7 Berks girls who could find the medal stand at District 3 track championships
The District 3 Track and Field Championships will be held Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University.
For a time schedule, click here.
For the Class 2A performance list, click here.
For the Class 3A performance list, click here:
Here are the best bets among Berks girls to medal:
Addie Cohen, Wyomissing
After dominating the track at Shippensburg last spring, when she won three district golds and two state medals, Cohen endured several physical setbacks that cost her valuable training time in the summer and indoor seasons.
The University of Richmond recruit is only just now returning to form. She won the Firing Meet 1600 last week in 5:17.0, just under her district-winning time of last year. She’ll be the No. 2 seed in Class 2A.
She ran a district-best 11:18.31 last week and will be the No. 1 seed in the 3200; she coasted to a win last year in 11:41.79. (A week later she finished third in the state in a blazing 10:52.04.)
The 800, which she enters as the No. 5 seed at 2:30.65, figures to be her toughest race. She won last year in 2:19.49 and bettered that a week later at the PIAA Championships. She didn’t run the 800 at the Firing Meet.
Mononucleosis severely impacted Cohen’s summer cross country training. In December she was hospitalized for nine days with a blood infection that spread to her hip bone and erased her indoor season.
Alexis Hardy, Wyomissing
The Spartans’ junior flash swept the two shortest Class 2A races as a sophomore and returns as the girl to beat in both the 100 and 200.
Her 12.25, good enough for second place at the Stephan Meet, is the fastest time in the district and just ahead of Steel-High’s Cherish Pryor (12.34). Hardy clocked a 12.52 at the Shaner Meet and 12.53 last week in finishing second at the Firing.
Hardy is the only runner in the Class 2A 200 field to crack 26; she ran a 25.82 at Twin Valley five weeks ago and 25.88 at the Stephan Meet.
Her best time in the 200 came last year when she ran 25.60 to win District 3 gold.
Hardy won a silver in the 100 and a bronze in the 200 as a freshman.
Addie Nudy, Twin Valley
The freshman sensation holds the Berks Best in the long jump, triple jump and high jump and is in medal contention in each event in Class 3A.
Her best shot comes in the high jump where is seeded third at 5-5; the top qualifying mark is 5-9. Nudy won the Firing last week at 5-2.
She’s seeded fifth in the triple jump at 37-3; she did 37-2.5 to win the Twin Valley Invitational and 35-9.25 last week to win the county title.
Her 17-8 in the long jump, from a mid-April dual meet, ranks seventh. She finished fifth at the Firing in 16-2.5.
Nudy’s 1:01.22 just missed qualifying in the 400.
Clara Engel, Kutztown
After earning a bronze in the Class 2A long jump as a freshman Engel returns to Shippensburg seeded in the top four in each of the three jumps.
She’s No. 1 in the long jump at 17-8.5, three inches better than anyone in the field. She finished well back at the Firing Meet, where her best was 15-2.
Engel is No. 2 in the high jump at 5-0, which she hit last week in finishing fourth at the Firing; she reached 5-1 last year at the Shaner.
She’s No. 4 in the triple jump after hitting 35-2.5 to take second at the Shaner.
Violet Houck, Wilson
After going unchallenged in the hurdles in Berks, the Bulldogs sophomore arrives in Shippensburg seeded No. 2 in both the Class 3A 100 and 300.
She ran a personal-best 14.78 last week in winning the Firing Meet 100; she also broke 15 on her home track in winning at the Stephan Invitational.
Houck is No. 2 in the 300 and after smashing her season best with a PR (44.57) to win the Firing; her previous best of 45.76 came at last year’s PIAA Championships. She had not run under 46 this year.
Houck is one of only two competitors under 45. The other is Spring Grove sophomore Ellas Bahn, who’s also No. 1 in the 100.
Houck earned bronze as a freshman in the 300.
She doesn’t run indoor track because of her involvement in basketball; she was an all-division pick and helped the Bulldogs reach the Berks championship game. She gave up lacrosse this year in order to concentrate on track.
Gabby Keith, Exeter
The University of Pittsburgh recruit earned the top seed in the 800 by running a 2:19.77 last week to win the county title; she’s capable of slicing a few seconds off that.
Keith finished third in the event at districts two years ago, in 2:17.15. She ran a 2:16.21 in the indoor circuit as a junior.
She’ll enter as the No. 4 seed in the 1600 after winning the Firing Meet in 5:03.84 – trimming nearly three seconds off her season best. Her PR is 4:59.42, when she won the county title as a junior. A week later she finished fourth in the district.
Her senior season has included a 10th-place finish at the PIAA cross country championships and a 7th in the state indoor mile.
Lauren Akers, Kutztown
The senior returns as the two-time defending champ in the javelin, which she won last year at 131-1.
She’s the top seed at 127-8, which she hit in a dual meet earlier this month.
The only other thrower in the field to top 120 this season is Brandywine Height’s Meaghan Miller, the No. 2 seed.
Akers was fourth last week at the Firing at 119-0, one of the few times this season she’s been under 120.
She won districts last year at 131-1 and had a PR of 139-7 two weeks earlier at the Shaner. She was consistently throwing in the 130’s last year.
Her district-winning distance as a sophomore was 115-0.
Akers also qualified in the discus after reaching
