CC veteran relay girls win at Bellwood meet
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
BELLWOOD -- The conditions at the 2023 edition of the Bellwood-Antis Invitational certainly weren't ideal, but that didn't prevent another huge turnout for the event that included the defending PIAA champions in the girls 3200-meter relay, Central Cambria.
Abigail Sheehan, Alaina Sheehan, Abigail George and Annaliese Niebauer claimed gold at Shippensburg last May and returned their entire team this season, which led to some big expectations.
"I'd say there is a little bit of pressure," Niebauer said. "But we use that to our advantage. We used our win as motivation to keep going to try and best our time from last year and improve in any way we can."
Central Cambria kicked off Monday's Invitational by just missing the meet record in the event with a time of 9:50.61. George is part of the record holders from Central Cambria who set a mark of 9:49.9 in 2021.
The Lady Devils aren't just dealing with living up to winning it all last year but a very strong history in the event at Central Cambria.
"Just running the (3200 relay) at Central Cambria puts a lot of pressure on them, because they are expected to do a lot every year," Central Cambria coach Randy Wilson said. "We go into everything wanting to be the fastest team we can be that day. If it's the fastest team in the state, so be it. But if we run a great time, and we're not first, there's nothing we can do about it. We just want them to be the best each four of them can be on that day."
Niebauer said the pressure is easier to deal with due to their experience.
"With it being my senior season, it's a lot more fun," Niebauer said. "You're not as stressed or as worried about stuff, because you have done this before several times. This year is about just enjoying it and having fun. For a lot of us, it's our last track season unless we decide we want to run in college."
Wilson agreed with his senior star, who also managed to edge Bellwood-Antis senior Alexis Lovrich to win the 1600-meter run on Monday.
"They are more relaxed and don't get frazzled as much," Wilson said. "You have bad races, but they don't let it get them down or affect them. They know the goal is always to be the best you can be on the most important day of the year, and that's what we try and do. The only way a bad race is a bad race is if you don't learn anything from it. They are fun to coach, and we love the group we have with some great senior leadership and some great young kids, not only just in distance but with the program overall."
Bad races among Central Cambria distance runners are far and few between however due to a strong work ethic.
"We pride ourselves not on being fast but being tough," Wilson said. "If it's raining or snowing or whatever, we're running. It doesn't matter. We do a long run every Saturday morning whether it's pouring out, snowing or if it's 100 degrees. They know it, and they do it. We have music playing, and we hammer it out. Toughness is the reason we're good at the (3200 relay), because it's a tough event."
Neither Eli Lingenfelter or his Central teammates have the storied track history that Central Cambria has, but their rapid improvement continued to show as the Scarlet Dragons won the boys team title, 95-89, over Bedford.
Lingenfelter won the high jump, senior teammate Rylan Daugherty claimed the javelin title and Central won the 400-meter relay.
"Getting that first year under my belt was big," Lingenfelter said. "Last year was my first year of doing track, ever. Just working those events and learning how to do them in general and focusing on certain aspects of them this year has helped me get to the max that I can get to."
Lingenfelter is hoping everything comes together for both himself and his team in a couple weeks at the District 6 meet.
"I'd like to win as many events as possible," Lingenfelter said. "I'd also like our team to win districts. I think that would be really cool."
One winner on Monday will not be competing at either the District 6 or District 5 meet. That's because Grier's Edith Manfred is ineligible for district and state competition, because she competes for a non-PIAA affiliated school.
That didn't stop her from winning the 3200-meter relay over Lovrich and Niebauer on Monday in 11:44.11.
"It feels so good to win this two years in a row," Manfred said. "I'm so thankful Bellwood always lets me compete here. It's a really great opportunity, and it's great to see my work coming to fruition."
Manfred has opted to race the 3200-meter race exclusively in some meets like Monday's this year when in years past she would compete in three races.
"I recognized that the 2-mile race is definitely my strength, so I race the mile and the 800 a little bit just to see what I can do as my best, but I'm focused on the 2-mile, because that is what I'm best at," Manfred said. "This season for me is about really enjoying the moment. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself before races to perform well. Not having a team and not being able to go to districts or states, I tend to get hyper-focused on times and PRs, but this season I'm trying to enjoy where I'm at and really take in the atmosphere of District 6 running before I move on to other things and be thankful for where I'm at."
