Chesco athletes make presence felt on first day of PIAA state track & field championships

Despite a 2 ½ hour delay due to a thunderstorm Friday, Chester County athletes weathered the storm and made their presence felt on the first day of the PIAA 3A state track & field championships at Shippensburg University.
West Chester Rustin senior Dayshawn Jacobs finished third in the boys’ triple jump (47-2), with one of the top 10 marks in Pennsylvania. This is the second year at States for Jacobs, who will be competing in the long jump today.
Chester County had two of the top four finishers in the girls’ pole vault, with Villa Maria Academy sophomore Maddy Kelley placing third at 12-6, edging Kennett junior Kirstin Hoffman (fourth). The 12-6 mark posted by both girls currently ranks among the top 10 in Pennsylvania.
Unionville’s Alex Pancoast finished sixth in the girls shot put (39-3, a top 25 mark in Pennsylvania).
“We [Unionville coaches] were happy with Alex’s performance today, although I know she was not,” said Unionville coach Mark Lacianca. “The entire field struggled today – with the wet weather, it was a tough day to throw. And Alex was very consistent and easily could have been second or third. We know discus is her better event and we are excited to see what tomorrow [Saturday] brings.”
West Chester Henderson’s Preston Lubeski finished second in the boys’ 400 meter run preliminaries Friday (48.16) and has advanced to today’s finals.
“Preston ran great – that was a PR by half a second,” said West Chester Henderson coach Kevin Kelly. “He should be ready to get after it in the finals [Saturday].”
Lubeski also placed 14th in the boys 200 meter dash preliminaries (22.62).
Just two spots behind Lubeski in the boys 400 meter run prelims was Coatesville’s Lebron Bessick (fourth place, 48.82), who advanced to today’s finals.
“Lebron executed his race plan well in the the open 400,” said Coatesville boys coach Damien Henry. “Our goal was to advance to the final without using too much energy.”
Downingtown West’s Elijah Ford placed ninth in the 400 meter prelims (49.04) and missed qualifying for the finals by one spot.
Oxford’s Macaela Walker, making her first appearance at States Friday, finished first in the girls 100 meter hurdles preliminaries (14.69) and advanced to today’s finals.
West Chester Rustin junior Ava Alexander finished seventh in the girls 400 meter run preliminaries Friday (56.92) and has advanced to today’s finals.
West Chester East’s Chinonye Moneme finished fifth in the girls 100 meter dash preliminaries (12.30) and advanced to today’s finals. Moneme also placed 18th in the girls 200 meter dash prelims with a time of 25.69, a top 50 mark in Pennsylvania.
Several Chester County relay teams fared well in Friday’s preliminaries, many of them advancing to today’s finals.
The Downingtown West boys 4×100 relay team of Kelly Bell, Ford, Jacob Dixon and Deonsae Dorsey finished second in Friday’s preliminaries, posting a time of 42.26 (first place finisher Wilson clocked 41.55) and advancing to today’s finals.
The Coatesville boys 4×400 quartet of Dave Kelly, Jabarri Stocker, Tommy Silvester and Lebron Bessick finished third in Friday’s preliminaries (3:19.28) and advances to today’s finals.
“I believe our 4×400 team can be in the hunt [Saturday] if we trust our training and believe in ourselves,” said Henry.
Two Chester County teams advanced to today’s finals in both the girls 4×100 relay and girls 4×400 relay, based on their fine performances in Friday’s preliminaries.
In the girls 4×100 preliminaries, the West Chester Rustin quartet of Amelia Foore, Keturah Darwon, Kayla Stephney and Alexander (fourth place, 48.36) and the Great Valley foursome of Rachel Hubley, Stephanie Cristinzio, Gillian Yonce and Briella Gorman (sixth, 48.72) both advanced to today’s finals.
In the girls 4×400 prelims, the West Chester Rustin quartet of Alexander, Darwon, Foore and Maddie Miller finished second (3:53.60) behind Central Bucks West’s top mark of 3:52.84, and the Avon Grove foursome of Paige Clark, Eden Veenema, Leia Conlan and Payton Smith placed eighth (3:58.36) to advance to today’s finals. The Great Valley quartet of Shayla Bismark-Pettit, Gillian Yonce, Julia Dill and Stephanie Cristinzio (ninth place, 3:58.66) just missed qualifying for the finals.
In other local action at the PIAA 3A state championships Friday:
West Chester Rustin junior Ellie Keefer finished 19th in the girls 1600 meter run (5:02.24).
Downingtown West’s Ryleigh Hearn placed ninth in the girls’ 400 meter run preliminaries Friday (57.36), missing qualifying for today’s finals by a tenth of a second. D-West’s Jada Alston finished 18th in the girls 100 meter dash preliminaries (12.69) and 22nd in the girls 200 meter dash prelims (26.12). The Whippet foursome of Lily Henning, Hearn, Ellen Ramsey and Alston placed 14th in the girls 4×100 prelims (49.55).
Coatesville finished 14th in the boys 4×100 with a team of Donte London, Robert Turner, Amir Haskett and Damon Watson (43.43). Coatesville’s Chloe Domurat finished 17th in the girls 200 meter dash prelims with a time of 25.65, a top 50 mark in Pennsylvania. The Red Raider team of Domurat, Kira Doran, LeAnn Grier and Lorelei Eberly was 18th in the girls 4×100 prelims (49.84). Coatesville’s Isaiah Brightman finished 20th in the boys 100 meter hurdles preliminaries (16.09).
The Unionville girls 4×100 quartet of Orenda Lin, Morgan Chapman, Mirielle Sherman and Maya Bruce finished 10th in Friday’s preliminaries (49.23).
“We’re very proud of our 4×100 – their time was 0.04 from their season best and school record,” said Lacianca. “They came in seeded 20th, and it was a tough day for best performances – but our girls came up big.”
Avon Grove’s Noah Lennon finished 17th in the boys’ 300 meter hurdles prelims (40.92).
Oxford’s Garrett Brady finished 18th in the boys pole vault (12-6).
During the first day of the PIAA Class AA state track & field state championship Friday, both Church Farm and Devon Prep had some solid performances.
For Devon Prep, Patrick Rullo finished 24th in the AA boys 1600 meter run (4:38.83); Christian Urquhart was 21st in the AA boys 110 meter hurdles prelims (16.59) and 22nd in the AA boys 300 hurdles preliminaries (44.30); Thomas Walk was 22nd in the AA boys javelin (112-9); and Andrew Dean was 19th in the AA boys discus (103-10).
For Church Farm, Jaden Roberson was 30th in the AA boys 100 meter dash preliminaries (11.72); and the quartet of Roberson, Andre Anyimah, Jilord Baah and Shalva Bent placed 24th in the AA boys 4×100 preliminaries (45.56).