SHIPPENSBURG — Almost everyone else had cleared out of Seth Grove Stadium when the State College Area High School boys track and field team was taking a victory lap.
It was a long, hot weekend at Shippensburg University, but the Little Lions were relishing the coolest of feelings after winning the Class AAA boys team title and capturing nine medals — including three golds — at the PIAA Track and Field Championships on May 27 and 28.
“It’s awesome,” Little Lion senior distance runner Alex Milligan said. “Our school’s never even gotten a runner-up (before). To be the first to get the hardware is awesome. We didn’t even know if we had a chance.”
Milligan won gold individually and as part of a relay, while Little Lion pole vaulter Griffin Thompson also ascended to the top spot on the medal stand.
It was a big meet for Centre County athletes all around. Veronika Karpenko highlighted the State College’s girls performances by winning a pair of silvers despite competing with an injury, and Penns Valley’s Destiny Andrus was a triple medalist in Class AA.
State College clinched the boys team title by placing second in the 4×400-meter relay, when Milligan, Noah Oesterling, Tony Degleris and Noah Woods posted a time of 3 minutes, 16.57 seconds, about a second ahead of Downingtown West and nine-hundredths of a second in front of Milton Hershey.
That gave the Little Lions 54 team points, one more than Downingtown West.
“We rallied, and we pulled it off. That’s what it’s all about, coming down to the four-by-four for the state team title,” Milligan said. “We knew we had to get second, or, we knew we were ahead by three, score two less points than them, at the minimum. We assumed they would win (the 1600 relay), so we just did our best to hang with them.
“We knew what was at stake.”
State College maximized its chances by sending most of its team to states. About the only events in which the Little Lions weren’t represented were the hurdles, the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter relay.
“We’ve always had talent. We’ve got a school of like 3,000 kids. But this is our first year having Steve Shisler as our head coach. He couldn’t have done a better job. It’s no coincidence that the first year he’s our coach that we get a state title,” Milligan said.
The Little Lion 4×800-meter relay posted the best time in the country this spring in the state finals, taking gold by almost seven seconds with a time of 7 minutes, 37.25 seconds — the PIAA meet record and national record is 7:33.48.
“We had the U.S. top time in the indoor season for a little bit. To take it back feels really good,” Nick Feffer said.
The national honor roll time is 7:48.00.
“This feels really good. Coming here last year and running a fast time but still coming in third was almost bittersweet, but running fast today and winning the title was a cool thing to do,” Degleris said.
When Milligan got the baton, the outcome pretty much had been decided.
“I knew we were going to run fast. It was just a question of how close the other teams were going to be,” Milligan said.
On May 27, the Little Lion 4×800 team turned in the second fastest time of the preliminaries, 7:52.51.
Owen Wing led things off before passing the baton to Feffer. Degleris and Milligan ran the final two legs.
“I got a little boxed there at the beginning. I had a late reaction. I was just able to stay patient and work my way up through the race,” Wing said.
Milligan’s individual gold came in the 1600 meter. The State College senior was pushed to the very end by Seneca Valley’s Mike Kolor and Downingtown West’s Josh Hoey, both of whom crossed the finish less than 1.2 seconds off his national-honor-roll pace of 4:10.17.
“I was just going to hang around. I saw the one guy going out hard. I hoped he didn’t hold that. I was banking on it,” Milligan said. “I made a move at about 400 (meters) to go, and it paid off. Usually, I have a pretty good kick, and it held up the last 100.”
He had advanced to the second day’s competition in the 1600 by running a 4:23.12 in the prelims. That put him fourth in his heat.
Milligan finished fifth last year.
“I’ll take the win this year. That’s good,” Milligan said. “I knew I had something fast in me. I didn’t know if it was today or not. I usually run well in the heat.”
Feffer and Degleris both medaled individually in the half-mile, where Feffer took fourth by running 1:53.50 and Degleris clocked 1:54.17 to place eighth.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make the finals. To get on the medal stand is really all I can ask for, and PR with it,” Feffer said.
Both took second in Friday’s heats, Feffer posted a 1:54.99 time, while Degleris checked in at 1:55.68.
“The four-by-eight was definitely the priority. The 800 was just the icing on the cake,” Degleris said. “Down the homestretch, I was just thinking ‘give it everything I’ve got, it’s my last race.’”
Griffin Thompson picked the perfect time to have the best day of his career, pole vaulting a school-record 16 feet, 3 inches to overcome Greensburg Hempfield’s Hayden Fox and Hatboro-Horsham’s Nicholas Marino.
