Mercury All-Area: Perkiomen Valley’s Warren caps illustrious career with PIAA threepeat in triple jump

Her athletic career follows somewhat the same procedure as someone using a bottle of shampoo.

But while the directions for the latter are “lather, rinse, repeat,” Christina Warren’s track and field endeavors have gone more along the line of “compete, championship, repeat.”

Having a medal draped over her head while standing on the top step of an awards podium … that’s been a regular occurrence for Warren during her scholastic tenure at Perkiomen Valley. She’s had multiple successes at the various levels of competition, among them once again being named The Mercury All-Area Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year for 2019.

Warren’s “threepeat” as the area’s top female track performer this spring came on the heels of another hat trick. The Vikings’ senior standout won the state’s Class AAA triple jump with a 41-4½ leap that raised her own bar as a personal record.

“Not many people can say they achieve everything,” Warren said in looking back at her athletic accomplishments, “To come this far is a blessing in itself.”

Warren’s medal finishes have spanned two jumping events (triple, long) and two track races (100 low hurdles, 200). She was the Pioneer Athletic Conference champ in the hurdles (13.54) and long jump (19-0½) while placing second in the 200 (25.22). At districts, Warren claimed gold in the triple jump (41-0½) and 100 hurdles (13.85) to go with a fourth in the long jump (18-0).

At Shippensburg, Warren added to her personal medal count by winning silver in the 100 hurdles, running a 13.7.

“She’s a joy and a blessing to coach,” Perk Valley assistant and jumps coach Ron Livers said. “You can’t ask more from an athlete under your care. We mainly just helped her grow as a person and an athlete.”

Warren’s reputation had its foundation in her pre-high school years. Joe Petsko recalled finding out about her long before she first set foot at PV.

“I heard about her in middle school from the coach (Matt Weir),” the Vikings’ head coach said. “He said there was a seventh-grader coming up, nothing ever seen before.

“In middle school, she did the hurdles and long jump. The triple jump she picked up in high school. She went 36 feet on her first try. You could tell then she was going to be special.”

With every triple jump medal she scored this spring, another of Warren’s personal records was reset. Along with that was her breaking of meet records — in some instances, ones she previously set.

Warren’s record run at PACs started with her going 40 feet in Friday’s triple jump, crushing her own mark of 39-3 set in 2017. Saturday, she clocked a 13.54 in the 100 low hurdles, erasing the 14.2 seconds run by Owen J. Roberts’ Kate Noonan-Sessa back in 2004; she also went 19-0½ in the long jump to overtake the 18-7 Phoenixville’s Courtney Kedra leaped in 2009.

“I came in wanting to have better performances,” Warren said after that medal haul. “I wanted to perform my best and give our team points.”

Three of the records also became personal bests for Warren. Along with her marks in the hurdles and long jump, the 25.22 she ran on the way to finishing second in the 200 was another PR.

“Aim for goals, and everything else comes,” she said.

At districts, Warren resumed the record-breaking pace she had set at the PAC meet. Her 41-foot effort in the triple jump, coming on her second try, effectively erased the old mark of 39-9 3/4 set by Wissahickon’s Gina Bundy in 1997.

“My goal is 42-6,” she said. “That’s what I’m aiming for.

“My goal for hurdles has always been the same: Aim for a lower time. 13 seconds in the hurdles is still my goal. I made progress toward it … not as much as I wanted.”

With her graduation from PV, Warren will now take her athletic talents to Arizona State University. Academically, she figures to possibly major in molecular biology or biotechnology.

“I’m taking lot of technology classes,” she said, noting three factors (familiarity, options for majors, suburban layout) as factors in her decision, “It’s a good starting point.”

Competing with the Sun Devils’ NCAA Division I track program — it was a national champion in the 2000s — will afford Warren a platform to further improve her times and distances.

“45 feet in triple jump definitely medals in NCAAs,” she said. “13 seconds is my goal for hurdles.

“At some time, she’ll reach her fullest potential,” Livers added. “She’s always willing to do what she’s asked.”

Prior to starting college, Christina’s summer plans featured participation in two premiere meets: The New Balance Nationals the weekend of June 13-15 at North Carolina A&T, and the Under-20 Pan Am Games the weekend of July 18-21 in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Warren added to her mastery in the triple jump with another gold medal and personal record. On a near-perfect day weatherwise, with conditions conducive to greatness, the PIAA’s three-time high jump champion went 42-5 on her second attempt to win the event.

“It’s a long time coming,” Warren said. “I’ve been looking at 42 for a while.”

Her winning leap came on the second attempt, topping the PR of 41-4½ she hit at states. She cited “adrenaline, timing and a tailwind” as the factors contributing to the latest effort.

“I felt like I went pretty far, based on where the pin was,” Warren said. “My next jump was 41-10, which would also have been a PR.”

Along with her championships and records at Perk Valley, Warren will be remembered in equal measure for her demeanor and approach to athletic competition.

“In  high school, she made an immediate impression … with her work ethic and infectious attitude,” Petsko said. “She did great things, and she did them even when nobody was watching.”