CB West’s Villalba repeats in 800, North Penn’s Williams, Methacton’s Ellis golden at District 1-AAA Championships

CALN — Maddie Villalba raced through 800 meters of heat on Saturday, defending her District 1 Class AAA title on a steaming afternoon at Coatesville High.

The Central Bucks West junior pulled away and crossed the finish line nearly three seconds before anyone else did, in an outstanding field.

But it may just be a preview of what lies ahead.

“It feels awesome. I was nervous about this one — it was a big race. But it’s exciting to win again, for sure,’ she said.

“I’m not completely happy with my race because I know it could have been faster. I’m excited for next week because I wanna see what happens when I go to the well and really push myself. That’s not to say I didn’t push myself today, but I know there’s more in the tank and I wanna see what that means for next week.’

Villalba raced to the gold in 2 minutes, 9.47 seconds, with Penn Wood’s Agnes Mansaray her closest competition, in 2:13.22. Villalba was within shouting distance of the district record (2:08.08), set by Gwynedd Mercy’s Emma Keenan back in 2012.

West’s premiere 800 runner and 4×4 anchor, Villalba is happy to be headed to states — with some company.

“I’m so excited because our 4×8 and 4×4 teams made it,’ she said. “So it’s just gonna be so much fun to be able to go with the team. It’s just really exciting to be able to go to states and go with the team, and be surrounded by the people you love.’

West’s 4×8 team of Vanessa Barrow, Olivia Berry, Laura Roth, and Cecilia Davies punched their ticket to states, placing sixth in an elite group that included gold-medalist Great Valley (8:58.98) and silver-medalist North Penn, as the foursome of Steph Bresadola, Ali Valenti, Mikaela Vlasic and Phoebe Clowser set a school record with a time of 9:02.86.

The 4×8 foursome, along with the silver-medal 4×4, helped the Maidens finish third as a team in Class AAA, with Allison Williams and Uche Nwogwugwu proving to be a remarkable tandem in the triple jump, earning gold and silver.

“I’m so excited, because I was getting really nervous about my consistency, and I’m so proud I just jumped a 38,’ said Williams, who got out 38 feet, 5 inches, with Nwogwugwu jumping 38-4. “We’re so happy. We push each other, and I think she pushed me to get that 38-5.’

Later in the afternoon, Methacton’s Tejarra Ellis would throw 133 feet, 1 inch, topping the 130-1 by Academy Park’s Janese Lynch to earn her first district gold.

“It’s my senior year so I went out with a bang,’ Ellis said. “It’ll be my first time at states so I’m really excited, and nervous at the same time.

“I think my teammates’ motivation and support (made the difference for me). I think that’s what keeps me going.’

Pennridge’s Marissa Sheva added to her collection of district medals, as the senior raced to fourth in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600 to advance in both events, while teammate Taylor Chapman was also a double qualifier, placing fifth in the 200 and third in the 100.

District 1 Track and Field Championships

At Coatesville

Class AAA

Girls

Team Champion: Cheltenham

3,200: 1. Olivia Sargent (Pennsbury) 10:36.35; 2. Aislinn Devlin (Downingtown West) 10:39.59; 3. Hannah Molloy (Pennsbury) 10:41.14

4×800 Relay: 1. Great Valley (Elise Claffey, Tabitha Wismer, Anna Willig, Crosby Spiess), 8:58.98; 2. North Penn, 9:02.86; 3. Unionville, 9:09.01

Triple Jump: 1. Allison Williams (NP) 38-5; 2. Uche Nwogwugwu (NP) 38-4; 3. Evelyn Berecz (Downingtown East) 37-10.75

100 Hurdles: 1. Ciara Leonard (Cheltenham) 13.67; 2. Jolesha Boulware (Coatesville) 14.49; 3. Ma Langley-Walker (Cheltenham) 14.61

100: 1. Chanel Brissett (Cheltenham) 11.85; 2. Dasia Pressley (Pennsbury) 11.92; 3. Taylor Chapman (Pennridge) 12.17

1,600: 1. Karli Visconto (Nazareth) 5:02.72; 2. Olivia Sargent (Pennsbury) 5:02.89; 3. Marissa Sheva (Pennridge) 5:04.14

4×100 Relay: 1. Cheltenham (Leonard, Janiel Slowly, Alexis Crosby, Chanel Brissett), 46.88 (state record, 46.9, Chester, 1981); 2. Norristown, 47.18; 3. Pennsbury, 47.21

