Pleasant Valley’s DeNair Drew wants to be at her best when it matters most.

The junior got a good look at her competition in Monday’s Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Championships, and showed she’s ready for the challenge.

Drew was first in the 100 hurdles, and third in the 300 hurdles running against a tough field in both races at East Stroudsburg South.

“I feel pretty good,” said Drew, who was seeded second in the event. “I was hitting a few hurdles, but I had a lot of competition with the girl next to me, we were going head-to-head the whole time. It was a pretty good race.”

She edged Easton’s Autumn Ford, who ran a 15.90.

“I was really pushing for first because we had very similar times,” Drew said. “It was a good race.”

It was the first time Drew had run against Ford this season.

“She did real well,” Bears’ coach George Fair said of Drew. “We’ve been running dual meets all season, and it’s a different animal when you go either into an invitational, or a league or district meet, it’s entirely different.

“I was absolutely thrilled for her to be able to get first. I know her expectations were high, and to see her be able to already have the school record, and now win an EPC title, was wonderful.”

Drew had been first in each of her five meets this season in the 100 hurdles. Her personal best is a 15.5 in the regular season finale against ES North.

In the 300 hurdles, she ran to a third-place finish with a time of 47.74. Her previous best in the event was a 48.01.

A steady performer all season, Drew is eager to make up for lost time after her sophomore campaign was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was terrible, because I knew I could have run faster times missing out on that whole season,” she said. “But I worked very hard this year to make up for that time.

“I’m extremely happy that we got to have a season despite everything that is going on.”

She’s put herself in a position to once again be the class of the field at next week’s district meet, where the Class 3A competition will be held on Wednesday at Blue Mountain.

As a freshman, Drew was 10th at districts in the Class 3A 300 hurdles with a time of 49.51.

“It’s about form, like pole vaulting or long jumping, and she’s right in that alley,” Fair said of the hurdles. “For her to perform as well as she did this year with basically only freshman year under her belt, was incredible.”

Other notable performances for Pleasant Valley on Monday were posted by Nemani Moon (third in the 400; 1:01.32), and Reese Ruggiero (fourth in the triple jump; 34-4.5).

“Nemani is a freshman,” said Fair. “The last time she raced (prior to this season) was seventh grade middle school. She’s made nice progress all spring. From the beginning, seeing her times drop, to getting her best time today.

“You never know how a freshman is going to perform. And for her to come out and be confident enough to just go out and race some really quick girls, and to race as well as she did, I think she gained a lot of experience, and I think she also gained a lot of confidence as well.”

The same can be said for Ruggiero, who is just a sophomore.

“She’s just figuring out the triple jump this year,” said Fair. “For her to go out in such a technical event, where she’s able to hop, skip and jump, and gain literally feet from the beginning of the season to now, that is a huge boost for her.”

In the boys’ competition, Tyler Akob just missed out on a top five in the 800, placing sixth with a time of 2:06.76. Akob was also eighth in the 1600, crossing the line in 4:40.31.

“There’s nothing like great competition to get the best out of the athletes,” said Fair. “Today was a taste of championship competition, and it’s only going to get better a week from now.

“I am excited, I’m thrilled and I know all of our kids are just as excited about what’s to come.”

TEAM SCORES

(and legend)

BOYS

1. Nazareth (Naz) 112.5, 2. Liberty (L) 96.5, 3. Easton (Eas) 90, 4. Northampton (N) 82, 5. Parkland (P) 76, 6. East Stroudsburg South (ESS) 58, 7. Stroudsburg (S) 49, 8. Emmaus (E) 41.5, 9. Freedom (F) 22, 10. Bethlehem Catholic (BC) 21, 11. Pocono Mountain East (PME) 14, 12. Pleasant Valley (PV) 11, 13. Allentown Central Catholic (ACC) 10, 14. Dieruff (D) 8, 15. Pocono Mountain West (PMW) 4.5, 16. Whitehall (W) 4, 17. William Allen (WA) 2.

GIRLS

1. Parkland (P) 106.5, 2. Liberty (L) 96, 3. Easton (Eas) 78.5, 4. Nazareth (Naz) 78, 4. Emmaus (E) 78, 6. Stroudsburg (S) 75.5, 7. Pocono Mountain East (PME) 39. 8. Pleasant Valley (PV) 37, 9. Dieruff (D) 25, 10. Bethlehem Catholic (BC) 22, 11. Freedom (F) 15, 12. Whitehall (W) 14, 12. Northampton (N) 14, 14. Pocono Mountain West (PMW) 13.5, 15. East Stroudsburg South (ESS) 6, 16. Allentown Central Catholic (ACC) 4.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

(Top three plus

Pleasant Valley finishers in top 10)

