PIAA Track & Field – Day Two Recap

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, May 24, 2014 | 6:13 PM

If the color of success is gold, then it was a successful weekend for the WPIAL at the PIAA track and field championships.

The WPIAL left Shippensburg University today (Saturday) with gold medals in 15 individual events and four relays. That’s pretty good, considering recent history.

The 15 gold medals in individual events are the most in a while. The WPIAL had only 10 individual winners last year and also 10 in 2012 and 2011.

The WPIAL had nine individual winners in 2010, 12 in 2009 and only five in 2008.

The star of the PIAA meet from the WPIAL was Hempfield junior Maddie Holmberg. After winning the Class AAA long jump Friday with the best leap in WPIAL history (20 feet, 1 inch), Holmberg came back today and won the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.73 seconds and also ran a leg on Hempfield’s 400 relay team that finished first with a time of 47.74.

Holmberg’s performance led Hempfield to the Class AAA team championship for the second consecutive season. The only other WPIAL girls team to ever win the PIAA Class AAA team title was Penn Hills in 2010. The PIAA started crowing girls team champions in 1977.

The other members of Hempfield’s 400 relay team were Gabby Holmberg (Maddie’s freshman sister), Bridget Guy and Jasmine Jones.

Guy also gave Hempfield an important championship in the team standings, winning the pole vault by clearing 12-6.

“This is all just unbelievable. This is like a dream come true,” said Maddie Holmberg.

Holmberg was one of four WPIAL athletes who won two individual championships. Another one of the four also was from Hempfield.

Hempfield senior Max Adams won the Class AAA discus Friday and came back Saturday to win the shot put with a throw of 61-4 ¼.

“I’m happy,” Adams said. “I could’ve thrown the shot a little farther, but my technique was a little off. But it was to the point where I still could do well enough to win.

“I would’ve liked to maybe get the state record in the discus and the school record in the shot, but I’m not complaining.”

Vincentian’s Ally Bartoszewicz won the Class AA 100 and 200. She won the 100 in 12.28 seconds and the 200 in 24.72.

It was the second consecutive year a WPIAL sprinter won the 100 and 200. Last year, it was Washington’s Alyssa Wise.

Wise was hoping to defend her title in the 100, but she pulled up in the 100 prelims Friday because of a hamstring injury and did not even qualify for Saturday morning’s semifinals in the event.

The final double winner from the WPIAL was Beaver Falls sophomore Domenic Peretta, who won the Class AA in 1:54.01 and the 1,600 in 4:19.82.

“The 1,600 I wanted to just win, but I wanted the record in the 800,” said Peretta.

Gateway’s Montae Nicholson won two championships, but one was in a relay. A Michigan State football recruit, Nicholson won the 100 hurdles in 14.02 seconds and ran a leg on Gateway’s 400 relay team that finished first in 41.45. Other relay members were Kevin Jeter, Cameron Gray and Jae’Len Means.

Nicholson also finished fourth in the long jump.

Elsewhere, there was some anticipation in the PIAA meet for Shaler super distance runner Brianna Schwartz to break the record in the Class AAA 1,600, set by Upper Dublin’s Kim Gallagher in 1981. Schwartz won the race for the second year in a row, but failed to reach Gallagher’s record of 4:41.08. Schwartz ran a 4:46.95.

California’s Kailyn Clancy won the Class AA shot put for the second year in a row.

Fort Cherry’s Jenna Lucas also was a repeat winner, claiming the Class AA javelin for the second year in a row. Only two girls have ever won PIAA track and field titles at Fort Cherry and both won in the javelin. Jessie Merckle won in 2012.

Lucas won with a throw of 153-05.

“I was hoping to hit 160 so bad,” said Lucas. “After my first throw [of the meet], I thought I was going to progress in a good way. It went in a negative way, but I’m still just glad I threw well enough to win it.”

Riverside’s Austin Sheridan won the Class AA discus with a throw of 157-04.

Besides the Gateway boys and Hempfield girls 400 relay teams, two other WPIAL relay teams won titles. Riverside won the Class AA 1,600 with a  team of brothers Marcel Cleckly, Zack Gould and brothers Matt and Aaron Tedys.

Washington won the Class AA boys 3,200 relay with a team of D’Heaven Kelley, Ben Heim, Quorteze Levy and DeQuay Isbell.