Lower Merion, Harriton Compete in Central League Track Championships

The Central League track championships represent that last test, the final big meet where athletes can hone their technique, where they can fine tune and slice off more seconds of their times. Wednesday’s league championship also meant a variety of things to a number of athletes competing.

With the District 1 Championships next Thursday and Friday at Coatesville, the Central League championship represented the final tuneup before qualifying for the state championship.

Radnor’s Lydia Ali was the sprint star, taking the 200 and 400, while Lower Merion junior Eliana Yankelev stood out winning the 100-meter hurdles and high jump, and Marple Newtown’s Andrew Brandt captured his first league championship, winning the boys’ high jump.

Haverford also had an excellent day, as the Fords’ Mike Pettit won the 400-meter dash and Woo Kim in the 800 on the boys’ side, while Haverford had Sophia and Tess Meehan, Melissa Scanzano and Nataya Worthington all winners in the girls’ side. In the field events, Penncrest’s Chris Amabile took the shot put, and Radnor’s Troy Makous won the pole vault.

But it was Ali again, the defending PIAA state 100-meter champion, that saw a dramatic drop in her 200-meter time, when she ran a personal best 24.3 seconds, something she didn’t even expect to do.

“No, not really, I didn’t see 24.3 at all,” Ali said. “Like any meet, I came into this with the intention to do my best and see what happens. This is the last meet before districts and I wanted to make it a good one. The 24.3 was good, it tells me all my hard work this year is paying off. But we’ll see what I run at districts. I’m still debating between the 200 and 400, because I like them off.”

Yankelev also starred. She had probably the most grueling day of anyone competing Wednesday. She left the high jump to immediately compete in the 100-meter hurdles prelim race, then after the race, ran right back to the high jump, where she leaped 5-feet, 2-inches to win.

“This was important because last year at this time, I was hurt,” Yankelev said. “These are my first league championship medals. It was frustrating, real frustrating last year. There was tendontitis and I feel better now. For me, it’s a big day, and hopefully I could use this for the districts. The goal is to be in the top four in the 100 hurdles for districts, and this is about getting ready for next week.”

The 6-foot-7 Brandt also won a league title for the first time. The Marple Newtown basketball player jumped 6-foot-4 to capture the high jump, and he reached that after missing his first attempt at 6-foot-2.

“I had to adjust my steps, and once I did, I was fine, I easily got 6-2 on my second attempt,” Brandt said. “I just starting high jumping a few years ago, for me, it’s really fun. It’s helps my basketball a little. But I didn’t see this coming, I didn’t expect to win this. I thought I’d get second, because I never beat [Ridley’s Derek] Dawson before, so this was another first. I’m looking forward to districts and hopefully some bigger things ahead.”

