Coatesville romps to first-place finish at Ches-Mont Girls’ Track and Field Championships

Caln >> After finishing first in both the 400-meter run (58.14) and 200-meter run (25.30) at the Ches-Mont Track and Field Championships Wednesday afternoon, Coatesville sophomore Porsha Miles said, “It felt great to be running at home. I always give my all at every practice run on the track here [at Coatesville High School], so I felt like this was a practice run.”
Home cooking agreed with the rest of the Coatesville girls’ track squad as well, as the Red Raiders racked up 188.5 points, well ahead of second-place Downingtown East (107), to run away with the team championship. In the afternoon’s 17 events, Coatesville finished first in eight of them.
“It’s pretty phenomenal for one team to have that many champions at a meet like this,” noted Coatesville girls’ track head coach Keith Andrew. “There were only two events we didn’t score in today. I credit my coaching staff for this – they’ve done a great job.”
Coatesville sophomore Arianna Eberly won the 100-meter run (12.14) and the 300 hurdles (46.60); finished a strong second in the high jump; and anchored the Red Raiders’ 4×400, which finished in first place by nearly eight seconds. Eberly has some pretty good athletic bloodlines – her mother (Rebecca) was a heptathlete who once ran for Upper Darby High School and University of Virginia, and competed in the 1996 Olympic Trials, and her father (Rob) has been a physical education teacher at Coatesville for two decades.
Eberly said, “I’ve been training really hard this year [in the 100-meter run], and I try to keep a positive mind-set and always stay warm – always keep moving. In the hurdles, I tried to attack them and then snap right back down after clearing them, so I don’t spend much time in the air. The key for me in the high jump was getting off the ground quick, and keeping my hips in the air as much as I could.”
Keeping it all in the family, Eberly’s older sister Makayla, a senior at Coatesville, won the 800 meter run with a school-record clocking of 2:13.91. This was an improvement over her performance earlier in the day, when she ran a 2:16 split in the 4×800 relay.
“I didn’t get a good start [in the 800],” said Makayla, who has a track scholarship to LaSalle University. “I was behind with 300 [meters] to go, but I got a good kick at the end. I kicked it in earlier than usual because I was boxed in for most of the race, and I figured I had to make my move at that point if I wanted to move up.”
Coatesville also won the 3,200 meter run (junior Brooke Hutton, 11:11.40); the 4×100 relay (C’Ana Navarro, Naya Wright, Brittany Brown, Jordyn Worthington); and the 4×400 relay (Samantha Miller, Patrisha Rokins, Makayla Eberly, Arianna Eberly).
Downingtown East, which finished in second place for the second consecutive year, was led by versatile senior Eveleyn Berecz, who finished first in three events – 100 meter hurdles (15.19), triple jump (39-1) and long jump (17-8). Berecz, who was defending champion in the triple jump and long jump, bettered her winning mark of 38-8 in the triple jump last year to a season-best 39-1 this time around (four days earlier, she posted a winning mark of 38-10.75 at the 12th Annual Hoka One Henderson Invitational.) The U.S. Naval Academy-bound Berecz also placed third in the 300 hurdles Wednesday.
West Chester East, which finished third, was led by the first-place finishes of freshman Allyson Clarke in the 1,600-meter run (5:11.70) and senior Caroline Lewis in the high jump (5-3).
Unionville placed fourth; and Bishop Shanahan, led by first-place javelin thrower Renee Schultz (115-3), finished fifth.
The highlight for sixth-place Avon Grove was double winner Chloee Kleespies. The University of Toledo-bound senior was particularly pleased with her first-place discus throw of 141-5, which is her best mark this season and just short of the all-time Ches-Mont record of 141-11 set by Kaleena Gray of Coatesville in 2007.
“I’ve been working on my footwork [in the discus],” said Kleespies. “Also I feel like I’ve gotten a lot quicker and stronger each year. It’s helped that I’ve competed in club track since eighth grade.”
The Red Devil senior finished first in the shot put for the third consecutive year with a toss of 40.09.75. It wasn’t her best throw of the spring – four days earlier, she recorded a winning mark of 41-8 at the 12th Annual Hoka One Henderson Invitational, and she made a throw of 43 feet earlier this spring at the Unionville Invitational.

Ches-Mont Track and Field Championships

Girls Team Scores – 1. Coatesville 188.5; 2. Downingtown East 107; 3. West Chester East 64; 4. Unionville 62.5; 5. Bishop Shanahan 55.5; 6. Avon Grove 51; 7. West Chester Rustin 44; 8. Kennett 40; 9. Downingtown West 32.5; 10. West Chester Henderson 32; 11. Great Valley 17; T12. Oxford Area 4; T12. Sun Valley 4.

Individual Winners – High jump – Lewis (WCE) 5-3; Discus – Kleespies (AG) 141-5; 4×800 relay – Downingtown West (Riccardo, Mucha, Devlin, Planck) 9:31.14; Long jump – Berecz (DE) 17-8; 1,600 meter run – Clarke (WCE) 5:11.70; 100 meter run – A. Eberly (CO) 12.14; 100 hurdles – Berecz (DE) 15.19; 4×100 relay – Coatesville (Navarro, Wright, Brown, Worthington) 49.37; 400 meter run – Miles (CO) 58.14; Shot put – Kleespies (AG) 40-9.75; 300 hurdles – A. Eberly (CO) 46.60; triple jump – Berecz (DE) 39-1; 800 meter run – M. Eberly (CO) 2:13.91; 200 meter run – Miles (CO) 25.30; 3,200 meter run – Hutton (CO) 11:11.40; Javelin – Schultz (BS) 115-03; 4×400 relay – Coatesville (Miller, Rokins, M. Eberly, A. Eberly) 4:01.78.