Track season kicks off in a big way for area athletes
Mother Nature gave area athletes a break Saturday after almost ruining the preseason with treacherous practice conditions - and area athletes kicked off the season strong at the 12th annual Tim Cook Invitational on Saturday at Chambersburg.
Franklin and Fulton counties racked up eight first-place finishes, including two meet records - and numerous other top placewinners in the first meet of the season.
Chambersburg's Kelton Chastulik crushed the meet record, set by friend and rival Campbell Parker of Greencastle-Antrim last year, by six feet, and also broke his own school record by a foot with a winning throw of 58-06.
More: Throwing events shine at Tim Cook Invitational
The girls 4x800 relay was highlighted by a record-breaking performance by Chambersburg, which broke the former meet record by eight seconds with a finish in 9:39.48, thanks to an outstanding last leg by anchor Abby Yourkavitch.
Despite Kaylee Mowery's efforts to create a gap between Chambersburg and Carlisle, Meg Lebo of the Thundering Herd came storming back in the final stretch of the race. And although Yourkavitch was behind heading into the final lap, her kick proved to be the deciding factor in the last 200 meters as Chambersburg took the gold.
Yourkavitch said, "When Meg caught me with one lap to go I kind of gave up. I just thought I wasn't going to catch her, but I saw the gap close little by little and I just went for it. Running at 2:17 was something a couple of years ago I never thought I'd be able to do, so I'm thrilled with it."
"Last year at this meet we were just trying to get under 10 minutes, and we completely destroyed that at 9:39," said Cadie Kiser, the first-leg runner (Sydney Parson was the third leg). "Our next goal is to break our school record."
Yourkavitch also claimed the 3200 in 11:10.09, and Mowery placed third in the 1600, crossing the line in 5:25.24. Greencastle's Lauren Hirneisen placed sixth in the mile with a time of 5:32.71.
G-A freshman Taryn Parks won her first big high school event in the 800, crushing the competition by nearly 10 seconds with a finish of 2:23.33. The next area finisher to cross the line was Parson in 2:40.14.
"The weather was great and the location is awesome," Parks said. "(In the 800) my coach suggested maybe going for the meet record, but I wasn't really feeling that today. I was just hoping to place first and I would have liked to PR, but it was a good race."
Kaleb Hurley of Greencastle medaled in the boys 800, placing third in 2:04.32. Teammate Darius Carter placed second in the 300 hurdles (42.48) and sixth in the 110 hurdles (16.18).
"Everyone is a little behind in terms of their technical things; we haven't had much time to work on hurdles yet, but Darius matched his PR in the 110 hurdles and the 300, so that was nice," Greencastle coach Devin McCauley said. "This was our first year doing indoor and Darius was one of the ones who took us up on the opportunity, so all winter he's been working out and it's not surprising he came out and looked as solid as he did."
Chambersburg freshman Tyeshawn Worrell kicked off his career with a second-place finish in the boys 100, crossing the line in 11.43. Teammate Quintan Barbour placed second in the 400 in 51.89. Worrell and Barbour also aided the Chambersburg 4x400 relay team to a second-place finish, running the leadoff leg and the anchor, respectively. Luke Myers and Trayton Barnette also aided the second-place finish in 3:34.79.
"We had a great day on the track," Chambersburg girls coach Chris Monheim said. "Our 4x100 relay (Breya Clopper, Camryn Greenlee, Ariana Appenzeller and Sydnie Gilbert) ran a 50.55 (for third place), and we practiced handoffs one day. That's a really good sign. They are going to be a big factor for us in the postseason."
McConnellsburg's McKenzie Gelvin won the 400 for the second straight year in 59.35, crossing the line less than two seconds slower than her meet record. Chambersburg's Maya Washington placed fourth in 1:04.44.
Waynesboro's Madeline Spears placed second in the girls long jump (16-10.75), while Gelvin placed seventh with her best of 15-08.75.
Mercersburg Academy's Mikale Williams won the triple jump with a leap of 43-10. Shippensburg's Cody Gustafson placed fourth in the same event with a jump of 42-7.25.