Boys Results

1,600 Meter Run

1. Max Norris Harriton 4:22.5

2. Tim Ferris Conestoga 4:27.9

3. Michael McGowan Lower Merion 4:28.2

4. Jack Huemmler Strath Haven 4:28.5

5. Jeff Seelaus Strath Haven 4:32.5

3,200 Meter Run

1. Michael McGowan Lower Merion 9:44.3

2. James Ferguson Conestoga 9:46.3

3. Noah Frick Strath Haven 9:51.0

4. Brian Craft Penncrest 9:53.3

5. Jon Kays Haverford Township HS 10:07.8

800 Meter Run

1. Woo Kim Haverford 1:57.5

2. Danny Essex Conestoga 1:58.9

3. Daniel Stewart Strath Haven 1:59.7

4. Erick White Haverford 2:01.1

5. Isaac Jennings Harriton 2:02.7

110 Meter Hurdles

1. Wellington Zaza Upper Darby 14.1

2. Derek Dawson Ridley 15.5

3. Ian Pollack Radnor 16.1

4. Matt Sweeney Marple Newtown 16.5

5. Mickey Donahue Penncrest 16.7

300 Meter Hurdles

1. Bryan Downs 12 Strath Haven 40.1

2. Manfred Etienne 11 Upper Darby 40.9

3. Tim Dipaolo Conestoga 41.8

4. Mickey Donahue 12 Penncrest 42.3

5. Jake Eidinger 10 Harriton 42.7

High Jump

1. Andrew Brandt Marple Newtown 6-04.00

2. Derek Dawson Ridley 6-02.00

3. James Chimekas Lower Merion 6-00.00

4. Taron Howie Strath Haven 5-10.00

4. Cecil Simpson Upper Darby 5-10.00

Long Jump

1. James Chimekas Lower Merion 21-08.50

2. Dexter Bridge Conestoga 21-08.25

3. Taron Howie Strath Haven 20-02.25

4. Raheem Harris Ridley 20-01.50

5. Kevin Dombroski Penncrest 20-01.25

Triple Jump

1. Eric Bey Ridley 41-07.50

2. Derek Dawson Ridley 41-07.25

3. Dexter Bridge Conestoga 41-06.00

4. Joe Pham Marple Newtown 41-0.50

5. Brent Collins Strath Haven 40-04.0

4x100 Meter Relay

1. Strath Haven 42.1

2. Conestoga 43.9

2. Radnor 43.9

4. Ridley 44.2

5. Garnet Valley 44.5

4x400 Meter Relay

1. Strath Haven 3:19.5

2. Penncrest 3:23.2

3. Upper Darby 3:25.6

4. Haverford 3:26.0

5. Lower Merion 3:32.8

4x800 Meter Relay

1. Upper Darby 8:10.3

2. Garnet Valley 8:15.0

3. Penncrest 8:21.1

4. Marple Newtown 8:24.8

5. Springfield 8:25.4

100 Meter Dash

1. Cimirrow Moat Marple Newtown 10.9

2. Blair Brooks Conestoga 11.0

3. Tajae Bryant Radnor 11.0

4. Daris Gaymon Ridley 11.4

5. Dexter Bridge Conestoga 11.7

200 Meter Dash

1. Blair Brooks 12 Conestoga 22.3

2. Daris Gaymon 11 Ridley 22.6

3. Dan Litt Lower Merion 22.9

4. John Townsend Upper Darby 23.0

5. Ian Ragin Harriton 23.2

400 Meter Dash

1. Mike Pettit Haverford 51.4

2. Michael Flanagan Garnet Valley 51.5

3. Billy Smeltzer Ridley 51.6

4. Connor McCue Radnor 52.1

5. Josh Colton Haverford 52.6

Discus

1. Kris Martin Strath Haven 142-01

2. Brandon Waller Haverford 127-00

3. Dan Herbster Garnet Valley 123-06

4. Jeff Sekel Marple Newtown 118-09

5. James Pham Upper Darby 116-03

Javelin

1. Jason John Upper Darby 154-04

2. Cole Kinsey Strath Haven 149-09

3. Dylan Hewitt Haverford 142-09

4. Cameron Durham Springfield 139-08

5. Scott Hyland Marple Newtown 139-07

Shot Put

1. Chris Amabile Penncrest 45-05.75

2. Kris Martin Strath Haven 44-10.75

3. Dan Herbster Garnet Valley 42-05.25

4. Josh Johnson Strath Haven 42-04.50

5. Greg Macatee Garnet Valley 40-02.00

Pole Vault

1. Troy Makous Radnor 15-00.00

2. Kyle Panzer Penncrest 14-00.00

3. Chris Davis Upper Darby 13-00.00

4. John Li Radnor 12-06.00

5. Mickey Donahue Penncrest 12-00.00

Girls Results

1,600 Meter Run

1. Sophia Meehan Haverford 5:18.3

