Local Sports

LHAC used to sharpen skills for districts

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

LORETTO -- The District 6 high school track and field championships are just a week away, and Tuesday's Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference at Saint Francis University served as a final tuneup for many area athletes.

Some, like Penn Cambria's Andre Marinak, have hit their stride at exactly the right time.

The senior broke a meet record in the 300-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 39.24 seconds. His time was just ahead of Chestnut Ridge hurdler Sam Albright, who edged Central Cambria's Jon Wess in the 110-meter hurdles by a hundredth of a second.

"It's a big thing for me to get a personal best and finally be able to tell myself to run faster and actually making it happen," Marinak said. "(Albright) is always there, and I'm always trying to catch up to him as quick as I can. It's always a motivation with runners in front of you. I'm so happy, but I'm going to try and get below 39 seconds for districts."

Central senior Rylan Daugherty is also hitting his peak. After struggling to improve his throws throughout the season, Daugherty broke through at the Altoona Mountain Lion Classic last week and set a new personal best again Tuesday by throwing 181 feet in the javelin.

"I started off my year kind of at my PR from junior year," Daugherty said. "I kept throwing that up until the last meet. We haven't had the best weather, but we finally got a nice runway, nice weather and earlier that week I had made a new PR by 8 feet. I fine-tuned a couple things, kept working and it's working out for me."

Daugherty is one of a group of athletes recruited to track by second-year boys coach Blake Over that has made the Scarlet Dragons a threat to win District 6.

"Everything is clicking now," Daugherty said. "I have been in the weight room a lot and have gotten a lot of form work in. With the nice weather coming along at the right time, everything just has clicked. The next goal is 185 feet."

His teammate, Eli Lingenfelter, won the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 2 inches on the field he'll play football at next season.

"I knew coming in that there were going to be some pretty good jumpers and that I'd have to perform pretty well to win," Lingenfelter said. "I went out and did that. I'm excited for districts. I think I have a chance."

One of the teams Central will be in the hunt with at districts will be the Central Cambria boys, who got wins from Aiden Lechleitner in the 800- and 1600-meter runs along with helping the 1600-meter relay team to a win in the afternoon's opening event.

Lechleitner stormed back from behind to win the mile race by passing Chestnut Ridge's Kevin Myers at the very end.

"It was kind of planned," Lechleitner said. "We both admitted after the race that we made our moves a little too early. We paid for it at the end, but I ended up kicking in the last 100 and realized he didn't have a kick and took it."

Another area double-winner was Bishop Carroll thrower Jacob Harker, who set personal records in both the shot put and the discus and made some school history in the shot.

"The crowd around me got me hyped up," Harker said. "It felt like a good day, being sunny out. I have been waiting for this moment. I wanted to break the school record today, because I have been working up to it all year. I felt good coming in during warmups, and it was the perfect environment for it to happen."

Other winners, like Penn Cambria's Josh Stolarski in the 400-meter dash, said concentrating on his best events might be what he needs.

"Right now I'm in four events per meet, the 100-, 200-, 400-meter runs and the long jump," Stolarski said. "It's really taxing. I usually am doing trials and the dashes and always have my long jump, which is my main event. It's really hard to keep on top of things. To warm up and cool down, hydrate and stay in the shade, you have to juggle so many things at once. It's very mentally and physically taxing."

The junior said he felt a little stronger at the start of the season.

"My sophomore year, I really stood out in the 400," Stolarski said. "That's when I figured out what I was going to be doing. This year, I had a PR at the start of the season where I had only two events to run. These following meets, I have been running slower because I have had so much to juggle. I think with experience, it does get easier, but it's still difficult."

His goal for districts will be more singular.

"I'm going to put more effort into the 400," Stolarski said. "I need to just focus on that."

Stolarski's teammate, Carter McDermott, won the triple jump with a leap of 42 feet, 4.5 inches, and the defending state champion 1600-meter relay Central Cambria girls team of Abigail George, Annaliese Niebauer, Alaina Sheehan and Abigail Sheehan won their race in 9:44.78.

KEY (NO TEAM COMPETITION)

Bedford (B); Bishop Carroll (BC); Bishop McCort (BM); Central (C); Central Cambria (CC); Chestnut Ridge (CR); Forest Hills (FH); Johnstown (J); Penn Cambria (PC); Richland (R); Somerset (S); Westmont Hilltop (WH).

