Making cents of it: Coins help spur title for Altoona

As the stands at Mansion Park began to empty and crews started to clean up following Thursday's District 6 Class 3A track and field championships, Altoona freshman Josie Ciccarella walked back out onto the track one last time.

Ciccarella had a silver medal around her neck that she earned as part of the Lady Lions' 3200-meter relay team and she held a sixth-place ribbon from the 800-meter run in one hand.

In the other, she pulled out a shiny nickel, and it suddenly brought a huge smile to her face.

"(Altoona girls coach Paula) Foreman gave us these nickels for good luck, because they are five cents, and the girls team had not won districts since 2005," Ciccarella said. "At the end, we ended up beating State College by 0.5, which made it extra special. When I realized that we won by 0.5, that's why I just started smiling just now. I knew that was just a sign that we were meant to win today. She gave us these for a reason, and they really helped us push through today. It really helped me place twice today."

Ciccarella helped Altoona earn 11 points Thursday, all of which the Lady Lions needed, in a 182.5-182 victory over State College to claim the District 6 Class 3A girls team title.

"I gave the girls a nickel to hold onto this week as a reminder that 2005 was the last year we won this," Foreman said. "Some of them have been carrying it around all week as a motivator, but I'm telling you, this group of girls worked their butt off, and I couldn't be prouder of them."

Altoona came into the final event of the night, the 1600-meter relay, trailing State College 174-172.5, but the Lady Lions team of Maura Kiser, Ashtyn Hileman, Sarah Graham and Darrian Berkheimer defeated State College in the event by nearly 10 seconds to earn the district championship.

"I am so excited for these girls," Foreman said. "Our coaching staff has worked so hard. We coach by events, so this isn't just a girls win, it's everybody's win. We beat State College by one at the Mountain Lion Classic, so we know State College is always a worthy opponent, but we're thrilled to have the District 6 title back here. The girls are so thrilled."

Individually, Altoona's Brooke Long led the way for the Lady Lions. She won the district title in the triple jump with a performance of 37 feet, 10 inches, just ahead of State College's Shannon Mullin. Mullin got her back in the long jump, but both Mullin and Long advanced to the PIAA meet in both events by reaching the qualifying standard in their runner-up finishes.

"We go against each other a lot, so she's my biggest push by a lot," Long said. "I was very, very happy with my distance. It was a PR for me (in the triple jump)."

Long was also part of the Altoona girls 400-meter relay championship team. Not only did Long, Hileman, Graham and Berkheimer win the district title, but they set a school record and narrowly missed the meet record of 48.59 by finishing in 48.66.

"It's exciting to see them reach that goal, because it's something they have worked for," Foreman said. "They broke the school record, which has stood since 2009, and they worked all season for it. We're hoping that this doesn't end here. We're looking forward to states, especially after losing last year. It's the first school record we have set this year, so we're pretty excited about it."

State College's Casie Eifrig won the 400-meter dash district championship but opted to scratch out of states, meaning Kiser, who finished as the runner-up, will represent District 6 at the PIAA meet in the event.

Hollidaysburg freshman Lily Jodon won the Lady Tigers' only district title of the day by capturing the high jump with a leap of 4 feet, 11 inches, besting Altoona's Jaci Clouser by 2 inches.

"I was hoping to get 5 feet, 1 inch, but it was pretty hot out and pretty exhausting," Jodon said. "I'm very happy to win with these conditions and be moving to states. It's great competing with these girls. It's very fun."

The Cindy Gutzwiller Awards sponsored by the Thomas Musselman Chapter of PIAA Track and Field Officials Team MVPs for Blair County in Class 3A girls track were Berkheimer of Altoona and Riley Tryninewski of Hollidaysburg.

GIRLS

TEAM STANDINGS/KEY

1, Altoona (A) 182.5; 2, State College (SC) 182; 3, Hollidaysburg (H) 92.5; 4, Central Mountain (CM) 87; 5, Somerset (S) 85; 6, Mifflin County (MC) 42; 7, Bellefonte (B) 24; 8, Greater Johnstown (GJ) 2.

