WHITEHALL — Pine Grove’s McKayla Lally, Jim Thorpe’s Brooke Cope and Marian’s Brenna Karnish all have bright futures ahead of them in track and field.
The present isn’t too bad, either.
The three sophomores each grabbed individual gold for the first time in their careers Tuesday at the District 11 Track and Field Championships at Whitehall High School’s Zephyr Complex.
Lally won the 300 hurdles, an event that is fairly new to her, in 46.62 seconds, beating Salisbury’s Lindsay Bauer (47.18) and the Cardinals’ Maddie Frew (47.54). Lally qualified for the PIAA Championships for the second time — she went in 2014 in the 400 relay and 1,600 relay — but for the first time in an individual event.
Frew also qualified for states by besting the state qualifying standard
of 47.64. Lally and Frew posed together on the medal stand for pictures after they received their medals.
“It is very exciting,” Lally said. “When I crossed the finish line I was smiling, but in the beginning of the race I was really nervous. It feels awesome.”
Cope and Karnish were smiling, too.
Cope nailed her first throw of the day and ended up winning the Class AAA javelin with a top throw of 135 feet, 5 inches. Northampton’s Hannah Marth (130-3) came in second, while Autumn Cope, Brooke’s older sister, took third at 128-1.
Brooke Cope was a runner-up in the event last year and is headed to states for the second time. Autumn Cope is also headed to the PIAA meet after besting the state qualifying standard of 122-0.
The area’s third girls’ individual gold Tuesday was claimed by Karnish, who won the Class AA discus with a best throw of 116-8. Catasauqua’s Trinity Henderson (102-10) was second and Tamaqua’s Kayla Holland (101-10) took third.
Karnish qualified for states for the second time in her career after she was runner-up in the event at districts last year.
Tamaqua’s Chelsea Frantz, Victoria Labar, Janette Kabana and Monika Shimko grabbed the day’s first victory by Schuylkill League athletes by winning the Class AA 3,200 relay in 10:02.31.
It is the second trip to states for Shimko and Frantz. Shimko qualified last year in 800 and is the top seed for that event today as she seeks to defend her district title. Frantz went in 2013 in the 800.
In keeping the theme from the area’s individual winners going, the four are all underclassmen. Frantz and Labar are juniors, Shimko a sophomore and Kabana a freshman.
The Raiders’ Morgan Boyle also qualified for states for the second consecutive year in Class AA pole vault. Boyle, a junior, was a runner-up to Salisbury’s Kaitlyn Toman (12-4). Boyle reached 10-0.
Boyle was eighth in the pole vault at states last year.
This is the first season that Lally has competed in the 300 hurdles, and ran the event only at invitationals early in the year. It was a meet-record time at the Pine Grove Invitational on April 24 that convinced Lally that she could excel in the event.
Lally won her first league title in the 300 hurdles last Wednesday at Blue Mountain High School’s Eagles’ Nest in 45.87 and came into Tuesday seeded first with that time.
Lally said she her seed made her a bit nervous.
“I guess because I was top seed and (Bauer) from Salisbury, I knew that she was going to come up right behind me,” Lally said. “Being seeded first and having all that pressure on my back, I really wanted to push myself.
“In beginning of the race I was really shaky, but once I got over the last three hurdles I felt really good.”
Bauer got out to a fast start, but Lally caught her at the first corner. Bauer then regained the lead before Lally took the lead for good at the final turn and then pulled away over the final 100 meters for the victory.
“I got a little bit nervous (when Bauer took the lead back),” Lally said. “But then by the turn I caught her and I just knew I had to give it my all over the last three hurdles.”
Like Lally, Brooke Cope entered Tuesday seeded first at 143-3 and was coming off her first league title with a 128-5 last Wednesday. Cope wasted no time in taking the lead and punching her ticket to states. Her winning throw turned out to be her first attempt of the day.
“I was definitely pumped to be here and be seeded first,” Cope said. “So on my first throw, I just ran with it, I really focused on what I had to do and I just let it go. It felt really good.
“After that, I knew I didn’t have to worry about hitting the state qualifying standard. I felt like I had to worry about the competition but I knew I was at a nice level.”