Thompson had fun on the medal stand, having all the medalists take a photo flexing their biceps and then joking with the media not to take his picture if his hair didn’t look right.
“We knew it was going to come down to 15-9 and 16-3, that those were going to be the deciding bars. All these kids have had shots at 16 feet, at 15-6. I knew it was first attempt over 15-9 was going to be a deciding factor. Getting 16-3 was icing on the cake,” Thompson said. “We really wanted to do that. We really wanted to put out a big effort.”
Thompson almost made the state record of 16-7 on his final try, but just brought down the bar. He also achieved the national honor roll when he surpassed 16-0.
Thompson said he couldn’t feel himself hitting the bar at 16-6.
ìI didn’t think it was that close until I saw the film. There was probably 4 or 5 inches where I was just floating, and I just nicked (the bar) a little bit, and it didn’t want to stay on. You can’t get lucky on every single one,” Thompson said.
Thompson’s teammate, Lucas Gray, finished 13th, clearing 13-9.
Kellin Valentine was a double medalist. On May 28, he placed sixth in the long jump by leaping 22-4.5. That was one spot better than he produce in the triple jump on Friday, when he went 46-1.25; Revaughn Dillard of Gettysburg won with a 48-7.
Valentine came up a couple of inches short of a third medal, dropping out of the high jump at 6-2 with still 10 others ahead of him.
“I didn’t worry about anything else. I just focused on my marks, and just trusted my coach and listened to him and just jumped as far as I could,” Valentine said. “I’m just excited.”
Tristan Daman came up with a fourth-place medal in the Class AAA 100 meters, posting a time of 10.91 in the finals, 18-hundredths of a second behind the gold medalist. Daman registered a time of 10.80 in Saturday morning’s semifinals, when he was third in his race.
In Friday’s prelims, Daman, who was nursing a hamstring he injured at the Mid-Penn Conference championships, advanced by virtue of a third-place finish in his heat, finishing in 11.21.
“It felt really good. I think I did most things right. I think the heat took a toll, but it was fun. My second race was around my PR,” Daman said.
Ailing with a sore hamstring, Karpenko still was good enough to bring home a pair of silver medals. In Friday’s triple jump, her best event, she missed her personal record by almost a foot, jumping 39-2.5, but still came up just 3 inches shy of winning the gold.
She followed that up with a leap of 18-8.25 in Saturdayís long jump, about 7 inches away from the gold.
“Obviously, my hamstring isn’t better, so I’m glad I was able to snag second for both events,” Karpenko said.
In the long jump, teammate Taylor Givens joined Karpenko in the finals and on the medal stand, taking seventh with her best attempt measuring 18-3.
“I’m ecstatic,” Givens said. “I’m excited.”
Rachel Wylie, Natasha Fedkina, Haley Crawford and the 400-meter relay also represented the State College girls on the medal stand.
Wylie’s personal-record time of 43.80 was good for a fourth-place medal in the Class AAA 300 hurdles. Wylie notched a qualifying time of 44.28 in Friday’s prelims, putting her in second in her race. Teammate Jordan Rohrbach didn’t advance, running a 46.25 to place fourth in her preliminary.
“This is everything I could have asked for. I really wanted it,” the Franklin and Marshall-bound Wylie said.
Fedkina took sixth in the 1600 meters, ending her four laps in 5:00.97. Fedkina posted the second-best time in the preliminaries in finishing runner-up in her heat, crossing the finish in 5:01.86.
“I pretty much kept telling myself all I need to do was run and I can’t change that,” Fedkina said. “Getting pushed by the people behind me helped me to my time. I feel good. I was in a higher spot (fourth place), but the last hundred I was really just trying to gut through to the finish.”
In the 200 meters, Crawford was sixth, matching her 25.17 semifinal time in the finals. She advanced to Saturday’s semifinals by finishing second in her first race, recording at time of 25.37. Crawford was third in her semifinal heat.
“I felt I did really good. When I get down here, I usually don’t do as well as I planned to do. I hadn’t made finals before in (an individual) event. When I made it this year, I was really proud,” said Crawford, who will be playing soccer at James Madison in the fall.
Wylie, Crawford and Givens teamed with Zoe Wicks to take sixth in the 400 relay with a time of 47.51 in the finals that broke the school record. That matched their place in Friday’s preliminaries, when they ran a 47.79.
“It was amazing. We wanted to make it a big year, and I’m glad we were able to go out strong. You can’t ask for any better than that,” Wicks said. “We prepare for this all season. This is when you want to have your biggest performances.”
