Upper Perkiomen’s Flud repeats as javelin champion to open PAC Track and Field Championships

EAST NORRITON >> Tommy Flud Jr. knows quite well the accomplishment of throwing a javelin more than 200 feet.

The Upper Perkiomen senior has topped that mark three times … his best, a 202-4, was achieved at UP’s Senior Night meet with Pottsgrove. That’s gone a long way toward burnishing his standing atop the Pioneer Athletic Conference and District 1 rankings in the event.

But it’s not the main factor driving him.

“Obviously, I wanted a PR (personal record),” Flud Jr. said Thursday, during the kickoff of the PAC’s championship meet at Norristown. “But my main goal is to win, until states.

He fell short of a fourth 200-foot throw on the day. But Flud Jr. still dominated the field, a trio of 180s helping him to another league gold medal.

Tommy’s performance was a highlight of the PAC track weekend’s opening day, with four events on the schedule: Boys javelin and long jump, girls shot put and pole vault. Joining him atop the medal podium were Pottstown’s Terryece Phillips in the long jump, Phoenixville’s Emine Ulcay in the shot and Methacton’s Aubrie Wells in the pole vault.

Flud Jr.’s first-place throw came on the fifth of his six attempts. He hit 184-8 on his third try, and went 182-3 on his final throw.

They were all well ahead of the rest of the field. Perkiomen Valley’s Douglas Ledger placed second at 172-1, and Methacton’s Jack Alpher was third at 157-2.

“I feel I hit it good,” he said of his gold-medal throw. “My throwing technique was good, and it had a clean flight.”

Flud Jr. came into the 2023 season off a seventh-place finish in the 2022 PIAA Championship Meet at Shippensburg University, that set up by his runner-up showing in District 1 Class AAA. It was his second state-level qualification, coming after a 15th place in 2021.

Another season highlight was a fifth at the 2023 Penn Relay Carnival at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field.

“It’s a matter of being ready, and technical,” he said of his 200-foot throws.

Phillips scored his winning leap of 23-1 the first time down the runway. In addition to being a PR, it also enabled the Trojan senior to grab a share of the school record set by Corey Baker in 2012.

“I felt that one, for sure,” he said. “I wanted to get Pottstown off to a good start with a win, and to get a medal before I graduate.”

Norristown’s Miles Daniels was second with a 22-2 jump, and Perkiomen Valley’s Bright Zakiye placed third at 21-10. While Phillips ranks in Pennsylvania’s Top 10, Daniels and Zakiye are in the state’s Top 50.

Phillips will go for another medal this weekend, running the third leg of Pottstown’s 4×100 relay. He’s a relative newcomer to the event, having run it the last two times out, but impressing his coaches.

“They like my competitiveness,” Phillips said. “That’s what I do.”

For Ulcay, her gold medal in the shot was vindication for previous head-to-head outings with Pope John Paul II’s Maeve Gallagher. The Phantom sophomore recalled being headed by Gallagher three times during the regular season.

This time around, Ulcay unleashed a 38-2 throw on her first try to bypass Gallagher’s 34-10 ¼. Gallagher, who has a 36-6 throw to her credit, was followed by Boyertown’s Marissa Hillegas at 34-5 ¼.

It’s the latest step in Emine’s comeback from a foot injury sustained during the school’s girls soccer season. It kept her from playing on Phoenixville’s girls basketball team, and out of running and jumping action until April 1.

“I got angry and made a big push,” she said. “Being out five months … that’s where most of my anger came from.”

Ulcay’s throwing coach, Jamie Gray, noted her winning throw was both a PR and a school record, topping the 36-foot mark achieved by Phoenixville graduate Jasmine Hamilton roughly four years ago.

“That was a good throw,” he said. “She had a lot of built-up aggression on that throw.”

With gold medal in hand, Ulcay will spend the rest of the weekend competing in the PAC’s girls discus and javelin events. She’s shooting to improve on the 13th-place outing she had at districts in 2022.

“I think if I clean up my form, I can make another big push,” Ulcay said.

The marathon pole vault competition – it started around 5 p.m. and wasn’t completed until approximately 7:30 p.m. – saw Wells clear the bar at the 10-6 mark that is her PR. It enabled the Warrior junior to prevail over Upper Perkiomen’s Samantha Pedrick, runner-up at 10 feet, and Spring-Ford’s Reese Sullivan, third at 9-6.

The field included seven other contestants going nine feet and higher.

“I came in pretty nervous,” Aubrie admitted, “but once I started jumping, I calmed down. I focused in on what I had to do, and stuck it.”

The meet was made even more memorable for Wells by having her sister, Marin Wells, competing. A freshman, the younger Wells finished 12th at 8-6.

“I try to help her the best I can,” Aubrie said.

NOTES

Friday’s schedule listed 16 events, eight of them in finals. Saturday, a total of 22 events will be run starting at 8:30 a.m. … The finales will again be the girls and boys 4×400 relays scheduled for 1 and 1:15 p.m., respectively.