BOYS

100 dash: 1, McCracken, R, 11.02; 2, Zitnay, WH, 11.36; 3, Wyrwas, CC, 11.47; 4, Seslow, S, 11.51; 5, Walls, S, 11.69; 6, Adams, CC, 11.7; 7, Hite, PC, 11.73; 8, Weber, B, 11.73. 200 dash: 1, Zitnay, WH, 22.63; 2, Stolarski, PC, 23.17; 3, Adams, CC, 23.56; 4, Ojha, CC, 23.59; 5, Yingling, C, 23.67; 6, Havener, WH, 23.85; 7, Lowery, S, 24.39; 8, Beck, B, 24.42. 400 dash: 1, Stolarski, PC, 51.07; 2, Morales, J, 51.26; 3, Ferguson, BM, 52.93; 4, Lewis, R, 52.99; 5, Taylor, B, 53.15; 6, McAnemy, R, 53.73; 7, Montilla, B, 54.15; 8, Peck, C, 54.55. 800 run: 1, Lechleitner, CC, 2:04.38; 2, Roberts, CC, 2:06.62; 3, Gresh, B, 2:09.45; 4, Biesinger, C, 2:17.6; 5, Beglin, R, 2:17.81; 6, Swope, B, 2:18.62; 7, Dibble, FH, 2:18.69; 8, Brumbaugh, C, 2:20.2. 1600 run: 1, Lechleitner, CC, 4:49.85; 2, Myers, CR, 4:50.73; 3, Beglin, R, 4:56.12; 4, Wilson, CC, 4:57.51; 5, Caron, FH, 4:57.76; 6, Biesinger, C, 4:58.64; 7, Morrison, FH, 5:01.9; 8, Smith, WH, 5:04.06. 3200 run: 1, Bollman, CR, 10:08.24; 2, Kuntz, CC, 10:19.08; 3, Myers, CR, 10:43.24; 4, Wilson, CC, 11:06.88; 5, Caron, FH, 11:18.84; 6, Smith, WH, 11:21.53; 7, Allison, C, 11:24.51; 8, Haycisak, CC, 11:25.81. 110 hurdles: 1, Albright, CR, 15.15; 2, Wess, CC, 15.15; 3, Marinak, PC, 15.76; 4, Levander, R, 16.43; 5, Koontz, B, 16.47; 6, Long-Yarrison, C, 16.49; 7, Lingenfelter, C, 17.25; 8, Harteis, FH, 17.36. 300 hurdles: 1, Marinak, PC, 39.24*; 2, Albright, CR, 40.13; 3, Koontz, B, 41.25; 4, Benton, C, 43.78; 5, DiBuono, S, 43.9; 6, Long-Yarrison, C, 45.95; 7, Noel, B, 46.06; 8, Roberts, FH, 46.13.

