PINE GROVE — Pine Grove’s McKayla Lally wanted badly to break a record Friday.
The sophomore was shocked when she ended up breaking two.
Lally finished the night with three victories, including meet records in the 300 hurdles and 400, helping the Cardinals to a runner-up finish in the girls’ team standings during the 11th annual Pine Grove Invitational at Cardinal Stadium.
Lally was focused on breaking the meet record in the 400 and she did, pulling away from Hazleton’s Sydney Walser down the stretch to win in 1:01.35. Walser finished at 1:02.49. The old 400 meet record was held by Upper Dauphin’s Colleen Troutman (1:01.4) from 2012.
But it was the first event of her day that surprised Lally the most.
In only the third time running the event, Lally won 300 hurdles in 47.85 seconds, breaking the old meet record
of 48.7 set by Tamaqua’s Taylor Gerber in 2011. Lally beat teammate Maddie Frew (48.55), whose time broke the old meet record, too.
“My first event was the 300 hurdles and I wasn’t expecting to win that,” Lally said. “That was my third time running that this season. I didn’t expect to get that time. I felt good in the 400, though.”
Lally finished off the night by anchoring Pine Grove’s winning 1,600 relay team, combining with Nilitza Malave, Rachel Edge and Frew to finish in 4:17.30, beating Tamaqua (4:20.58).
Hazleton won the girls’ team title for the third straight year with 123 points, as Emily Malone (100, 200) and Nicole Buehrle (800, 1,600) won two individual events apiece. The Cougars won seven events.
Pine Grove finished with 75 points.
Frew also won the 100 hurdles, setting a meet record in the process, too. Frew ran a 16.14, beating Nativity’s Lindsay Lord (16.66). The old meet record was held by Jim Thorpe’s Samantha Harlan (16.2) from 2011.
Jim Thorpe won its third consecutive boys’ team championship with 123 points, with Southern Columbia (101) finishing second and Millersburg (54) third.
Rayan Green again led the way with two victories, winning the triple jump (42 feet, 4.5 inches) and the high jump (6-4). The high jump mark tied a meet record.
Once again, the Olympians were dominating in the mid-distance and distance events, taking first place in all four. Samuel Gilkes (53.08) won the 400, Dylan Bucior (2:03.92) the 800, Jacob Saxon (4:44.64) the 1,600 and Johnathan Condly (10:11.29) the 3,200.
It was the third invitational title for the Olympians this season. Jim Thorpe was first at its own invitational April 10 and rolled to the Tamaqua Invitational crown last Friday.
When Lally was a freshman last year, the plan was to make her a hurdler. But that was scrapped due to a hip problem. Frew eventually took off in the hurdles, winning Schuylkill League and District 11 Class AA titles in the 100 hurdles.
Lally has started running the 300 hurdles this season, but so far she has only done them at invitationals. She has finished third in the event at both the Jim Thorpe Invite two weeks ago and at Tamaqua last Friday.
Lally feels the key for her in the 300 hurdles is getting off to a good start. She felt getting over the first hurdle was awkward Friday, but quickly got into the race. Lally eventually passed Frew for good with about 50 meters left.
“Getting over the first hurdle is always a challenge, but near the last hurdle I think I got it down,” Lally said. “I started to kick it in at the 100 and just gave it my all.
“It was very good,” Lally added about running the event with Frew. “She passed me and I tried to stay with her and everything but that is her event. She is really good at it and I just tried to stay with her.”
The other competitors were trying to stay with Lally in the 400, her best individual event.
By the time the 400 reached the 200-meter mark, it became a two-person race between Lally and Walser. Lally took the lead for good around the final corner and pulled away over the final 100 meters.
“I was the top seed and it kind of made me a little nervous, but I was in a good lane, too, which I was happy about,” Lally said. “The wind around the turn was really bad. It is not my best time, but I am happy I broke the invite record.”
Lally ran a 1:00.59 at the Tamaqua Invite a week ago, breaking that invitational record.