RESULTS

100 dash: 1, Rios, S, 12.46; 2, Long, A, 12.58; 3, Hileman, A, 12.93; 4, Berkheimer, A, 13.04; 5, Tryninewski, H, 13.06; 6, Hall, CM, 13.28; 7, Durham, GJ, 13.36; 8, Rager, SC, 13.45. 200 dash: 1, Rios, S, 26.1; 2, Berkheimer, A, 26.29; 3, Hileman, A, 26.69; 4, Graham, A, 27.01; 5, Miller, H, 27.05; 6, Tryninewski, H, 27.36; 7, Eifrig, SC, 27.41; 8, Powers, S, 27.92. 400 dash: 1, Eifrig, SC, 59.4; #2, M. Kiser, A, 1:01.3; 3, L. Kiser, A, 1:02.63; 4, Miller, S, 1:03.5; 5, Urban, S, 1:04.7; 6, Hardy, SC, 1:04.91; 7, Bair, CM, 1:06.01; 8, Curtin, SC, 1:06.76. 800 run: 1, Morningstar, SC, 2:18.56 2, Koncoski, SC, 2:26.53; 3, Bigger, SC, 2:27.21; 4, Clapper, H, 2:33.07; 5, Kelley, A, 2:36.07; 6, Ciccarella, A, 2:39.98; 7, Williams, H, 2:46.99; 8, Wolfe, CM, 2:47.44. 1600 run: 1, Kwasnica, SC, 5:14.58; 2, Kane, SC, 5:26.55; 3, Ikenberry, SC, 5:27.09; 4, Wilber, A, 5:32.94; 5, Parson, MC, 5:43.04; 6, Elmore, B, 5:55.34; 7, Kelley, A, 5:59.49; 8, Dressler, CM, 6:05.05. 3200 run: 1, Reed, SC, 10:58.69; Q-2, Cubbison, MC, 10:59.35; 3, Devan, SC, 11:58.94; 4, Parson, MC, 12:04.6; 5, Wilbur, A, 12:17.57; 6, Langelaan, SC, 12:23.52; 7, Elmore, B, 12:53.83; 8, Shanafelt, H, 12:59.79. 100 hurdles: 1, Stickle, S, 14.93; 2, Rich, CM, 16.72; 3, Kravetz, A, 16.79; 4, Rentz, A, 17.95; 5, Baney, H, 18.2; 6, Rager, SC, 18.34; 7, Jarratt, CM, 18.38; 8, Breon, MC, 19.67. 300 hurdles: 1, Stickle, S, 45.98; 2, Kravetz, A, 49.52; 3, Burk, H, 50.41; 4, Rentz, A, 53.17; 5, Baney, H, 54.83; 6, Kramer, SC, 55.15; 7, Gearhart, B, 56.66; 8, Corl, B, 56.93.

400 relay: 1, Altoona (Long, Hileman, Graham, Berkheimer), 48.66; Q-2, Somerset, 48.83; 3, State College, 52.28; 4, Central Mountain, 52.88; 5, Hollidaysburg, 53.23; 6, Bellefonte, 53.75; 7, Mifflin County, 56.12. 1600 relay: 1, Altoona (M. Kiser, Hileman, Graham, Berkheimer), 4:00.57; 2, State College, 4:10.42; 3, Hollidaysburg (Burk, Clapper, Clayton, Waksmonski), 4:31.2; 4, Central Mountain, 4:36.19; 5, Somerset, 4:53.26; 6, Bellefonte, 4:57.52. 3200 relay: 1, State College (Kwasnica, Reed, Kane, Morningstar), 9:35.69; 2, Altoona (M. Kiser, L. Kiser, Ciccarella, Wilbur), 10:22.97; 3, Hollidaysburg (Clapper, Clayton, Burk, Waksmonski), 10:44.02; 4, Central Mountain, 11:12.39; 5, Bellefonte, 11:25.55; 6, Somerset, 12:10.33; 7, Mifflin County, 12:35.46. High jump: 1, Jodon, H, 4-11; 2, Clouser, A, 4-9; 3, Hendricks, CM, 4-7; 4, Baum, A, 4-5; 5, Bagrosky, MC, 4-3; 6, Acey, S, 4-3; 7, Crowell, CM, 4-1; 8, Ematat, MC, 4-1. Long jump: 1, Mullin, SC, 18-6.25; Q-2, Long, A, 18-3.5; 3, Hendricks, CM, 17-1.5; 4, Miller, H, 16-4.5; 5, Antoniono, SC, 15-11; 6, Rush, S, 15-10.25; 7, Rios, S, 15-7.5; 8, Yoder, MC, 15-5. Triple jump: 1, Long, A, 37-10; Q-2, Mullin, SC, 36-9; 3, Parnell, H, 34-4.25; 4, Rush, S, 34-0.25; 5, Antoniono, SC, 33-3; 6, Yoder, MC, 33-2; 7, Jones, CM, 33-1.5; 8, Kanagy, MC, 33-0.5. Shot put: 1, Eck, CM, 34-9.5; 2, Vangorder, CM, 32-8.25; 3, Bumberger, H, 30-7.5; 4, Dull, A, 30-7.5; 5, Simon, SC, 29-1.75; 6, A. Kiser, A, 28-2.25; 7, Lesher, SC, 27-11.25; 8, Sipes, H, 29-9.5. Discus: 1, Lesher, SC, 96-1; 2, Dull, A, 95-8; 3, Fox, CM, 94-10; 4, A. Kiser, A, 90-0; 5, Rizzo, CM, 89-6; 6, Richard, S, 89-6; 7, Bumberger, H, 87-9; 8, Tilghman, CM, 81-11. Javelin: 1, Ciccolini, MC, 134-10; 2, Eck, CM, 105-6; 3, Underwood, B, 98-2; 4, A. Kiser, A, 95-4; 5, Richard, S, 88-4; 6, Bumberger, H, 87-6; 7, Lesher, SC, 80-3; 8, Tilghman, CM, 80-0. Pole vault: 1, Iceland, SC, 11-0; 2, Sodeinde, SC, 11-0; 3, Neely, SC, 10-0; 4, Wilt, H, 9-6; T-5, Clapper, H, 8-6; T-5, Sassano, A, 8-6; 7, Ansley, H, 8-6; 8, Renninger, CM, 8-0.

Q--Advanced to states by meeting qualifying standard; #--Advanced to states due to scratch.