OJR’s Myers, Brunton close out districts with a bang
For Owen J. Roberts’ Teneisha Myers and Ally Brunton, 2017 marks the final lap of two illustrious careers by a pair of Wildcat track & field stars.
The two standouts have been instrumental in the Wildcats’ Pioneer Athletic Conference championships the past two years. Now they have both set out to make the most of their final runs through the spring season, competing among the district’s best this weekend and moving on to the state’s best the following.
For Perkiomen Valley’s incredible and multi-talented sophomore, Christina Warren, the sky seems to be the limit for what this phenomenal Viking can accomplish during the next few years.
What the three outstanding athletes have in common currently is a trip planned to the PIAA Championships next weekend at Shippensburg University.
The trio highlighted a fine showing by PAC girls during the two-day District 1-AAA Championships at Coatesville High School which completed Saturday afternoon.
Led by Warren, Perkiomen Valley scored 43 team points to take third place behind mighty Cheltenham (87) and North Penn (66) in the final tabulations. Owen J. Roberts was in the mix, winding up with 37 points for fifth place.
Warren captured a first-place gold medal in the triple jump with a leap of 39-9.50 and placed second in the 100-meter hurdles. She also earned a third-place bronze medal in the long jump Friday.
“Coach wanted me to go 40 (feet),” Warren said of her triple jump performance. “I did get a PR in the hurdles (14.29, semifinals). That put me where I want to be, and I’m definitely looking for more PRs at states.”
Myers finished third in the 200-meter dash (24.58) and fourth in the 400 (57.88), continuing her outstanding sprinting career. Morgan Shronk placed sixth in the 400 at 59.10.
“I am most happy with my 200,” said Myers. “All year my goal has been to go sub-25 (seconds). I did it in the semis and finals. We placed in the 4x200 and my time was better.
“It was a really good day. It was hard in the 4 and 2 going back-toback, but I have been training for that all year.”
Brunton, on the other hand, has created a lot of noise in distance events, and she will head to Shippensburg as the second seed from District One in the 1,600-meter run.
In previous years, Myers was pushed to the limit while competing against Methacton phenom Caroline Duffy, now at Division I St. Joseph’s University.
Brunton was clocked at 5:00.44 in the 1,600 while OJR junior Mary Bernotas came in seventh at 5:04.30.
In between, Boyertown’s Gillian Kasitz placed fifth with a time of 5:02 to also earn a trip to states.
“It kind of went out slower than I thought,” said Brunton, “but the last 400 was really fast. The last 400 we gave it our all.”
Perkiomen Valley coach Joe Petsko was quite pleased with his Vikings’ performance overall.
“Christina (Warren) was just doing things she has done all year,” said Petsko. “She started off in the long jump (18-0 ¼) yesterday, then she won the triple jump. She is just a phenomenal athlete and a gamer.”
The Vikings also got a big lift from their 4x800 relay team that took third place with a 9:22.25. That group of sophomore Jocelyn Rotay, senior Michele Daniels as well as juniors Julia Dorley and Teagan Scheinbecker will also head to states, a feat Petsko claims PV has not achieved in the spring for quite some time.
“Those girls did a wonderful job,” said Petsko. “We have been shuffling it around (with runners). We set them up this way to get the 4x800 relay going.”
The distance runners at Perkiomen Valley have thrived throughout the 2016-17 campaign. It started back in the fall with cross country, where the Vikings were led by senior veteran Annie Glodek. Glodek and the rest of the Vikes also enjoyed a great winter track season indoors and have now continued their proficiency outdoors during the spring months. During the winter, the PV distance medley team reached a national level of success.
In the 3,200 at districts, Glodek won a thirdplace medal with a time of 10:54.06. OJR’s Autumn Sands placed sixth at 11:12.56 and Spring-Ford’s Bella Marchini notched seventh at 11:21.4
Rebecca Bondi took fifth in the 100-meter dash with a finish at 12.21. She ended up with a PR that stands just shy of the school record (:03 off), which has stood intact in Graterford since the 1980s, when it was established by Lisa Thompson.
“She (Bondi) is the real deal,” said Petsko. “She has a chance to do something special and break that next week. There will be faster runners going at Shippensburg. There are going to be wonderful athletes.
“We will have seven girls competing at Shippensburg, eight with an alternate. We are looking forward to next weekend to finish it off.”
Spring-Ford’s 4x800 relay also qualified for states with a seventh-place showing in a time of 9:31.16. That unit consists of Emily Smith, Gabriella Bamford, Sydney Galster and Nandini Patel. They will represent the Rams at states along with Melissa Israel, who placed fourth in the pole vault Friday.
Methacton’s 4x100 relay team finished sixth with a time of 49.02. The Warriors’ quartet of Amy Domenick, Juliana Keenan, Lauren Prusacki and Gianna Fazio produced that clocking.
Domenick was also fourth in the 300 hurdles (45.53), and Norristown’s Sheila Day was sixth (45.80), both state-qualifying times.
Norristown’s Jonae Cook came in seventh in the 100 at 12.23 for another statequalifying time.
Warren was followed in the triple jump by Methacton’s Rainah Dunham, who took sixth at 36-8.
OJR’s Rae Rae Taylor qualified for states on Friday with a fifth-place medal in the javelin.