PIAA Track & Field: Davies finishes quadruple-double in style
SHIPPENSBURG — Thelma Davies closed out her spectacular scholastic career in record-setting fashion.
Davies cruised to victory in the Class 2A 200-meter dash Saturday in a meet-record time of 23.74 seconds to become the first athlete, male or female in either classification, to win the 100 and 200 four years in a row at the PIAA Track & Field Championships Saturday at Shippensburg University.
Earlier in the day, the Girard College senior breezed to the title in the 100.
“I’m pretty happy,” Davies said. “The crowd was yelling and it was a lot of fun. I really like the attention.”
Davis received well wishes from several athletes after completing her fourth double in the sprints.
“I just wanted to set the standard for others to follow,” Davies said.
It’s been a tough year for the LSU-bound sprinter and Darby native. She battled a variety of injuries but did not let that stop her from securing her place in history.
“I just trusted the process,” Davies said. “I ran each and every race the way I was supposed to, working on my drive base until my finish.”
Davies said she leaned on some of the top names in track to get her through the difficult times and deal with the pressure of being the favorite every time she stepped on the track in a high school meet.
“I had (American Olympians) Lauryn Williams and English Gardner as mentors,” Davies said. “I’m close to them and I talked to them each and every time I felt the pressure and they gave me good advice.”
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A year ago, Penn Wood’s Elicia Moore stood on the medals podium after finishing eighth in the Class 3A 400-meter dash.
She was on the awards stand again Saturday, but in a completely different event. She took third in the 300-meter hurdles.
“I wanted to try something new,” Moore said. “This was only about the eighth time I’ve run the hurdles.”
A state bronze medal after just eight races? That’s pretty impressive.
“I’m good in everything I try,” Moore said.
Moore wasn’t done. Later in the day she teamed with Lowoe Samolu, Nevaeh Davis and Breanna Lee for second in the 4 x 400-meter relay. The Patriots ran 3:52.04 to take the silver.
“We’ve come a long way,” Samolu said “We started the year at 4:12 and today we ran 3:52. It shows that we’re fighters.”
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Keara Seasholtz had tears in her eyes after finishing second to Grace Forbes in the 3A girls 800 for the second week in a row. They were not tears of sorrow.
“I ran a PR by more than two seconds,” said Seasholtz, who crossed the finish line in 2:10.00. “I just didn’t expect it. I’m just so happy.”
Forbes and Seasholtz weren’t the only medal winners in the event from Delco. Cardinal O’Hara’s Christine Mancini finished seventh.
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Upper Darby’s Dominique Timmons closed out her high school career in grand fashion with a fifth-place finish in the 3A 100-meter dash with a time of 12.35 seconds. She is the first Upper Darby female to earn a medal in the event since Jannea Bridgeford won it in 2004.
Timmons’ finish came as a surprise to her.
“At the beginning of the season I didn’t think I could compete with the best athletes in the state,” Timmons said. “I’ve been here four years and I hadn’t done anything like this. This is big.”