400: 1. McKenna Keegan (Avon Grove) 54.84; 2. Uche Nwogwugwu (NP) 54.85; 3. Husniyyah Rogers (Pennsbury) 56.58

300 hurdles: 1. Uchechi Onuoha (Pennsbury) 43.54; 2. Ciara Leonard (Cheltenham) 43.74; 3. Ma Langley-Walker (Cheltenham) 44.07

800: 1. Maddie Villalba (CBW) 2:09.47; 2. Agnes Mansaray (Penn Wood) 2:13.22; 3. Brianna Stratz (CB South) 2:13.38

200: 1. Dasia Pressley (Pennsbury) 24.0; 2. Chanel Brissett (Cheltenham) 24.03; 3. Jayana Webb (Norristown) 24.26

4×400 Relay: 1. Cheltenham (Nicole Burke, Arianna Wallace, Dior Alston, Alexis Crosby), 3:51.99; 2. North Penn (Leiana Dean, Allison King, Uche Nwogwugwu, Mikaela Vlasic), 3:52.22; 3. CB South, 3:52.28

Discus: 1. Tejarra Ellis (Methacton) 133-1; 2. Janese Lynch (Academy Park) 130-1; 3. Amelia Ali (Bensalem) 129-1

Boys

Team Champion: Cheltenham

3,200: 1. Paul Power (Spring-Ford) 9:15.51; 2. Jake Brophy (CB East) 9:17.30; 3. Andrew Marston (Conestoga) 9:19.09

4×800 Relay: 1. Pennsbury (Eric Kersten, Alek Sauer, Sam Webb, Matt Mulvaney), 7:43.50; 2. CB West, 7:45.72; 3. Agington, 7:49.17

Shot Put: 1. Milton Jones (Glen Mills) 57-3.5; 2. Kieran Moore (Upper Dublin) 54-7.25; 3. Eric Kasperowicz (Holy Ghost) 49-8.5

110 Hurdles: 1. Mason Weh (Upper Darby) 14.34; 2. Akeim Thomas (Upper Darby) 14.37; 3. Kornelius Klah (Pennsbury) 14.49

100: 1. Christian Brissett (Cheltenham) 10.91; 2. Dan Chisena (Downingtown East) 10.92; 3. Darien Williams (Wissahickon) 11.06

1,600: 1. Jaxson Hoey (Downingtown West) 4:15.40; 2. Casey Comber (Hatboro-Horsham) 4:16.34; 3. Sam Webb (Pennsbury) 4:16.69

4×100 relay: 1. Downingtown West (Nate Alleyne, Matt McCool, Josh McLemore, Mike Riddick), 41.88; 2. Downingtown East, 41.94; 3. Upper Darby, 42.16

400: 1. Donovan St. Louis (Upper Darby) 48.38; 2. Isiah Smith (Abington) 49.28; 3. Josh McLemore (Downingtown West) 49.63

300 Hurdles: 1. David Marrington (Neshaminy) 37.36; 2. Andrew Dillon (Norristown) 38.34; 3. Akeim Thomas (Upper Darby) 38.42

800: 1. John Lewis (Cheltenham) 1:49.15 (district record, previous, 1:50.92, Hong Cho, Wissahickon, 2011); 2. Alek Sauer (Pby) 1:53.08; 3. Dylan Eddinger (Boyertown) 1:53.59

200: 1. Dan Chisena (Downingtown East) 21.66; 2. Brissett (Cheltenham) 21.75; 3. David Gumino (CR North) 22.01

4×400 Relay: 1. Cheltenham (Saahir Bethea, Kyle Davis, John Lewis, Cordell Richardson), 3:16.11; 2. Abington, 3:18.46; 3. Penn Wood, 3:20.75

Pole Vault: 1. Matt Dever (WC Rustin) 14-0; 2. Chad Ziegler (Souderton) 13-6; 3. Jason Douple (CB West) 13-6

Long Jump: 1. Saahir Bethea (Cheltenham) 24-3; 2. Richard Austin (Abington) 21-11.5; 3. Joe Adighibe (Perkiomen Valley) 21-11.25

Javelin: 1. Evan Sing (Penncrest) 194-8; 2. Bryan Leacraft (Spring-Ford) 181-1; 3. Brandon Leacraft (Spring-Ford) 180-0

Follow Kev Hunter on Twitter @khunter10.