Breaking News
Local Sports

Numerous area athletes eye podium as District 4 track and field championships begin today

By Jon Gerardi 8 min read

The District 4 track and field championships are set for Thursday with numerous preliminary events and a handful of finals.

The preliminaries for the 100, 100 hurdles and 110 hurdles for all classifications for boys and girls will be run on Thursday. The 3,200 relay and 3,200 finals will be competed on Thursday as well.

Thursday's meet begins at 3:30 p.m. with field event finals and 4 p.m. for track events.

On Thursday, the boys Class AA long jump, girls Class AAA high jump, boys Class AAA triple jump, girls Class AAA shot put, boys Class AA javelin, girls Class AA discus, boys Class AAA pole vault, girls Class AAA triple jump, boys Class AAA high jump, girls Class AA long jump, boys Class AA shot put, girls Class AAA javelin, boys Class AAA discus and girls Class AAA pole vault will all be competed.

Saturday's Day 2 begins with field events at 9:30 a.m. and track events beginning at 10 a.m

Numerous area athletes between Class AA and Class AAA have chances to reach the podium. A closer look at a handful of events and athletes competing.

GIRLS CLASS AAA

Aubrey Phillips-Cobb of Williamsport has the best time in the girls Class AAA 100 hurdles event with a 14.74, the only runner with a sub-15-second time between the two heats.

Williamsport's Sanders sisters -- Isabelle and Madeline -- have the two top times in the girls Class AAA 3,200 event. Isabelle enters with a time of 11:25.90 while Madeline has a time of 11:09.82, the fastest in the field.

Williamsport's Isabelle Morrow enters districts with the highest mark in the girls Class AAA high jump after she qualified by clearing 5 feet, 4 inches. She's one of only two competitors in the field with a height of 5-0 or better (Athens' Evelyn Panek, 5-0). Morrow also has the best distance in the long jump with a mark of 17-0 as teammate Aamiyah Gallishaw has the second-longest with 16-3.

Morrow has the best mark in the girls Class AAA triple jump as well with a distance of 34-9 1/2, just five inches ahead of Danville's Hannah Hafer.

Jersey Shore's Alison Bilbay and Olivia Spotts have two of the top 3 distances in the girls Class AAA discus. Spotts is third with a mkar of 104-10, just an inch ahead of Taitum Zarzyczny of Williamsport. Bilbay is second with a throw of 109-1. The top discus thrower is Selinsgrove's Isabella Furgison (136-6).

Spotts does however hold the top mark going into districts in the javelin with a throw of 143-10. Her throw is 24 feet better than the next-seeded competitor.

Zarzyczny has the second-best mark in the girls Class AAA shot put with a throw of 34-9 1/2.

Williamsport's Makayla Cerami is seeded in the first heat of the girls Class AAA 100 with a time of 12.79, the fourth-best time in the field.

Williamsport's Geiani Whaley and Jersey Shore's Aaralynn Kimble both have sub-minute times in the girls Class AAA 400 field and are eyeing the podium.

Whaley is seeded with a time of 56.72 (the fastest time in either heat) and Kimble, a freshman, has a time fo 58.01, the second-fastest time.

Williamsport's 400 relay team of Dajea Batchler, Phillips-Cobb, Cerami and Whaley have the second-best time with 49.30 in the field behind only Shikellamy's 48.62. The foursome of Cerami, Phillips-Cobb, Isabelle Sanders and Whaley have the best time in the 1,600 relay for Williamsport (3:59.47).

GIRLS CLASS AA

Hughesville's Kylie and Katelyn Temple will both look to get out of their respective heats in the girls Class AA 200 to reach the finals. Katelyn Temple is seeded in the second heat with a time of 26.75 while Kylie is seeded in the third heat with a time of 25.83.

Warrior Run standout Raygan Lust has the second-fastest time in the 400 heats with a mark of 57.52, behind only Central Columbia's Kendra Stout.

One runner who has a chance at numerous titles is Baylee Espinosa of Lewisburg, a junior who has the top seed in three events.

Espinosa has the top time in the girls Class AA 800 (2:15.80) by six seconds, the 1,600 (4:54.79) by 15 seconds, and the 3,200 (10:49.94) by 10 seconds.

In the girls Class AA pole vault, Montoursville's Kendall Simms has the highest mark at 11-6, ahead of Kendall Kitchen of Canton (11-0). Milton's Elizabeth Schrock enters districts with the best jump in the girls Class AA triple jump at 36-0 1/2.

Lewisburg's Teagan Osunde has the best mark in the girls Class AA javelin with a throw of 144-10 1/2.