Tim Cook Invitational Results
GIRLS
100: 1.Grace Gillespie (Cedar Cliff), 12.77; 4.Camryn Greenlee (Chambersburg), 13.05; 6.Finley Stewart (Mercersburg Academy), 13.27; 8.Skylar Lambert (Waynesboro), 13.71
200: 1.Gillespie (C.Cliff), 25.72; 5.Ariana Appenzellar (Chbg), 26.73; 11.Lambert (Way), 27.98; 14.Secret Shaffer (Chbg), 28.18
400: 1.McKenzie Gelvin (McConnellsburg), 59.35; 4.Maya Washington (Chbg), 1:04.44; 11.Riley Gelsinger (Greencastle-Antrim), 1:06.12; 15.Haley Devers (Way), 1:08.20
800: 1.Taryn Parks (GA), 2:23.33; 10.Sydney Parson (Chbg), 2:40.14; 12.Campbell Drennan (Merc), 2:41.08; 14.Megan Pomeroy (Shippensburg), 2:41.38; 15.Ashlyn Beck (Way), 2:44.28
1600: 1.Meg Lebo (Carlisle), 5:20.42; 3.Kaylee Mowery (Chbg), 5:25.24; 6.Lauren Hirneisen (GA), 5:32.71; 9.Cadie Kiser (Chbg), 5:37.53; 12.Ashley Noblit (GA), 5:50.40; 15. Virginia Cooley (Way), 5:56.87
3200: 1.Abby Yourkavitch (Chbg), 11:10.90 4.Livvy Sommers (Chbg), 12:23.41; 11.Ava Franklin (Ship), 13:24.72; 14.Renee Sollenbeger (James Buchanan), 13:30.63
100 H: 1.Najae Nickerson (Car), 15.76; 5.Sydnie Gilbert (Chbg), 17.29; 6.Caroline Hance (Chbg), 17.51
300 H: 1.Natalie Barnes (Stone Bridge), 48.51; 11.Clopper (Chbg), 52.79; 12.Morgan Mentzer (Chbg), 53.35; 15.Emily Newman (JB), 55.70
4x100 relay: 1.CD East, 49.94; 3.Chambersburg (Clopper, Greenlee, Appenzellar, Gilbert), 50.55
4x400 Relay: 1.Carlisle, 4:07.75; 3.Greencastle (Sydney Bowen, Gelsinger, Hirneisen, Lyza Martin), 4:23.29
4x800 Relay: 1.Chambersburg (Kiser, Mowery, Parson, Yourkavitch), 9:39.48
Shot put: 1.Jenay Faulkner (GA), 38-10.25; 5.Reagan Winebrenner (Chbg), 32-8.5; 6.Isiuwa Oghagbon (Merc), 32-6; 10.Natalie Arnoult (GA), 28-11; Mya Graves (Way), 28-1.75; Taliyah Capps (Way), 27-4
Javelin: 1.Skylar Ciccolini (Mifflin County), 140-7; 4.Keri Gearhart (GA), 117-7; 6.Faulkner (GA), 112-2; 7.Jenna Mongold (JB), 108-9; 9.Brynn Vandegriff (Chbg), 97-1; 10.Emily Henke (Way), 94-5; 13.Katie Carbaugh (Chbg), 90-5; 15.Hailey Gettel (Ship), 87-11
Discus: 1.Piper Klinger (Selinsgrove), 136-5;4.Isiuwa Oghagbon (Merc), 112-1; 6.Winebrenner (Chbg), 104-09; Alivia Martin (GA), 89-1
Long jump: 1.Barnes (Stone Bridge), 17-0.5; 2.Madeline Spears (Way), 16-10.75; 7.Gelvin (McConn), 15-8.75; 8.Sarah Strohm (Ship), 15-8.75; 11.Washington (Chbg), 15-1.75; 12.Alexis Dougherty (GA), 14-10.75; 13.Clopper (Chbg), 14-9
High jump: 1.Genesis Mercedes (Gettysburg), 5-2; 9.Jaelynn Walker (Chbg), 4-8
Triple jump: 1.Hahhan Baddick (Gett), 36-0; 6.Sarah Strohm (Ship), 33-3.25; 9.Leann Nabua (Way), 32-2.25; 10.Jocelyn Kibbe (Chbg), 32-0.25; 13.Spears (Way), 31-4; 15.Jalene Hummer (GA), 30-0.75
