Talley and Smith set the tone for Indians winter track opener
By Dave Conard, Sports Editor, Unionville Times.com
COLLEGEVILLE — Any one who has attended an area indoor track meet in the past five years will attest to one thing.
Melissa Talley wiped out her heat in the mile while finishing fourth overall at Ursinus College.
“When it comes to the 55 meter hurdles and one mile races, Methacton dominates!” and any one who tries to challenge the Warriors jumpers for supremacy, has very little shot to emerge with a win.
Apparently the Unionville indoor track team did not get the memo that it was forgone conclusion that a Methacton runner would claim victory at The Hill School Invitational held at the Floy Lewis Bakes Field house on the campus of Ursinus College.
Christina Mapa fought her way through a tough heat to claim fourth overall in the 400 –meter dash with a time 0f 1:04.46 along with a sensational effort by one-mile runner Melissa Talley who won her heat by almost a half a lap on the nearest competitor, posting a fourth place finish with a time of 5:47.86, who ran in the same grouping as fellow Indians Audrey Ferraro (6:10.26 and Abby Dorrell who set a new personal best completing the mile in 6:11.55.
“I like running outside better, but when your inside it just feels like you are running faster,” said Talley, a Unionville junior. “I like getting out front, but it’s hard to know how fast any one else is running. I felt really good today and it was great to win my heat and finish in the top five.”
“Melissa would be the first to tell you she was disappointed in her fall cross country season,” said head coach Marc Lacianca. “She has really put some hard work in and to get the season started with her running well and Abby setting a new PR is a great way to get things going as we prepare for the spring outdoor track season.”
Chistine Mapa jumped her way to a seventh place finish and just missed qualifying for the finals in the 55-meter hurdles
Courtney Smith, who helped lead the Indians cross country squad to districts and states, had a pretty good day of her own as she finished third overall in a field of 40 runners in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:30.73.
Pennridge’s Caitlyn Sheva has been blistering the field for three seasons in the 3000-meter run and whether inside or out has been able to set the bar out of reach of any area runners, until now that is.
Unionville’s Anne Birkenmaier (10:57.68) and Olivia Young (11:05.97) who finished second and third respectively, sent a message to the Rams’ long distance phenom that she better keep working as they are nipping at her heels along with Jillian Jaycox who posted a seventh place finish of 11:34.71.
On the boy’s side of the docket, Brian Kelly rolled to a sixth place finish in the 200-meter dash of 24:55, while Ross Kim-McManus recorded a fifth place finish in both the high and long jump with distances of 5-08.00 and 19-05.00 respectively to set the pace for the field event for the Indians.
“Over all I am pretty happy with way we performed in a big meet like this,” added Lacianca. “The purpose of the winter season usually is to get ready for the spring season, but we have some very dedicated kids that have a great work ethics and push each other, they are competitors.”
In a meet that started a few years ago with four local teams in attendance, the Hill Invitational has grown to include more than 25 teams and hundreds of athletes, competing for their teams in an event that is the springboard for the winter track season.
Ross Kim-McManus claimed fifth place in long jump and high jump in the Hill Invitational.
Results for the Hill Invitational
Girls 55 Meter Dash
Preliminaries
1 Jackson, Katelyn Springside S 7.34
2 Watson, Rowanna Norristown 7.37
3 Pinkney, Natalia Pennridge 7.46
31 Weismen, Hannah Unionville 8.47
33 Muscato, Sarah Unionville 8.54
44 Wood, Emily Unionville 9.18
Girls 200 Meter Dash Finals
1 Jackson, Katelyn Springside S 26.43
2 Brown, Kenesha Easton Area 26.45
3 Fields, Kelly Methacton 27.46
33 Muscato, Sarah Unionville 30.55
41 Ortiz, Samantha Unionville 31.62
Girls 400 Meter Dash Finals
1 Tan-Torres, Seline Methacton 59.13
2 Sherman, Hailey Methacton 1:03.72
3 Patterson, Kianna Easton Area 1:04.06
4 Mapa, Christina Unionville 1:04.46
23 Grandell, Hannah Unionville 1:09.51
30 Soltysiak, Victoria Unionville 1:13.66
Girls 800 Meter Run Finals
1 McGarry, Jessye Pennridge 2:26.30
2 Long, Amanda Upper Perkio 2:29.71
3 Smith, Courtney Unionville 2:30.73
18 Zerbe, Bridgette Unionville 2:47.46
34 Schnaars, Taylor Unionville 3:00.37
Girls 1 Mile Run Finals
1 Earnshaw, Brianna Methacton 5:40.43
2 McDugall, Claire Conestoga 5:41.17
3 Keiper, Lydia Upper Perkio 5:42.82
4 Talley, Melissa Unionville 5:47.86
15 Ferraro, Audery Unionville 6:10.26
17 Dorrell, Abby Unionville 6:11.55
Girls 3000 Meter Run Finals
1 Sheva, Caitlyn Pennridge 10:45.18
2 Birkenmaier, Anne Unionville 10:57.68
3 Young, Olivia Unionville 11:05.97
7 Jaycox, Jillian Unionville 11:34.71
Girls Long Jump Finals
2 Ortiz, Samantha Unionville 12-00.50
28 Soltysiak, Victoria Unionville 11-03.00
Girls Shot Put Finals
1 Nelson, Samantha Conestoga 31-11.50
2 Nogar, Kaila Spring Ford 31-01.00
3 Yeakle, Jennifer Spring Ford 29-04.50
11 Miller, Svetlana Unionville 24-09.50
26 Rechenberg, Carly Unionville 14-11.75
Unionville got great performances from their long and high jumpers at Ursinus College.
