Mirror photo by Michael Boytim Hollidaysburg’s Caden DeLattre leaps to a third-place finish in the PIAA Class 3A triple jump on Friday at Shippensburg University.

PC’s McDermott fourth

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

SHIPPENSBURG — Hollidaysburg senior Caden DeLattre has shown plenty of flashes of brilliance during his sports career as member of the Golden Tigers.

He holds school records in the long jump and triple jump in track and field and is the career leader at Hollidaysburg in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns as an all-state football player.

He also owns a sixth-place PIAA Class 3A medal in the triple jump from his sophomore year.

Friday in his last event as a Golden Tiger, DeLattre wanted to go out with his best effort yet, and that’s exactly what he did in earning a bronze medal in the triple jump with a distance of 46 feet, 11 inches at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.

DeLattre said he’s been hampered by fouls in his big meets, so making a distance that qualified him for the finals on his first attempt put him at ease.

“I felt pretty good going into it,” DeLattre said. “I had to mentally prepare myself just to get a jump, get a mark, because the last few years I have been scratching in my big meets at districts and states. So, just to get a mark on my first jump was a big confidence boost right off the bat.”

Jordan Sowell of Cheltenham broke the PIAA record to win the event with a 50-6.

“I’m very happy with third,” DeLattre said. “If I would have gotten second, it would have been even better, but I’m very happy and so blessed to have the abilities to come out and do this.”

In addition to his bronze medal, DeLattre also broke both the long and triple jump record at the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference meet this year in the Golden Tigers’ first year in the conference.

“It feels great to be here and to place third my senior year in my last meet ever,” DeLattre said. “It’s awesome.”

Altoona’s Xavier Williams earned an eighth-place medal in the event with a distance of 45-0.25 but was disappointed with not placing higher. Moments after receiving his medal, he had trouble on the first hurdle in his 110-meter preliminary and finished 17th in 14.91, well above times he had been posting.

The area’s second-highest medal of the day went to Penn Cambria’s Carter McDermott, who narrowly missed a state championship in the Class 2A long jump.

McDermott placed fourth with a jump of 22-10.25, but he was called for a foul on his final attempt, which drew gasps from the large crowd in attendance.

“I thought I was going to take it all with that one right there, I’m not going to lie,” McDermott said. “It was probably the best jump of my whole high school career, and I scratched it.”

Combined with missing out on third by less than half an inch, McDermott was visibly frustrated.

“My short-term goal was to get a banner in the school, but you need to place in the top three,” McDermott said. “I didn’t get that by a quarter of an inch, which hurts a lot.”

Following the foul call, McDermott stayed at the end of the pit with his hands on his head for several moments.

“I didn’t think I fouled, but I guess I did,” McDermott said. “They called a toe foul. Maybe an inch over, maybe not even.”

Tyrone’s Brady Ronan also suffered some heartbreak in the event, finishing ninth and just missing a medal with a jump of 21-6.25.

Penn Cambria star senior Josh Stolarski ran the 400 dash in 48.92 seconds to qualify as the top seed and was third in the 200 dash with a time of 22.33.

“I was just trying to keep it low key and not put too much effort out,” Stolarski said. “Tomorrow is the real day. Today is just a tune up. More of a workout than anything.”

Stolarski is trying to defend his PIAA championship in the 400.

“I mean 48.9 is OK. I opened my first 200 fast and then I really coasted the whole way home,” Stolarski said. “Same with the 200. I opened that 150 fast, but when I got around the kid in the third lane, I just stayed in front of him to edge it out and keep as much strength for tomorrow.”

Stolarski thinks he has a good chance for a second gold medal in his favorite event on Saturday and would like to collect his first 200 gold as well.

“Definitely the 400,” Stolarski said. “I don’t want to be cocky, but I feel like I can definitely come away with the 400. My goal for that is 47.1 and the U.S. top 50 list. I have had my eye on it for the whole year. To get that would be incredible. In the 200, (Meyersdale’s) Tristin Ohler is going to be pretty big competition, and the only two guys under 22 are myself and (Mount Carmel’s) Xavier Diaz. We’ll see what happens.”

Stolarski just missed qualifying for the 100 dash finals with a time of 11.06 that was good enough for 11th place, but he said missing that event on Saturday should help him.

“Coming out of the district meet, I wanted to scratch the 100, because having that before the 400 gets me tired,” Stolarski said. “I’m not performing my best with it in my legs to be fresh for the 400 tomorrow is going to be big.”

Hollidaysburg’s Isaac Yarnell assured himself of a medal in the 3A 100 dash with a preliminary time of 10.74, which earned him the fifth seed going into Saturday’s race.

Yarnell finished 15th in 22.09 in the 200 and did not qualify for the final.

Bellwood-Antis hurdler Kole Dickinson got a moment in the spotlight after he was bumped into and interfered with during his heat of the 300 hurdles, just as he was in the hurdles during the Mountain Lion Classic.

This time, instead of running the heat over, Dickinson ran the race over by himself with the entire stadium cheering him on.

“I think it’s crazy,” Dickinson said. “I got through it. It’s pretty difficult not having anyone to pace you and push you through it, but hearing the crowd cheer you on really helps.”

Dickinson ended up running it in 41.34 seconds, which put him 17th and short of Saturday’s finals, but he got a moment he’ll remember forever.

“I’m above satisfied with how I did this year,” Dickinson said. “I’m happy and glad I got to end it on this note running by myself here at states.”

Other results

n Central’s Thaide Mickel was 34th in 11.44 in the 100 dash preliminaries.

n Altoona’s Nathan Lutz cleared 14 feet in the 3A pole vault to finish in 10th place.

n B-A’s Dickinson was 14th in 2A 110 hurdle preliminaries in 15.5.

n Penn Cambria’s Aaron Brumbaugh was 20th in the 2A javelin with a throw of 137-2.

n Huntingdon’s Tyler Radar won a fourth-place medal in the 2A 1600 run in 4:17.36, and Central Cambria’s Dom Kuntz was 27th in 4:31.41.

n Hollidaysburg’s Blaise Wills was 15th in the 3A 400 qualifying with a time of 49.89.

n Central’s Jack Dunn was 20th in the 2A boys high jump, clearing 5-10.

n Bishop Carroll’s Brode Ryan was 21st in the 2A discus with a throw of 113-3.

n Altoona senior Bron Mosley threw 51-6 to finish 14th in the 3A shot put.

n The Tyrone boys 400 relay team finished 28th in qualifying with a time of 44.44, and the 1600 relay team finished 26th in 3:34.25.

n Bedford’s A.J. Koontz guaranteed himself a medal in the 300 hurdles with a time of 39.8 and then helped the Bisons lock up a spot in Saturday’s final in the 1600 relay time a time of 3:24.86 along with Cole Taylor, Joseph Brallier and Jonathan Gresh. The time broke a Bedford school record from 1990.

n Penns Manor’s Alex Polenik won the PIAA 2A championship in the discus with a throw of 171 feet. Meyersdale’s Jordan Synowietz was second with a throw of 159-7.

n Butler’s Drew Griffith set a PIAA and NFHS record with a time of 3:57.08 in winning the 3A 1600.