The Olympians had an early-night blemish on their run to another championship.
Minersville made a switch in its 3,200 relay team, inserting Ethan Schatz into the lineup. He teamed with Wesley Yutko, Colton Fox and Ben Hinkel to win the event in 8:25.03, beating Jim Thorpe (8:28.27).
Ben Saxon, Jake Saxon, Bucior and Condly ran an 8:20.31 at Tamaqua last Friday, shattering the old meet record.
“All year long, every single kid that went into an event with an expectation to win and didn’t meet that expectation, has always stepped up in their next event,” Jim Thorpe coach Frank Miller said. “They’ve been responding all year long and that is where we are at right now.”
In addition to the event victories, Randy Sanon was a runner-up in the 100, Jake Saxon was second in the 3,200, Gilkes took second in the 200 and third in long jump, while Green was a runner-up in 100 hurdles and third in 300 hurdles.
Other local winners Friday were Minersville’s Austin Pritiskutch (11.49) in the boys’ 100, Schuylkill Haven’s Noah Fritz (51-1) in the boys’ shot put, Jim Thorpe’s Brooke Cope (33-0) in the girls’ shot put and Upper Dauphin’s Victoria McGuire (98-4) in the girls’ discus.
11th Pine Grove Invitational
At Cardinal Stadium
Friday’s results
TEAM KEY: Greenwood (Gr), Hazleton (Haz), Hamburg (Ham), Jim Thorpe (JT), Juniata (Jun), Mahanoy Area (Mah), Millersburg (Mil), Minersville (Min), Mount Carmel (MC), Nativity (Nat), Panther Valley (PV), Pine Grove (PG), Schuylkill Haven (SH), Southern Columbia (SC), Susquenita (Sus), Tamaqua (Tam), Upper Dauphin (UD)
BOYS
100 — 1. Pritiskutch (Min) 11.49, 2. Sanon (JT) 11.55, 3. Roper (Tam) 11.59, 4. Brennan (Mil) 11.74, 5. McAllister (Ham) 11.91, 6. Trathen (SC) 11.98
200 — 1. Brennan (Mil) 23.50, 2. Gilkes (JT) 23.66, 3. Neumayer (Sus) 23.93, 4. Pritiskutch (Min) 23.96, 5. Thomas (UD) 24.58, 6. Sanon (JT) 25.02
400 — 1. Gilkes (JT) 53.08, 2. Wirth (Gr) 53.21, 3. Myers (SC) 53.92, 4. Wolfe (PG) 54.90, 5. Davidyock (PV) 55.09, 6. Rivera (PV) 55.27
800 — 1. Bucior (JT) 2:03.92, 2. Hinkel (Min) 2:04.71, 3. Scheib (Mil) 2:06.47, 4. Yutko (Min) 2:06.68, 5. Joseph (Mah) 2:07.00, 6. Swank (SC) 2:09.11
1,600 — 1. J. Saxon (JT) 4:44.64, 2. Scheib (Mil) 4:47.91, 3. S. Brennan (SH) 4:52.05, 4. Boyce (Ham) 4:52.87, 5. Fox (Min) 4:52.50, 6. Miller (Gr) 4:55.50
3,200 — 1. Condly (JT) 10:11.29, 2. J. Saxon (JT) 10:26.55, 3. Dudanowicz (SC) 10:33.31, 4. McMullen (Mil) 10:46.38, 5. Conrad (Ham) 10:47.68, 6. Stephen (Min) 11:03.54