Cope was fourth in the event at districts in 2014, reaching a 124-9 and qualifying for states by besting the state qualifying standard. Cope did herself better Tuesday.
“It feels great to win a district title because it is something I’ve never done before,” she said. “Being able to come back from last year finishing fourth at districts and this year getting first, it is really a big confidence boost, especially considering I am only a sophomore.”
Karnish felt she was going to have a good day based on her warm-up throws. She hit what turned out to be her winning distance on her first attempt of the day, too.
“I just relaxed,” Karnish said. “Throughout the season I’ve been so stressed out about throwing well. Today I was just happy and relaxed and however I would throw, I would throw. On my first throw, my technique was on plane, my release was good, I just kind of knew it was going to be a good throw.
“I just kind of tend to do better under pressure,” Karnish added. “I just kind of feel more relaxed. During a regular meet I am putting the pressure on myself because there is nothing really to qualify for.”
Karnish came into Tuesday seeded second behind Salisbury’s Maddy Undercuffler at 106-11. Karnish won her first Schuylkill League title in the event last Wednesday with a 101-5.5. At districts last year, Karnish was second to North Schuylkill’s Carter Green. Karnish had a 99-5 in 2014 and her distance Tuesday was around a 17-foot improvement from last year.
“I wanted to come in and win first because it was a step up from last year,” Karnish said. “And I broke our school record with that throw. I’ve been trying to do that all season. Just to come out and qualify for states is just amazing.
“I’ve been lifting a lot. I’ve been working on my technique and practicing a lot more.”
Frantz, Labar and Shimko were a part of the Raiders’ 3,200 relay team that finished fourth at districts last year, coming up just short on a state bid. Tamaqua was running behind Bethlehem Catholic until the third leg when Kabana closed the gap over the final 100 meters before handing the baton to Shimko for the final leg.
Shimko then slowly pull away from Lauren Bunke on the final leg to give the Raiders the victory. Shimko knew that she would be able to finish the race out after Kabana’s leg.
“She had an amazing finish and it really leveled us out,” Shimko said. “I felt really confident. I felt like I could do it.”
At Whitehall High School
Tuesday’s results
