SCHUYLKILL HAVEN – Lydia Wallace and Kaila O’Connor have been a dynamic duo on the track for Jim Thorpe all season.

They were dynamite again on Wednesday at the District 11 Class 3A Track and Field Championships.

The pair shined on Day 2 of the event, with Wallace winning the 300 hurdles and O’Connor coming through with a win in the 200.

The top seed in the event, Wallace posted a time of 46.31 to win the race ahead of Easton’s Autumn Ford (46.41).

Her finish helped her to gold.

“The first 100, 150 meters I stuttered over every hurdle, but coming around the curve, I still felt super strong,” said Wallace, who was also third in the 100 hurdles. “My legs felt good, so I just tried to clear the hurdles without stutters and just let my legs take me where they could, and go when there wasn’t hurdles. Just go as fast as I could because I had it in me.

“I was worried, because toward the end of the race, that’s where I got caught at leagues from that stutter step, and she was stronger at the finish. My priority today was to be as strong as I could throughout the whole race, and make sure I still had something left in me at the end so I could pull through.”

O’Connor ran away with the 200, crossing the line in 25.45.

The freshman was seeded second at 25.94.

“It’s crazy,” said O’Connor. “It feels really, really good. I was a little skeptical coming in, because I was looking at numbers before I came and I knew it was going to be close, and I knew there were a few girls that were better than me. With the help of my coach and all my friends supporting me and God, I just came out today and I really wanted to win. I’m so thankful that I won the 200.

“I was really excited to know that I was going to beat a record today because I thrive on competition, and I need it to get faster. But I was really nervous I didn’t know how good I could do with the times so close together. But it happened today, and that’s what matters.”

O’Connor also qualified for states in the 100, finishing second with a time of 12.33.

“It’s going to be a really good opportunity because it’s going to be the best of the best,” O’Connor said of states. “I think that will really help me really push myself to get an even better PR. It will just feel good to know that I’m around the best of the best, and that I really earned my way there to be one of them.”

Wallace will look to end her career with another state medal. She was sixth in the Class 2A 300 hurdles in 2019.

“I knew it was a tough field, a great field,” Wallace said of competing in 3A. “I’m just so happy that I made it. I’m so happy to be able to have the opportunity to go out to Shippensburg again and compete with the 3A field and see how I do there.

“I’m going to do as much hurdle work as I can, a little bit of distance training in just to get my legs prepared for that and hopefully work out those stutter steps and maybe come home with a medal. That would be awesome.”

Tribe Pride

Lehighton sent a trio of athletes to states on Wednesday.

Abigail Meckes, Brittney Bartasavage and Kelsey Gaston all punched their tickets to states.

Meckes qualified as a runner-up in the discus. Her third-place finish in the javelin with a state qualifying standard throw also helped her make the ‘Trip to Ship.’

She threw 120-7 to place second in the discus and qualify for states. She was seeded second at 124-9.

“I felt pretty good because I was ranked second and third place, was pretty far down,” said Meckes. “But the last time I was here during the season, I threw really poorly here, but it was raining. So that kind of scared me a little bit. But I was able to pull it out, and I’m very excited to go.

“I feel pretty good. I’m like five feet down from my PR, and I think with a stressful day like this that’s still good. I’ve been trying to hit 120-0, which is what I hit today. If I can do that consistently, I’m happy with that.”

Meckes figures to be around the top 10 when seeding is released for the state meet, putting her close to the top eight, and a chance for a state medal.

“If I was able to medal somehow, that would be really nice. But I’m just excited to be able to go.

“I feel pretty good. I’ve been able to keep a steady pace with all of my throws the whole season, and I’ve been slowly improving. I’ve been PR’ing almost every meet. Hopefully I can do it again, and maybe get a medal.”

Her throw of 123-7 helped her qualify for states in the javelin.

Bartasavage advanced to states in the 100 hurdles with a second-place finish in 15.61. She ran a 15.82 in the prelims.

“I wasn’t expecting it, but once I run up against fast people, I run faster,” she said. “That’s just kind of how it goes. That’s when I do better, is when I run against fast people.

“It’s honestly kind of crazy to think I’m going to states. But I’m very excited. This week is going to be kind of rough training-wise, but I have to be ready.”

Bartasavage was seeded third at 15.78.

“I’m not going to lie; I did plan on going to states for at least one of my events,” said Bartasavage. “So I’m very excited.”

