District 1 Track & Field: ‘Delco Pack’ throws its way to state meet

CALN TWP. — Upper Darby’s Kayla Thorpe and Olivia Thomas, and Jordan Brown of Strath Haven were all smiles as they walked off the track at Coatesville Area High School Friday.

The trio had a reason to be happy. All three qualified for the PIAA Track & Field championships after finishing second, seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Class 3A shot put at the District 1 championships.

Fittingly, they walked off together with their medals dangling from their necks. Thorpe, Thomas and Brown may be competitors from rival Central League schools, but they’re also friends.

“It’s a throwers thing,” Brown said.

It’s a Delco thing, too, which is why the trio refers to themselves as “The Delco Pack.”

“We’re always together,” Thorpe said. “We’re closer than a lot of other athletes. We talk all the time, hang out and clap for each other.”

And provide a shoulder to lean on when necessary.

“We all have the same fears, so why not express that, talk with somebody about it, especially someone who’s going through the same thing?,” Thomas said. “Pretty soon you realize we’re all the same.”

There wasn’t much difference or distance between the three Friday. Thorpe took second with a personal-best put of 40-¼. Thomas was seventh in 39-4½, also a personal best. Brown was eighth in 39-2.

Thorpe qualified for the state meet automatically by virtue of her finish. Thomas and Brown easily bettered the state qualifying standard (37-6) to earn a trip to Shippensburg next week.

“It’s going to be nice to see familiar faces,” Thorpe said.

Thorpe’s day was far from done. After taking silver in the shot put in the morning, the junior followed up with another personal-best throw of 126-1 to place third in the javelin and earn another spot at the state meet.

“Today, everything about my flight was going wrong,” Thorpe said. “My coach (Brad Gilbert) said that I needed to keep my arm back. I wasn’t throwing through the point consistently.”

Thorpe threw 119-2 on her third attempt to make the finals and move into fourth place. She followed that up with a 115-4 and 112-5 in her first two attempts in the finals. She was still in fourth place and planned to pass on her last attempt, figuring she was safe for a spot in the PIAA Championships.

All that changed, though, when Henderson’s Cameron Trotter threw 120-0 and Kara Schiek of Villa Maria Academy unleashed a throw of 121-4 on their final attempts to bump Thorpe down to sixth place and out of automatic qualifying.

Only the top five from District 1 earn automatic trips to states. The next three finalists had to meet the qualifying standard of 122-0, which Thorpe had not done. So she decided to take her last attempt.

That’s when he unleashed her bronze medal-winning throw, with the encouragement of Gilbert.

“He said, ‘Let it rip,’” Thorpe said. “I guess I got mad and I let it rip and I PR’d. The school record is 126-7. Hopefully, I can hit that (at states). That’s my goal.”

Thorpe has another objective she would like to accomplish. She is seeded eighth in Saturday’s discus competition and would love to make the state championships in all three throwing events.

“Discus is not my best event, but I’ll try,” Thorpe said.

Thomas, a senior, was surprised by her performance. She came into the shot seeded 11th and thought this would be the last time throwing the shot put. Thomas will attend Jefferson University to study fashion merchandising. While Jefferson does have a track team, the only field athlete on the women’s roster last season was a high jumper.

“The fact that I have another week with everybody, I’m so happy,” said Thomas, who is seeded sixth in the discus, just ahead of Thorpe. “I’m ecstatic. This was very unexpected. I never thought I would go to states for this.”

Brown is making a return trip to the state meet. She was 14th in the shot as a junior.

“I kind of choked,” Brown said. “I’m glad I made it again. I just want to place.”

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Also in Class 3A, Haveford’s Olivia Boyce was the only other female athlete from Delco to qualify for the state meet. She placed seventh in the high jump and met the state qualifying standard of 5-3 on her last attempt. Garnet Valley’s Isabella Ha placed ninth with a best just of 5-1.

Garnet Valley All-Delco Riley Beebe came up short in her bid to make the state meet for the second year in a row. The senior finished 13th in the javelin (109-3). Strath Haven’s Olivia Dumont was 17th (105-8) in that event and Ashley Rodgers of Penncrest placed 18th (103-11).

In the pole vault, Alexandra Hehn of Strath Haven was 11th (10-0) and Mab Rongione from Radnor placed 16th (9-6).

In Class 2A, Janae Johns of Delco Christian was fourth in the javelin (82-9).