All-Delco Girls Track and Field: Upper Darby’s Thorpe was a throwing machine
In addition to Athlete of the Year Grace Forbes from Strath Haven, the All-Delco girls track team includes:
Siani Barnes, Upper Darby: A right hamstring strain at the start of the season did not keep Barnes from reaching the PIAA Class 3A championships for the second year in a row. The junior and two-time All-Delco recovered to finish third in the triple jump at the Delco Championships and fifth at the District 1 Class 3A championships to punch her ticket to Shippensburg. She recorded her PR (37-10 ½) to take third at the Jack Roddick Invitational and had a personal-best of 16-2 in the long jump in a tri-meet with Strath Haven and Ridley.
Olivia Boyce, Haverford: Boyce saved her best for last, equaling her personal-best with a leap of 5-4 to take ninth in the high jump at the PIAA Class 3A championships, one spot out of a medal. She did not want for hardware, though. She was the Delco champ in the high jump and also won the event at the Delco and Upper Darby relays. Boyce also is a two-time district medal winner with a seventh-place finish this year after placing sixth as a sophomore.
Riley Beebe, Garnet Valley: Beebe earned All-Delco honors for the second year in a row. The senior started her season with a string of seven straight victories in the javelin. That included wins at the Upper Darby Relays, Haverford Invitational, Delco Relays, Warrior Invitational and Jack Roddick Invitational. Beebe finished 13th in the event at the Penn Relays and was second in the javelin at the Delco Championships. Beebe will attend Bucknell University.
Jiya Clayton, Chester: Clayton and fellow sophomore Taniyah Lawler provided a solid 1-2 punch in the intermediate hurdles for the Clippers. Clayton earned her second straight trip to the PIAA Class 3A championships with a third-place finish in the 300 hurdles at the District 1 meet. She ran a personal best time of 44.67 seconds to get bronze medal. Clayton finished fourth in the event at the Delco Championships and second at the Pennsylvania Track Classic and Diamond State Relays.
Nevaeh Davis, Penn Wood: It’s going to be fun watching Davis and Ridley’s Brianna Foster, the leading underclassmen sprinters, battle for the next two years. The sophomore finished the season ranked second in the county in the 200-meter dash and third in the 100, and also was part of Penn Wood’s 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relay teams. Davis was fourth in the 200 at the District 1 Class 3A championships to earn her first trip to the PIAA Championships as an individual. She anchored Penn Wood’s 4 x 400 to a silver at states and also was on the 4 x 100 team that advanced to Shippensburg.
Brianna Foster, Ridley: A hamstring injury prevented Foster from qualifying for the PIAA Class 3A championships for the second year in a row, but that injury at the District 1 championships did not diminish what she accomplished during the season. The sophomore was the Delco 100- and 200-meter dash champion for the second year in a row, winning the 200 in a personal-best time of 24.91 seconds. She recorded a PR of 12.24 in the preliminary of the 100 at Delcos.
READ: The full All-Delco Track and Field teams
Dana Hubbell, Strath Haven: Versatility was Hubbell’s strength. The two-time All-Delco competed in both hurdles and the triple jump at the District 1 Class 3A championships, where she was sixth in the 100 hurdles and eighth in the triple jump. The senior won four medals at the county championship. She was first in the 100 hurdles, third in the 300, and second in both the high and triple jumps, and was part of the rotation for Strath Haven’s 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays teams. Hubbell is headed to Northwestern University.
Meghan Lynch, Ridley: Name it and Lynch did it for the Green Raiders. She ran the 200, both hurdles and competed in all three jumping events. The triple jump, though, was her specialty. She leaped a personal-best 38-1 ½ to win the Delco championship and took fourth at the District 1 Class 3A championships to earn her second straight trip to the state meet where she finished ninth, one spot out of a medal. The two-time All-Delco will attend Drexel University
Olivia Malley, Strath Haven: Only Penn Wood’s Elicia Moore had a better time in the 400 this season than Malley. Her value, though, was in the relay events. The senior led off Strath Haven’s 4 x 800-meter relay team that captured the PIAA Class 3A championship for the first time in program history. She also was on the 4 x 400 relay that was third at the state meet. Malley ran the 400-meter leg on Strath Haven’s distance medley relay that finished fourth at the Penn Relays in a county-record time of 11:51.26.
Christine Mancini, Card. O’Hara: The only thing missing from Mancini’s resume was an individual medal at the PIAA Class 3A championships. The two-time All-Delco crossed that off her list with a seventh-place finish in the 800 in Shippensburg to join Forbes and Radnor’s Keara Seasholtz on the medals stand. That capped a career that included back-to-back victories in the 800 at the District 12 championships. She will join her sisters at La Salle University.
Elicia Moore, Penn Wood: Few runners have had as good a career as Moore. She’s a four-time All-Delco and two-time individual medal winner at the PIAA Class 3A championships. A versatile athlete, her range went from the 200 to the 800. This season, Moore added the 300 hurdles to her repertoire and finished third at the state meet with a personal-best time of 43.50. Moore put that versatility on display at the Delco champs with victories in the 300 hurdles and 400 dash. She also was a key member of Penn Wood’s 4 x 400 relay squad that was second in Shippensburg. She will attend Robert Morris University.
Keara Seasholtz, Radnor: Look for the junior to continue Delco’s dominance of the 800 from the last several years. She’s already a two-time state medalist in the event, picking up a silver medal this spring after finishing fifth as a sophomore. The two-time All-Delco recorded a personal-best 2:10.00 in the PIAA Class 3A final, the fifth-best time by a county runner in the last 20 years. Seasholtz also set personal-bests in the 400 (57.60), 1,600 (5:25.21), mile (5:12.79) and 3,200 (12:40.26) this season.
Jessica Schneider, Notre Dame: Distance is Schneider’s forte. She ran everything from the 800 to the 3,200 as a senior. The metric mile and two-mile, though, were her specialties. Schneider finished second in the 1,600 at the Delco and Inter-Ac meets. She took the silver at Delcos with a PR of 4:57.26, which tied her for the third-fastest run in the event by a county runner in the last 20 years. Schneider also was second in the 3,200 at the Inter-Ac champs (PR of 10:54.78, eighth best since 2000) and third in the event at the PAISAA championships. The two-time All-Delco will attend Notre Dame.
Kayla Thorpe, Upper Darby: Thorpe is the first female from Delco to medal in two throwing events at the PIAA Class 3A championships since Anna McCloskey of Cardinal O’Hara in 2011. She’s also the first from Delco to medal in the shot and javelin since Springfield’s Christine Heffernan in 1999 and the first Delco thrower to medal in all three throwing events at the District 1 Class 3A championships andn qualify for the state meet in all three since Heffernan. Thorpe was sixth in the javelin at the state meet with a PR and school-record throw of 136-5, and fourth in the shot with a PR and school-record heave of 40- ½.
Dominique Timmons, Upper Darby: At the beginning of the season, Timmons wasn’t sure she could compete with the top sprinters in the state. By the end of the campaign, there was no doubt she belonged among Pennsylvania’s elite. The Ursinus signee capped her career with a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter dash at the PIAA Class 3A championships. She ran a personal-best 12.21 seconds in the preliminary round. Timmons was fourth at the District 1 championships and second at the Delco Championships. She also was a key member of the Royals’ 4 x 400-meter relay team that was sixth at the state meet, and the 4 x 100 relay team squad.