The Grier senior will soon sign her letter of intent to continue her running career in college.
"I'm elated to be able to pursue artistic and athletic ambitions at Savannah College of Art and Design, and I'm really excited for what is coming," Manfred said.
Huntingdon's Tyler Radar, who was named the boys outstanding runner, set a new meet record in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:20.71, breaking the mark of Southern Huntingdon's Andrew Staley, who ran it in 4:30.22 in 2018. Later in the meet, he also broke the 800-meter run mark with a time of 1:57.24, topping the 2009 effort of Tyrone's Ben Ingle of 1:59.64.
Penns Valley's Miles Brooks was the outstanding jumper, and Bald Eagle Area's Kieran Jodon was boys outstanding thrower.
Bellwood-Antis' Kole Dickinson edged Bedford's A.J. Koontz to win the 110-meter hurdles, but Koontz claimed the gold in the 300 hurdles.
On the girls side, outstanding runner Grace Sarver helped Bedford win the team title over Huntingdon and Central Cambria, which tied for second. Huntingdon's Hayden Mark was the outstanding jumper, and Abigail Hoover of Bald Eagle Area was the outstanding thrower.
Other local winners in the girls competition included Tyrone's Rebecca Lewis in the long jump, Central Cambria's Emma Pablic in the discus, Cambria Heights' Minyhah Easterling in the shot put and Lydia Worthing defended her pole vault championship with another title.
Midway through the meet, Penn Cambria graduate Rich Lynch was honored for holding the Bellwood-Antis Invitational discus record for 50 years. His throw of 163 feet, 3 inches in 1973 was more than 35 feet longer than any throw in the event Monday.
BOYS
TEAM RESULTS/KEY
1, Central (C) 95; 2, Bedford (B) 89; 3, Penns Valley (PV) 51; 4, Bellwood-Antis (BA) 49; 5, Tyrone (T) 45; 6, Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 44; 7, West Branch (WB) 30; 8, Huntingdon (H) 29; 9, United (U) 21; 10, Southern Huntingdon (SH) 20; 11, Philipsburg-Osceola (PO) 19; T-12, Tussey Mountain (TM) 16; T-12, Northern Cambria (NC) 16; 14, Juniata Valley (JV) 13; 15, Cambria Heights (CH) 11; 16, Cambria Heights (CH) 10.
INDIVIDUAL
100 dash: 1, Weber, B, 11.33; 2, Gillis, TM, 11.45; 3, Yingling, C, 11.52; 4, Brooks, PV, 11.72; 5, Crowell, T, 11.76; 6, Myers, NC, 11.79. 200 dash: 1, Weber, B, 23.42; 2, Good, PV, 23.49; 3, Yingling, C, 23.69; 4, Peck, C, 24.31; 5, Baldauf, T, 24.58; 6, James, SJ, 24.61. 400 dash: 1, Carr, WB, 52.75; 2, Taylor, B, 54.09; 3, Scott, CH, 54.45; 4, Coffman, TM, 55.03; 5, Ridgway, BA, 56.27; 6, Crilly, T, 56.3. 800 run: 1, Radar, H, 1:57.24*; 2, Muckey, PO, 2:01.68; 3, Grassmyer, U, 2:03.16; 4, Detwiler, T, 2:06.74; 5, Simander, SJ, 2:08.91; 6, Gresh, B, 2:10.24. 1600 run: 1, Radar, H, 4:20.71*; 2, Simander, SJ, 4:41.97; 3, Erwin, SH, 4:54.04; 4, Ryder, WB, 4:54.61; 5, Cummings, H, 4:57.96; 6, Reamer, PV, 5:01.06. 3200 run: 1, Muckey, PO, 10:07.36; 2, Henning, U, 10:36.94; 3, Dechow, BEA, 10:43.59; 4, Reamer, PV, 11:03.56; 5, Wagner, BEA, 11:31.41; 6, Beiswenger, BA, 11:31.57. 110 hurdles: 1, Dickinson, BA, 16.02; 2, Koontz, B, 16.23; 3, Kimler, PV, 16.24; 4, Gapshes, U, 16.26; 5, Jackson, T, 16.42; 6, Long-Yarrison, C, 16.58. 300 hurdles: 1, Koontz, B, 41.72; 2, North, SH, 42.01; 3, Kimler, PV, 42.06; 4, Dickinson, BA, 42.61; 5, Gapshes, U, 43.55; 6, Benton, C, 44.61.
