JV’s Luther enjoys the surprise
Trending
By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
There are always a few surprises at the District 6 track and field championships but none may have been more eye opening than Juniata Valley senior Alayna Luther claiming the Class 2A javelin championship with a throw of 119 feet, 2 inches Tuesday at Mansion Park.
"A lot was special today," Luther said. "My previous PR was only 104, and my very first throw was 113, so I was feeling really good. Then, I pulled out the 119, and that was crazy."
In the process, Luther accomplished another feat she had never done before, top her Inter-County Conference rival that just won the league championship a week ago.
"I have never beaten (Bellwood-Antis senior) Chelsea (McCaulsky)," Luther said. "I have only ever beaten the girl from West Branch (Marley Croyle, who finished fourth) a few times. I was just so excited. They are just such great competitors, but my coach (Rachelle Hopsicker) is just so amazing. She's the reason I'm here. I just wanted to beat my PR, but I never thought this would happen."
McCaulsky, who finished as the runner-up, will also go to the PIAA meet, which begins Friday, May 26 in Shippensburg.
"This was my first time throwing on a runway this year, so maybe that was it," Luther said. "I'm not sure, but I just felt really good today."
Tyrone's Rebecca Lewis found herself back on top of the medal stand after winning last year's District 6 Class 2A 400-meter dash championship, but Tuesday it was for a different event.
"This year, I did the 400 up until the Bellwood Invitational," Lewis said. "I started to try out the 200, but before that, I was begging my coach to do the long jump. My friends did it, and it looked fun. I had started it this year in indoor, and it has been pretty fun since."
The road to the district title wasn't easy for Lewis and got off to a rough start, but her leap of 16 feet, 6.75 inches was enough to out-jump all of her opponents.
"It feels great," Lewis said. "I'm surprised. I just started it this year, and I was definitely an underdog. My first time, I landed on my face. So, it's definitely cool to go from that to a district championship."
Cambria Heights' Brielle McMillen finished third behind Lewis and will also be heading to Shippensburg. Central Cambria seniors Annaliese Niebauer and Abby George finished second and third behind Forest Hills' Delaney Dumm in the mile to earn the opportunity to compete in the event at states.
Portage's Cami Burkett is the top seed in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes after Tuesday's preliminaries.
It was a special day in the shot put for Altoona in the Class 3A girls competition.
Freshman Kihlee Noel won the championship with a throw of 35 feet, 2 inches. Fellow Lady Lion freshman Annalyse Yost was the runner-up, and junior Olivia McMinn was third.
"I'm happy for both my teammates and glad I was able to do this," Noel said. "I couldn't have done this without them. I came into the season a little late because of basketball, but I just tried to work and throw as hard as I could in practices, and I kept getting better as the year went on."
Noel's senior teammate, Reese Wilber, had a tremendous kick in the final stretch of the mile race to reach the state qualifying standard and make the PIAA meet with a third-place finish.
"I knew I was right there, and I wanted this more than anything," Wilber said. "I just told myself it was going to be 20 seconds of pain. I knew I could do 20 seconds. So, I just let it go. I'm so happy. This was my biggest goal ever."
3A
KEY--Altoona (A); Bellefonte (B); Central Mountain (CM); Johnstown (J); Hollidaysburg (H); Mifflin County (MC); State College (SC).
1600 run: 1, Kwasnica, SC, 5:05.01; 2, Devan, SC, 5:05.95*; 3, Wilber, A, 5:09.21*; 4, Jackson, SC, 5:13.52; 5, Wolfe, CM, 5:24.38; 6, Stoltz, A, 5:47.43; 7, Sidney, H, 5:48.62; 8, Keohane, CM, 5:53.8. Triple jump: 1, Hendricks, CM, 38-3; 2, Owulade, A, 35-1.5; 3, Antoniono, SC, 35-0; 4, E. Clapper, H, 34-8.5; 5, McNitt, MC, 34-5.25; 6, Workman, SC, 34-2.5; 7, Underwood, B, 33-3.5; 8, Shoemaker, H, 33-1. Shot put: 1, Noel, A, 35-2; 2, Yost, A, 32-1; 3, McMinn, A, 31-5.5; 4, Miller, B, 30-3.75; 5, Bumberger, H, 30-2.25; 6, Blizzard, SC, 28-10.25; 7, Deitrich, B, 27-7.25; 8, Anderson, CM, 27-3.25. Pole vault: 1, Schellenberg, B, 9-6; 2, Billetdeaux, A, 9-0; 3, Bower, A, 8-6; 4, Banker, SC, 8-0; 5, Park, CM, 8-0; 6, Wright, SC, 8-0; T-7, Hall, CM, 7-6; T-7, Gramling, SC, 7-6.
2A
KEY--Bald Eagle Area (BEA); Bellwood-Antis (BA); Bishop Carroll (BC); Bishop McCort (BM); Blacklick Valley (BV); Cambria Heights (CH); Central (C); Central Cambria (CC); Forest Hills (FH); Homer-Center (HC); Huntingdon (H); Juniata (J); Marion Center (MC); Mount Union (MU); Northern Cambria (NC); Penn Cambria (PC); Penns Manor (PM); Penns Valley (PV); Philipsburg-Osceola (PO); Portage (P); Purchase Line (PL); Richland (R); River Valley (RV); Saint Joseph's (SJ); Southern Huntingdon (SH); Tyrone (T); United (U); West Branch (WB); Westmont Hilltop (WH); Williamsburg (W).
1600 run: 1, Dumm, FH, 5:06.31; 2, Niebauer, CC, 5:15.24; 3, George, CC, 5:15.92; 4, Lovrich, BA, 5:27.7; 5, Berkhimer, C, 5:32.11; 6, Durn, PV, 5:33.34; 7, Smith, PV, 5:35.4; 8, Miller, NC, 5:39. High jump: 1, McConnell, RV, 5-4; 2, Mark, H, 5-2; 3, McLeary, FH, 5-2; 4, Irons, T, 5-0; 5, Semanchik, P, 5-0; 6, Worthing, BA, 5-0; 7, Kirsch, CH, 4-10; 8, Kocsis, C, 4-8. Long jump: 1, Lewis, T, 16-6.75; 2, Yost, R, 16-5; 3, McMillen, CH, 16-4.5; 4, Buonaccorsi, H, 16-3.5; 5, Manyara, JV, 16-1.5; 6, Mark, H, 16-0; 7, Irons, T, 15-10.75; 8, Kane, WH, 15-6.75. Discus: 1, Sharp, HC, 147-3**; 2, Garnett, R, 118-2; 3, Jackson, RV, 108-2; 4, Weinzierl, FH, 103-3; 5, Rhea, PM, 100-9; 6, Goncher, PL, 97-2; 7, Walls, T, 94-7; 8, Crestani, BEA, 92-9. Javelin: 1, Luther, JV, 119-2; 2, McCaulsky, BA, 117-1; 3, Hoover, BEA, 116-8; 4, Croyle, WB, 115-1; 5, K. Vinglish, PC, 114-2; 6, Myers, FH, 111-11; 7, Beer, MC, 111-5; 8, J. Vinglish, PC, 110-11.
*--Made PIAA meet by reaching state qualifying standard
**--Meet record