Cardinals Fly Home from States, Medals in Hand

The Indianapolis 500 is a well-known American tradition, held every year on Memorial Day weekend. However, for the athletes of PIAA track and field, there are much more important races marked by the weekend at the state meet in Shippensburg.

Thousands of track fans and hundreds of athletes made their way over the turnpike this weekend to have an opportunity to etch their names into the rich history of the championships, and possibly bring home a gold.

Upper Dublin’s Sarah Holl was the class of the field on Friday as she set the tone in the preliminaries in the girls 1600-meter run, with a time of 5:02.93, the best in her heat by almost two seconds, and the top time overall as the field of 12 was set for the championship.

“I just wanted to get out fast,” said Holl, who had to work through traffic in the first 400 meters. “There were a couple of times that I thought I would get caught up in other people, so it was important to break free from them. I am very happy with third in this group of girls. Sure, it’s a little disappointing after my prelim, but I have a state bronze medal around my neck."

In the final, Holl went out so fast to get clear that it opened the door for champion Margo Malone and State College’s Chloe Schmidt to catch and pass her with just 300 meters left in the circuit, leaving Holl in the bronze medal position on the podium.

“I knew Chloe was going to go,” said Holl. “You can try to save some for late in the race, but with these girls, if you lose contact with the lead group, you have no shot to get back into it.”

Flying Cardinals high jumper Taylor Morgan continues to impress in her junior campaign, as she jumped an inch higher than her seed height of 5 feet 3 inches, leaping 5 feet 4 inches, which secured her a place on the podium with a fifth-place medal.

“I felt pretty good today about my jumps,” said Morgan. “I thought I could get 5'6", but Anne is so good. I am very happy with being one of the top five high jumpers in the state. That’s pretty cool.”

Girls High Jump
 Name                             Year         School               Seed     Finals   Points 

1 Holland, Anne             12  Pennridge 01         5-07.00    5-07.00   10     

2 McCoy, India              10  Ambridge Area 07     5-09.00    5-07.00    8     

3 Kirk, Megan               11  Fox Chapel 07        5-03.00    5-06.00    6     

4 Rittelman, Paige          11  Butler 07            5-03.00    5-05.00    5    

 5 Morgan, Taylor            11 Upper Dublin 01      5-03.00    5-04.00    4     

6 Uzdzinski, Taylor         11 CR South 01          5-03.00    5-04.00    3    

 7 Kominsky, Karlee          12 Northeastern 03      5-02.00    5-04.00    2    

 8 Esposito, Alena           12 Montour 07           5-03.00    5-04.00    1     

9 Van Metre, Rachel         11 Strath Haven 01      5-04.00    5-02.00    

9 Richardson, Ahmenah       11 Miltn Hershey 03     5-04.00    5-02.00    

9 Stuetz, Kelley Anne       10  Cheltenham 01        5-04.00    5-02.00    

9 Powell, Shannon           12  Shaler Area 07       5-03.00    5-02.00    

9 Wyeth, Haley               9  No Allegheny 07      5-03.00    5-02.00    

9 Harewood, Casey            9  Liberty 11           5-02.00    5-02.00    

9 Yankelev, Eliana          11  Lower Merion 01      5-03.00    5-02.00    

9 Nole, Anna                12  Tunkhannock 02       5-05.00    5-02.00   

 9 West, Ashley              11  Pine-Richland 07     5-07.00    5-02.00    

9 Kassab, Paige             11  Meadville 10         5-03.00    5-02.00   

19 Adigwu, Michelle          12  Susquhnna Twp 03     5-03.00    5-00.00   

19 Edwards, Tanise            9  Northeast 12         5-02.00    5-00.00   

19 Corby, Kaitlyn            11  DuBois Area 09       5-01.00    5-00.00   

19 Calkin, Audrey            12  Honesdale 02         5-03.00    5-00.00   

19 Snyder, Logan             10 Lewistown 06         5-01.00    5-00.00   

19 Meade, Emily              -- Nazareth 11          5-01.00    5-00.00   

19 Janneh, Jamilla           11 New Oxford 03        5-02.00    5-00.00   

26 Kline, Rachel             10 Palmyra 03           5-02.00    4-10.00   

27 Petrovich, Alaina         10 Shamokin 04          4-08.00    4-08.00   

-- Goodwin, Olivia            9 Archbshp Wood 12     4-10.00         NH 

Girls 1600 Meter Run AAA

Name                               Year    School                  Prelims Finals Points

1 Malone, Margo         11       North Hills           07 5:03.14 4:55.72 10

2 Schmidt, Chloe         12       State College      06 5:03.22 4:59.87 8

3 Holl, Sarah                 11       Upper Dublin      01 5:02.93 5:03.47 6

4 Grossman, Hannah 11      Strath Haven      01 5:03.77 5:04.07 5

5 Peck, Angelica          12      Blackhawk         07 5:03.16 5:04.47 4

6 Hill, Summer             10         Honesdale         02 5:03.70 5:05.05 3

7 Rodden, Katie           12         Archbshp Crrl  12 5:03.84 5:05.09 2

8 Weiler, Anja               --         Downingtown E 01 5:04.77 5:06.06 1

9 Mundell, Tessa         --         Gov Mifflin         03 5:04.49 5:08.54

10 Stoner, Paige           9          Pottsville             11 5:03.08 5:08.83

11 Malone, Mary          9          North Hills         07 5:03.80 5:09.09

12 Cygan, Jess            12           Liberty                 11 5:03.72 5:12.71