400 relay: 1, Central (Rhule, Benton, Dunn, Yingling), 44.25; 2, Bedford, 44.34; 3, Tyrone, 45.13; 4, Tussey Mountain, 47.08; 5, Northern Cambria, 47.24; 6, Bellwood-Antis, 47.58. 1600 relay: 1, Bedford (Gresh, Ressler, Taylor, Weber), 3:35.35; 2, Central, 3:39.22; 3, West Branch, 3:39.57; 4, Tyrone, 3:43.76; 5, Bellwood-Antis, 3:48.46; 6, Bald Eagle Area, 4:05.34. 3200 relay: 1, West Branch (Carr, Ryder, Alexander, Stavola), 8:39.53; 2, Bedford, 9:00.7; 3, Bald Eagle Area, 9:01.12; 4, Tyrone, 9:07.27; 5, Southern Huntingdon, 9:10.32; 6, United, 9:12.89. High jump: 1, Lingenfelter, C, 5-10; 2, Bark, JV, 5-8; 3, Weaver, T, 5-8; 4, Dunn, C, 5-8; 5, Gates, BEA, 5-8; 6, Brooks, BEA, 5-8. Long jump: 1, Brooks, PV, 20-8; 2, Ressler, B, 19-10; 3, Weaver, T, 19-9; 4, Winter, SH, 19-5; 5, Kerstetter, PV, 19-3.5; 6, Myers, NC, 18-10. Triple jump: 1, Brooks, PV, 43-1.75; 2, Lingenfelter, C, 40-9; 3, Ressler, B, 40-3; 4, Weaver, T, 39-10; 5, Washington, B, 39-8; 6, Andrews, BA, 39-3.25. Shot put: 1, Jodon, BEA, 46-9.75; 2, Griffin, C, 43-6.5; 3, E. Pluebell, BA, 41-11; 4, Weidemer, C, 40-10; 5, Sheredy, NC, 38-11; 6, Smith, H, 38-7.5. Discus: 1, Shutty, NC, 126-7; 2, Jodon, BEA, 116-2; 3, Schenk, C, 116-0; 4, E. Pluebell, BA, 114-9; 5, Woomer, T, 114-1; 6, Griffin, C, 113-10. Javelin: 1, Daugherty, C, 156-0; 2, Rhule, C, 139-3; 3, C. Schreier, BA, 138-2; 4, Skebeck, CH, 136-6; 5, Dicken, T, 131-11; 6, Banks, H, 128-0. Pole vault: 1, Andrews, BA, 13-3; 2, Thompson, BEA, 12-3; T-3, Weirich, JV, 11-9; T-3, Buckley, H, 11-9; 5, Poorman, BA, 11-3; 6, Reese, PO, 10-9.
GIRLS
TEAM RESULTS/KEY
1, Bedford (B) 87; T-2, Huntingdon (H) 64; T-2, Central Cambria (CC) 64; 4, Tyrone (T) 52; 5, Cambria Heights (CH) 49; 6, Central (C) 46; 7, Bellwood-Antis (BA) 44; 8, Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 35; 9, Penns Valley (PV) 25; 10, Juniata Valley (JV) 24; 11, Southern Huntingdon (SH) 15; 12, Mount Union (MU) 12; T-13, United (U) 10; T-13, Grier, 10; 15, Tussey Mountain (TM) 8; T-16, Northern Cambria (NC) 6; T-16, Central Cambria B (CC) 6; 18, Saint Joseph (SJ) 1.
