Ebersole, NB, 11.92; 6, Billy, ME, 12.15.
200 dash: 1, Germaux, TM, 23.23; 2, Zembower, Bd, 23.47; 3, Rhodes, TM, 23.85; 4, Sipes, TM, 24.07; 5, Christofes, CT, 24.69; 6, Kalp, BB, 24.90.
400 dash: 1, Maxwell, E, 51.85; 2, Zembower, Bd, 52.06; 3, Sumner, TM, 52.50; 4, Spade, SF, 53.42; 5, Belcher, BB, 54.94; 6, Felix, CR, 55.39.
800 run: 1, Charney, W, 2:04.14; 2, Maxwell, E, 2:04.26; 3, Williams, CT, 2:09.15; 4, Little, CR, 2:10.66; 5, Roxby, W, 2:11.08; 6, Zimmerman, NB, 2:11.20.
1600 run: 1, Zimmerman, NB, 4:34.16; 2, Eckenroad, BB, 4:46.03; 3, Williams, CT, 4:48.01; 4, Elder, SF, 4:48.52; 5, Napora, W, 4:51.14; 6, Voight, SF, 4:54.49.
3200 run: 1, Eckenroad, BB, 10:14.00; 2, Sherlock, NB, 10:26.37; 3, Napora, W, 10:33.23; 4, Cornell, E, 10:46.81; 5, Voight, SF, 10:48.32; 6, Laird, NB, 10:52.76.
110 hurdles: 1, J. Vasas, W, 15.11; 2, Connor, BB, 15.66; 3, Sigler, ME, 16.13; 4, Crocker, CR, 16.62; 5, N. Vasas, W, 17.75.
300 hurdles: 1, Booth, MC, 39.07; 2, J. Vasas, W, 40.12; 3, Crocker, CR, 41.20; 4, N. Vasas, W, 43.45; 5, Meyers, CT, 43.86; 6, Koontz, Bd, 44.69.
400 relay: 1, Tussey Mountain (Rhodes, Sumner, Sipes, Germaux), 44.34; 2, Chestnut Ridge, 44.68; 3, Bedford, 45.23; 4, Shade, 46.70; 5, McConnellsburg, 46.98; 6, Northern Bedford, 47.12.
1600 relay: 1, Windber (Roxby, Layton, Charney, Tomaselli), 3:36.75; 2, Bedford, 3:37.34; 3, Southern Fulton, 3:45.09; 4, Chestnut Ridge, 3;45.65; 5, Everett, 3:45.99; 6, McConnellsburg, 3:47.25.
3200 relay: 1, Windber (Charney, Birkhimer, Roxby, Napora), 8:41.92; 2, Chestnut Ridge, 8:53.16; 3, Bedford, 8:55.39; 4, Southern Fulton, 8:55.94; 5, Conemaugh Township, 9:09.90; 6, Berlin Brothersvalley, 9:20.15.
High jump: 1, Pfister, CR, 6-2; 2, Derricot, CT, 6-0; 3, (tie), Dull, CR, and Merritt, Bd, 6-0; 5, Thomas, W, 5-10; 6, Felix, CR, 5-10.
Long jump: 1, Dillow, CR, 20-9; 2, Snyder, CR, 20-2.5; 3, Dawson, Bd, 20-0.25; 4, Pfister, CR, 20-0; 5, Foor, Bd, 19-4.25; 6, Sigler, ME, 19-4.
Triple jump: 1, Dillow, CR, 42-3.5; 2, Anderson, CR, 39-0; 3, Snyder, CR, 39-0; 4, Mauger, SH, 39-0; 5, Dawson, Bd, 38-7; 6, Sigler, ME, 38-4.
Shot put: 1, Knisely, CR, 46-5; 2, Milburn, CR, 43-1.75; 3, Bithell, TM, 43-1.25; 4, Conner, TM, 41-2.5; 5, Clark, E, 41-1; 6, Myers, CT, 40-10.
Discus: 1, Knisely, CR, 159-10; 2, Hobson, CR, 141-2; 3, Conner, TM, 125-8; 4, Baker, MC, 118-5; 5, Lemin, TM, 110-2; 6, Young, E, 109-9.
Javelin:1, Weist, TM, 172-1; 2, Myers, CT, 141-9; 3, Glee, MC, 140-2; 4, Hostetler, CT, 136-11; 5, Miller, ME, 132-8; 6, Milburn, CR, 131-0.
Pole vault: 1, Miller, CR, 12-0; 2, Lingsch, Bd, 12-0; 3, N. Vasas, W, 12-0; 4, Kaiser, W, 11-6; 5, Hann, MC, 11-0; 6, Smith, TM, 11-0.
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