KEY: Allentown Central Catholic (ACC), Bangor (Ban), Bethlehem Catholic (BC), Blue Mountain (BM), Catasauqua (Cat), Dieruff (D), East Stroudsburg North (ESN), East Stroudsburg South (ESS), Easton (E), Emmaus (Em), Freedon (F), Jim Thorpe (JT), Lehigh Valley Christian (LVC), Lehighton (Leh), Liberty (Lib), Mahanoy Area (Mah), Marian (Mar), Minersville (Min), Moravian Academy (MA), Nativity (Nat), Nazareth (Naz), Northern Lehigh (NL), Northampton (Nor), North Schuylkill (NS), Northwestern Lehigh (NWL), Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg (NDES), Notre Dame-Green Pond (NDGP), Palisades (Pal), Palmerton (Palm), Panther Valley (PV), Parkland (Park), Pen Argyl (PA), Pine Grove (PG), Pius X (PX), Pleasant Valley (Pl), Pocono Mountain East (PME), Pocono Mountain West (PMW), Pottsville (Pot), Salisbury (Sal), Saucon Valley (Sau), Schuylkill Haven (SH), Shenandoah Valley (SV), Southern Lehigh (SL), Stroudsburg (S), Tamaqua (Tam), Weatherly (Wea), Whitehall (Wh), William Allen (WA), Wilson (Wil)
CLASS AA
BOYS
Preliminaries
100 — 1. Bruno (Mar) 11.42, 2. (tie) Creighton (Pal) and Roper (Tam) 11.44, 4. Kober (Cat) 11.54, 5. Pritiskutch (Min) 11.69, 6. Colletti (Pal) 11.73, 7. Marfisi (PA) 11.57, 8. Appelbaum (Palm) 11.72, 9. Stasko (Palm) 11.74
110 HH — 1. Troxell (NL) 15.35#, 2. Guers (SV) 16.0, 3. Rossi (Pal) 16.5, 4. Tritt (PG) 16.85, 5. Pristash (NL), 6. Kolbush (Mar) 17.84, 7. Heisler (PA) 17.93, 8. Clauser (SH) 18.46, 9. Davidson (Tam) 18.73
200 — 1. Creighton (Pal) 23.1, 2. Marfisi (PA) 23.22, 3. Kober (Cat) 23.4, 4. Appelbaum (Palm) 23.55, 5. Pereira (Palm) 23.76, 6. Stasko (Palm) 23.8, 7. Pritiskutch (Min) 23.92, 8. Wilkins (Pal) 23.97
Finals
3,200 relay — 1. Minersville (Yutko, Rushanan, Fox, Hinkel) 8:18.35, 2. Marian (Agosti, Karnish, Mussoline, Roberts) 8:22.85, 3. Northern Lehigh 8:28.99, 4. Schuylkill Haven (Pothering, J. Brennan, McGowan, S. Brennan) 8:31.76, 5. Palisades 8:57.36, 6. Tamaqua (Clemson, Tite, Kinder, Melnick) 9:16.98
300 hurdles — 1. Doherty (Palm) 40.51#, 2. Troxell (NL) 41.1, 3. Gownley (NS) 42.53, 4. Wilkins (Pal) 43.56, 5. Pristash (NL) 43.9, 6. Capobianco (PV) 44.6
3,200 — 1. Gonoude (Sal) 10:15.65, 2. Kemery (NL) 10:34.14, 3. Smith (PA) 10:37.61, 4. Fry (Sal) 10:49.09, 5. Stephen (Min) 11:01.89, 6. McCormick (NS) 11:09.31
Javelin — 1. Weber (Sal) 176-0#, 2. Pereira (Palm) 163-4, 3. Antalosky (NS) 139-11, 4. Trippeda (Pal) 139-10, 5. Frankenfield (Sal) 139-4, 6. Mauro (Mar) 134-10
High jump — 1. Hay (Palm) 6-4#, 2. Donaldson (Sal) 6-0, 3. Myers (Palm) 5-10, 4. Ramsden (Pal) 5-8, 5. Spencer (Sal) 5-8, 6. (tie) Seitz (Sal) and Buchinsky (Mar) 5-6
Triple jump — 1. Houser (Cat) 43-9¼, 2. Buchinsky (Mar) 42-1, 3. Snyder (NL) 41-6½, 4. Taylor (Min) 41-4, 5. Strouse (PA) 40-6, 6. Brown (PG) 40-2
Pole vault — 1. Blasiak (Palm) 12-6, 2. Renninger (Sal) 12-0, 3. Gilmore (Pal) 11-6, 4. Walters (Sal) 11-0, 5. Keller (Sal) 11-0, 6. Debski (Palm) 10-0
Shot put — 1. Fritz (SH) 48-7¾, 2. Werner (PG) 46-2, 3. Heffelfinger (Palm) 44-0¾, 4. Anthony (Palm) 43-9, 5. Skripko (Tam) 42-9½, 6. Briel (NS) 42-7½
GIRLS
Preliminaries
100 — 1. Ramsden (Pal) 12.7#, 2. Robinson (Pal) 12.86, 3. Kissell (NDES) 13.22, 4. Reed (Pal) 13.08, 5. Pulaski (Mar) 13.28, 6. Bradley (Cat) 13.37, 7. Malave (PG) 13.3, 8. Wheeler (Mar) 13.48, 9. Strouse (PA) 13.53
