Chesco girls remain on fast track at Districts despite rain, wind

CALN >> Despite intermittent rain and wind, Chesco girls made their mark on the first day of the PIAA District 1 Track & Field Championships at Coatesville High School.
The Coatesville quartet of Patrisha Rokins, Porsha Miles, Sammie Miller and Arianna Eberly ran a personal best of 47.90 in the Class AAA 4×100 preliminaries, to lead the 4×100 relay squads who advanced to Saturday’s competiton.
Eberly, the anchor runner, noted, “Our handoffs went perfectly, but when the tape flew away [after a wind gust], I had to eyeball the spot.”
Rokins replaced Jordyn Worthington as the leadoff runner last week after the latter tweaked a leg muscle prior to the completion of the 4×100 at the Ches-Mont Championships. Worthington was part of the Raiders’ 4×100 that, along with Miles, Miller and Eberly, placed second in the Northeast 4×100 at the Penn Relays last month.
Friday, Worthington rebounded to finish fifth in the Class AAA long jump Friday with a mark of 17-01.25.
Coatesville girls’ track head coach Keith Andrew said, “If Jordyn’s healthy, we’ll be practicing both her and Patrisha in the leadoff spot this week [in preparation for States]. It will be a coaching decision as to whether we use Patrisha or Jordyn in the leadoff spot at States.”
The Coatesville 4×400 quartet of Miller, Rokins, Eberly and Miles had the fastest time in Friday’s preliminaries (3:53.67), one week after the same foursome won the 4×400 relay at the Ches-Mont Championships with a clocking of 3:56.69.
Eberly and Miles finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the trials for the Class AAA 300 meter hurdles, with clockings of 44.72 and 45.14, and both advanced to Saturday’s final.
Friday’s rain and wind didn’t slow down Bishop Shanahan senior Renee Shultz, who won the girls’ AAA javelin title with a PR of 130-09 on her third toss. One week earlier, she won her second consecutive Ches-Mont javelin title with a shorter heave of 122-0.
“When I saw them mark that [130-09] throw I thought, ‘Oh I think that was a pretty good throw,’ but when I found out what the measurement was, I was surprised,” said Shultz, who will play volleyball for Yale University next fall.
It was a special day in more ways than one for Shultz, who hurried off to her senior prom as soon as she left the District 1 medal stand.
“I went into this meet thinking that this could be my last high school meet throwing, so give it my all,” said Shultz. “My coach, Jeff Long, told me to stay relaxed and keep in mind the fundamentals, and I think I did that today.”
For Coatesville’s Darby Morgan, Friday’s District 1 AAA shot put championship final reflected a line of a steady improvement for the Red Raiders junior. She finished second with a throw of 38-02.25, after her throw of 38-01 earned her a second place finish last week at the Ches-Mont Championships. Last year, she finished fifth at Districts.
“I just kept pushing it today, kept improving on the technique I’ve been working on with my coaches,” said Morgan, who advances to States.
Two spots behind Morgan in the AAA final was West Chester Rustin junior Zhayria Washington, who threw 38-01.
Also advancing to States is Kennett junior pole vaulter Meredith Krieger. After finishing first at the Ches-Mont League Championships with a vault of 11-6, she battled the wind and rain Friday for a mark of 10-6 and a sixth-place finish in the District 1 AAA final.
“It was a little messy out there today,” said Krieger. “When it’s windy like today, you try to time it so that you vault when the wind dies down.”
Three Chesco runners made it into the top 12 in the 800 meter run trials, and will advance to Saturday’s finals – Great Valley junior Amy Willig (2:17.84), Coatesville junior Sammie Miller (2:20.04) and West Chester East senior Hanna Kelly (2:20.52). Last week, Miller won the Ches-Mont League Championships, with a mark of 2:19.55.
Of the 16 runners who advanced from Friday trials in the Class AAA 100 meter run to Saturday’s competition, four were Chesco runners – Conestoga senior Grace Lanouette (12.02), Coatesville junior Porsha Miles (12.22), Avon Grove junior Nykemiya Murphy (12.46) and Downingtown West freshman Maya Tucker (12.53).
Of the 16 runners who advanced from Friday trials in the Class AAA 200 meter run to Saturday’s compeition, only one was a Chesco runner, Downingtown West freshman Maya Tucker (25.61), who won the Ches-Mont title last week with a clocking of 26.16.