Methacton’s Serratore, Christopher Dock’s Kratz, Clements claim gold at District 1 Championships

CALN — Confident and relaxed, Methacton’s Nicolette Serratore entered Thursday’s javelin competition as the district’s number-one seed, and left Coatesville High School as a gold medalist, having thrown 10 feet further than her previous best.

“It feels awesome, especially standing right next to Jenny — first and second, just amazing,’ said the Methacton senior, who joined teammate Jenny Martin on the medal stand to take the top two spots in Class AAA. “We both decided to (use new javelins) this meet and we both P.R.’d by so much…All of the competition throughout all four years of high school definitely prepared me.’

Opening day of districts brought out the best in several area athletes, including Class AA Long Jump Champion Bailey Kratz, who helped put Christopher Dock in position to repeat as district champs.

Serratore, meanwhile, launched her third throw of the prelims and watched it soar, her mark of 139 feet topping an elite field of 26. Last year as a junior, Serratore earned the bronze medal with a throw of 128-5.

“Junior year’s just rough,’ said Serratore, whose versatility will send her to James Madison next year as a heptathlete. “This year, I just feel so much more relaxed and confident.’

Martin threw 136-2 to earn the silver, as Methacton’s duo was 11 feet further than the rest of the competition.

Kratz’s multiple talents could lead the way to another team title for Dock — she’ll be looking to defend her 200 dash title on Saturday.

She beat out Delco Christian’s Cassidy Foxhaven-Gamble (16-4.5) for top honors in the long, while teammate Niki Clements got up 9 feet, 6 inches to claim her third straight pole vault title.

Going one-on-one with New Hope-Solebury’s Hannah Singer, Clements pushed to the gold, topping her winning mark of a year ago by nine inches. The junior very nearly cleared 10 feet on Thursday but hit the bar on the way up — she cleared it on the way down.

“The girls are finishing exactly where they needed to finish,’ said coach Tim Eger, whose team pushed several qualifers through to Saturday on the track. “We’re potentially looking at a repeat if everyone continues to do what they need to do.’

Souderton Area’s Shamar Jenkins earned a pair of trips to the medal stand over in AAA, as he placed fourth in the triple jump and seventh in the high jump, while North Penn’s Uche Nwogwugwu (high jump) and Pennridge’s Ariana Przybylowski (long jump) were bronze medalists in their respective events.

The North Penn girls’ 4×800 relay raced to the top time of the day in Thursday prelims, as did Pennridge’s Taylor Chapman in the 100 dash and Central Bucks West’s Maddie Villalba in the 800-meter run.

Chapman’s 200 dash time and teammate Marissa Sheva’s 1,600 time were second fastest in their events on Thursday, setting up well for Saturday finals.