110 HH — 1. Raring (SC) 14.80, 2. Green (JT) 15.87, 3. Tritt (PG) 16.53, 4. Kemmerer (Ham) 16.99, 5. Schwartz (JT) 17.25, 6. Fetterman (SC) 17.72
300 IH — 1. Raring (SC) 40.73, 2. Nelson (Ham) 41.58, 3. Green (JT) 41.74, 4. Marzeski (SC) 43.07. 5. Zarkowski (MC) 44.88, 6. Yerger (PG) 45.76
400 relay — 1. Southern Columbia (Palacz, Trathen, Marzeski, Raring) 45.32, 2. Jim Thorpe 46.64, 3. Hamburg 46.66, 4. Tamaqua 46.70, 5. Millersburg 47.06, 6. Pine Grove 47.44
1,600 relay — Results not available
3,200 relay — 1. Minersville (Yutko, Fox, Schatz, Hinkel) 8:25.03, 2. Jim Thorpe 8:28.27, 3. Southern Columbia 8:32.79, 4. Millersburg 8:53.04, 5. Greenwood 9:02.23, 6. Schuylkill Haven 9:03.23
High jump — 1. Green (JT) 6-4, 2. Raring (SC) 6-2, 3. Stephenson (Sus) 5-10, 4. Joseph (Mah) 5-8, 5. Shatalsky (Nat) 5-6, 6. White (Jun) 5-4
Long jump — 1. Brennan (Mil) 19-3¾, 2. Stephenson (Sus) 18-11¾, 3. Gilkes (JT) 18-11, 4. Elo (PG) 18-0¾, 5. Woodard (Gr) 18-0, 6. McAllister (Ham) 17-10¼
Triple jump — 1. Green (JT) 42-4¼, 2. Woodard (Gr) 39-6½, 3. Brown (PG) 39-1, 4. Crum (UD) 37-9, 5. Schwalm (PG) 37-0, 6. Loeb (Ham) 36-6
Shot put — 1. Fritz (SH) 51-1, 2. Donlan (SC) 48-7, 3. Singer (Mil) 42-0, 4. Jeremiah (SC) 41-10¾, 5. Weimer (Gr) 41-8½, 6. Skripko (Tam) 41-7
Discus — 1. Farronato (MC) 139-8, 2. Donlan (SC) 116-8, 3. Zimmerman (UD) 114-6, 4. Skripko (Tam) 111-2, 5. Smith (Ham) 110-7, 6. Neumayer (Sus) 104-11
Javelin — 1. Farronato (MC) 159-2, 2. Smith (Ham) 157-2, 3. Jeremiah (SC) 144-9, 4. Sheaffer (Gr) 142-8, 5. Schilling (Tam) 140-1, 6. Weimer (Gr) 135-9
Team standings: 1. Jim Thorpe 123, 2. Southern Columbia 101, 3. Millersburg 54, 4. Minersville 45, 5. Hamburg 36, 6. Greenwood 36, 7. (tie) Pine Grove and Mount Carmel 24, 9. Susquenita 22, 10. (tie) Schuylkill Haven and Tamaqua 17, 12. Upper Dauphin 12, 13. Mahanoy Area 4, 14. Panther Valley 3, 15. Nativity 2, 16. Juniata 1
GIRLS
100 — 1. Malone (Haz) 12.65#, 2. Malave (PG) 13.09, 3. Klock (SC) 13.27, 4. Walshaw-Wertz (UD) 13.36, 5. Czaplicki (UD) 13.53, 6. Edge (PG) 13.67
200 — 1. Malone (Haz) 26.20, 2. Malave (PG) 27.29, 3. Sisko (SH) 27.92, 4. Reed (Haz) 28.14, 5. Brinkworth (Tam) 28.56, 6. Czaplicki (UD) 28.99
400 — 1. Lally (PG) 1:01.35#, 2. Walser (Haz) 1:02.49, 3. Reed (Haz) 1:03.64, 4. Kelley (Mil) 1:04.40, 5. Black (Gr) 1:05.33, 6. Rosso (UD) 1:07. 48