Hughesville's 400 relay team of Katelyn TEmple, Sierra DeWire, Avery Puderbach and Kylie Temple have the third-best time in the field with a mark of 50.04, which broke the school record earlier this season. The best time in the heats is that of Lewisburg's foursome of Nora Driver, Osunde, Madison Moyers and Caroline Blakeslee (48.90).

The second-best time in the 3,200 relay goes to Lewisburg's team of Lauren Schwartz, Katherine Batkowski, Claire Driver and Espinosa in 9:36.22. They're just a second behind Warrior Run's Lust, Katie Zaktansky, Claire Dufrene and Natalie Hall (9:35.40).

BOYS CLASS AAA

Williamsport's Kye Diakite, a junior, has the top time in the boys Class AAA 110 hurdles with a seeded time of 15.05. Zack Kendall of Jersey Shore has the next fastest mark with 15.32 and is seeded in the second heat.

Kendall is also looking to advance out of the Class AAA 200 as he's in the second heat with a time of 22.93.

Williamsport's Alex Takach has a seeded time of 10.87 in the boys Class AAA 100, the second-fastest time behind only Shamokin sophomore Ryan Bickert's 10.80. Takach is also competing in the 200 and is seeded in the second heat with a time of 22.23 alongside two other Millionaires in Nathaniel Woods (22.56) and Taali Buie (22.84).

Williamsport has a trio of competitors in the boys Class AAA 400 event with times below 51 seconds in Aiden Everett (50.45), Brayden Ungard (50.03) and Tevin Williams (50.13). The second-fastest time in the field belongs to Montoursville sophomore Bryce Winslow, however, with his time of 49.98. The time is behind only Shamokin senior Benny Delbaugh's 48.44.

Ungard has the highest height in the boys Class AAA high jump with a mark of 6-5. Everett has the second-best leap in the long jump with a distance of 22-2 behind only Shikellamy's Thomas Pollock (22-11). Kyreek Bradshaw of Williamsport has the third-best distance with a mark of 21-2.

Montoursville's Sean Frey is seeded with a time of 1:59.55 in the boys Class AAA 800, one of the top-5 times in the field. Montoursville's Weston Fry has the third-best time in the boys Class AAA 3,200 with 9:54.17, behind only Shikellamy's Sam Hennett (9:29.75) and Athens' Graham Wanck (9:53.72).

Cordoza Minor of Williamsport has the second-best mark in the boys Class AAA discus with 149-3, behind onyl Shamokin senior Blake Hockenbroch's 164-3.

Williamsport's 400 rely team of Buie, Takach, Woods and Ungard have the best time in the field of 41.88 and are eyeing a gold medal. Williamsport's foursome of Everett, Ungard, Takach and Williams enter districts in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:22.16, second-best behind only Shamokin's foursome (3:17.00). Montoursville's foursome of Adam Shearer, Frey, Quinn Winslow and Bryce Winslow enter with a time of 3:22.85, third-best in the field.

BOYS CLASS AA

Hughesville's 3,200 relay team enters districts with the best time in the field with an impressive 8:08.60 by Tyce Shaner, Carter Sherwood, Tristan Kurzawa and Shea McCusker. The time is three seconds better than Lewisburg's Grayson Barner, Justin Nolt, Luca Kuhn and Jonathan Hess as the Spartans look to improve upon their mark.

In the boys Class AA 200, Hughesville's Spencer Stine has one of the fastest times with 22.59 in the third heat of the event. Loyalsock's Anthony Lewis has a time of 22.90.

Lewisburg's Jonathan Hess has the top time in the boys Class AA 3,200 with 9:12.13, the best time by 16 seconds.

South Williamsport senior has the best distance in the boys Class AA long jump with a mark of 23-0 1/2. Scheller also has the best distance in the triple jump with a mark of 45-2 1/4 as the Mountie is hoping to go 2 for 2 for top podium finishes at districts in the two events.

Lewisburg senior Jacob Gose has the top throw in the shot put with a mark of 55-9 1/2, roughly three feet ahead of Southern Columbia's Jaden Carter. Loyalsock's Jeremiah Johnson has the fourth-best mark entering districts at 52-4.

Lewisburg's Nicholas Coleman, Grayson Wynings, Haneef Shavers and Jacob Weis enter districts with the best time in the 400 relay field with a time of 43.22.

In the boys 1,600 relay, Warrior Run's team of Gideon Kennel, Gavin Hunter, Ori Kennel and Eli Butler have the top time entering districts with 3:23.72, roughly a second ahead of Central Columbia's foursome. Hughesville's Haydn Maneval, Sam Haddon, Stine and Shea McCusker have a mark of 3:31.74 and hope to be in the running for a top podium spot as well.

Starting at /week.