Penn Wood girls advance to final
SHIPPENSBURG >> All Strath Haven’s Grace Forbes, Grace Haase, Isabel Cardi and Maddie Forbes wanted to do in the girls Class AAA 4 x 800-meter trials Friday was run well enough to qualify for Saturday’s final at the PIAA Track & Field Championships and get out of the blistering sun as soon as possible.
They accomplished that task.
The quartet finished second in their heat and turned in the seventh best time overall (9 minutes, 23.69 seconds) to earn a return trip to Shippensburg’s Seth Grove Stadium.
“The pressure was on us so Maddie could have it easy,” said Grace Forbes, referring to Hasse and Cardi.
Beating the weather and saving energy for Saturday’s finals was the goal of most of the athletes Friday. It was blistering hot and the sun was relentless. Rain and lightning later in the day forced PIAA officials to stop the meet after the trials in the girls Class AA 4 x 400-meter relay.
The remaining 4 x 400-meter races will be reseeded and contested as time trials at the end of Saturday’s schedule.
The Panthers did not have to deal with the same conditions as athletes later in the day, but it was still a stark contrast from the cool and rainy weather for most of the season.
“It was tough to run, but we did what we wanted” Maddie Forbes said. “We wanted to qualify and we did that.”
Penn Wood’s Janae Pitt, Terri Turner and Agnes Mansaray, along with Cardinal O’Hara’s Olivia Arizin, were the only other Delco athletes to advance to Saturday’s final.
Pitt was second in her heat in the Class AAA 300-intermedite hurdles and turned in the fifth-best time in the trials (44.22). Turner was second in her heat of the Class AAA 400-meter dash and had the sixth-fastest time in preliminary round (56.42).
Arizin and Mansaray both advanced to the final in the girls Class AAA 800. Arizin won her heat and posted the fastest time in the qualifying round (2:12.85). Mansaray was second in her heat, behind two-time defending champion Maddie Villalba of Central Bucks West, and had the seventh-best time in the prelims (2:14.63.
The day did not go the way Garnet Valley’s Nina Gambacorta planned. The goal was to at least earn a medal in the girls Class AAA shot put at the PIAA Track & Field Championships, preferably bronze or better, but any hardware would do.
She did not expect to leave the first day of competition empty handed, but that’s exactly what happened after she finished a disappointing 19th. Her best put of the day was 37-½.
“It was a tough day,” Gambacorta said. “I played it safe on my first throw because I didn’t want to foul. I fouled on my second throw and was caught in between on my last throw.”
As a state meet veteran, though, Gambacorta knew there was little time to wallow in self-pity.
“I just have to take a moment and be upset about it,” Gambacorta said. “Once I get over that I have to focus on the discus and turn it into a positive thing for tomorrow.
Gambacorta has improved quite a bit in that department, Garnet Valley coach Terri Lillicrap said.
“It used to take her a week (to get over a subpar performance),” Lillicrap said. “Now it’s about 35 minutes.”
Lorielle Laforrest was 26th in the shot, while Carly Bierling of Bonner & Prendergast was 28th.
Hannah Oropollo looked up at the bar in the girls Class AAA pole vault and cringed a little bit. The opening height was 10-feet.
Oropollo’s vault best in competition was 8-6.
“It was a little scary,” the sophomore from Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast said.
Oropollo nearly got over the bar on her final attempt, but just nicked it an her day was over. Even though she did not register a height, the say was not a total loss.
“Hopefully, next year I do better,” Oropollo said. “It was a learning experience.”
Alaina Johnson of Bonner & Prendergast ran into some tough luck. She had to avoid Cheltenham’s Madison Langley-Walker, who fell going over a hurdle and crossed the line into Johnson’s lane. Johnson had to avoid Langley-Walker without leaving her lane.
“It threw me of a little bit,” Johnson said.
She did finish second in her heat of the 300-meter hurdles, but did not advance to the finals.
