Altoona girls track and field star Noel punches ticket to Shippensburg for states

Altoona's Kihlee Noel won the AAA shot put with a throw of 38-07.50. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
For many athletes, winning a district championship is a moment of great joy that pays off a lot of hard work and dedication.
Altoona junior Kihlee Noel finished off her win in the shot put at Wednesday’s District 6 Class 3A championships at Mansion Park with her best throw of the day and calmly collected her shot while never breaking her game face.
“A lot of people, after I win or get an impressive mark, ask me why I don’t smile,” Noel said. “I think it’s just that I’m always expecting myself to do better.”
While Noel expects a lot out of herself, no one else was in her league on the first day of the two-day meet. She won the shot put over runner-up Lydia Tate of State College by more than 2 feet.
“It was a good feeling,” Noel said. “That’s a decent mark for me. I’m just hoping I can throw a little farther at states and hopefully set a new PR there.”
Noel had already reached the state qualifying standard on her third throw, so she was never in danger of missing next week’s PIAA championships once the finals began, which helped her better her distance.
“It’s definitely a relief and lets you just go out there and throw,” Noel said. “It helps you relax and do the best that you can, because I know I’m already going.”
While Noel was wrapping up a District 6 championship, two of her Altoona teammates were on the way to their own.
Altoona sophomore Ashlyn Noce held off Somerset’s Emily Fisher in the 1600-meter run to win that championship. Noce finished with a new personal best time of 5:00.59 just ahead of Fisher’s 5:01.15.
“I’m really happy, especially because I made a PR by two seconds,” Noce said. “I knew that I had done the work with my training and that whatever happened in the race happened. I’m happy to have the opportunity to run.”
Fisher helped push Noce, as did the clock she was staring at down the final stretch.
“When there is good competition in the race, it really pushes me to be the best I can,” Noce said. “I was really hoping for sub-5:00, but I know it’s going to come, so I’m not upset with my time.”
Altoona’s only senior to win a championship on Wednesday always has extremely high standards as well.
Xavier Midder said he was happy to win the triple jump, in which he got tough competition from Bellefonte’s Zane Hummel, who reached the state qualifying standard to advance, but with the two-day meet meaning he had only the triple jump and the hurdles trials, Midder was hoping for a more eye-popping number than his 47 feet, 7 inches.
“I’m glad I won,” Midder said. “I’m not disappointed with the jump. It was pretty solid. I’ll take my 47 and won’t complain, but I would like to do better at states.”
Midder has been competing in track and field for only three years, and the triple jump isn’t an easy event to learn.
“It’s a really technical event,” Midder said. “You’re putting a lot of force on your body. Probably about 10 times the amount of your body weight in your phases. It’s tough on your body, and if you aren’t taking care of yourself — you are going to hurt yourself. Learning it, I just adapted my style.”
Midder will be among the favorites in the 110-meter hurdles and the long jump in today’s second half of the meet.
In other action, Altoona’s Jill Long placed third (36-9.25) and met the state qualifying standard in the triple jump to advance to the PIAA meet. State College’s Sanai Abdullah won the event with a jump of 38 feet, 8.5 inches.
The boys 1600 run was historic with the top three runners all breaking the previous meet record. In the end, Mifflin County junior Carter Smith, who won a cross country state title in the fall, broke the meet and facility record with a time of 4:08.08, which was actually about four seconds slower than his personal-best time.
BOYS
TEAM KEY
SC–State College; A–Altoona; H–Hollidaysburg; MC–Mifflin County; B–Bellefonte; S–Somerset; CM–Central Mountain; J–Johnstown.
INDIVIDUAL
1600 run: *1, Smith, MC, 4:08.08; 2, Opperman, SC, 4:11.7 (SQ); 3, Coughlin, SC, 4:12.79 (SQ); 4, Bradbury, SC, 4:18.84 (SQ); 5, Woomer, A, 4:36.79; 6, Williams, B, 4:37.43; 7, Quinn, A, 4:40.25; 8, Gasper, B, 4:40.29. Triple jump: 1, Midder, A, 47-7; 2, Hummel, B, 45-9.25 (SQ); 3, DeLattre, H, 43-8.75; 4, Swank, S, 41-10.75; 5, Warren, CM, 41-2.25; 6, Plank, MC, 40-10.25; 7, Brinker, CM, 40-3.75; 8, Mayville, SC, 40-3.75. Shot put: 1, Pak-Blyzniuk, SC, 50-9.25; 2, Harrington, A, 49-1; 3, Clemons, SC, 45-1.75; 4, Troutman, A, 44-8.5; 5, Albright, H, 43-6; 6, Kirsch, H, 42-11; 7, Holmes, S, 42-5.75; 8, Connor, J, 42-0.
GIRLS
TEAM KEY
SC–State College; A–Altoona; S–Somerset; B–Bellefonte; H–Hollidaysburg; MC–Mifflin County; CM–Central Mountain.
INDIVIDUAL
1600 run: 1, Noce, A, 5:00.59; 2, Fisher, S, 5:01.15 (SQ); 3, Younkin, SC, 5:06.61 (SQ); 4, Wadhia, SC, 5:19.03; 5, Carney, H, 5:19.32; 6, Jackson, SC, 5:19.53; 7, Keohane, CM, 5:23.48; 8, Kratzer, MC, 5:25.47. Triple jump: 1, Abdullah, SC, 38-8.5; 2, Sekhon, SC, 36-10.5 (SQ); 3, Long, A, 36-9.25 (SQ); 4, Kilmartin, A, 36-7.5; 5, Hudson, A, 35-8.25; 6, Housley, S, 34-0.75; 7, Laws, SC, 33-8.25; 8, Clinard, MC, 30-11.75. Shot put: 1, Noel, A, 38-7.5; 2, Tate, SC, 36-1; 3, Brick, H, 32-11; 4, Lipski, SC, 32-5; 5, Miller, B, 31-4.75; 6, Harris, SC, 28-7; 7, Reichhold, S, 28-3; 8, Yost, A, 27-7.75. Pole vault: 1, Schellenberg, B, 11-1; 2, Roop, SC, 9-6; 3, Smith, S, 9-6; 4, Ross, MC, 9-0; 5, Banker, SC, 8-6; T-6, Mitchell, A, 8-6; T-6, E. Adams, A, 8-6; 8, Muth, H, 8-6.
*Meet records; SQ–Advanced to state meet through qualifying standard