2009 Track & Field

PIAA- Track and Field
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wickedcrossover
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2009 Track & Field

Post by wickedcrossover »

Following is a list of the AA state medalists from D5-6, 2008 who return for 2009

AA Girls:
Kelsey Seymour 800m 2:16.58 5th place CC
Wirfel 1600 5:06.95 5th place FH
Kochinsky 110 hurdles 15:02 5th place NC
Snyder 300 hurdles 45:82 5th place Windber
Dunchak High Jump 5' 05" 1st place NC
Boyd High Jump 5' 04" 2nd place Richland
Harris High Jump 5' 04" 3rd place Bedford
Smith High Jump 5' 02 7th place Martinsburg Central
Adams High Jump 5' 02 7th place Philipsburg Oceola
Dunchak Long Jump 17' 06" 4th place NC
Crawford Triple Jump 38' 0" 2nd place NB
Rocco Javelin 139' 03" 3rd place NC

A nice showing for Northern Cambria!

AA Boys:

Spisak 1600 4:20.76 4th place BMHS
Engle 1600 4:23.68 6th place Tyrone
Spisak 3200 9:18.10 2nd place BMHS
Brooker 3200 9:42.98 8th place PV
Updyke High Jump 6' 02" 7th place Tyrone
Capitosti Javelin 196' 05" 3rd place United

An impressive double by Spisak

I hope I didn't miss anyone. Some else can do AAA.

Question: Who else is going to step-up and compete for states this year?
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Re: 2009 Track & Field

Post by Eaglealum »

Reihart -Tyrone. high jump; kid is like 5'8 in cleats and has already cleared 6'4 3 times
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usatf oldguy
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Re: 2009 Track & Field

Post by usatf oldguy »

Looks like Waltman and Millin from Everett could be state medal contenders 10.8(100) and 44'2"(triple jump) are state medal quality marks. The list of locals is growing.
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Re: 2009 Track & Field

Post by wickedcrossover »

I'm a little surprised by the limited amount of posting regarding T&F. Parents and athletes should really look into T&F both as a main sport and as a crosstraining sport. Some kids aren't cut out for team sports. Maybe thay can throw hard but without accuracy or jump good but can't shoot, or run fast but can't cut, or just seem to be able to run forever. There are a lot of opportunities for kids who just can't find a niche in team sports. Also, no caoch can show preference for one kid over another kid in T&F!

Anyway, parents, search on USATF, and you'll find there are ways to get your kids into T&F at an early age. I'm not sure when, but I think coming up soon there is a Track meet at Penn Cambria (Mountain Top) in the spring which caters to athletes ranging in ages from 9 to 18 (?). It's a great opportunity and your child doesn't have to be a member of a team but can enter as unattached.
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Re: 2009 Track & Field

Post by usatf oldguy »

I agree crossover people need to get there kids involved in track and field at an early age and mountaintop is a great place to get them started.Lois Smith I think still runs it and has always done a fantastic job.I have seen quite a few really good kids develop over the years and I personally think an early start especially for the field events can be crucial! I think since the junior high programs have kicked in here in Bedford county that the quality of track and field atheletes has shown tremendous improvement.If a good younger kids program is used the atheletes will continue to prosper.
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Re: 2009 Track & Field

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Yea, it definately seems like your side of the mountain is puting together some competitive teams. Kudos to CC and Richland also.

This weekend is a big one for invitationals and for some athletes to get a feel where they are in relation to their training. It's only about 5 weeks to states. Some of the invites to look for Is Butler - most of the best in the WPIAL.........Latrobe The rest of the best in the WPIAL........also Shippensburg which will have most of H-burg teams and will probably have Altoona and some of the other D6 and D5 teams. Should be an interesting weekend leading up to conference, districts and states.
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Re: 2009 Track & Field

Post by WPIAL~Titan »

A key is always the WEATHER, which looks to be excellent Friday and Saturday...Should produce some good times at all 3 meets if the wind stays low.

I wish Mountaintop would've had a track club team when I was in elementary, middle, and high school.

I didn't start running track until 9th grade, and my first season I had no clue what I was doing, but ran :11.7 (100m), :24.5 (200m), :54 (400m), and 2:06 (800m) as a frosh.

I remember wearing high top mesh Nike basketball shoes and running a 2:08 800m and finishing 6th at the Mountain League meet held at Central of Martinsburg HS my frosh year ...That give you and idea how much I knew about running and track as I started out!!!

I had to search out summer meets on my own, and ran TAC Junior Olympics meets each summer, in the 400m and 800m. I trained and ran entirely on my own, without a team and without any competition in practice and ran/trained twice a day.

About once a month in the summer, my dad would take me to Central Cambria HS or Mansion Park's track and I'd check my fitness and stay sharp by running a time trial at 400 or 800m. My brother (not a runner) would run the last 200m with me and stay in front of me so I could push myself more during the time trials.

Running in these meets took me to places like: Latrobe and Baldwin HS, the University of Maryland, Glassboro State College in NJ, and NC State in North Carolina. It was a great experience, but it would've been nice to have had teammates to enjoy it with. Thank goodness that my parents were so supportive and took me to all of these competitions.

I also ran at the PA Keystone State Games 4 years in the early-mid 1980s when I was in HS, when they were held exclusively at PSU and were fully funded and the qualifying athletes were put up for 3 days, room and board, given uniforms, etc. I ran with Raghib and Quadry Ismail there.

My senior year in HS, our HS had no XC team, so I trained on my own, entered a few dual meets at Altoona HS and Central Cambria HS, as well as a few invitationals. Former CC track and XC coach Tom Estep and Lee Baranik were such great guys, so supportive and really helped me out. Then, I ran at districts and finished 3rd, and then top 25 in the state. I went on to run for 4 years at a D3 college, and ran 3 sports (fall XC, winter indoor track, and spring outdoor track.)

The youngsters today in that region have some great opportunities in track and field, I envy them. Hopefully, the kids are taking advantage of the clubs.
"Those who say it can't be done are being interrupted by those who are doing it."

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wickedcrossover
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Re: 2009 Track & Field

Post by wickedcrossover »

I agree. The kids today have a lot of organized structure in almost all sports compared to what I remember. However, WPIAL, don't discount what you had. It, too, was a lot more support than what I can recall. You may have been better off not being on a track team. The team I was on was a big joke. We worked harder trying to get out of the workouts than the we did the actual workouts.
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Re: 2009 Track & Field

Post by wickedcrossover »

Mountain Top Invitational is on 06/13/09 this year. Information can be found by searching on USATF and looking in the calendar of events. The event is in Cresson. A telephone number is given to get entry information. This is a lead in event that, depending on where your child places can then advance your child to Slippery Rock, IUP, or Buffalo, all the way to nationals somewhere. It's actually pretty intense and impressive.
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Re: 2009 Track & Field

Post by usatf oldguy »

Don't forget keystone state games are fast approaching.A person can also compete in several meets in maryland.Potomac valley usally has some good summer meets and usally great competition.If you look enough there are also some all comers meets in the harrisburgh area.I used to travel alot myself and compete plus take my son to alot of these meets.If a person so desires you can pretty much train the year round and improve on there events.
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