Pine Grove freshman Maddie Frew just wanted to do her best during the Schuylkill League Track and Field Championships on Wednesday at the Tamaqua Area Sports Complex.
For her first league championship meet, Frew's "best" couldn't have been better. How about three gold medals in four events entered?
Frew's night included championships in the 100 hurdles, 1,600 relay and triple jump, along with a third-place finish in the 400 relay.
"She was on top of everything (Wednesday)," Pine Grove coach Eric Kurtz said.
Indeed Frew was, and her performance Wednesday put her in some special company. The last female athlete to win two individual league titles as a freshman turned out to be special, too. That was Pottsville's Paige Stoner on May 11, 2011, when she won both the 1,600 and 3,200 at Tamaqua. Stoner won her fourth consecutive league titles in both events this past Wednesday.
Expectations were high for Stoner that night. Frew's performance was somewhat of a surprise, especially to her.
"I didn't think I was going to do as well as I did," Frew said. "I was just trying to do my best."
Not only did Frew win three times, she set personal records in her victories, too. Nerves are expected for a first-time league competitor, but Frew seemed to excel with them.
"Yes, very nervous," Frew said of how she felt going in. "My nerves gave me the adrenaline, I think. I think I was so nervous for it that it just made me do better."
Frew's first championship came in the 100 hurdles. She came in seeded fifth at 17.18 seconds but ended up with the best preliminary time of 16.63. In the finals, Frew ran a 16.55, beating Jim Thorpe's Devon Matz (16.91), the top seed.
Frew then won her second and third titles within 45 minutes of each other at the end of the meet.
Running the third leg of the 1,600 relay, Frew teamed with seniors Jess Fath and Kelli Readinger, and freshman MaKayla Lally to run the event in 4:11.27 as Jim Thorpe (4:14.08) took second. The Cardinals' time was also a school record.
Frew then grabbed title No. 3 in front of an almost empty stadium. Seeded second in the triple jump at 33-6, Frew hit that mark on her first attempt of the final round. Then, on her last jump of the night and the title secured, Frew hit her final distance of 33-11.5.
Schuylkill Haven's Andrea Slotterback (33-3.5) was second.
"I feel like after I run my 4-by-4, I always tend to jump better," Frew said.
The triple jump is somewhat of a new event to Frew. At the beginning of the season, Kurtz was expecting Allie Sheidy to be the Cardinals' main triple jumper. But Sheidy was injured and never came out. Desperate for triple jumpers, Kurtz turned to Frew and she picked it up right away.
What are Frew's expectations for next week's District 11 Championships?
"I just try my hardest, I guess, and do the best I can," she said.
That worked for Frew on Wednesday.
Demetriades keeps Raiders' streak alive
With her victory in the girls' javelin Wednesday, Tamaqua junior Paige Demetriades kept a Blue Raiders' streak intact that dates to 2007. That year, Casey Wagner won the event and every year since, a Raider has finished first. Wagner, who was at Wednesday's meet helping in the jumping pit, repeated in 2008, followed by Allison Updike (2009, 2010) and Christine Streisel (2011, 2012, 2013).
Demetriades finished at 144 feet, 1 inch, beating Blue Mountain's Carissa Lorimer (127-0) and Nativity's Emily Field (124-8), making it eight straight years the Raiders have won the girls' javelin title.
The streak was in jeopardy coming in.
Demetriades, a league and District 11 Class AA runner-up to Streisel last year who ended up qualifying for states, was struggling somewhat coming into Wednesday and entered seeded second at 125-10 behind Lorimer (141-3). But Demetriades took the lead with a 125 on her last throw of the preliminaries and then built on her lead in the final with throws of 137, 144-1 and 132.
The Raiders' Morgan Boyle (117-0) took fifth.
Demetriades will look to make it eight consecutive district titles for the Raiders in the event next week.
The Tamaqua boys had a solid day Wednesday in the javelin, too, as the Raiders' Tyler Hope (178-8) and Zach Zucatti (162-2) finished first and second, respectively, while Derek Cinicola (152-0) took sixth.
The title was the first for Hope in the event, and his championship has a strange twist. Hope is a two-time District 11 champ in the event (Class AA in 2012, Class AAA in 2013) and state runner-up in Class AA in 2012. However, he was held out of the league meets in 2012 and 2013 to nurse injuries. Hope has missed most of this season with a back injury and just returned to action April 18.
Olympians take lead in boys' distance events
With North Schuylkill's Brendan Shearn, a four-time league champion in the 3,200 and three-time champ in the 1,600, graduated, new winners were guaranteed in both events Wednesday.
Jim Thorpe ended up grabbing both, with somewhat of a surprise thrown in.
In the 1,600, junior Jacob Saxon entered as the top seed at 4:34.97, but it was Olympians senior Jake McGeehan, the No. 2 seed at 4:49.28, who ended up winning the event. McGeehan ran a 4:46.21, while Saxon finished second in 4:50.05.
In the 3,200, Jim Thorpe junior Johnathan Condly entered as the top seed at 10:00.98 and won the event in a very tight race with Blue Mountain sophomore Derek Mosteller. The two battled back-and-forth during the race, including the final lap, but Condly pulled ahead with a late push and finished with a 10:00.21. Mosteller had a 10:01.78.
The Olympians' Christian Fields (10:29.89) was fourth in the 3,200.
The 800 turned out to be an exciting race, too, as both Pottsville's Humza Hnesh and Minersville's Ben Hinkel fell as they crossed the finish line. Hnesh won with a 1:58.73; Hinkel had a 1:58.76.
Now it is on to districts
The next step in the postseason is the District 11 Championships for both Class AA and AAA next Wednesday and Thursday at East Stroudsburg South High School. The top two finishers in each event, plus those who meet or exceed the state qualifying standard for that event, qualify for states.
Be sure to read the Republican-Herald all next week for compete coverage.
(Carnahan is the track and field beat writer for the Republican-Herald)