400 relay: 1, Central Cambria (Wess, Adams, Ojha, Wyrwas), 43.57; 2, Central, 44.05; 3, Westmont Hilltop, 44.07; 4, Richland, 44.08; 5, Bedford, 44.17; 6, Somerset, 44.72; 7, Chestnut Ridge, 45.73; 8, Forest Hills, 46.89. 1600 relay: 1, Central Cambria (Kuntz, Wilson, Roberts, Lechleitner), 8:14.65; 2, Bedford, 8:45.22; 3, Chestnut Ridge, 8:48.34; 4, Forest Hills, 8:52.38; 5, Richland, 9:14.4; 6, Central, 9:29.61; 7, Penn Cambria, 9:44.21; 8, Bishop Carroll, 9:55.72. 3200 relay: 1, Bedford (Gresh, Ressler, Taylor, Koontz), 3:31.66; 2, Richland, 3:33.69; 3, Central Cambria, 3:39.2; 4, Central, 3:43.99; 5, Penn Cambria, 3:44.16; 6, Somerset, 3:57.98; 7, Bishop McCort, 4:00.04. High jump: 1, Lingenfelter, C, 6-2; 2, Marinak, PC, 6-0; 3, Cabala, FH, 6-0; 4, Martinage, FH, 6-0; 5, Dunn, C, 5-10; 6, Edmonson, FH, 5-8; 7, Harris, C, 5-8; 8, Housley, S< 5-8. Long jump: 1, Carr, S, 20-5.5; 2, Stolarski, PC, 20-4; 3, Wyrwas, CC, 20-4; 4, Ressler, B, 19-11.75; 5, Sheridan, WH, 19-6.5; 6, McDermott, PC, 19-3.5; 7, Walls, S, 19-3; 8, Cabala, FH, 19-1. Triple jump: 1, McDermott, PC, 42-4.5; 2, Cunningham, BC, 41-7; 3, Ressler, B, 41-2.5; 4, Daugherty, C, 40-6.75; 5, Cabala, FH, 40-6; 6, Lingenfelter, C, 39-11; 7, Conway, J, 39-10; 8, Sheridan, WH, 39-5.75. Shot put: 1, Harker, BC, 51-3; 2, Vasil, CC, 43-10; 3, Pittsinger, CC, 42-10; 4, Weidemer, C, 42-4; 5, Griffin, C, 42-3; 6, Hancock, R, 42-3; 7, Deloatch, FH, 39-8; 8, Danel, FH, 39-2. Discus: 1, Harker, BC, 136-0; 2, Hancock, R, 127-11; 3, Whetstone, B, 127-5; 4, Hollis, R, 122-11; 5, Griffin, C, 122-9; 6, Schenk, C, 116-0; 7, Albright, C, 114-1; 8, Schweitzer, CC, 112-9. Javelin: 1, Daugherty, C, 181-0; 2, Rhule, C, 168-10; 3, Chase, R, 152-3; 4, Lingenfelter, C, 146-9; 5, Batche, R, 143-7; 6, McGowen, R, 140-4; 7, Fichtner, B, 136-11; 8, Hockensmith, FH, 136-10. Pole vault: 1, Gossard, R, 13-6; 2, Roberts, CC, 12-6; 3, Robison, S, 12-0; 4, Kane, B, 11-6; 5, Carroll, FH, 11-6; 6, Byers, B, 11-0; 7, Ickes, CR, 11-0; 8, Farabaugh, BC, 11-0. GIRLS 100 dash: 1, Rush, S, 12.42; 2, Sarver, B, 12.82; 3, Urban, S, 13.03; 4, Ross, S, 13.09; 5, Piscatello, R, 13.14; 6, Kutsick, BM, 13.36; 7, Tisinger, J, 13.43; 8, Berkebile, BM, 13.46. 200 dash: 1, Urban, S, 27.02; 2, Garver, B, 27.04; 3, Ross, S, 27.61; 4, Garner, C, 27.68; 5, Piscatello, R, 27.78; 6, Smith, S, 28.44; 7, Tisinger, J, 28.57; 8, Hart, C, 28.72. 400 dash: 1, Faight, WH, 1:02.0; 2, Berkebile, BM, 1:02.71; 3, Thomas, J, 1:03.29; 4, Hershberger, B, 1:03.92; 5, Felix, FH, 1:04.46; 6, McDevitt, B, 1:05.1; 7, Long, CC, 1:05.85; 8, Miller, S, 1:07.22. 800 run: 1, Dumm, FH, 2:20.73; 2, George, CC, 2:24.98; 3, Eshelman, B, 2:25.21; 4, Niebauer, CC, 2:27.98; 5, Ab. Sheehan, CC, 2:33.27; 6, Whysong, CR, 2:38.43; 7, Kelly, J, 2:40.76; 8, Gallucci, BM, 2:43.04. 