NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Led by three-time individual winner Laken Lewis, five athletes recorded multiple wins at the Redbank Valley Invitational Thursday.
(Photo of Clarion’s Laken Lewis, who won the triple jump, high jump and pole vault at the Redbank Valley Invite, the only individual three-time winner at the meet. Photo by Matt Lerch)
Lewis from Clarion won the girls’ triple jump with a distance of 34-feet, 5 ½- inches, the high jump with a leap of 5-2 and the pole vault going over the bar at 11-3, which was the same height of Moniteau’s Kendall Grossman who needed more tries to accomplish 11-3.
Cranberry’s Kalynne Ziegler was a two-time winner taken home gold in the girls’ 1,600-meter run in a time of 5:46.33 and the 3,200-meter run in a time of 12:40.58, while Karns City’s Sara Knox won the girls’ discus with a throw of 113-01 and the shot put with a toss of 34-03.
A pair of Brookville athletes were double individual winners in the boys’ meet with Dillon Olson winning the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 15.11 and the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 39.93, and Bryan Dworek taking first in the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.05 and in the long jump with a leap of 22-02.
Dworek just beat out teammate Ian Thrush for the 100 title with Thrush finishing a nano-second behind in 11.07. Thrush returned the favor in the 200-meter dash beating Dworek, 23.07 to 23.24, by less than 2/10th of a second. A third Brookville runner, Jack Krug, was right there as well in the 200 finishing in 23.42.
Thrush, Krug and Dworek were joined by Cabe Park to makeup Brookville’s seemingly unbeatable 4×100-meter relay team, which is one of the favorites to win the state title with the Raiders currently having put in the top time in the state in Class 2A this year while being one of just two teams to go under 43 seconds, including a season-best 42.18 at the Demans Invite at Brookville. They took control in New Bethlehem winning in a time of 42.28, nearly three seconds ahead of second-place finisher Karns City (45.15). It was their third-fastest time of the season.
The 4×100 was one of two Brookville boys’ relay teams to win, as the 4×400-meter team of Thrush, Olson, Krug and Kyle MacBeth took home the title in a time of 3:29.54.
Brookville also won a pair of relays in the girls’ meet taking home the 4×100 and 4×400.
The 4×100 team of Madison Johnson, Morgan Johnson, Dani MacBeth and Morgan Monnoyer ran a time of 51.49, while the 4×400 team of the Johnson twins, MacBeth and Emily Martz ran a time of 4:21.30.
Both Johnsons and Monnoyer also took home individual crowns with Morgan Johnson winning the girls’ 200-meter dash in a time of 27.65, Madison Johnson winning the girls’ long jump with a leap of 16-7 and Monnoyer winning the girls’ 100 in a time of 13.31.
Clarion’s Nick and Noah Schill each added a relay victory and an individual title.
They were members of the 4×800-meter boys’ relay team that won in a time of 8:39.70 and were joined on the squad by Don Cunningham and Daniel Ketner.
Nick Schill also won the boys’ 1,600 in a time of 4:45.20, while Noah Schill won the boys’ 800-meter run in a time of 2:05.39.
Clarion also had the winner in the girls’ 800 when Phylicia Hockman crossed the line in a time of 2:24.27.
The Bobcats brother-sister combo of Evelyn and Nathaniel Lerch also took home gold with Evelyn winning the girls’ 400-meter dash in a time of 1:01.97, and Nathaniel taking home gold in the boys’ 3,200 in a time of 10:18.86.
Brookville also had another champion in the girls’ meet with Madison McAninch taking home gold in the girls’ 300 hurdles in a time of 51.05.
The most dominating field performance of the meet came from Moniteau’s James Parenti, who won the boys’ discus by nearly 30 feet with a throw of 155-02. Parenti has the third-longest throw in Class 2A in the state in the event this year, although his throw Thursday wasn’t his season best.
Parenti also took second in the boys’ shot put with a throw of 49-9, the best mark by a District 9 thrower at the event, as the event was the lone one not won by a District 9 athlete at the meet. Kiski Prep’s Jaylen Cooper took home gold with a throw of 51-4.
Moniteau had another champion in the boys’ pole vault with Kyle Norling clearing the bar at 13-6. Norling has a season-best 14-2, which ranked third in the state going into the week.
Host Redbank Valley crowned two champions with Frankie Dinger taking home gold if the girls’ javelin with a throw of 103-6 and Sam Hetrick winning the boys’ high jump crown with a leap of 6-2. Hetrick is the top high jumper in the state in Class 2A this season.
The boys’ javelin went to Clarion-Limestone’s Hayden Callen with a toss of 175-06, Keystone’s Brody Coleman won the boys’ triple jump with a leap of 44-2 ¼ and Karns City’s Hunter Jones took home top honors in the boys’ 400 in a time of 50.29.
DuBois’ won the girls’ 4×800 relay in a time of 10:44.64. The team comprised of Stefanie Hoyt, Emalee Horner, Abby Dressler and Kyra Hoover.
The District 9 championships are slated for Brookville High School Friday, May 17.
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