2. Grace Galligan Springfield 5:22.3

3. Frances McNally Springfield 5:23.4

4. Elizabeth Clinton Haverford 5:27.3

5. Rebecca Grande Upper Darby 5:39.1

3,200 Meter Run

1. Tess Meehan Haverford 11:24.9

2. Sarah Rutkowski Strath Haven 11:33.2

3. Grace Chang Penncrest 11:36.2

4. Ellie Houcke Haverford 11:51.9

5. Maddie Klebe Conestoga 12:07.3

800 Meter Run

1. Hannah Grossman Strath Haven 2:16.1

2. Dina Ramadane Conestoga 2:17.4

3. Claire McDugall Conestoga 2:24.1

4. Kaitlin Benjamin Conestoga 2:24.2

5. Angel Bucci Upper Darby 2:24.8

100 Meter Hurdles

1. Eliana Yankelev Lower Merion 14.7

2. Georgia Mason Upper Darby 15.1

3. Rachel Clarke Strath Haven 15.2

4. Rachel Van Metre Strath Haven 16.3

5. Olivia Graham Penncrest 17.3

300 Meter Hurdles

1. Emily Wenger Garnet Valley 45.1 3

2. Rachel Clarke Strath Haven 45.7 3

3. Lynnese Beyan Upper Darby 46.4 3

4. Gabby O’Leary Lower Merion 47.6 3

5. Jessica McCarthy Haverford 47.8 3

High Jump

1. Eliana Yankelev Lower Merion 5-02.00

2. Claudine Andre Upper Darby 5-02.00

3. Sarah Hay Haverford 5-00.00

4. Rachel Nowoswiat Penncrest 4-10.00

5. Kristina Link Radnor 4-10.00

Long Jump

1. Katie McCoubrie Conestoga 17-07.50

2. Medeline Eustache Upper Darby 17-06.00

3. Tirzah Johnson Upper Darby 16-11.00

4. Yuwen Michelson Strath Haven 16-01.00

5. Christina Descano Marple Newtown 15-06.75

Triple Jump

1. Medeline Eustache Upper Darby 36-01.25

2. Katie McCoubrie Conestoga 35-01.25

3. Katie Keyser Garnet Valley 34-0.25

4. Teju Abeeb Strath Haven 33-08.50

5. Kristina Link Radnor 32-06.50

4x100 Meter Relay

1. Upper Darby 48.3

2. Penncrest 49.0

3. Strath Haven 49.8

4. Lower Merion 50.4

5. Ridley 51.3

4x400 Meter Relay

1. Upper Darby 3:54.6

2. Garnet Valley 4:00.1

3. Strath Haven 4:01.1

4. Haverford 4:02.8

5. Conestoga 4:03.4

4x800 Meter Relay

1. Lower Merion 9:51.3

2. Garnet Valley 9:52.

3. Strath Haven 9:52.8

4. Haverford 10:09.4

5. Penncrest 10:24.3

100 Meter Dash

1. Tioni McNeill Upper Darby 12.3

2. Liz Rivers Upper Darby 12.4

3. Sabrina Barbieri Penncrest 12.7

4. Tirzah Johnson Upper Darby 12.8

5. Karly Manchin Strath Haven 12.9

200 Meter Dash

1. Lydia Ali Radnor 24.3

2. Allison Van Zant Penncrest 25.5

3. Ivy Jones Strath Haven 25.9

4. Katie McCoubrie Conestoga 26.2

5. Latonia Alexander Penncrest 26.3

400 Meter Dash

1. Lydia Ali Radnor 55.5

2. Lynnese Beyan Upper Darby 57.2

3. Sharmaine Burke Upper Darby 58.6

4. Jessica Matusky Haverford 1:01.0

5. Kelsey Hansen Strath Haven 1:01.1

Discus

1. Vicki Wilson Strath Haven 100-00

2. Deire Monte Springfield 99-08

3. Kiara Swint Upper Darby 98-09

4. Severine Dalembert Lower Merion 98-02

5. Megan Ross Haverford 95-08

Javelin

1. Melissa Scanzano Haverford 119-03

2. Samantha Nelson Conestoga 113-05

3. Lauren Peterson Garnet Valley 92-00

4. Rachel Barr Strath Haven 87-09

5. Kristy Ennis Springfield 84-01

Shot Put

1. Nataya Worthington Haverford 36-03.5

2. Sharee Halstead Haverford 34-05.25

3. Vicki Wilson Strath Haven 34-05.00

4. Megan Ross Haverford 34-01.00

5. Shanice Mannings Ridley 32-04.50

Pole Vault

1. Kayla Thomas Springfield 10-00

2. Mei Bruist Haverford Township 9-06

3. Ashley Razzano Garnet Valley 9-06

4. Vittoria Boni Radnor 9-00

5. Maureen Quinn Conestoga 8-06