“My freshman year at districts I ran 15.8, and I was 0.2 off going to states. So this year I wanted either the qualifying time or second place. I knew Autumn Ford was very fast. So I was able to PR with the 15.6 but I hope to get low 15s by at least next year.”

Bartasavage has been running with a heavy heart after losing her grandmother before last week’s Schuylkill League meet.

“It’s been rough the last couple of weeks, losing my grandmother and everything,” she said. “She has been my biggest supporter. She would be up in the stands right now, just watching me, supporting me. So I know she’s up there looking down on me. She has guided me through this whole season.”

Gaston was second in the 3200 with a time of 11:52.66 to qualify for states. She was seeded second at 11:33.07.

The senior stuck with Parkland’s Brooke Labenberg (11:59.21) for much of the race before making a late push to secure second.

“It feels amazing. I went to districts my freshman year, but that was for the 4x8,” said Gaston. “This is the first time I went to districts myself. My goal was just to make it. I thought maybe I could stick with the first runner, but after it started, I thought, ‘I really want to make it, why take that chance.’

“So I just paced myself off the second girl. I made her go in the outside lane and I was on the inside so she gets more distance. I didn’t look at the clock once. I just made sure I stayed with her, and on the last lap and I took off to make sure I secured my place.”

Liberty’s Emily Jobes won in 11:28.98.

Gaston kept her focus squarely on Labenberg.

“I was pretty comfortable because I could hear her breathing and I knew her pace,” said Gaston, who was also a state medalist in the fall during the cross country season. “Whenever she would slow down, I would slow down. And her breathing got heavier and heavier as we went, and I felt perfectly fine. I was worried, but I took a chance and just stayed with her.”

The Olympians

Jim Thorpe’s A.J. Bailor and Aiden Clements also qualified for states.

Bailor (55-0) placed second in the shot put.

“It feels pretty good, honestly,” said Bailor. “I feel pretty fresh today. Hopefully I can carry that feeling into next week and go out to states and surprise a lot of people.

“For today, I wanted to get my first throw in over 52-0 so I automatically qualified, and then from there I just opened it up and went for it. That’s what the mindset was today, just come in here, qualify for states and do business next week.”

Bailor was seeded second at 56-9¼. The senior is hoping for another solid showing at states.

“For Ship, I’m not too focused on distance right now, but I’d like to get a top six finish, maybe even better than that; maybe a top five,” he said. “That’s the goal, really. We’ll see what we can do.

“This has really been a great season. I got two school records, and I’m not even done yet. A lot of kids don’t go to states, and a lot of kids currently aren’t ranked within the top eight in the state. So it’s a good feeling. I’m going to go out there and compete and have a good day.”

Clements punched his ticket with a runner-up finish in the pole vault, clearing a personal best 12-9.

“I was really hoping to get 13-0, that’s what I was going for,” said Clements. “I didn’t get it, but I still was able to PR with 12-9, so I’m still extremely happy with that. I didn’t even think states was an opportunity, but I got it. I did a backflip when I landed 12-9. It was crazy. It’s just surreal to me that I can do that.

“I’ve improved a lot technically from my freshman year because that’s when I started. I finished with 11-0. I had a goal to get 12-0, and maybe 13-0, and now I’m here in my junior year and I’m really happy that I got 12-6, and 12-9 as a PR now. I grew a lot. I beat my PR by a foot and nine inches, which I would say is pretty good progress for me.”

District 11 Class 3A Track and FIeld Championships

TEAMS

(and legend)

BOYS

Bangor (B), Blue Mountain (BM), Bethlehem Catholic (BC), Dieruff (D), East Stroudsburg North (ESN), East Stroudsburg South (ESS), Easton (Ea), Emmaus (Em), Freedom (F), Jim Thorpe (JT), Lehighton (Leh), Liberty (Lib), Nazareth (Naz), Northampton (Nor), Northwestern Lehigh (NW), Parkland (Park), Pocono Mountain East (PME), Pocono Mountain West (PMW), Pleasant Valley (PV), Southern Lehigh (SL), Stroudsburg (S), Tamaqua (T), Whitehall (W).

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

(Top four plus other local finishers)

BOYS

100

– 1. *Damon Simpson (W) 10.72#, 2. *Marcus Williams (Ea) 11.07, 3. Tyler Vicari (Park) 11.08, 4. Zakai Hendricks (W) 11.33, 8. Chris Strika (JT) 11.60.