110 HH — 1. Frew (PG) 15.74#, 2. Lord (Nat) 16.86, 3. Young (BC) 16.88, 4. Wood (Palm) 17.47, 5. Cooper (Pal) 17.6, 6. Mitchell (Pal) 18.24, 7. Geiger (PG) 18.9, 8. Iacoviello (Tam) 19.06, 9. Moyer (SH) 19.23
200 — 1. Bauer (Sal) 26.19#, 2. Kissel (NDES) 26.89, 3. Ramsden (Pal) 26.93, 4. Malave (PG) 27.29, 5. Sisko (SH) 27.63, 6. Strouse (PA) 27.69, 7. Wheeler (Mar) 27.88, 8. Brinkworth (Tam) 28.13
Finals
3,200 relay — 1. Tamaqua (Frantz, LaBar, Kabana, Shimko) 10:02.31, 2. Bethlehem Catholic 10:14.43, 3. Palisades 10:19.68, 4. Salisbury 10:42.77, 5. Minersville (Purcell, Smulley, Cory, Berdanier) 10:48.72, 6. Schuylkill Haven (Pascucci, Renninger, Zimmerman, Adams) 11:34.01
300 hurdles — 1. Lally (PG) 46.62#, 2. Bauer (Sal) 47.18#, 3. Frew (PG) 47.54#, 4. Young (BC) 48.6, 5. Pulaski (Mar) 49.41, 6. Wood (Palm) 49.93
3,200 — 1. Biondo (PA) 11:38.48, 2. Yocco (BC) 12:01.63, 3. Capparell (Mar) 12:14.09, 4. Rowan (BC) 12:20.52, 5. McKay (NL) 12:31.92, 6. Raczka (Min) 12:45.14
Long jump — 1. Bauer (Sal) 18-0¾#, 2. Je. Olewine (NL) 17-7½#, 3. Roach (BC) 16-1½, 4. Tanczos (BC) 16-1¼, 5. Gnall (Mah) 15-10¾, 6. Ji. Olewine (NL) 15-9½
Discus — 1. Karnish (Mar) 116-8#, 2. Henderson (Cat) 102-10, 3. Holland (Tam) 101-10, 4. Underkoffler (Sal) 101-0, 5. Eripret (Sal) 97-6, 6. Zamolyi (BC) 95-0
Pole vault — 1. Toman (Sal) 12-4#, 2. Boyle (Tam) 10-0, 3. Demetriades (Tam) 9-6, 4. Je. Olewine (NL) 9-0, 5. Glore (Min) 9-0, 6. Groff (Sal) 8-6
CLASS AAA
(Top 2, plus Blue Mountain, Jim Thorpe and Pottsville in Top 6)
BOYS
Preliminaries
100 — 1. Liaci (Naz) 11.16, 2. Walters (S) 11.18
110 HH — 1. Simmons (BC) 14.8#, 2. Cruz (ESN) 14.85# … 6. Rayan Green (JT) 15.47
200 — 1. Dotson (Naz) 22.62, 2. Wiggins (ESN) 22.87
Finals
3,200 relay — 1. Pleasant Valley 8:11.98, 2. Easton 8:12.98 … 5. Jim Thorpe (J. Saxon, Bucior, B. Saxon, Condly) 8:24.74
300 hurdles — 1. Simmons (BC) 40.21, 2. Trexler (Park) 40.68
3,200 — 1. Albert (E) 9:19.41#, 2. Lapsansky (E) 9:41.71 … 6. Condly (JT) 10:06.75
Discus — 1. Strohe (Ban) 141-7, 2. Blauch (Leh) 138-0
High jump — 1. Green (JT) 6-3, 2. Cruz (ESN) 6-3
Triple jump — 1. Green (JT) 47-9#, 2. Cruz (ESN) 45-4#
GIRLS
Preliminaries
100 — 1. Aminu (Lib) 12.09%#, 2. Crooks (Wh) 12.29# … 5. Lombel (Pot) 12.57#
110 HH — 1. McWhite (D) 14.31%#, 2. Tompkins (Lib) 15.41#
200 — 1. Hall (ESN) 25.67#, 2. Aminu (Lib) 25.79# … 5. Lombel (Pot) 26.29
Finals
3,200 relay — 1. Easton 9:31.03#, 2. Northwestern Lehigh 9:34.38# … 5. Blue Mountain (Rickard, Abel, Klamfoth, Leymeister) 9:57.53
300 hurdles — 1. McWhite (D) 44.17#, 2. Geis (ACC) 45.93#
3,200 — 1. Davalos (PME) 11:06.98#, 2. Hart (SL) 11:11.21#
Long jump — 1. Caldwell-Adams (PME) 19-2%#, 2. Liciano (E) 18-7#
Shot put — 1. Erie (F) 37-5½, 2. Aminu (Lib) 37-4½, 3. B. Cope (JT) 36-3¾
Javelin — 1. B. Cope (JT) 135-5#, 2. Marth (Nor) 130-3#, 3. A. Cope (JT) 128-1#
% Meet record
# State qualifying standard