Kravetz assures herself of medal
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
SHIPPENSBURG -- Two area female athletes finished eighth in events Friday afternoon at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium on the first day of the PIAA track and field championships, but they had vastly different reactions to accomplishing the feat.
Altoona senior Hailey Kravetz wasn't happy with her performance in the 300 hurdle prelims and as she caught her breath, she gave a despondent look toward the scoreboard.
Convinced her time had not made the top eight needed to qualify, she walked away from the scorer's tent with her head down, retrieved her bag and walked off the track.
Only after she exited was she informed that she had qualified for Saturday's final with an eighth-place time of 44.8 seconds.
"At first I didn't even think I made it," Kravetz said. "I was trying to calculate the times in my head. I was upset, but seeing that I'm in makes me feel so much better."
Kravetz has guaranteed herself a medal, but she's hoping that she can move up during the final race of her high school career before she heads off to Pitt. The Altoona record holder in the event knows she has room for improvement.
"It's not what I wanted, but I got in so that's all that matters," Kravetz said. "I have tomorrow. It's whoever shows up tomorrow. I clipped the hurdle coming off the bend. That definitely slowed me down."
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Central senior Delaney Hall picked the best time to have her career-best long jump.
Hall, who finished third in District 6, bested Huntingdon's Hayden Mark and Tyrone's Rebecca Lewis on her way to an eighth-place medal with a jump of 17 feet, 2.5 inches.
"I'm so happy," Hall said. "I came in seeded 19th, so I wasn't really expecting it. I put all the glory into God. I PR'd by three inches. I just came off running the 400 relay, so I had my adrenaline still pumping, and I used it on jumping high and far."
Mark was 10th with a distance of 16-9.75, and Lewis, finished 20th in 16-0.25.
Other results
n Altoona's Ashlyn Noce finished 30th in the 3A 1600 race in 5:16.43.
n Central's Madison Kennedy finished 16th in the 2A javelin with a throw of 110-6.
n Portage's Cami Burkett was 21st in the 100 dash preliminaries with a time of 12.72, and Tyrone's Rebecca Lewis was 29th in 13.18. Burkett was 13th in the 200 prelims with a time of 26.1 while Lewis scratched.
n Central Cambria's Alaina Sheehan finished 28th in the 2A 1600 race in 5:39.53.
n Rachel McClellan of Cambria Heights was 23rd with a time of 16.75 in the 2A 100 hurdles qualifying.
n Kravetz was 22nd in the 3A 100 hurdles in 15.89.
n Central Cambria's 1600 relay team finished 17th in the 2A race in 4:12.61, and Altoona was 23rd in the 3A race in 4:08.97.
n Tyrone's 400 relay team finished 17th in qualifying in 50.35 in 2A, Central was 23rd in 51.4, and the Altoona girls were 23rd in 49.3 in 3A.
n Triumph Kilmartin jumped 36-3.5 to finish 13th in the 3A triple jump, and teammate Jill Long ended up 19th with a distance of 35-7.25.
n River Valley's Sara McConnell won the PIAA 2A championship in the high jump by clearing 5-7. Conemaugh Township's Baylee Sleek was second, clearing 5-6.
n West Branch's Marley Croyle won a silver medal in the 2A javelin with a throw of 139 feet. It was the first medal earned at the PIAA meet by a female from the school.
n Richland's Sasha Garnett won a silver medal in the discus with a throw of 131-2.