White doubles up to power Allderdice
Dragons continue dominant run with boys, girls winning team titles
At some point soon Bailey White is going to have to make a decision on where her future lies.
White has been one of the top basketball players in the City League for the past couple of years, but the Allderdice sophomore is also a state finalist in track and cross country.
But with her recruiting about to begin in a couple of months, she knows she does have options.
“That’s going to be one of my harder decisions in life because I love running and I love basketball,” White said. “I’d rather go for basketball, but if I get a bigger scholarship for running, then that will be what my decision comes down to.”
She certainly gave her future suitors something to look at on Saturday.
White repeated as the victor in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:35.18, then followed it up with a win in the 1,600 meters, which she finished in 5:26.23 to become a two-time champion at the City League Track and Field Finals for the first time.
“It feels great. Running in the rain was harder. All the puddles made it slippery, but I just kept my pace throughout. I sprinted the last 100 meters (in the 800),” White said. “This is my first year running the 1,600. It feels great winning it and the 800 and going to states for it.”
White was one of two Allderdice runners to qualify for the PIAA Class 3A cross country finals in the fall and finished 98th out of 237 participants. She transitioned from distance running to wind sprints when she went back to basketball where she averaged 19.4 points per game and scored a careerhigh 34 points with seven 3pointers in the City League championship game win against Obama Academy.
Now, she’s back to stretching out her distance and the transition going from one running style to the other isn’t as simple as all that.
“It’s hard, but I’m really conditioned, which helps,” White said. “It is tiring coming from basketball and going from basketball to track.”
White wasn’t the only Allderdice athlete to repeat.
Senior Cate Guilfoyle won both the 100 and 200 for the second consecutive year, posting a 12.91-second heat in the 100 and 26.21 in the 200 in which, by the time she stepped onto the track, she did it in a driving rainstorm.
Allderdice’s two of double winners on the track, along with its dominance in the 1,600 and 3,200 relays, helped the Dragons repeat as team champion with a whopping 268 points to blow out second-place Brashear by 191 points.
It’s the Dragons 10th team win in the past 11 seasons. But they weren’t alone as the Allderdice boys made it 12 in a row as they edged out the second-place Bulls, 177.50122. Junior Will Tew helped build up quite a few of those points as, like White, he won double gold in the 800 and 1,600 meters.
“It was good. I was just pacing pretty well just to qualify for states,” Tew said. “At states I’ll be trying to break 1:57 or 1:58 in the 800.”
Tew wasn’t the only one to bring home two gold medals on Saturday. Brashear senior Dennis King won the 100 hurdles in 16.00 and repeated in the 300 intermediate hurdles.