Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Boys Track
“We really picked it up today, I feel like we’ve gotten stronger,” said Miller, who also finished second in the 200 meter dash Saturday. “I can’t wait until States.”
Meanwhile, over in the javelin field, Coatesville junior Ricky Ortega finished first with a PR of 195 feet, 10 inches, and teammate Aron Young finished second with a mark of 187-9. Ortega’s performance was an improvement over last year, when he threw 176-11 at Districts (second place) and 180-11 at States (seventh place).
“I attacked it more this time, and I was well-prepared by my coach,” said Ortega. “The technique had to do with the number of steps I was taking and with how I was throwing it. It was a little thing, but it made a big difference. I’m going to try to win it at States.”
Young will be making his first trip to States for the javelin, as his throw of 187-9 was a sizable improvement over his mark of 16310 at Districts last year (for seventh place).
“The key for me was staying relaxed,” said Young.
Coatesville also did well in the final event of the day, the 4x400 relay, where the Red Raiders finished fourth (3:19.96) to advance to States with a quartet of Artie Burgess, Camari Stocker, CJ Brown and anchor Jahmir Carter.
“I feel really good about our race today – we’ve been improving this season,” said Carter. “We’ll be trying to improve next week at States.”
Downingtown West, who finished fourth in the team standings, had a number of strong performances. The Whippets finished second in the 4x100 relay, posting a time of 41.76 with a lineup of sophomore Julian Williams, junior Marcus Gainer, junior Spencer Mochulski and junior Terrence Gainer.
“The handoffs were key for us today,” said Gainer.
Downingtown West captured two of the top five spots in the 300 meter hirdles, as junior Ethan Robinson finished second (38.81) and senior Tawo Ayambem placed fifth (40.05). Both of them advance to States.
“The key has been training with Tawo,” said Robinson. “We drive each other.”
Ayambem, whose PR in the 300 hurdles last year was 41.91, and is more experienced in the 110 hurdles, noted, “I think 300 hurdles are more of a mental exercise than the 110.”
Robinson also finished fourth in the 110 meter hurdles (15.13). Last year, he finished fourth at Districts with a time of 15.26.
The Whippets captured the fourth through sixth place in the 3200 meter run, with Payton Sewall (fourth, with a state-qualifying mark of 9:30.49), Aiden Barnhill (fifth) and Declan Rymer (sixth). By finishing in the top five, Sewall and Barnhill automatically advanced to States.
Individually, Bishop Shanahan junior Jonah Hoey was a standout Saturday, finishing first in the Class AAA 1600 meter run (4:20.13), Last year at Districts, he placed second (4:23.90) then went on to finish second at States (4:17.70).
“At the start of the race I was pretty surprised at how slow it went out, but I just tried to stay relaxed and prepare myself for a big kick at the end,” said Hoey. “I felt really smooth through the first three laps, I tried to shut my brain off and get ready to kick.
“I was originally thinking that I would try to build from 300 out, but I decided to go a little bit earlier since I had confidence in the work I’ve been doing the past couple of weeks. Then with 150 to go I started my kick to the line. It was a good racing experience since I haven’t raced a ton this year, and I’m excited to head to States next week.”
Chester County runners held down four of the top six spots in the Class AAA 1600 meter run, as West Chester East junior Joshua Lewin was third (4:22.80), Downingtown East senior Joseph Chamoun was fifth (4:24.87) and Unionville sophomore Ethan McIntyre was sixth (4:25.75). Lewin and Chamoun, who finished in the top five, automatically qualified for States.
Another individual standout Saturday was Unionville junior Cole Walker, who won the Class AAA 3200 meter run with a strong finish and a clocking of 9:27.54. Last year, Walker was fourth at Districts (9:30.30) and eighth at States (9:34.21).
“I was planning to finish strong today, I didn’t want