District 1 Track and Field: Leneweaver keeps cool for runner-up Haverford
CALN TWP. — Aubrey Leneweaver found an interesting way to beat the heat at the District 1 Track & Field Championships Saturday.
Between events, she spent time in her father’s car with the air conditioning on.
“He came with one of our other coaches early to set up one of the tents, so he got a good parking spot,” Leneweaver said. “It was right by our tents.”
The ability to cool off enabled Leneweaver to pick up three medals. She took second in the Class 3A 300-meter intermediate hurdles, third in the 100 hurdles and teamed with Olivia Cieslak, Erin Olsavsky and Morgan Elliott for third in the 4 x 400 to help the Fords take second in the team competition with 51 points, trailing only West Chester Rustin. All three of Leneweaver’s performances qualified for the PIAA Championships.
“I’m happy,” Leneweaver said, “I placed well and I’m excited to go to states next weekend.”
Cieslak picked up her first gold medal with a win in the 800 to go with the bronze she won in the 4 x 400. She had to make a mad sprint down the stretch to take the metric half mile.
“I knew all of these girls were going to go out hard,” Cieslak said. “I knew the Upper Darby girl (Gabriella Fralin) was going to go all out so I was going to try to stay a little bit far back, wait for the end, wait for my time and it ended up working today. I had a great finish in yesterday’s (1,600-meter) race. It was a push but we pulled it through.”
Elliott also qualified for states with a fourth-place finish in the 400.
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Alexa Brown’s day did not start out too well. The Strath Haven junior lost her bib number and had to hand write one in order to compete.
Yet that did not stop her from rewriting the school record in the shot put once again to reach a coveted milestone.
Brown wanted to officially break the 44-foot barrier. She topped that mark at the Showalter Throwers Invitational, but since there were no PIAA officials at the event, it did not technically count.
This time, though, it did, and Brown threw 44-0 and 44-5 ½ on her final two attempts to win the competition.
“I was so salty about it,” Brown said of the 44-2 throw several weeks ago. “I wanted it so bad, but the fact that I’m closer to 45 feet, I’m ready. It was a rough day but it ended up pretty good.”
Brown isn’t the only Panther headed to Shippensburg. Senior Teghan Sydnor was second in the 100 hurdles and third in the 300 hurdles.
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It’s been a rough year for Upper Darby’s Alice Etienne. An injury to her right hamstring at the indoor state championship meet prevented her from jumping until spring break.
A similar injury last year prevented her from competing at districts, which meant no shot at qualifying for states, so she was determined not to miss out this season.
She didn’t.
Etienne let loose with a personal best leap of 36-8 ½ to take fourth place and automatically earn a trip to Shippensburg.
“It was my last jump and I really wanted to go for it,” Etienne said. “I told myself to stay focused and do what I had to do and that’s exactly what I did.”
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The 200-meter dash preliminary round was supposed to be held at the end of the meet Friday, but an ominous forecast forced District 1 officials to move the event to Saturday and run it as a timed final.
That meant Springfield’s Beth Schearer not only had to wait a day, but also had to wait until after the last of the three heats to see if she had earned a medal and advanced to the state championships, which she did. Schearer finished sixth overall, but her time of 25.81 was good enough to earn her first trip to Shippensburg. The top eight runners in the event bettered the qualifying standard of 25.91.
“It’s crazy,” Schearer said. “I’ve never been to spring states so I’m excited. Outdoor states are a little harder to make so I’m pretty happy about it.”
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Chester’s Alina LaForest is headed to the state meet in three events. LaForest was fourth in the 300 hurdles, fifth in the 100 hurdles and teamed with A’Lasia Mosley, JaNasia Dearry and Daleeah Alexander for fourth in the 4 x 400.
“It’s great,” LaForest said. “I’m excited.”
Dearry is headed to Shippensburg in two events. She placed fifth in the 400 to automatically qualify.
Ridley’s Emma Winward and Penncrest’s Ruby Schwelm also qualified for states on Day 2. Winward was sixth in the 300 hurdles, but her time of 45.69 seconds was good enough to keep her season alive. Schwelm was sixth in the 800, and her time (2:14.33) easily topped the state qualifying mark of 2:18.47.
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In the span of about three hours, Sacred Heart’s Kathryn Gallagher picked up two gold medals and a silver in Class 2A.
“This year was a lot of hard work,” Gallagher said. “There was practice after school, practice on the weekends and watching my diet and going out with my friends, focusing in on this meet, states and next year at the collegiate level.”
She will continue her athletic career at Saint Joseph’s and won’t be headed to Shippensburg alone. Teammate Maya Walker won the 800 to qualify for states.