Boys 55 Meter Dash
Preliminaries
1 Baker, Corey Pottstown 6.71q
2 Robinson, Travenio Reading 6.82q
3 Dominguez, Emilio Reading 6.88q
14 Brown, Jason Unionville 7.12
17 Kelly, Brian Unionville 7.17
21 Morales, Cj Unionville 7.29
Boys 200 Meter Dash Finals
1 Taylor, Thomas Wyomissing A 23.49
2 Rivers, Tyjae Glen Mills S 23.94
3 Baker, Corey Pottstown 23.95
6 Kelly, Brian Unionville 24.55
19 Brown, Jason Unionville 25.53
31 Morales, Cj Unionville 26.54
Boys 400 Meter Dash Finals
1 Bocobo, Geoffrey The Haverfor 52.79
2 Sjoreen, Gunnar Conestoga 53.63
3 Miller, Eric Spring Ford 53.72
7 Peabody, Francis Unionville 55.04
25 Urbani, Evan Unionville 58.77
28 Porter, Braden Unionville 59.34
Boys 800 Meter Run Finals
1 Scripture, Avery Upper Perkio 2:03.36
2 Elek, Lucas The Haverfor 2:03.83
3 Kligman, Ben Conestoga 2:06.98
12 Murphy, Jared Unionville 2:16.54
19 McDonald, Colin Unionville 2:22.88
27 Murray, Connor Unionville 2:36.80
Boys 1 Mile Run Finals
1 O’Such, Joseph Spring Ford 4:35.13
2 Davis, Quinn Hill 4:35.28
3 Salvadori, Cavender Wilmington F 4:35.64
6 Johnson, Ryan Conestoga 5:04.67
12 Burkhardt, Eric Unionville 5:10.83
13 Roberts, Sean Unionville 5:11.89
28 Russo, Doug Unionville 5:41.43
Boys 3000 Meter Run Finals
1 Magolon, Jesse Spring Ford 10:05.39
2 Salvadori, Cavender Wilmington F 10:08.05
3 Mills, Franky Church Farm 10:13.24
9 Camp, Colby Unionville 11:03.64
13 Auger, Kyle Unionville 11:10.15
Boys 4×400 Meter Relay Finals
1 Spring Ford A 3:33.02
1) Novarina, Michael 2) Ondo, Nick
3) Bush, Joe 4) Ingram, Xavier
2 Conestoga A 3:37.92
1) Loevy, Josh 2) Leimkuhler, Kevin
3) Clancy, Jj 4) Kligman, Ben
3 Easton Area A 3:41.04
1) Toribio, David 2) Wolfe, Andrew
3) Williams, Jalen 4) Scott, Brandon
4 Unionville A 3:42.00
1) Simonson, Andrew 2) Yannacone, Steve
3) Urbani, Evan 4) Peabody, Francis
Boys 4×800 Meter Relay Finals
1 Friends’ Central A 8:47.95
1) Nakata, Yorito 2) Rogers, Aqil
3) Willis, Nathan 4) Price-Sanchez, Carlos
2 Easton Area A 9:03.78
1) Flood, Christopher 2) Movles, X
3) Abert, Colin 4) Foli, Anthony
3 Spring Ford A 9:04.29
1) Magolon, Jesse 2) Musetti, Adam
3) Miller, Eric 4) Bush, Joe
4 Pottstown A 9:13.56
1) Garner, Travis 2) Smith, Nathan
3) Scaltrito, Frank 4) Zallie, Ken
5 Church Farm School A 9:14.64
1) Drexler, Max 2) Mills, Franky
3) Lowry, Christopher 4) Owens, Armond
6 Unionville A 9:14.75
1) Murphy, Jared 2) Yannacone, Steve
3) McDonald, Colin 4) Murray, Connor
Boys Shot Put Finals
1 Norris, Hasaan Glen Mills S 43-09.50
2 Reyes, Jeriko Wyomissing A 42-10.00
3 Weber, Mason Pottstown 42-05.00
19 Christian, Kevin Unionville 29-05.00
Boys High Jump Finals
1 Coppock, Misohn Pottstown 6-03.00
2 Olapido, Olatund Pottstown 5-10.00
3 Gilbert, Rahshawn Glen Mills S 5-08.00
4 Webb, Aaron Pottsgrove J5-08.00
5 Kim-McManus, Ross Unionville J5-08.00
7 Larson, Derek Unionville 5-04.00
Boys Long Jump Finals
1 Taylor, Thomas Wyomissing A 21-06.25
2 Brown, Imani Reading 20-11.00
3 Ross, Miguel Pottstown 20-03.00
5 Kim-McManus, Ross Unionville 19-05.00
14 Scharr, Patrick Unionville 17-08.25
