Penn Wood all smiles as records fall at Delco Champs

HAVERFORD >> Penn Wood coach Lenny Jordan looked at his team at the conclusion of the 2016 Delaware County Girls Indoor Track Championships at Haverford College’s Alumni Fieldhouse Wednesday and smiled.

“The best thing about these girls is that whatever you tell them they’re running, they go out and do it,” Jordan said. “There’s no questioning. They do what you want them to do. And they have fun.”

Fun in Wednesday’s meet included a record-setting time in the distance medley relay as well as a first-place finish in the 4 x 200 relay. Terri Turner, Rokia Koba, Maisha Coleman and Agnes Mansaray lowered the meet record in the DMR by almost 17 seconds.

“We came here to break the record,” Mansaray, who set a county indoor record in the 400-meter dash last weekend, said. “We pushed ourselves.”

Turner put the Pats ahead with a solid leadoff 1,200 meters.

“If I get the lead, I know the rest of the team will do the job,” Turner said. “I’m used to running the 1,000, so the last 200 meters were tough tonight. But I tried to stay with it.”

Koba knew she would be passing the baton to Coleman before Mansaray came on the track.

“I just want to make sure she gets it in first place,” Koba said.

Coleman had confidence when she did her 800-meter leg.

“I wanted to do my best,” she said.

Turner and Mansaray teamed with freshman Elicia Truitt and senior Tyshae Moore to win the 4 x 200.

“Everyone did such a good job before it got to me,” Truitt, who ran the anchor leg, said.

Moore had a simple strategy.

“Being in first (place) I wanted to go out strong and bring it in fast,” Moore said.

Jordan knows his squad is loaded with talent.

“We’re going to New York for New Balance later in the month,” Jordan said. “We got to figure out if we want to run the 4 x 200, 4 x 400 or 4 x 800.”

In other Delco Meet hightlights:

Penncrest senior Alicia Collier ran only the 400-meter dash and earned the gold medal. She later competed in the long jump and, after a pair of fouls, she jumped 16 feet, 8 inches for her second first-place finish.

“I wanted to try long jumping, and Coach (Rob) Brown let me practice with the jumpers,” Collier said. “I had a crash course (Tuesday) and went out there tonight.

“After I fouled on my second jump, the coaches told me to move back and I did and I got 16-8.”

Collier also adjusted her strategy in the 400.

“I wanted to go out in 27.5 and I did 27.8,” she said. “The last turn it hit me a little, but I just tried to get it over as quickly as possible.”

Upper Darby junior Victoria Robinson, who finished second in the 2015 meet, took the gold medal in the 60-meter hurdles.

“I had a good start today, and this was one of my best races,” Robinson said. “I’ve been working on my start and then

getting over the hurdles.”

Junior Isabel Cardi of Strath Haven pulled away in the final 400 meters to take first place in the mile run. She also anchored the Panthers to the gold medal in the 4 x 800-meter relay.

“We were all so close on the last lap in the race last year,” Cardi said. “I fell back a little at the end and finished third.

“I wasn’t sure how close everyone was. I don’t have a good (finishing) sprint and sometimes I psych myself out mentally. (Coach Bill Coren) just told me to go out and run my race.”

Haven senior Maia Mesyngier finished 10 seconds ahead of Cardinal O’Hara’s Elizabeth Mancini in the 3,000-meter run.

“Last year I was just getting over an injury and I didn’t run the 3,000 in this meet,” Mesyngier said. “I was just figuring out how to run again.

“Today I was warming up and someone ran into me and I ended up with a bad headache. I running better this winter and still would like to go after the school record.”

Academy of Notre Dame senior Mikayla Schneider repeated as champion in the 800-meter run. Her sister, Nicole, took fourth place.

“Last Friday was my first 800 of the (indoor) season,” Schneider, who is headed to the University of Pennsylvania, said. “That was a nice opening race. Tonight I wanted to try to go out in the lead and see how I could run doing that.

“I don’t usually run in the lead. As we were coming in, I just assumed everyone else was right behind me and I gave it all I had.”

Schneider also anchored the Irish to victory in the final race of the meet, the 4 x 400-meter relay. She took the baton in third place and coasted past the field to give  her team first place by more than one second.

Nierra Berry of Chichester, who was second in the 60-meter dash, earned gold in the 200.

“I know I have to work on my starts,” the junior, who began running as a freshman, said. “When we were coming (to the finish) I wasn’t sure where everyone else was, so I just pushed as hard as I could until I finished.

“I know my time can be better.”

Garnet Valley senior Nina Gambacorta repeated as shot put champion at 37 feet, 5¼ inches, several feet shorter than her winning throw from 2015. Gambacorta spent some of her Christmas break in the hospital after suffering a back injury.

“I was doing a jumping execise, came down wrong and my back started spasming,” Gambacorta, who will attend the University of South Carolina, said. “I couldn’t walk or sit up. They gave me a medicine that wasn’t working, so I had to stay overnight in the hospital.

“When they finally found the right medicine, it helped me right away. Tonight I was just nervous about coming back from my injury. Sometimes I overanalyze things too much and that doesn’t help me.”