Strath Haven’s Cooper off to good start at Delco Championships
GLENOLDEN >> Strath Haven’s Cooper Driscoll left Interboro’s South Avenue Athletic Complex not knowing where he finished in the javelin and shot put during the first day of competition in the boys Delco Track & Field Championships Thursday.
Hey, when the team bus is leaving, you have to go.
As fate would have it Driscoll wound up second overall in the shot put and third in the javelin, but first in the American Conference in both events under the meet’s two-conference format. His heave of 46-feet was second in the shot put to Penncrest’s Matt Arndt (46-5). His throw of 146-11 in the javelin was behind Springfield’s Owen Sherbinko (151-10) and Christopher Walters (147-7).
He was happy with his effort in the shot, which was the third best of his career, according to pa.milesplit.com, but not pleased with his performance in the javelin. It was the first time his season he was under 150-feet.
“I took a couple of days off from practice,” Driscoll said. “Usually something goes drastically wrong when I do that. That was the case today, plus the wind.”
All the competitors in the javelin where throwing into a headwind that was fierce at times.
“It’s hard to tell what the problem is, if it’s my form or the wind, “Driscoll said. “It’s hard to judge your own throw. You need a coach to do that.”
Cooper will be back when the meet resumes Saturday afternoon to compete in the discus, and pick up his medals from Thursday’s competition. As for the future, that’s already been decided. He’s going to MIT to play basketball and throw the javelin.
“It’s probably the reason I got into that school,” the 6-5 Driscoll said. “I had both coaches recruiting me.”
Elias Lindgren of Episcopal Academy won the only running final of the day with a victory in the 3,200-meter run. Lindgren crossed the finish line
in 9:44.98, just ahead of Avery Lederer of Penncrest (9:47.37).
The other individual championship were all in the field. Da’Quan Granberry of Chichester won the high jump (6-0) and Garnet Valley’s Larry Coaxum (42-7) edged Penn Wood’s Timmy Odunjo (42-5) to win the triple jump.
Girls Track
Maybe it had something to do with the weather, but Garnet Valley’s Riley Beebe was on her game at the girls Delco Championships at Upper Darby High school.
The junior set the meet record to win the javelin and highlight a strong day in the field by Delco athletes. Beebe’s personal-best throw of 136-3 shattered the meet mark of 128-7 set by Carly Peters from Archbishop Carroll last year.
It was that kind of day. The top five finishers in the javelin and shot put, the top six in the triple jump and top two in the high jump all topped the qualifying standards for the District 1 Class 3A tournament.
Jordan Brown of Strath Haven topped her personal best by a foot to win the shot put with a heave of 39 feet, 10 inches. Ridley’s Meghan Lynch won the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 38 feet. Hannah Oropollo of Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast went 9-6 to win her first county title in the pole vault. Haverford’s Olivia Boyce was first in the high jump with a leap of 5-3.
Penncrest’s Tara Higgins, Haverford’s Cecilia Katcavage, Strath Haven’s Olivia Dumont and Dana Hubbell, and Upper Darby’s Kayla Thorpe all won two medals. Higgins was second in both the javelin and high jump. Katcavage took second in the shot put and third in the javelin.
Dumont was fourth in the javelin and sixth in the high jump. Hubbell took fourth in both the triple and high jumps. Thorpe placed fifth in the shot put and javelin.