INDIVIDUAL
100 dash: 1, Sarver, B, 13.0; 2, Brower, JV, 13.39; 3, Hopsicker, JV, 13.46; 4, Hahn, H, 13.53; 5, Lewis, T, 13.561; 6, Sipes, B, 13.563. 200 dash: 1, Sarver, B, 26.58; 2, Lewis, T, 27.34; 3, Brower, JV, 28.11; 4, Hahn, H, 28.29; 5, Harper, SH, 28.42; 6, Campbell, BA, 28.61. 400 dash: 1, Stitzer, PV, 1:03.48; 2, Horton, TM, 1:04.15; 3, McMath, SH, 1:05.66; 4, Hassler, BA, 1:05.78; 5, Eagle, H, 1:06.6; 6, Hershberger, B, 1:06.72. 800 run: 1, Eshelman, B, 2:26.22; 2, Stitzer, PV, 2:27.03; 3, George, CC, 2:33.04; 4, Hoover, CH, 2:34.22; 5, Ab. Sheehan, CC, 2:34.26; 6, Wright, SJ, 2:35.45. 1600 run: 1, Niebauer, CC, 5:31.43; 2, A. Lovrich, 5:31.79; 3, Berkhimer, C, 5:37.04; 4, Miller, NC, 5:43.38; 5, Durn, PV, 5:44.11; 6, George, CC, 5:47.79. 3200 run: 1, Manfred, Grier, 11:44.11; 2, A. Lovrich, BA, 11:55.89; 3, Niebauer, CC, 12:01.16; 4, Smith, PV, 12:06.53; 5, Berkhimer, C, 12:10.76; 6, Al. Sheehan, CC, 12:16.83. 100 hurdles: 1, Becker, B, 16.61; 2, Skopic, MU, 17.09; 3, Irvin, BEA, 17.59; 4, McClellan, CH, 17.81; 5, Brunatti, CC, 17.85; 6, Barnett, SH, 18.21. 300 hurdles: 1, Becker, B, 47.15; 2, Decker, C, 50.8; 3, Marshall, U, 51.01; 4, Skopic, MU, 51.92; 5, Stoltzfus, BA, 53.05; 6, Taylor, CC, 53.65.
400 relay: 1, Bedford (Sipes, Becker, Beck, Sarver), 51.44; 2, Central, 52.67; 3, Huntingdon, 52.72; 4, Tyrone, 53.16; 5, Bellwood-Antis, 53.25; 6, Penns Valley, 53.89. 1600 relay: 1, Bedford (Becker, Eshelman, McDevitt, Sarver), 4:18.2; 2, Central, 4:21.41; 3, Central Cambria, 4:24.13; 4, Bellwood-Antis, 4:36.9; 5, Southern Huntingdon, 4:39.23; 6, Cambria Heights, 4:53.8. 3200 relay: 1, Central Cambria A (George, Al. Sheehan, Niebauer, Ab. Sheehan), 9:50.61; 2, Bedford, 10:43.65; 3, Central Cambria B, 10:46.36; 4, Southern Huntingdon, 10:55.47; 5, Juniata Valley, 11:03.44; 6, Bellwood-Antis, 11:04.18. High jump: 1, Mark, H, 5-0 2, Irons, T, 4-10; 3, McMillen, CH, 4-8; 4, Kirsch, CH, 4-8; 5, McCracken, NC, 4-8; 6, Gerwert, BA, 4-8. Long jump: 1, Lewis, T, 16-0; 2, Mark, H, 16-0; 3, McMillen, CH, 15-5; 4, Irons, T, 15-4; 5, Beck, B, 15-4; 6, Hammond, BA, 5-2. Triple jump: 1, Mark, H, 35-6; 2, McMillen, CH, 33-5; 3, Buonaccorsi, H, 33-4; 4, Irons, T, 33-3; 5, Beck, B, 32-4; 6, Hall, C, 32-2. Shot put: 1, Easterling, CH, 35-2; 2, Garner, C, 31-11; 3, Pablic, CC, 31-11; 4, Hoover, BEA, 30-2; 5, Weber, B, 29-10; 6, Primus, CC, 29-3. Discus: 1, Pablic, CC, 94-3; 2, Hoover, BEA, 93-3; 3, Easterling, CH, 92-1; 4, Walls, T, 92-0; 5, Primus, CC, 91-4; 6, Weber, B, 86-0. Javelin: 1, Hoover, BEA, 114-2; 2, Nelson, T, 106-1; 3, Taylor, BEA, 100-0; 4, Mingle, C, 95-10; 5, McCaulsky, BA, 94-5; 6, Garner, C, 93-4. Pole vault: 1, Worthing, BA, 9-9; 2, Rolley, H, 9-3; 3, Buonaccorsi, H, 8-9; 4, Ressler, B, 8-3; 5, Boone, JV, 8-3; 6, Leskovansky, BEA, 8-3.
*–New meet record