PIAA Track notes: Maddie makes her mark, Berks boys flex their muscle, and more

SHIPPENSBURG — Maddie Henne spent two years trying to convince her parents that permanently inking her arm was a good idea.

Getting a tattoo topped her Christmas list.

She finally got what she wanted several months ago.

The words “Believe, Persevere, Overcome” are inscribed in pretty cursive on Henne’s throwing arm.

They carried her to the medal stand during Saturday’s PIAA Track and Field Championships.

The Wilson sophomore earned a seventh-place medal in the Class 3A discus with a throw of 117-10 that she unleashed on her last attempt to find the podium.

Henne credited former coach Scott Krall as her inspiration. Krall was the Cocalico throwing coach who mentored many state champions and provided just as much inspiration as he produced gold medals.

Henne trained with him when she was a junior high thrower in the Ephrata Area School District. Krall died in 2021.

“He’s the reason I’m still throwing,” Henne said. “I really like to give it all to him when I come to meets like this.”

Henne honors Krall in several other ways when she competes. She writes his initials on her wrist. Her tattooed words are also scrawled on her shoes. She wears several bracelets with the same message.

Believe. Persevere. Overcome.

Those were the words Krall wanted to be remembered by.

“I’ll definitely never forget him,” Henne said. “I love seeing pictures of me throwing because the words are on my throwing arm. I can see them. I don’t even look at anything else in the picture except the tattoo because he’s the reason I’m here now. It’s definitely something I live by now.”

Henne arrived at the PIAA Championships after finishing fourth at the District 3 Meet. She started believing that qualifying for her first state meet was a possibility after throwing a personal best 127-2 ½ at a dual meet early in the season. That big throw was a PR by more than 9 feet.

“I think that’s when it really set in that I could be going to states,” she said.

Henne drew extra attention Saturday while wearing a T-shirt with her last name written on the back.

Yes, she fielded the same question all day long.

No, she’s not related to Wilson grad and former NFL quarterback Chad Henne although she said her little sister goes to school with Henne’s children.

Witman’s wobble: Jaydon Witman’s undefeated 110 hurdles season came to a disappointing close Saturday afternoon.

The Hamburg senior earned the top seed after Friday’s preliminaries. But his toe clipped the fourth hurdle and he struggled the rest of the way to earn the seventh-place Class 2A medal in 14.82.

“I was pushing too hard instead of using my form like I had done throughout the entire year,” he said. “I got a little too excited.”

Even if Witman was disappointed in his state showing, his senior season was remarkable.

After finishing sixth at the District 3 Championships as a junior, Witman committed himself to the hurdles with fervor. He won both hurdles races at the county-championship Firing Meet and later the district title in the shorter race. He leaves Hamburg with school records of 14.48 in the 110 hurdles and 39.83 in the 300 hurdles.

“It was really good,” Witman said. “I broke the school record a few times, so I’m happy with that. I made it to states. That was my goal. I wanted to make it to states and I did it.”

Throwing prowess: Berks County flexed its throwing muscles by sending two boys to the medal stand for the second straight day.

Berks Catholic’s Brady Mider finished fourth in the Class 3A discus. Exeter’s Josiah Newman-Kegerise was fifth.

Mider won gold in Friday’s shot put and Exeter’s Logan Wegman took silver.

Mider jumped four spots on his last throw of 167-7 Saturday. Newman-Kegerise was close behind at 166-6.  

Newman-Kegerise was disappointed he didn’t match the personal best of 175-2 that he hit at the Shaner Meet.

But the senior added more than 30 feet to his PR from last year, when he didn’t even qualify for the District 3 championships.

“In the end, I accomplished a lot this season,” Newman-Kegerise said. “I ended up throwing further than I ever thought I  would. I’m really happy with this season.”

Hurdling toward more: Wilson sophomore Violet Houck was certainly pleased with her second PIAA Class 3A 100 hurdles medal.

After finishing seventh as a freshman, Houck took fifth Saturday in 14.79.

“Obviously, I would’ve loved to have won,  but those girls are really good,” she said. “I’m happy, but I want to move up in the future. I’m not satisfied with this place. I’m going to make sure over the next few years that I’m going to go higher.”