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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
LOYSBURG -- Northern Bedford has a boys and girls track and field program loaded with promising underclassmen that seems destined for a bright future.
Bedford has a boys and girls track and field program that is enjoying and maximizing the present.
Bedford defended its District 5 team titles in both the boys and girls divisions Wednesday during the District 5 track and field championship meet at Northern Bedford High School's Panther Community Stadium.
Bedford dominated the girls meet by racking up 185 team points and crowning individual champions in five events, with junior Rachel Weber capturing gold medals in both the shot put with a throw of 32 feet, 8 and ¾ inches, and the discus with a throw of 101 feet, eight inches. Other individual district champions for the Bedford girls included Chloe May in the 3200 run with a finish of 11:26.32, Autumn Becker in the 300 hurdles with a time of 48.69, and Jillian Beck in the long jump with an effort of 17 feet, four inches.
The Bedford girls also swept the 400, 1600 and 3200 relay events. Ava Sipes, Jillian Beck, Zoey Zavorotny and Becker won the 400 relay in 50:44, while Becker, Grace Brallier, Mariah Hershberger and Beck won the 1600 relay with a time of 4:11.57. Bedford's 3200 girls relay team of Avery Weaverling, Lindsay Patton, Sophia Raymond and Brallier won with a time of 10:35.43.
Each of Bedford's individual champions and championship relay teams earned the right to advance to the PIAA Class 2A state meet next Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University. Also advancing to states for the Bedford girls in individual events are Katie McDevitt and Brallier, who placed second and third, respectively, in the high jump while both posting state qualifying efforts of 5 feet, 2 inches.
"Our girls team has a lot of depth,'' veteran Bedford coach Brian Creps said. "Our older girls have been performing very well, and our younger girls have really been coming on at the end of the season. I'm real proud of the way both my girls and boys relay teams performed overall today.''
The Bedford boys won its team title with 110 points, nosing out second-place Meyersdale (98). Junior A.J. Koontz won both hurdles events -- the 110 hurdles in 15.36 and the 300 hurdles in 40.71, while Brayden Kane captured first place in the pole vault with an effort of 12 feet even.
All three Bedford boys relay teams also won titles, with the 400 relay team of Ethan Yocum, Cole Taylor, Carson Lynch and Cameron Beck winning in 43.52, the 1600 relay team of Taylor, Brallier, Koontz and Jonathan Gresh winning in 3:27.96, and the 3200 relay team of Taylor, Brallier, Henry Redinger and Gresh winning in 8:39.25.
Koontz was happy about his results Wednesday after having finished second in both hurdles at the district meet last spring and coming up short of a trip to states.
"After last year, I told myself that I had to do it this year,'' Koontz said. "It was pretty much a must win situation for me. It's truly an honor to be going to the state meet. Many great athletes make it to states every year, and I'm happy to be one of them.''
Everett's Jacob Winck will be moving on to states after winning the district championship in the boys 400 dash with a time of 50.72, and Winck's Everett teammate, Maylin Gunby, also punched his ticket to Shippensburg next week by finishing second in the 100 dash with a state qualifying time of 11.21.
Chestnut Ridge's Brielle Taylor won the girls triple jump with an effort of 34 feet, 4 and ½ inches, while Tussey Mountain's Alexis Sumner won the pole vault with an effort of eight feet, six inches.
Neither the Northern Bedford boys or girls teams had a top seed entering Wednesday's district meet, but Northern Bedford sophomore Bella Gable finished second in the girls shot put with a throw of 31 feet, 10 inches, and fourth in the discus with an effort of 84-10.
"She works hard, and she's gotten a lot better this year,'' Northern Bedford coach Marcus Yeatts said. "She actually had an injury early this season that prevented her from practicing for the first couple of weeks of the season, but she has done pretty well.''
Northern Bedford junior Savanna Hershberger finished third in the 1600 run with a time of 5:39.34, and sixth in the 800 run with a time of 2:39.25.
"She's a hard worker and a very good cross country runner,'' Yeatts said of Hershberger. "She came into this season in very good running shape.''
Northern Bedford junior Dhylan Miller placed fourth in two events - finishing the 1600 run in a time of 4:50.95, and the 3200 run in a time of 10:51.62. Another junior for Northern Bedford, Joe O'Brian, placed third in the shot put with a throw of 40 feet, 11 inches.
BOYS
KEY, TEAM SCORING: 1, BED--Bedford, 110; 2, MEY--Meyersdale, 98; 3, EV--Everett, 73.
OTHERS--BB--Berlin Brothersvalley; CR--Chestnut Ridge; CT--Conemaugh Township; MC--McConnellsburg; NB--Northern Bedford; SF--Southern Fulton; SOM--Somerset; TM--Tussey Mountain; WIN--Windber.
SQ--State qualifying time.