BOYS

100 - 1. Marcus Williams (Eas) 11.05, 2. Benjamin Henry (N), 3. Moeed Khan (S), 9. Acen Winckler (PV) 11.45; 110H - 1. Syncere Johnson (Eas) 15.12, 2. Justin Trexler (P), 3. Rhian Romain (P), 10. Justin Ellis (PV) 16.94; 200 - 1. Mustapha Salau (P) 22.22, 2. Benjamin Henry (N), 3. Christian Sapp (ESS), 8. Acen Winckler (PV) 23.30; 300H - 1. Shaun Apsley (N) 40.50, 2. Jake Hilarczyk (Naz), 3. Ryan Farley (PME), 7. Justin Ellis (PV) 42.26; 400 - 1. Mustapha Salau (P) 49.38, 2. Benjamin Henry (N), 3. Jarrett Lysek (E); 800 - 1. Alexander Heidemann (F) 1:59.08, 2. Graham Phillips (L), 3. Tarif Muhammad (Eas), 6. Tyler Akob (PV) 2:06.76; 1600 - 1. Alexander Heidemann (F) 4:23.27, 2. Trey Rhinehart (Eas), 3. Cole Frank (L), 8. Tyler Akob (PV) 4:40.31; 3200 - 1. Cole Frank (L) 9:52.77, 2. Trey Rhinehart (Eas), 3. Anthony Kositz (Naz); 400 relay - 1. Parkland 43.31, 2. Nazareth, 3. Stroudsburg, 10 Pleasant Valley 45.89; 1600 relay - 1. Liberty 3:30.20, 2. Northampton, 3. Emmaus, 10. Pleasant Valley 3:40.64; 3200 relay - 1. Liberty 8:14.89, 2. Emmaus, 3. Nazareth, 5. Pleasant Valley 8:51.12; Discus - 1. Collin Burkhart (Naz) 163-0, 2. Jack Conner (Eas), 3. Messiah Johnson (L), 9. Eric Wawrzynski (PV) 112-0; High jump - 1. Elijah Rogers (L) 6-3, 2. Jordan Wicker (Naz), 3. Joseph Barnes (L); Javelin - 1. Collin Burkhart (Naz) 197-1, 2. Tristan Schmidt (E), 3. Jack Donchez (L); Long jump - 1. Jordan Wicker (Naz) 21-4, 2. Moeed Khan (S), 3. Nicolas Roof (BC), 9. Acen Winckler (PV) 19-10; Pole vault - 1. Cliff Bastow (N) 12-6, 2. Brian Warren (P), 3. Aiden Hurlburt (E); Shot put - 1. Cody Breidenbach (Naz) 55-7.75, 2. Odin Ferrency (Eas), 3. Anthony Liguori (S); Triple jump

- 1. Jasir Parker (ESS) 45-9.5, 2. Jordan Wicker (Naz), 3. Sander Sahaydak (L).

GIRLS

100 - 1. Kiana Young (S) 12.58, 2. Madison Kelly (PME), 3. Naeema Salau (P), 8. Nyia Moon (PV) 13.19; 100H - 1. DeNair Drew (PV) 15.89, 2. Autumn Ford (Eas), 3. Liberty Williams (D); 200 - 1. Kiana Young (S) 26.06, 2. Alexis Doherty (Naz), 3. Jessica Farrell (L), 10. Nyia Moon (PV) 27.46; 300H - 1. Bethany Brown (E) 46.78, 2. Autumn Ford (Eas), 3. DeNair Drew (PV) 47.74; 400 - 1. Alexis Doherty (Naz) 58.36, 2. Jessica Farrell (L), 3. Nemani Moon (PV) 1:01.32, 7. Nyia Moon (PV) 1:02.03; 800 - 1. Sophie Emin (Eas) 2:17.79, 2. Ava Bendetti (P), 3. Ashleigh McNellis (E); 1600 - 1. Emily Jobes (L) 5:13.42, 2. Hailey Reinhard (E), 3. Lana Hurwitz (P), 10. Mikayla DeReinzi (PV) 5:44.17; 3200 - 1. Emily Jobes (L) 11:20.28, 2. Brooke Labenberg (P), 3. Isabella Lees (E), 9. Mikayla DeReinzi (PV) 12:24.08; 400 relay - 1. Stroudsburg 50.80, 2. Liberty, 3. Pocono Mountain East, 7. Pleasant Valley 53.05; 1600 relay - 1. Easton 4:04.27, 2. Nazareth, 3. Parkland, 5. Pleasant Valley 4:17.32; 3200 relay - 1. Emmaus 9:45.17, 2. Parkland, 3. Nazareth, 8. Pleasant Valley 10:56.27; Discus - 1. Jaiden Martellucci (Eas) 119-11, 2. Emily Strunk (S), 3. Kelly Leszcynski (Naz); High jump - 1. Isabella Horvath (PME) 5-1, 2. Madeleine Battista (P), 3. Jonna Pettus (Eas); Javelin - 1. Brylee Tereska (L) 127-4, 2. Tiffany Kuras (S), 3. Kelly Leszcynski (Naz); Long jump - 1. Grace Nation (P) 16-5, 2. Makenna Fortner (Naz), 3. Liberty Williams (D); Pole vault - 1. Cailey Spanitz (BC) 12-0, 2. Coral Shivok (P). 3. Annika Flanigan (L); Shot put - 1. Emily Strunk (S) 38-8, 2. Tiera Hudson (PMW), 3. Mikayla-Anne Woodring (P), 10. Samantha Merklin (PV) 29-6.75; Triple jump

- 1. Grace Nation (P) 35-10, 2. Cailey Spanitz (BC), 3. Catherine Kelly (L), 4. Reese Ruggiero (PV) 34-4.5.