Hatters Make a Run at State Gold

With the past success of standout runners like Kerry Swayne and Josh Hibbs, Hatboro-Horsham has had a long-standing tradition at the district level, and it was appropriate the Coatesville High School track was adorned with red and black as the Hatters left their mark at the recent 2011 District One Championships.

Claiming eight district medals, Hatboro-Horsham will be represented at this weekend's PIAA State Championship to be held at Shippensburg University.

Hatter junior Sam Hibbs will follow in the footsteps of his sibling for his time of 9:27.42 in the 3200 meter run, which garnered him a bronze medal in District One and has him seeded eighth as he and his fellow Hatters converge on Shipp.

“It was a tough run,” said Hibbs, “I usually like to go out a little slower, but with this field, if you get too far back, they will leave you there. I am excited to be going to states. I can’t wait.”

Sprinting sensation Taylor Williams had her work cut out for her as she glanced across the line and saw Radnor’s Lydia Ali amongst others.

Williams, who placed second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.24 and claimed a fourth place medal in the 400 meter dash, will get another chance to exchange pleasantries with Ali as the Radnor senior will be seeded first in the state with Williams receiving a fifth seed placing.

“Wow, I am going to states, yes," said Williams. “I have to be honest, when you look at all of these great runners it can be a little intimidating. I had a bad start in my 100 or I might have had a chance to catch her, but that’s what I have to work on ... getting off the line quickly."

Williams will be seeded seventh in the 200 with a time of 25.40 and again get to share the track with two of District One’s best in Ali and Abington’s Nicole Grasty. “It’s pretty cool to make states in two events," added Williams.

“I look up the other girls' stats all the time. That's the only way to get better. I spend a lot of time on fundamentals, especially starts.”

One person not affected by the weather merry-go-round that would even have made the staunchest meteorologist scratch their head was Hatters' shot put phenom Tevin Kirby as his throw of 53.17.75 was good enough to claim third and a bronze medal at districts, while also qualifying him for the big dance.

“Mine is one event not really affected by the weather,” said Kirby. “You have to make certain of your footing, but other than that, the wind or rain doesn’t really affect the throw. I felt pretty good and had two good throws. States is a goal I have had all season long, it feels great to get that done.”

A sleeper at districts who really came to life the last 100 meters of his race was Colin Dempster, whose time of 48:58 in the 400 meter run was fast enough to snare a silver medal at District One and seed him third overall in the state for this weekend.

 “It was a hard race,” said Dempster. “We went out really fast and when I got to the 100 left mark I only had (Matt Gilmore from Cheltenham) to chase. At that point I just wanted to go all out to keep everyone else behind me and get to states.”

Nicole Reibhold eclipsed the 10-foot mark in the pole vault at the District One championship, but failed to qualify for states along with senior Matt Kane who finished 14^th in triple jump and 30^th in long jump.

Chris Black’s throw of 50.05.25 in the shot was good enough to claim him an eighth place medal at districts but fell short of the state qualifying distance.

Rounding out the contingent heading west on the turnpike is Junior Kodi Burns, who will be taking flight in the 800-meter run at Shippensburg as his time of 1:57.07, which placed 11^th in the district, seeded him in the top 20 for the state meet.

“It’s even better since we have so many team mates going," said Burns of his trip to states. "That really helps your confidence and focus as a runner. Hopefully we will be able to win some medals when we get there.” 

The next page in the Hatbor-Horsham tradition will continue as the PIAA Pennsylvania State Championship meet gets uderway today at 9 a.m. with preliminaries taking place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the finals for most events on Saturday.