Chesco athletes find winning pace at District 1 track & field championships

Caln >> By the end of the first day of the PIAA District 1 3A track & field championships at Coatesville High School Friday, several Chester County athletes were wearing first-place medals.
Unionville High School senior Alex Pancoast finished first in AAA girls discus with a throw of 131-1, nearly 17 feet ahead of the second-place finisher.
“Those were great discus throws Alex made today,” said Unionville coach Mark Lacianca. “Her first throw was a new school record, and I believe she has broken her own school record at least three times this year – and we’re hoping for one more time [at States] next weekend.”

Chester County throwers captured the first four spots in the AAA girls discus – the other three were West Chester Rustin seniors Chloe Mattie (second place, 114-5) and Julie Blazey (third, 112-8), and Great Valley junior Charlotte Powell (fourth, with an 11-foot PR of 112-3). All three of them qualified for States.
Another district champion from Chester County is Oxford senior Zander Quinn, who finished first in the AAA boys long jump with a school record mark of 22-2.25 Friday. Quinn will be finishing up his high school track career next weekend with his first appearance in States.

“I think the [key] for me today was the overall atmosphere here,” said Quinn, who finished seventh at Districts last spring but did not advance to States then. “I felt really prepared, ready to go all out today. I wanted to finish in the top five today [to qualify for States], and break the school record.”
Villa Maria Academy junior Marin Rosser also was a district champion, winning the AAA girls javelin with a PR throw of 117-1. This will be her first time at States.
“My mindset was that I have to think positively,” said Rosser. “I was trying to build up [my distance] with each throw. I just wanted to do my best today – I wanted to make States, and making it today was a bonus.”

Villa Maria sophomore Maddy Kelley won the AAA girls pole vault (12-0). Last year, she placed ninth at States with a mark of 11-0. Her PR is 12-8.
“There was an [intermittent] wind from the side today, so I was waiting on the wind today,” said Kelley.
Kennett junior Kirstin Hoffman finished third (11-6) in AAA girls pole vault and has qualified for States, while Rustin’s Brooke Kruger medaled, finishing seventh.
Chester County had the top four finishers in the boys AAA high jump – Coatesville junior Drew Domurat finished first (6-5), West Chester East senior Matthew Bergin and West Chester Rustin senior Dayshawn Jacobs tied for second (6-3) and Kennett freshman Xavier McGreal finished fourth (6-1). All four have qualified for States.

For Domurat, this was his first time at Districts. Last year, his PR was 5-6.
“In my first meet this winter, I improved six inches,” noted Domurat, who cleared 6-5 on his second attempt Friday.
In the AAA boys 4×800 relay, Downingtown East was third (7:56.35) with a foursome of Will Nakahara, Nick Steinfeldt, Brendan Flynn and Caiden Leen. The Great Valley quartet of Jake Zielinski, Pete Schembri, Patrick Hanlon and Cooper Schrader was fifth (7:57.67), and the Avon Grove foursome of senior Connor Bossong, junior Gavin McGinn, sophomore Connor Britton and senior Nate Allen was sixth (7:59.39). All three quartets qualified for States.
The West Chester Rustin quartet of Hannah Betchyk, Lindsey Volkman, Brianna Ambrosine, and Maddie Miller finished fourth in girls 4×800 (9:28.16) and qualified for States.

Coatesville placed two girls in the top six in the AAA girls’ long jump – senior Lorelei Eberly (fifth, 17-2.75) and freshman Kira Doran (sixth, 17-1.75). Eberly qualified for States.
In the girls AAA 1600 meter run, Downingtown West junior Carolyn Tarpley finished fourth (5:05.76) and West Chester Rustin junior Ellie Keefer was fifth (5:06.32). Both qualified for States. Downingtown East placed seventh and eighth, with sophomore Madison Brown and fresh-man Emily Steinberg, respectively.
In the AAA girls high jump, Conestoga senior Kristen Lavallee finished fourth (5-3) and has qualified for States.
Avon Grove senior Olivia Heckman medaled in the AAA girls javelin, finishing seventh.
West Chester Rustin junior Jaysin Huynh, medaled in the AAA boys shot put, finishing eighth.
Friday’s action included many preliminary competitions to determine the top eight finishers who will compete in today’s finals. Here’s a look at Friday’s preliminaries:
In the AAA girls 100 meter dash preliminaries, West Chester East senior Chinonye Moneme was first (12.18), Downingtown West senior Jada Alston placed fifth (12.49) and Downingtown East senior Olivia Binns was seventh (12.36), all qualifying for the finals.
In the AAA boys 100 meter dash preliminaries, Coatesville senior Lebron Bessick placed second (11.05) and Downingtown West senior Elijah Ford was seventh (11.21).
In the AAA girls 400 meter run preliminaries, West Chester Rustin junior Ava Alexander was second (56.67), Downingtown West junior Ryleigh Hearn was third (57.85), and Great Valley junior Shayla Bismark-Pettit was eighth (58.76), all qualifying for the finals.
In the AAA boys 400 meter dash preliminaries, Coatesville senior Lebron Bessick was first (48.42), Downingtown West senior Elijah Ford was second (48.55), and West Chester Henderson junior Preston Lubeski was fifth (48.66). All three will race in the finals.
Oxford sophomore Macaela Walker finished first in the AAA girls 100 hurdles preliminaries (14.48), and Rustin’s Keturah Darwon was eighth (15.97). Both will race in today’s AAA girls 100 hurdles finals.
In the AAA girls 4×100 preliminaries, West Chester Rustin placed second (48.14) with a foursome of Amelia Foore, Keturah Darwon, Kayla Stephney, and Ava Alexander, the Great Valley quartet of Rachel Hubley, Stephanie Cristinzio, Gillian Yonce and Briella Gorman was third (48.81), Unionville’s quartet of senior captain Orenda Lin, junior Mirielle Sherman, sophomore Morgan Chapman and freshman Maya Bruce was fifth with a school record 49.19,
Unionville coach Mark Lacianca noted, “A good run [Saturday] sends [our quartet] to Shippensburg – and that would be the first time ever a girls 4×100 relay team has made it [to States] from Unionville at the AAA level.”
Also in the AAA girls 4×100 preliminaries, Downingtown West was seventh (49.21) and the Coatesville quartet of Chloe Domurat, Kira Doran, LeAnn Grier and Lorelei Eberly was eighth (49.25), making a total of five Chester County 4×100 girls quartets that will compete in the finals today.
In the AAA boys 4×100 preliminaries, Downingtown West finished first (42.38), anchored by Deonsae Dorsey. The Coatesville quartet of Dante London, Robert Turner, Amir Haskett and Bryan Lacey placed second (42.54), and Avon Grove was seventh (43.06) with a foursome of Connor Carroll, Tyler Barton, Noah Lennon and Avinabo Poddar. All three relay teams will race in the AAA boys 4×100 finals today.