200

– 1. *Damon Simpson (W) 22.03, 2. *Christian Sapp (ESS) 22.15, 3. Benjamin Henry (Nor) 22.30, 4. Nolan Lobb (Naz) 22.55.

400

– 1. *Mustapha Salau (Park) 48.16, 2. *Benjamin Henry (Nor) 49.68, 3. Tarif Muhammad (Ea) 50.76, 4. Gabriel Lawler (B) 51.04, 9. Joshua Heilman (NW) 52.27, 17. Chris Strika (JT) 54.04, 19. Jackson Moyes (NW) 54.39, 24. Cameron Lewis (T) 56.64.

800

– 1. *Alex Heidemann (F) 1:57.17, 2. *Chase Hensinger (SL) 1:57.63, 3. Matthew Chaikowsky (SV) 1:58.33, 4. Brady Hoffman (Park) 2:00.45, 6. Tyler Akob (PV) 2:05.44, 8. Ridge Snyder (JT) 2:05.56, 9. Raymond Lursen (PV) 2:05.63, 12. Nathan Vincent (NW) 2:06.34.

1600

– 1. *Alex Heidemann (F) 4:23.62, 2. *Matthew Chaikowsky (SV) 4:24.93, 3. Trey Rhinehart (Ea) 4:30.49, 4. Dominik Lisicky (SL) 4:31.54, 8. Cole Chukoskie (NW) 4:42.26, 12. Ryan Bailor (JT) 4:50.95, 15. Samuel Bower (NW) 4:58.62.

3200

– 1. *Alex Kane (SL) 9:43.75, 2. *Cole Frank (Lib) 9:44.91, 3. Trey Rhinehart (Ea) 9:47.07, 4. Owen Nahf (Nor) 10:14.39.

110H

– 1. *Syncere Johnson (Ea) 14.73, 2. *Robert Walchak (Potts) 15.50, 3. Rhian Romain (Park) 15.72, 4. Justin Trexler (Park) 15.93, 5. David Richards (JT) 16.08.

300H

– 1. *Shaun Apsley (Nor) 40.66, 2. *Jake Hilarczyk (Naz) 40.75, 3. Christopher Clark (Naz) 40.99, 4. Syncere Johnson (Ea) 41.15, 5. Justin Ellis (PV) 41.32,

400 relay

– 1. *Wilson (Zakai Hendricks, Chris Fazio, Zackary Gillen, Damon Simpson) 42.40, 2. *Parkland 43.52, 3. Northampton 43.61, 4. Nazareth 44.17, 13. Northwestern Lehigh 45.12.

1600 relay

– 1. *Parkland (Mustapha Salau, Tyler Vicari, Brady Hoffman, Humza Imam) 3:25.56, 2. *Easton 3:25.94, 3. Southern Lehigh 3:28.07, 4. Liberty 3:28.71, 13. Jim Thorpe 3:40.54, 14. Pleasant Valley 3:41.87.

3200 relay

– 1. *Southern Lehigh (Anthony Clinton, Alec Di Cesare, Dominik Lisicky, Chase Hensinger) 8:05.21, 2. *Liberty 8:10.43, 3. Pleasant Valley 8:22.99, 4. Notre Dame of Green Pond 8:26.92, 6. Northwestern Lehigh 8:35.92, 11. Jim Thorpe 8:53.03, 15. Tamaqua 9:03.29.

Long jump

– 1. *Jordan Wicker (Naz) 22-11, 2. *Terry Thomas (NS) 21-3, 3. Nicolas Roof (BC) 21-2.5, 4. Moeed Khan (S) 21-1.5.

Triple jump

– 1. *Jordan Wicker (Naz) 45-3.75, 2. *Jasir Parker (ESS) 44-10, 3. Sander Sahaydak (Lib) 42-7, 4. Samuel Chedester (Ea) 41-10, 9. Christopher Condly (JT) 39-4.5.

High jump

– 1. *Elijah Rogers (Lib) 6-5, 2. *Jordan Wicker (Naz) 6-3, 3. Jacob Fauzio (SL) 6-1, 4. (tie) David Richards (JT), Jackson McKee (SL) and Leyti Ndiaye (ESS) 6-1, 11 (tie) Christopher Condly (JT) and Samuel Chedester (Ea) 5-9.

