Track and Field notebook: Panther’s clutch throw, ‘Speeding Bullet’ on target, and more
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By Julie Pelchar Cohen and Mike Drago
Logan Kraus couldn’t have picked a better time to unleash the big one.
The Schuylkill Valley senior won the Class AA shot put title on his final throw during Saturday’s District 3 Track and Field Championships at Seth Grove Stadium.
“All I knew was that it felt a lot better than the other ones,” Kraus said of the moment the shot left his hands. “I heard everyone screaming right away and I knew it was something good.”
The hefty heave of 50-11½ bettered his career best by more than 2 ½ feet.
The throw also catapulted Kraus from fourth to first. He had trailed Wyomissing’s Max Tipton, teammate Cohen Glassmire and Tulpehocken’s Jack Heckman.
Talk about a clutch performance.
Kraus was the only thrower to crack the 50-foot barrier. He knew it was a milestone mark as soon as the shot splashed the cinder.
“It was right over the line,” he said. “I was really excited.”
Tipton took silver, Glassmire bronze and Heckman fourth. Berks boys grabbed six of the eight medals.
Speeding Bullet
It’s tradition for many District 3 track and field athletes to spend Friday night in Shippensburg’s dorms.
Brandywine Heights senior Adam Petersen was one of them.
Petersen said living in close quarters was fun. But sleeping in a dorm bed was another story.
“I definitely felt a little sore,” Petersen said. “It’s tough sleeping on those hard mattresses. But once you’re in that race you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Petersen certainly got it done in the Class 2A sprints. He ran a 10.95 to win his second straight 100 title. He captured his first 200 gold with a personal-best 22.33. That was also a Berks Best.
The double win helped atone for a tinge of disappointment at last weekend’s county-championship Firing Meet, when he followed a 100 win with a 200 bronze.
“I really wanted to win counties,” Petersen said. “So I’m really excited to finally win something big in the 200.”
Gold enough
Schuylkill Valley’s Luke Martinez laughed when asked if his performance was clean.
The junior pole vaulter didn’t make the magic he had anticipated.
“I was really hoping for 14 today,” he said. “I just couldn’t finish through the jump.”
Martinez chased the 14-foot mark Saturday afternoon. He tapped out at 12-6, but that was good enough to win the Class 2A title. Oley Valley’s Ethan Hack cleared the same height, but Martinez won on misses.
Martinez opened the meet with a long jump silver Friday.
“I’m just happy I get to go to states,” Martinez said. “I have another week of track, so I’m so excited.”
Golden Lynx
Oley Valley’s 1600 relay team of Enyer Llovera, Keith Neal, Jakob Bolig and Joshua Wagner joined Wyomissing’s 400 relay as gold medalists.
The Lynx ran a 3:30.61 to beat Susquenita.
Red Knight’s sprint record finally falls
District 3’s oldest track record fell Saturday at Shippensburg and Jeff White was there to see it happen.
The former Reading High sprinter set the record in the 100 with a 10.54 in 1979.
Forty-four years later he was on hand to present Susquehanna Township’s Lex Cyrus with a gold medal after seeing him run a 10.45 to win the boys Class 3A race.
The oldest boys track records are now in the Class 3A 100 and 300 hurdles, both set in 1980.
The oldest boys record still on the books belongs to Gov. Mifflin’s Kim Piersol, who recorded a 24-3.75 in the long jump in 1965.
The second-oldest belongs to Oley Valley’s Barry Stebbins, who went 24-0.75 in the boys 2A long jump.
The oldest girls record belongs to Twin Valley’s Sonya Sims, who went 5-9 in the high jump in 1978.
Miller, Deyarmin at their best
Twin Valley’s Sarah Ann Miller shaved more than a tenth of a second off her time in the 800 Saturday, lowering the Berks best to 2:14.71. She ran a 2:14.85 last week to win a county championship.
Miller earned a silver medal in the 3A 800.
The only other girl to record a Berks Best at the district championships was Schuylkill Valley’s Emma Deyarmin, who finished fourth in the Class 3A discus at 125-3. That’s 10 feet better than the previous Berks Best, set by Wilson’s Maddie Henne, and almost 15 feet better than Deyarmin’s season’s best, set last week in finishing second at the Firing.
It’s also a personal best for Deyarmin, who went 118-1 last year to win District 3 Class 2A gold.
Silver for Brady
Brady Mider draws most of his attention in the shot put circle, and for good reason: The Berks Catholic junior has the longest throw in the state this season, at 59-4. Friday, he won his first District 3 gold in the event.
He’s steadily been improving in the discus and Saturday recorded a Berks best with a 161-1 to earn a Class 3A silver medal.
He opened the season with a 144-10 at the Tim Cook Memorial Invitational in late March. He topped 150 for the first time on April 11. He won the Firing Meet last week with a personal best 154-5.
Mider added almost seven feet to that mark Saturday.
