WPIAL champs now underdogs
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Canon-McMillan’s Chyna Beck and Burrell’s Nikki Scherer shined at the WPIAL championships and hope to carry that momentum into this weekend’s PIAA championships, but each will be an underdog in one of their events. A big underdog. Beck and Scherer are in the same position that shot put and discus throwers find themselves in when they face Knoch’s Jordan Geist. They will be going up against two of the top high school athletes in the country, Cheltenham’s Chanel Brissett and Girard College’s Thelma Davies.
Beck won the WPIAL Class 3A title in the 100-meter hurdles and will now compete in the same event as Brissett, a Southern California recruit who set a PIAA record last year as a junior when she finished in 13.19 seconds. Brissett’s personal record is 12.95. To put that into perspective, no girl in WPIAL history has run under 14 seconds. Brissett ran in the U.S. Olympic Trials last year.
“Every time that I’ve gone to states, she’s a person who you want to sit down and watch race because it’s incredible how fast she can do the hurdles. She goes through them, basically, it seems like,” said Beck, who will also compete in the triple jump and 400 relay. “Going up against her is completely different. It’s like scary almost. I’m hoping to be somewhere near her the first three hurdles. I hope to get a strong start out of my block. She’s such a good competitor. I’m hoping if anything I can get a PR or maybe break the school record or something.”
Scherer was one of the stars of the WPIAL championships, sweeping titles in the Class 2A sprints (100, 200 and 400) and anchoring Burrell’s victorious 400 relay team. Scherer has chosen not to run the 100 at states. It’s in the 200 where she will face her biggest challenge. Davies is only a sophomore but has already established herself as one of the nation’s premier sprinters. As a freshman, she broke the PIAA record in the 100 previously held by Rochester great Lauryn Williams and tied Williams’ mark in the 200. Scherer (24.42) finished as the runner-up to Davies (23.85) in the 200.
“It’s pretty good racing against her because she really pushes me,” said Scherer, who has gone as low as 24.21 in the 200. “I have to believe in myself. I have ran fast times. It’s my senior year. Who knows what will happen. I just have to go out and try to beat her.”
Abdalah picks track
Vincentian’s Marianne Abdalah had a difficult decision to make when it came to weekend plans: Attend her graduation at 7:30 p.m. today — as one of the valedictorians, no less — and then make the three-hour drive to Shippensburg University before running in the Class 2A 3,200 at 9 a.m. Saturday. Or leave for the PIAA meet this afternoon, skip graduation and get a good night sleep before her final high school race. She chose the latter. “I am going to miss my graduation, unfortunately,” said Abdalah, who boasts a 5.52 grade-point average. “I would rather get some sleep and do well. It was a little bit of a tough decision being that I was going to be able to get the recognition for all the hard work I put into school. But running has always been my first love. I finished school and now I have to finish running.”
Abdalah is the two-time defending champion in the 3,200 and will be looking to add to her collection of five PIAA gold medals. She also won three cross country titles. She plans to compete in both sports at West Virginia.
Fabulous freshman
Remember the name Sidney Shemanski. You will be hearing it a lot the next few years.
Shemanski is a freshman at Freeport who is already a three-sport star. In just her first year of running track, Shemanski won a WPIAL Class 2A title in the 800 after running a school-record time of 2:19.96. Her success extends beyond the track, too. She was named all-section in soccer and basketball, leading Freeport to the WPIAL playoffs in both sports.
“She’s just amazing at everything she does,” Freeport coach John Gaillot said. “We didn’t envision her running the 800 like she did. We thought she would be good, but we thought it would take some time. She did that in one season. We’re anxious to see what she does in years to come.”
Returning champions
Three WPIAL girls will try to defend PIAA titles: Connellsville’s Madison Wiltrout, Vincentian’s Marianne Abdalah and Avonworth/Northgate’s Hunter Robinson. Wiltrout is the three-time defending champion in the Class 3A javelin. Robinson won the 400 title in Class 2A last season and will try to win that race in Class 3A this weekend.
Top seeds
The following WPIAL girls are seeded No. 1 in their events at the PIAA championships: Class 3A — Avonworth/Northgate’s Hunter Robinson (400), West Allegheny’s Maddie Salek (800), Laurel Highlands’ Casey Phelan (pole vault); Class 2A — Bentworth’s Brenna Cavanaugh(100 hurdles).