Shot put

– 1. *Cody Breidenbach (Naz) 60-3, 2. *AJ Bailor (JT) 55-0, 3. Tristan Bolinsky (NS) 49-9.75, 4. Toby Berg (T) 48-7.5.

Discus

– 1. *Collin Burkhart (Naz) 167-11, 2. *Tristan Bolinsky (NS) 158-00, 3. Jack Conner (Ea) 152-7, 4. Max Mueller (W) 145-9, 5. AJ Bailor (JT) 145-2.

Javelin

– 1. *Collin Burkhart (Naz) 209-3, 2. *Tristan Schmidt (Emm) 193-8, 3. Mike Reilley (NS) 175-6, 4. Jack Dean (NS) 160-6, 10. Nathan Hope (T) 145-6, 12. Alexander Barron (T) 140-1.

Pole vault

– 1. *Aiden Hurlburt (Em) 13-6, 2. *Aiden Clements (JT) 12-9, 3. Michael Levkulic (BM) 12-3, 4. Bradley Gherghel (BM) 12-3, 8. Cayden Kuhns (NW) 11-3.

# - Meet Record.

GIRLS

Teams

(and legend)

Bangor (B), Blue Mountain (BM), Bethlehem Catholic (BC), Dieruff (D), East Stroudsburg North (ESN), East Stroudsburg South (ESS), Easton (Ea), Emmaus (Em), Freedom (F), Jim Thorpe (JT), Lehighton (Leh), Liberty (Lib), Nazareth (Naz), Northampton (Nor), North Schuylkill (NS), Northwestern Lehigh (NW), Parkland (Park), Pocono Mountain East (PME), Pocono Mountain West (PMW), Pleasant Valley (PV), Southern Lehigh (SL), Stroudsburg (S), Tamaqua (T), Whitehall (W)

100

– 1. *Madison Trout (SL) 12.10, 2. *Kaila O’Connor (JT) 12.30, 3. Naeema Salau (Park) 12.57, 4. Madison Kelly (PME) 12.70, 6. Caitlin Smith (T) 12.84.

200

– 1. *Kaila O’Connor (JT) 25.45, 2. *Kiana Young (S) 25.90, 3. Marley Chase (SL) 26.12, 4. Jocelyn Smith (W) 26.36.

400

– 1. *Alexis Doherty (Naz) 57.78, 2. *Lindsay Solderitch (W) 59.46, 3. Reagan Day (Ea) 1:00.47, 4. Nemani Moon (PV) 1:01.28, 5. Nyia Moon (PV) 1:01.47, 8. Lauren Schellhamer (NW) 1:02.37, 10. Frances Kabana (T) 1:02.80, 12. Nicole Carroll (JT) 1:03.57, 19. Jakayla Holmes (NW) 1:04.52, 22. Katie Wojton (Leh) 1:05.40.

800

– 1. *Olivia Haas (BM) 2:18.34, 2. *Sophie Emin (Ea) 2:20.00, 3. Ava Bendetti (Park) 2:20.03, 4. Erin Vincent (Ea) 2:22.32, 8. Grace Stegemerten (T) 2:28.12, 13. Frances Kabana (T) 2:32.95, 23. Kelsey Gaston (Leh) 2:48.06.

1600

– 1. *Olivia Haas (BM) 4:58.34, 2. *Lana Hurwitz Park) 5:19.25, 3. Hailey Reinhard (Em) 5:20.58, 4. Alaina Patel (SL) 5:25.51, 5. Grace Stegemerten (T) 5:28.53, 8. Kelsey Gaston (Leh) 5:43.72, 13. Emily Fagan (NW) 6:09.47.

3200

– 1. *Emily Jobes (Lib) 11:28.98, 2. *Kelsey Gaston (Leh) 11:52.66, 3. Brooke Labenberg (Park) 11:59.21, 4. Isabela Lees (Em) 12:04.85, 10. Mikayla Dereinzi (PV) 12:39.07.

100H

– 1. *Autumn Ford (Ea) 15.30, 2. *Brittney Bartasavage (Leh) 15.61, 3. Lydia Wallace (JT) 15.71, 4. Liberty Williams (D) 15.75, 5. DeNair Drew (PV) 15.78, 6. Faith Yost (NW) 16.14.

300H

– 1. *Lydia Wallace (JT) 46.31, 2. *Autumn Ford (Ea) 46.41, 3. DeNair Drew (PV) 47.37, 4. Brittney Bartasavage (Leh) 47.42, 6. Faith Yost (NW) 47.82.