1600 run: 1, Dumm, FH, 5:00.02*; 2, Niebauer, CC, 5:33.64; 3, Berkhimer, C, 5:36.71; 4, Brandis, CC, 5:42.59; 5, Whysong, CR, 5:43.38; 6, Westrick, CC, 5:44.0; 7, Carnwath, CR, 6:14.14; 8, Conway, J, 6:33.33. 3200 run: 1, Dumm, FH, 10:52.05; 2, Berkhimer, C, 12:17.4; 3, Weaverling, B, 12:19.68; 4, Al. Sheehan, CC, 12:27.97; 5, Brandis, CC, 12:57.58; 6, Westrick, CC, 13:08.27; 7, Carnwath, CR, 13:25.09; 8, Jeffries, C, 14:50.09. 100 hurdles: 1, Glessner, FH, 16.1; 2, Becker, B, 16.32; 3, Housley, S, 17.37; 4, Dodson, CR, 17.38; 5, Hillegass, S, 17.51; 6, Kane, WH, 17.67; 7, Brunatti, CC, 18.03; 8, Dunlap, R, 18.12. 300 hurdles: 1, Becker, B, 46.24; 2, Papcunik, FH, 46.64; 3, Glessner, FH, 49.77; 4, Dodson, CR, 50.23; 5, Decker, C, 51.94; 6, Dunlap, R, 51.97; 7, Taylor, CC, 52.64; 8, Lieb, BC, 52.75. 400 relay: 1, Somerset (Ross, Rush, Smith, Urban), 49.2*; 2, Bedford, 50.49; 3, Central, 51.77; 4, Westmont Hilltop, 52.54; 5, Bishop McCort, 52.74; 6, Richland, 53.12; 7, Forest Hills, 53.47; 8, Bishop Carroll, 54.54. 1600 relay: 1, Central Cambria (George, Niebauer, Al. Sheehan), 9:44.78; 2, Bedford, 10:46.07; 3, Forest Hills, 11:21.31; 4, Penn Cambria, 11:31.15; 5, Somerset, 11:39.88; 6, Central, 11:44.34; 7, Richland, 11:56.08. 3200 relay: 1, Bedford (Becker, Eshelman, McDevitt, Sarver), 4:11.01; 2, Forest Hills, 4:12.32; 3, Central Cambria, 4:18.32; 4, Central, 4:22.64; 5, Richland, 4:35.57; 6, Bishop McCort, 4:41.16; 7, Penn Cambria, 4:56.12; 8, Somerset, 4:58.25. High jump: 1, McLeary, FH, 5-2; 2, Salem, R, 5-0; T-3, Gordon, WH, 4-10; T-3, Kocsis, C, 4-10; 5, Ashurst, CC, 4-10; 6, McDevitt, B, 4-10; T-7, Cabala, FH, 4-8; T-7, Taylor, CR, 4-8. Long jump: 1, Rush, S, 17-9.5; 2, Beck, B, 17-0.5; 3, Ross, S, 16-7.5; 4, Yost, R, 16-6; 5, Kane, WH, 16-0.5; 6, Hillegass, CR, 15-11; 7, Webb, FH, 15-9.5; 8, Krug, FH, 15-9.25. Triple jump: 1, Kane, WH, 35-0.75; 2, Beck, B, 34-5; 3, Rush, S, 33-11.5; 4, Hall, C, 33-7; 5, Yost, R, 33-2; 6, McLeary, FH, 32-9.75; 7, Hillegass, CR, 32-9.25; 8, Bainey, BM, 32-1.5. Shot put: 1, Garnett, R, 41-3*; 2, Pablic, CC, 35-6; 3, Garner, C, 35-2; 4, Richard, S, 32-10; 5, Bosch, CR, 32-7; 6, Danel, FH, 31-5; 7, J. Vinglish, PC, 31-3; 8, Primus, CC, 30-11. Discus: 1, Richard, S, 106-3; 2, Bosch, CR, 106-0; 3, Garnett, R, 100-9; 4, McGee, S, 90-9; 5, Allen, S, 85-7; 6, Pablic, CC, 82-9; 7, Ward, J, 82-8; 8, Henderson, FH, 82-1. Javelin: 1, Bosch, CR, 142-9; 2, J. Vinglish, PC, 104-4; 3, K. Vinglish, PC, 102-8; 4, Myers, FH, 100-4; 5, Richard, S, 97-8; 6, Sipes, B, 96-6; 7, Weinzierl, FH, 95-5; 8, McKendree, J, 95-3. Pole vault: 1, Ford, R, 10-6; 2, Krug, FH, 9-6; 3, O'Neil, WH, 8-6; 4, Hampton, FH, 8-0; 5, Jacobs, S, 8-0; 6, Smith, C, 7-6; 7, Kolar, CC, 7-6; 8, Koposko, WH, 7-0. *--Meet record