Forbes has winning taste of team, individual gold
CALN TWP. » As good as Grace Forbes is in the 800and 1,600-meter runs, and she is ranked in the top five in the state in both events, the junior from Strath Haven prefers to run in relay events.
“It’s more of a team thing,” Forbes said. “I play soccer in the fall so I like the whole team aspect. I like winning as a team.”
Forbes had the best of both worlds Saturday as she came away with three medals, two golds and a fifthplace finish in the District 1 Track & Field Championships at Coatesville Area High School.
She won the Class 3A 800 and teamed with younger sister Maggie, Taylor Barkdoll and Abby Loiselle to claim gold in the 4 x 800 (9:17.70). Later in the day, the Forbes sisters plus Olivia Malley and Hallie Jackson took fifth in the 4 x 400-meter relay (3:57.20) to help the Panthers finish sixth overall in the team competition.
“I’m really happy,” Grace Forbes said of her victory in the 800. “I’ve worked hard this season.”
Forbes had to run a personal best 2:11.95 to hold off Radnor’s Keara Seasholtz and Penn Wood’s Kyra Carroll in the 800 to win her first individual medal in a district championship meet. It was the second time this season Forbes had to PR to beat Seasholtz. Forbes did it at Delcos, too. Yet don’t call it a rivalry. “We’re actually pretty good friends,” Forbes said. “It’s friendly competition.”
One that will continue for at least another year, as Seasholtz is a sophomore.
“She definitely brings out the best in me,” Seasholtz said of Forbes. “I like fighting at the end with her. She always has a really good kick and you saw at the end there we’re giving each other elbows. That was fun.”
Strath Haven had the best day of the Delco teams. Junior Dana Hubbell earned her first strip to the PIAA championships with a seventh-place finish in the 100 hurdles. The top six finishers move on automatically. She advanced on time, topping the qualifying standard of 15.50 seconds by onetenth of a second. Malley, Mayowa Songungua, Angela Campenella and Dizari Hunter were seventh in the 4 x 100, but did not meet the state standard to move on.
“I’m so excited,” said Hubbell, who also was ninth in the triple jump. “I’ve made the standard a number of times, but you have to do it in this meet, in the final, and that’s so hard. What helped is that there wasn’t a semifinal, which helped me out because the triple jump was at the same time.”
Penn Wood’s Tatiyana Laylor had a closer call with
her eighth-place finish in the 100 meters. Laylor crossed the finish line in 12.49 seconds. The state qualifying standard is 12.50.
“It’s calming, Laylor said. “At least I made it through. Now I have to turn it up and do better next week.”
Laylor was one of three individuals and one relay team from Penn Wood to advance. Carroll earned a spot in the state meet with her third-place finish in the 800 (2:14.76). Elicia Moore took third in the 400 (57.35), and Carroll, Moore, Shaniyh Toodles and Fanta Konde took fifth in the 4 x 400 (3:56.45). Laylor, Lowe Samozu, Kaya McFadden and Brandi Camp earned an eighth-place medal in the 4 x 100, but did not meet the state standard to advance.
Upper Darby is sending jumper Siani Barnes and its 4 x 100-meter relay team to Shippensburg. Barnes took fifth in the triple jump (3611½). Jernita Sokan, Dominique Timmons, Lina Salami and Derisha Wolo placed fifth in the 4 x 100 (49.47). Sokan also earned an eighth-place medal in the 200, but did not qualify for the state meet.
“I’m excited and nervous at the same time,” Barnes said. “This is my first time going to states so I want to enjoy the experience.”
Ridley’s Meghan Lynch finished fifth in the triple jump (37-7¾) to keep her season going. It was her second-best jump of the season, topped only by the 38-foot leap to win the event at the Delco Championships. It came on her second attempt of the day. Teammate Briana Foster also punched her ticket to Shippensburg with a sixthplace finish in the 200 (25.99).
“I was a little nervous, but I got a good jump early and that helped to settle me down,” Lynch said.
Chester’s Jiya Clayton also moved on with an eighth in the 300 hurdles (45.64). All eight finalists qualified for the state meet. Garnet Valley’s Grace Zamrowski, Erica Kent, Anastasia Erly and Catherine Mooney are headed to Shippensburg, too. They were fifth in the 4 x 800 (9:31.50).