Lewis breaks 800 record, leads Cheltenham

State Meet Highlights

 
The Pennsylvania (PIAA) state championships are held at Shippensburg University and conducted with two classifications – AAA (bigger schools) and AA (smaller). This is a massive meet that produces more than 1,000 DyeStat TFX elite performances.

Top Performances:

 
- John Lewis of Cheltenham dug deep for one of the best performances in any state meet in 2015 when he ran 1:48.72 to break the all-time state record in the 800 meters. The pace was so hot that three other guys broke 1:52, including runner-up Alek Sauer of Pennsbury (1:51.00). Lewis was also part of a winning 4x400 relay effort that went 3:13.44.

- Sierra Brabham-Lawrence of Harrisburg knocked off defending champion and meet record holder Ciara Leonard of Cheltenham in the 100 hurdles final with 13.84 seconds. Leonard was second in 14.10. Brabham-Lawrence also won the 300 hurdles in 42.25.

- Dan Chisena of Downingtown East sped to 10.52 to win the AAA 100 meters title. He later won the 200 meters in 21.29.

- Three girls dipped under 2:10 in the AAA 800 meters final. Maddie Villalba of Central Bucks West won it in 2:07.33.

- McKenna Keegan from Avon Grove, a junior, won the girls AAA 400 meters in 54.66 seconds.

- In a girls AAA 1,600 meters field loaded with strong competitors, Marissa Sheva of Pennridge prevailed with a time of 4:44.73 that was only three seconds off Kim Gallagher’s meet record. Mady Clahane (4:47.95), Kelsey Potts (4:51.38) and Olivia Sargent (4:56.41) all turned in top performances in a race where nine girls broke five minutes.

- Junior Jaxon Hoey of Downingtown West won the AAA 1,600 meters final in 4:11.47, fending off senior Jeff Van Kooten of Pittsburgh Central Catholic (4:11.53).

- Chanel Brissett of Cheltenham, a sophomore, won the AAA title in the 100 meters with 11.91 seconds. She also helped the 4x100 relay team edge Susquehanna Township, 46.43 to 46.66. She also finished second in the 200 meters with 23.88. Her brother Christian was second in both the 100 and 200.

- Saahir Bethea from Cheltenham soared to a wind-aided long jump mark of 25-5.75 (2.9w) that was one of the longest of long jumps in state history to win the AAA title.

- Senior Markeeta Thomas of Paul Robeson broke the AA meet records in the 100 hurdles (14.03) and the 300 hurdles (41.74).

- Super soph Jordan Geist from Knoch won the AAA titles in the discus (186-2) and shot put (65-9.75).

- Veronika Karpenko of State College, a junior, won the AAA triple jump with 40-1.25.

- Dasia Pressley of Pennsbury won the AAA 200 meters with a meet record time of 23.52 seconds.

- In the AAA 4x800 relay finals, the Wilson girls ran 8:58.79 for the victory. In the boys race, Pennsbury (7:38.43) edged Pennridge (7:40.56) and defending champion State College (7:41.50).

- Sophomore Revaughn Dillard of Gettysburg won the AAA title in the triple jump with 47-11.

- Tesia Kempski of Bishop McDevitt won the girls AAA pole vault with a clearance at 12-9.

- Courtney McCartney from Selinsgrove won the AAA shot put crown with 46-0. She also won the discus with 139-1.

- Andrew Snyder, a junior from Camp Hill, won the boys AA 400 meters (48.39) and the 200 meters (21.50).

- Donovan St. Louis from Upper Darby won the AAA 400 meters final in 48.33.

- Shannon Quinn of Trinity ran 2:11.24 to win the girls AA 800 meters final.

- David Marrington of Neshaminy won the AAA 300 hurdles in 37.99 seconds.

- The North Penn girls won the AAA 4x400 relay in 3:46.73.

- Tyler Burger of Northwest was ruled the winner of a photo finish in the 300 hurdles after he and Raheem Twyman of El Meyers both ran 38.45.

- Junior Dominic Hockenbury of Lake Lehman won the boys AA 3,200 meters final in 9:08.10.

- Junior Domenic Perretta of Beaver Falls won the boys AA 1,600 meters in 4:13.92. He also won the 800 meters in 1:53.30.

- Elena Marchand of Hickory won the girls AA shot put title with a mark of 45-1.50.

- Freshman Breana Gambrell of Athens Area won the girls AA long jump with 18-4 and also placed second in the100 meters in 12.33.

- Freshman Sydni Townsend of Neumann Goretti won the girls AA 200 meters in 24.55. She also helped her team win the 4x100 title (47.70). Her team also won the 4x400 relay in a meet record time of 3:49.36.

- Junior Brooke Hinderliter of Redbank Valley threw 158-9 to win the AA girls javelin.

- Erika Voyzey of Tyrone, a junior, jumped 5-8 to win the girls AA high jump.

- Michael Biddle of Williamsburg threw 199-6 to win the AA javelin title.

- Grant Jones of La Salle College threw 199-11 to capture the AAA javelin win.

- Villa Maria Academy won the girls AA 4x800 relay title in 9:11.81.

Top Teams:

Sprint power Cheltenham swept the AAA team titles. The boys retained their title with 51 points and the girls scored 54 to win a close battle with Pennsbury (50).

In Class AA, the Hickory girls scored 48 points to win by two points over Neumann Goretti.  Springfield Township scored 33.5 points to retain the boys title. Schuykill Valley was second with 31 points.

Top Competition: The boys and girls AAA 3,200 meters finals were a barn-burners. In the boys race there were four seniors who all went under nine minutes. Zach Brehm of Carlisle got the win in 8:55.60 for a new state meet record. Colin Abert of Easton Area was also under the record and ran 8:56.00 for second. Kevin James of Cardinal O’Hara was third in 8:57.49. Paul Power of Spring Ford was fourth in 8:59.87. … Three talented girls – all non-seniors -- went under 10:30. Madeleine Davison of North Allegheny won the race in 10:27.20. Olivia Sargent from Pennsbury was second in 10:29.09. Aislinn Devlin of Downington West was third in 10:29.57. In July, Davison announced that she would leave her school sports teams and focus on college classes at Pitt and race independently.

Record-breaker: Madison Wiltrout of Connellsville became an overnight sensation when she smashed the national record in the girls javelin in 2015 with a monster throw of 185-8 during the regular season on May 7. Two weeks later at the state championships, the sophomore got off a winning throw off of 182-8 to win the AAA competition but paid a terrible price. She tore a ligament in the elbow of her throwing arm and underwent off-season surgery to repair the injury.