400 relay

– 1. *Southern Lehigh (Gianna Smith, Madison Trout, Taylor Graver, Marley Chase) 49.57, 2. *Parkland 50.10, 3. Liberty 50.16, 4. Wilson 50.56, 11. Tamaqua 52.93, 13. Lehighton 53.98.

1600 relay

– 1. *Easton (Jayla Reinert, Autumn Ford, Reagan Day, Sophie Emin) 4:03.02, 2. *Nazareth 4:04.80, 3. Southern Lehigh 4:06.35, 4. Parkland 4:06.61, 6. Pleasant Valley 4:10.75, 7. Jim Thorpe 4:15.49, 9. Tamaqua 4:18.78, 10. Northwestern Lehigh 4:23.16.

3200 relay

– 1. *Emmaus (Ashleigh McNellis, Keerstin Augustin, Kera Reinhard, Addison Kleinle) 9:34.34, 2. *Parkland 9:42.69, 3. Southern Lehigh 9:57.81, 4. Northampton 10:04.58, 6. Jim Thorpe 10:33.66, 12. Northwestern Lehigh 10:48.75, 13. Pleasant Valley 10:50.48.

Long jump

– 1. *Makenna Fortner (Naz) 17-5.5, 2. *Grace Nation (Park) 17-0, 3. (tie) Essynce Botz (Lib) and Catherine Kelly (Lib) 16-8, 7. Megan Aaron (Leh) 15-10, 9. Megan Rolko (T) 15-8, 10. Madison Brown (Leh) 14-11.5, 11. (tie) Reese Ruggiero (PV), Alysha Gargone (F) and Makayla Days (W) 14-9.

Triple jump

– 1. *Grace Nation (Park) 37-5.75, 2. *Isabella Iannelli (Ea) 35-10.5, 3. Catherine Kelly (Li) 35-9, 4. Megan Aaron (Leh) 34-8.5, 8. Reese Ruggiero (PV) 33-7.5, 13. Ashley Beers (Leh) 32-0.5.

High jump

– 1. *Payton Kleckner (Potts) 5-5, 2. *Isabella Horvath (PME) 5-1, 3. Jayden Kline (SL) 5-1, 4. Jonna Pettus (Ea) 5-1.

Shot put

– 1. *Emily Strunk (S) 39-10.25, 2. *Tiera Hudson (PMW) 37-6, 3. Sonya Shivok (Park) 34-5.75, 4. Mikayla-anne Woodring (Park) 34-5.5, 5. Abigail Meckes (Leh) 34-2, 8. Kaziah Streisel (T) 31-8.75, 10. Laura Clarke (JT) 29-10.5, 12. Maria Kirkopoulos (NW) 29-8, 15. Megan Hauser (Leh) 28-8.75, 16. Rylee Wenzel (T) 26-9.75.

Discus

– 1. *Jaiden Martellucci (Ea) 129-1, 2. *Abigail Meckes (Leh) 120-7, 3. Laura Clarke (JT) 106-7, 4. Emily Strunk (S) 104-4, 10. (tie) Madylin Wolter (Leh) and Tiera Hudson (PMW) 95-6, 12. Caitlyn Miller (NW) 92-4, 14. Shyann Weighknecht (T) 78-10, 15. Ivy Stauffer (JT) 75-10, 16. Megan Hauser (Leh) 72-9.

Javelin

– 1. *Kelly Leszcynski (Naz) 132-4, 2. *Brylee Tereska (Lib) 130-7, 3. *Abigail Meckes (Leh) 123-7, 4. Tiffany Kuras (S) 119-1, 7. Caitlyn Miller (NW) 113-5, 11. Madylin Wolter (Leh) 104-5, 15. Laura Clarke (JT) 92-10, 16. Kaziah Streisel (T) 92-1.

Pole Vault

– 1. *Cailey Spanitz (BC) 12-0, 2. *Coral Shivok (Park) 11-6, 3. Annika Flanigan (Lib) 10-6, 4. Mackenzie Marakovits (W) 9-0, 6. (tie) Sophia Boyle (T) and Genie Gilbride (PMW) 8-6, 8. Katrin Cavanaugh (JT) 8-6, 13. (tie) Ashley Hass (NW) and Paige Grabusky (SL) 7-6.

* - State qualifier