Andrus, of Penns Valley, finished seventh in the Class AA 100 meters with a 12.63 in Saturday’s finals.
Andrus set a school record when she reached the finish line in Saturday’s 100 meter semifinals in 12.30 seconds. Andrus clocked at 12.49 on Friday to punch her ticket in the semifinals.
“I felt great about my semi time. It was a huge PR, and I was really excited about that. My time in the final wasn’t great, but it was enough to get me seventh place,” Andrus said.
Andrus wrapped up her busy weekend by placing ninth in the 200, where she registered a time of 25.58 — just off her personal record — to get eighth place. Andrus ran 25.80 on Friday, second-best in her heat, then followed that up with a 25.73 in the semifinals on Saturday.
“I’m so tired. I used every last ounce of my energy to push through that last race, but I knew it was my last one, so I just went hard and went for it,” said Andrus, who is considering trying to walk on at Penn State next season. “It’s been a great day for me. I’m extremely proud with how I ended my high school career. I left states with three medals.”
Andrus got a sixth-place medal in the 400-meter relay, where she and Marissa Stecko, Maci Ilgen and Valerie Hosterman finished with a time of 49.55. The Lady Rams posted a 49.41 to finish second to Bishop McCort in their preliminary heat.
“Oh, it’s fantastic. We were expecting it, but we weren’t. We knew we could do it,” Stecko said. “Now that (we have medals) around our neck, it’s official.”
A number of other Centre County athletes competed over the two days but didn’t quite make it into the top eight to medal:
■ State’s Erik Ebel was 11th in the Class AAA boys javelin with a 183-1, 20th in the Class AAA shot, where his best throw was 50-2, and 20th in the discus with a throw of 147-2.
■ Neither Woods or Oesterling of State College were able to advance into Saturday’s competition in the Class AAA 400. Woods just missed, checking in with a 48.95 that made him third in his heat. Oesterling was fourth in his, running 49.90.
■ In Class AAA girls State College freshman Lyndsey Reed came up just short in the pole vault, finishing tied for ninth by making 11-6. Teammate Kinsey Thompson was tied for 14th, achieving 11-0.
■ The Lady Little Lions just missed another medal in the 4×400, too, when they ran a 3:54.49 to wind up 10th — the race was run as a timed final on Saturday after Friday’s preliminaries had to be canceled because of thunderstorms moving through the area.
■ State’s 4×800 girls relay ended up 12th, clocking 9:38.81. The Lady Little Lions advanced to the finals by posting a time of 9:29.07 in Friday’s prelims, good for sixth in its heat.
■ State College’ Jordan Bair got to the finals in the AAA girls discus on Saturday, but her best through of 115-10 had her settling for a tie for ninth. Bair just missed the finals in the shot put on Friday, taking 10th with a 38-5; ninth was 38-6.5.
■ Givens ran a 12.87 in Friday’s Class AAA 100 prelims, knocking her out before the semifinals in that event.
■ Lady Little Lion distance runner Sarah Almarzooqi was 18th in the 3200, although her time of 11:16.54 was more than 12 seconds faster than what she ran in winning the District 6 title. Meanwhile, State’s Jackie Horner was 28th in the javelin, throwing 104-8.
■ St. Joseph’s Lance Hamilton competed in the Class AA boys triple jump, where the Wolves freshman took 15th place with a best jump of 42-0.75. Teammate Eli Urban was in medal contention for a while in the 3200 but wound up 17th, coming across in 10:04.27.
■ The District 6 champion St. Joseph’s boys finished 12th in their preliminary race in the Class AA 3200 relay. They timed 8:50.48. Philipsburg-Osceola was 13th in its heat, running 8:45.02.
■ P-O’s Payton Moore was sixth in his preliminary heat in the Class AA boys 300 hurdles, finishing in 42.54.
■ St. Joseph’s missed a medal in the Class AA girls 4×800 by about four seconds, running 9:49.47 in the finals to place ninth. The Lady Wolves made the finals by running 9:46.71 in the prelims, placing fourth in their heat.
■ St. Joseph’s Lucia Person, the District 6 champion, placed 13th in the 3200 meters, where she crossed the finish line in 11:34.52. St. Joe’s Sera Mezza recorded a 5:22.88 in the Class AA 1600, finishing eighth in her heat.
■ Andrus’ teammate, freshman Isabella Culver, missed out on making the final eight in the Class AA 400 meters. Culver ran a 59.50, putting her fourth in her heat.
