Silver lining in team race for Upper Darby
CALN — Upper Darby gave dominant Cheltenham a bit of a push at the District One track and field championships Saturday at Coatesville High. The Royals were hanging close before Cheltenham pulled away to a team victory with 72 points.
Upper Darby (Jared Carter, Donovan St. Louis, Brandon Morton, Mason Weh) had a day-closing, somewhat disappointing seventh-place finish in the 4 x 400 relay at 3:23.43. But that earned a second-place finish at 49 points, one more than third-place Downingtown West.
In that 4 x 400, Cheltenham ran a brilliant race at 3:16.11, and will be one of the state favorites next week at Shippensburg. But Penn Wood, which placed third in the district 4 x 400 relay, will also be trying its luck. The Patriots (Ahmere Ponzo, Dennis Manyeah, Ndiaga Seck, Jani Smith) crossed in 3:20.75, good for third behind the Panthers and Abington (3:18.46).
All will be in the mix in an event also featuring the aforementioned Royals and eighth-place finisher Penncrest (Dion Durnell, Evan Emanuel, Soham Kamat, James Teal).
As for Upper Darby, other points came from St. Louis (gold in the 400 at 48.38, fourth in the 200), Weh (gold in the 110 hurdles), Akeim Thomas (second in the 110 hurdles, third in the 300 hurdles) and their 4 x 100 relay of Thomas, Weh, Amadou Barry and Gianni Lawrence, which placed third at 42.16. All were state qualifying measures.
“Time-wise, I could have done better,’ St. Louis said said of his 400 win. “I should have pushed myself a little harder.’
In the 110 hurdles, it was a Royally fun race with Weh and Thomas next to each other in the inside lanes.
“I wanted my rematch,’ Thomas said somewhat comically after placing second to Weh by a nose (14.34 seconds to 14.37). “It didn’t go as planned, but it was fun.’
“He’s been trying to beat me,’ Weh said. “Most of the time I don’t worry about my race because of having him right next to me every time. He’s always coming up.’
“I’m not too far off,’ Thomas said. “He knows I’m right on him.’
They’ll have a lot of company on the Upper Darby bus, with Royals qualifying in open and relay events — or both.
“It’s a tough decision (which to run) because anything can happen in the relay,’ St. Louis said. “But at the same time, anything can happen in an open event, too. In the relay we can drop the baton, so I think it’s better to take the risk and bring teammates along because it’s more fun.’
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Glen Mills Schools is targeting a state gold in the shot put for Milton Jones, who won easily over the District One competition Saturday by throwing 57 feet, three inches.
“I wanted to hit 60,’ Jones said. “I have to get it at states. I have to work on my technique a little bit; get my feet under me and push off on the balls (of the feet) better.’
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In the Class AAA 4 x 800 race, Penncrest (Teal, Emanuel, Kamat, Brendan Hanna; 7:51.02), Radnor (Peter Cook, Henry Minning, Connor Holm, Andre Kelly; school-record 7:51.45) and Penn Wood (Manyeah, Smith, Seck, Ponzo; 7:54.88) placed fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively, and all meeting the state standard. … Desean Lee of Academy Park made states in the 200 by placing fifth. … In the 4 x 100, Penncrest (Dion Durnell, Dan Fisher, Trevor Gasiorowsic, Nick Reyes) placed fifth and Academy Park (Lee, Terrance White, Rayquan Williams, Allon Ruffin) placed seventh to make states. … Garnet Valley’s Hunter Small just missed the state mark in placing sixth at 50.17 in the 400. … In the 800, Radnor’s Kelly made it by placing fourth at 1:55.67. Ahmir Gordon of Strath Haven made it in fifth at 1:55.84. … And in the pole vault, Evan Sing of Penncrest will have local company as Marple Newtown’s Gurjeet Rai made 13 feet on his final vault. “It was one of the scariest moments of my high school career,’ he said. “Senior year, districts, last jump possibly. … Without that jump I wouldn’t be at states right now.’