Pole vault: 1.Regan Line (CD East), 10-0; 2.Kibbe (Chbg), 9-6; 4.Walker (Chbg), 8-6
BOYS
100: 1.Prince Gaye (Car), 11.21; 2.Tyeshawn Worrell (Chbg), 11.43
200: 1.Aaron Arp (CDE), 22.15; 5.Tony Fugate (GA), 23.73; 11.Jacob Cox (Ship), 24.35; 13.Cormac Houpt (JB), 24.57
400: 1.Seth Phillips (Miff.Co.), 50.87; 2.Quintan Barbour (Chbg), 51.89; 7.Dan Corcoran (JB), 52.97; 8.Fugate (GA), 53.07; 10.Adam Houser (Ship), 53.27
800: 1.Isaac Kole (Car), 1:58.15; 3.Kaleb Hurley (GA), 2:04.32; 8.Andrew Johnson (GA), 2:06.79; 9.Leab Dalton (JB), 2:07.71; 11.Quinn Mangan (Chbg), 2:10.97; 13.Alex Solganik (Merc), 2:12.12; 15.Jacob Asbach (JB), 2:13.15
1600: 1.Sam Affolder (Car), 4:23.32; 7.Donovan Hazelton (Chbg), 4:50.17; 12.Marcus Cooley (Way), 4:53.09; 14.Rylan Hummer (GA), 4:54.85
3200: 1.William Jones (St. Maria Goretti), 9:32.58; 5.Andrew Feldman (Chbg), 10:28.95 7.Christopher Maichle (Way), 10:43.02; 13.Adam Cromwell (Merc), 11:05.08; 14.Sam Morgan (Mercy), 11:05.75; Dylan Neikirk (GA), 11:06.88
110 HH: 1.Mychael Thomas (Car), 15.0; 5.Trayton Barnette (Chbg), 16.01; 6.Darius Carter (GA), 16.18
300 H: 1.Josh Breece (Stone Bridge), 41.98; 2. Carter (GA), 42.48; 3.Barnette (Chbg), 42.74; 4.Thomas Langdon (Chbg), 43.31; 10.Michael Reich (Ship), 44.86; 15.Jae-Lin Carmack (JB), 46.71
4x100 relay: 1.Susquehanna Twp., 43.58
4x400 relay: 1.Carlisle, 3:29.63; 2.Chambersburg ( Worrell, Luke Myers, Barnette, Barbour), 3:34.79; 4.Greencastle (Antwoine Carter, D.Carter, Fugate, Hurley), 3:40.62
4x800 relay: 1.Carlisle, 7”57.05; 4.Chambersburg (Myers, Mangan, James Merkle, Feldman), 8:41.03
Shot put: 1.Kelton Chastulik (Chbg), 58-6; 3.Campbell Parker (GA), 52-8; 4.Myles Braxton (Chbg), 48-5; 9.Derek Moore (Chbg), 45-03
Javelin: 1.Josh Eidemiller (Lampeter-Strasburg), 178-11; 8.Nathan Reed (Chbg), 152-7
Discus: 1. Parker (GA), 169-8; 2.Chastulik (Chbg), 163-10; 7.Braxton (Chbg), 139-9; 9.Denny Santana (Ship), 135-10
Long jump: 1.Quyyim Ali (Williamsport), 22-4.5; 4.Reed (Chbg), 20-6.5; 5.Mikale Williams (Merc), 20-6; 6.Alonzo Coleman (Merc), 20-5; 14.Kyrin Zimmerman (GA), 18-10; 15.Carson McGregor (Way), 18-3.25
High jump: 1.Ali (Williamsport), 6-8; 4.Bendell Clayton (JBn), 5-10
Triple jump: 1.Williams (Merc), 43-10; 4.Cody Gustafson (Ship), 42-7.25; 7.Reed (Chbg) 41-1.75
Pole vault: 1.Payton Morris (East Pennsboro), 15-0; 4.Chase Diehl (Ship) 12-0; 7.Levi Moats (Way), 10-6; 8.Sean McCormick (Chbg), 10-6; 9.Aiden Mickley (JB), 10-6; 10.Dillon Labonte (Ship) 10-0