Host Pennridge shines at Helman Invitational
EAST ROCKHILL >> Meghan Kriney looks forward to the big finish.
Again, she provided one.
“The ending is always my thing,” Pennridge’s standout sprinter said on a sunny, warm night on her home track. “That’s where I push, so coming around the last stretch, I felt pretty strong. I just wanted to bring it in, and bring it in quick.”
Kriney pulled away to a victory in the 400-meter dash, part of a strong showing by the Rams at their Helman Invitational Thursday. Fourteen area teams competed, as locals begin their final push to what they hope is a prosperous postseason.
“If I know I can win, I go for it,” Kriney said of her strong, finishing kick, which provided a first-place time of 59.09 seconds.
Kriney outraced an impressive field, which included Central Bucks East’s McKenna Brophy (59.89), Central Bucks South’s Safiya Dodoo (59.98), Quakertown’s Ashlyn Hickey (1:00.26) and CB East’s Rachel Martin (1:01.20).
“My goal today was to try and get my seed time down for districts,” the Pennridge junior said. “For the 400, I’ve wanted to consistently break 60, which I’ve been doing, and I’m trying to beat my P.R. from last year.
“And in the long jump, I’ve been trying to P.R. from last year, which I was able to do, so that’s a good thing for me. And the 4×400 relay made a really big push this year so I’m glad we’re getting into districts and doing a lot better than we did last year. So I’m excited.”
Kriney added a third-place finish in the long jump, getting out to 16 feet, 1 inch. Quakertown’s Kayla Horning (16-6) and CB East’s Carolena Bellini (16-2.5) went one and two.
Emily Kriney (800, 2:24.51) and Ashley Gordon (1,600, 5:07.87) each added wins for the Rams.
“This is one of my favorite meets,” Meghan Kriney said. “Just having the whole Pennridge community here, all of my friends here, everybody cheering everybody on, it’s just so much fun.”
Meanwhile, Pennridge’s Joey Gant is new to that atmosphere but soaked it right in.
“This is my first one and so far, it’s been a blast,” the freshman said.
Gant anchored home the 4×100 relay team to a win, joining Aiden Castle, Jack Wasserman and Landon McIntyre.
“We were trying to break 43 and we were able to tonight, so we’re pretty happy,” Gant said of the foursome, which crossed first with a time of 42.75.
The Rams out-sprinted CB South (43.72), CB East (44.98), Souderton Area (45.11) and Dock (45.12) in a strong top five.
Pennridge’s 4×1 foursome is a young group — two freshmen, a sophomore, and a junior. But it’s quickly coming together.
Said Gant: “We all work together and we get to win together.”
Pennridge’s Spencer Lane won the 300 hurdles in 40.84 and the Rams’ Carter Arnaiz outjumped everyone in the long, getting out 20-6.75.
CB West put together quite a night, with Luke Benson winning the 100 dash (10.79), Roman Katona taking the 400 (50.58), Blake Ewaskey finishing first in the 800 (1:54.06), and it was another dominant performance by Kevin Guevara, with wins in the discus (146-1) and shot put (52-6).
Also, the Bucks’ 4×800 relay continued its stellar season with another first place, crossing in 8:29.67.
Souderton Area’s Kevin Sieving won the 110 hurdles in 15.63 and Big Red’s Ethan Moyer threw the javelin 152-2 for first place.