800 — 1. Buehrle (Haz) 2:25.83, 2. Shimko (PG) 2:30.14, 3. Miller (Mil) 2:31.51, 4. Swartz (Jun) 2:32.54, 5. Frantz (Tam) 2:35.35, 6. Berdanier (Min) 2:36.79
1,600 — 1. Buehrle (Haz) 5:34.61, 2. Miller (Mil) 5:48.47, 3. Kovac (JT) 5:49.23, 4. Spicher (Mil) 5:54.58, 5. Elmore (Sus) 5:54.58, 6. Barnard (Gr) 5:55.34
3,200 — 1. Everdale (Haz) 12:17.88, 2. Kovac (JT) 12:28.42, 3. Raczka (Min) 12:37.72, 4. Wasserleben (Tam) 12:47.43, 5. Strawser (Sus) 12:54.68, 6. Atland (Mil) 13:04.28
110 HH — 1. Frew (PG) 16.14#, 2. Lord (Nat) 16.66, 3. Osman (UD) 17.10, 4. Noll (SC) 17.32, 5. Petrone (Haz) 17.63, 6. Forrest (Ham) 18.06
300 IH — 1. Lally (PG) 47.85#, 2. Frew (PG) 48.55, 3. Osman (UD) 50.93, 4. Lord (Nat) 51.78, 5. Weiss (Min) 52.57, 6. Markle (Gr) 52.60
400 relay — 1. Hazleton (Wech, McCann, Jennings, Malone) 53.31, 2. Tamaqua 54.38, 3. Schuylkill Haven 54.38, 4. Millersburg 54.49, 5. Southern Columbia 54.70, 6. Jim Thorpe 54.73
1,600 relay — 1. Pine Grove (Malave, Edge, Frew, Lally) 4:17.30, 2. Tamaqua 4:20.58, 3. Hazleton 4:26.99, 4. Greenwood 4:30.37, 5. Millersburg 4:30.70, 6. Minersville 4:33.99
3,200 relay — 1. Millersburg (Atland, Spicher, Pirie, Kelley) 10:17 52, 2. Tamaqua 10:22.05, 3. Minersville 10:53.76, 4. Hazleton 11:00.50, 5. Southern Columbia 11:28.84, 6. Greenwood 11:32.21
High jump — 1. Hargenrader (Sus) 5-0, 2. Adamski (SC) 4-10, 3. Oley (SC) 4-10, 4. Pfeil (Haz) 4-10, 5. Buechel (Nat) 4-8, 6. Bowers (Min) 4-8
Long jump — 1. Haladay (SC) 14-9, 2. Hargenrader (Sus) 14-8¾, 3. Baddick (Tam) 14-8, 4. Gnall (Mah) 14-2, 5. (tie) Shertzer (Jun) and Evitts (SH) 13-10
Triple jump — 1. Shertzer (Jun) 32-8, 2. Frew (PG) 32-7, 3. Haladay (SC) 32-6, 4. Baddick (Tam) 31-5¼, 5. Clark (Jun) 30-0, 6. Jones (Gr) 29-10½
Shot put — 1. B. Cope (JT) 33-0, 2. Merkel (Haz) 32-6½, 3. Roadarmel (SC) 31-2½, 4. Pedersen (Tam) 29-11½, 5. Lignore (JT) 28-9, 6. Herrera (Haz) 28-4½
Discus — 1. McGuire (UD) 98-4, 2. Merkel (Haz) 93-8, 3. Moser (Ham) 87-1, 4. Simpkins (Mil) 86-4, 5. Crawford (Haz) 85-3, 6. Fessler (PG) 83-9
Javelin — 1. Merkel (Haz) 127-8, 2. Boyle (Tam) 126-9, 3. A. Cope (JT) 115-6, 4. Capouillez (Mil) 106-2, 5. B. Cope (JT) 98-6, 6. Tennis (PG) 98-1
Team standings: 1. Hazleton 123, 2. Pine Grove 75, 3. Tamaqua 62, 4. Southern Columbia 50, 5. Millersburg 47, 6. Jim Thorpe 35, 7. Upper Dauphin 30, 8. Susquenita 22, 9. Juniata 17½, 10. Minersville 17, 11. Nativity 13½, 12. Schuylkill Haven 10, 13. Greenwood 10, 14. Hamburg 7, 15. Mahanoy Area 4
# Meet record