100 dash: 1, Ohler, MEY, 10.89. 2, Gunby, EV, 11.21 (SQ). 3, Smith, SOM, 11.38. 4, Beck, BED, 11.50. 5, Updyke, CT, 11.60. 6, Glessner, BB, 11.61. 200 dash: 1, Ohler, MEY, 22.04. 2, Gunby, EV, 22.38. 3, Beck, BED, 23.36. 4, Smith, SOM, 23.43. 5, Sanner, SOM, 23.85. 6, Glessner, BB, 24.00. 4
400 dash: 1, Winck, EV, 50.92. 2, Hersch, MEY, 51.71. 3, Gresh, BED, 51.76. 4, Camisaca, SOM, 53.02. 5, Brallier, BED, 53.59. 6, Johnson, MC, 54.23. 800 run: 1, Hanik, CT, 2:03.20. 2, Mills, EV, 2:03.74. 3, Gresh, BED, 2:04.08. 4, Redinger, BED, 2:09.75. 5, Jefferson, MC, 2:10.25. 6, Ramsey, EV, 2:11.47. 1600 run: 1, McKelvey, WIN, 4:35.05. 2, Myers, CR, 4:44.45. 3, Page, WIN, 4:44.90. 4, Miller, NB, 4:50.95. 5, Weiler, BED, 4:51.70. 6, Hanik, CT, 4:54.31. 3200 run: 1, McKelvey, WIN, 10:22.40. 2, Myers, CR, 10:32.64. 3, Weiler, BED, 10:35.38. 4, Miller, NB, 10:51.62. 5, Fletcher, MC, 10:52.73. 6, Donitzen, MEY, 11:05.45. 400 relay: 1, Bedford (Yocum, Taylor, Lynch, Beck), 43.52. 2, Conemaugh Township, 43.85. 3, Meyersdale, 44.34. 4, Somerset, 45.03. 5, Everett, 45.20. 6, Berlin Brothersvalley, 45.44. 1600 relay: 1, Bedford (Taylor, Brallier, Koontz, Gresh), 3:27.96. 2, Meyersdale, 3:37.10. 3, Everett, 3:40.06. 4, McConnellsburg, 3:43.14. 5, Berlin Brothersvalley, 3:46.64. 6, Windber. 3200 relay: 1, Bedford (Taylor, Redinger, Brallier, Gresh), 8:39.25. 2, Chestnut Ridge, 8:56.76. 3, Everett, 8:59.32. 4, McConnellsburg, 9:06.38. 5, Meyersdale, 9:14.55. 6, Conemaugh Township, 9:18.75.
110 hurdles: 1, Koontz, BED, 15.36. 2, Winck, EV, 15.63. 3, Dran, MEY, 16.36. 4, Hersch, MEY, 16.58. 5, Calhoun, EV, 16.91. 6, Thompson, SOM, 17.06. 300 hurdles: 1, Koontz, BED, 40.71. 2, DiBuono, SOM, 41.73. 3, Hersch, MEY, 41.86. 4, Buterbaugh, MC, 42.91. 5, Mellott, SF, 43.09. 6, Dran, MEY, 43.81. High jump: 1, Sotosky, CT, 6-3. 2, Brenneman, MEY, 5-10. 3, Hilllegass, CR, and Pittman, NB, 5-8. 5, Bhullar, SOM, 8-0. 6, tie, Schrock, BED, and Wojick, NB, 5-6. Long jump: 1, Sotosky, CT, 21-9 ½. 2, Lynch, BED, 21-3 ¾; 3, Klosky, WIN, 20-7. 4, Swank, SOM, 20-1 ½. 5, Shaulis, WIN, 19-7. 6, Heiple, SOM, 18-6 ¾. Triple jump: 1, Sotosky, CT, 42-11 ½; 2, Wolfhope, CR, 42-6 ½. 3, Swank, SOM, 42-1 ½. 4, Klosky, WIN, 41-4 ½. 5, Shaffer, EV, 41-4 ½. 6, Heiple, SOM, 39-6. Shot put: 1, Mostoller, SOM, 42-5 ¼; 2, Richards, WIN, 42-3/4; 3, O'Brian, NB, 40-11. 4, McKenzie, MEY, 40-4; 5, Mobus, EV, 39-9; 6, Brambley, EV, 39-6 ¾. Discus: 1, Synowietz, MEY, 152-0. 2, Brambley, EV, 122-10. 3, Ingraham, BED, 122-04. 4, Sosak, TM, 115-09. 5, Hampton, MC, 113-07. 6, Mostoller, SOM, 111-06. Javelin: 1, Betcher, WIN, 165-9. 2, Hetz, MEY, 155-9. 3, Platt, SOM, 154-2. 4, Barkley, WIN, 150-0. 5, Bard, SF, 149-2. 6, Updyke, CT, 148-6. Pole vault: 1, Kane, BED, 12-0. 2, Ickes, CR, 12-0. 3, Hersch, MEY, 11-6. 4, Showalter, CR, 11-0. 5, Dovey, MC, 10.6. 6, tie, Sherwood and Clark, EV, 9-6.
GIRLS:
KEY, TEAM SCORING: 1, BED--Bedford, 185; 2, CT--Conemaugh Township, 107; 3, SOM--Somerset, 97.
KEY, TEAM SCORING: BB--Berlin Brothersvalley; CR--Chestnut Ridge; EV--Everett; MC--McConnellsburg; MEY--Meyersdale; NB--Northern Bedford; SF--Southern Fulton; TM--Tussey Mountain; WIN--Windber.
100 dash: 1, Slezak, CT, 12.27. 2, Ross, SOM, 12.70. 3, Sipes, BED, 12.83. 4, Smith, SOM, 13.21. 5, Kreydatus, CR, 13.23. 6, LaMarche, BED, 13.56. 200 dash: 1, Slezak, CT, 25.27. 2, Ross, SOM, 26.46. 3, Sipes, BED, 26.90. 4, Speigle, CT, 27.63. 5, McAllister, BED, 27.89. 6, Kreydatus, CR, 28.10. 400 dash: 1, Spiegle, CT, 59.94. 2, Bozovich, BB, 1:00.35. 3, McAllister, BED, 1:02.91. 4, Hershberger, BED, 1:03.59. 5, Black, CT, 800 run: 1, Fisher, SOM, 2:23.12. 2, Weaverling, BED, 2:30.55. 3, Patton, BED, 2:34.77. 4, Hostetter, CT, 2:37.09. 5, Hiller, SF, 2:37.21. 6, Hershberger, NB, 2:39.25. 1600 run: 1, Fisher, SOM, 5:11.70. 2, May, BED, 5:16.59. 3, Hershberger, NB, 5:39.34. 4, Russo, WIN, 5:57.99. 5, Wise, BED, 5:59.02. 6, Comfort, MEY, 6:01.64. 3200 run: 1, May, BED, 11:26.32. 2, Fisher, SOM, 11:32.40. 3, Russo, WIN, 12:57.60. 4, Comfort, MEY, 13:03.45. 5, Wise, BED, 13:28.70. 6, Pemberton, BED, 13:41.02. 400 relay: 1, Bedford (Sipes, Beck, Zavorotny, Becker), 50.44. 2, Somerset, 50.84. 3, Berlin Brothersvalley, 52.41. 4, Windber, 55.05. 5, Conemaugh Township, 55.33. 6, Chestnut Ridge, 55.95. 1600 relay: 1, BED--Bedford (Becker, Brallier, Hershberger, Beck), 4:11.57. 2, Conemaugh Township; 3, Berlin Brothersvalley; 4, Windber; 5, Somerset; 6, McConnellsburg. 3200 relay: 1, Bedford (Weaverling, Patton, Raymond, Brallier), 10:35.43. 2, Conemaugh Township, 10:48.03. 3, Windber, 10:52.56. 4, McConnellsburg, 11:40.19. 5, Meyersdale, 12:02.68. 6, Somerset, 12:46.84.
100 hurdles: 1, Ickes, BB, 16.12. 2, Becker, BED, 16.70. 3, Housley, SOM, 16.72. 4, Hillegass, SOM, 16.73. 5, Sleek, CT. 17.01. 6, Dodson, CR, 17.34. 300 hurdles: 1, Becker, BED, 48.69. 2, Dodson, CR, 49.74. 3, Housley, SOM, 50.52. 4, Glessner, BB, 51.02. 5, Shuster, WIN, 51.99. 6, Foor, BB, 52.21. High jump: 1, Sleek, CT, 5-6 (district record). 2, McDevitt, BED, 5-2 (SQ). 3, Brallier, BED, 5-2 (SQ). 4, Holmes, SOM, 5-0. 5, Taylor, CR, 4-10. 6, Hasenbuhler, FM, 4-10. Long jump: 1, Beck, BED, 17-4. 2, Shaffer, EV, 16-2. 3, Housley, SOM, 15-10 1/4. 4, Taylor, CR 15-9 3/4. 5, Fairman, BB, 15-6. 6, LaMarche, BED, 15-5 1/2. Triple jump: 1, Taylor, CR, 34-4 ½. 2, Beck, BED, 33-7 ¾. 3, Carney, WIN, 33-7. 4, Housley, SOM, 33-2. 5, Ickes, BB, 32-4. 6, Edwards, BED, 31-8 ½. Shot put: 1, Weber, BED, 32-8 ¾. 2, Gable, NB, 31-10. 3, McCann, CT, 28-11 ¼. 4, McGee, SOM, 28-4 ½; 5, Reichold, SOM, 27-8. 6, Boring, CT, 27-3 ½. Discus: 1, Weber, BED, 101-8. 2, McCann, CT, 92-9. 3, Swope, BED, 85-4. 4, Gable, NB, 84-10. 5, Reichold, SOM, 82-7. 6, Shearer, MC, 81-10. Javelin: 1, McCann, CT, 112-4. 2, Reynolds, CT 101-2. 3, Sipes, BED, 101-1. 4, Parks, CR, 98-9. 5, Richards, EV, 98-0. 6, Guyer, MC, 97-10. Pole vault: 1, Sumner, TM, 8-6. 2, Glessner, BB, 8-6. 3, tie, Genditzki, BED, and Martz, BED. 8-0. 5, Hostetter, CT, 8-0. 6, Zavortny, BED, 7-6.