Published May 11, 2008 04:45 pm - The final year of the Susquehanna Valley Conference meet was a lot like the last six years of the meet. The Lewisburg girls dominated the team scoring, and a lot of individuals served notice that state medals could be in their future.
High school girls track and field: Lewisburg captures final SVC championship
Lewisburg girls win final SVC meet
By Todd Hummel
For The Daily Item
SUNBURY -- The final year of the Susquehanna Valley Conference meet was a lot like the last six years of the meet. The Lewisburg girls dominated the team scoring, and a lot of individuals served notice that state medals could be in their future.
Led by Kayln Fisher's four gold medals (two individual, two relays), the Green Dragons scored 177 points to win their seventh consecutive league meet, outdistancing Selinsgrove (88), Montoursville (55) and Shikellamy (54).
On the individual side, it wasn't just some of the impressive times turned in by the winners, but how close some of the second-place and even some third-place finishers were to the winners. There are several events, especially in Class AA, where more than one athlete could medal at the PIAA meet in two weekends at Shippensburg.
Montoursville's Tessa McKibben set meet records in two of the three events she won, Lewisburg's Casey Miller won the 1,600 for the third consecutive year, Fisher won the 800 in 2:15.66 -- just slower than her silver-medal winning time from a year ago -- and Caitlin Cavanaugh beat two Lewisburg runners in the final 100 meters to win the 3,200 in under 11 minutes.
The runners-up in all of those events ran good enough times to win in almost any other year.
McKibben won both hurdles events, with Hannah Jones of Lewisburg finishing second in both. McKibben won the 100 hurdles in 15.79, while Jones finished in 15.89. In the 300 hurdles, McKibben broke her own meet record of 45.42 set last year, winning in 45.35, with Jones on her shoulder, finishing in 45.83.
McKibben also set the long jump record with a leap of 17-7 ¾, breaking her own record of 17-6 set last year. Second-place finisher Lauren Redington of Shikellamy also eclipsed the record with a jump of 17-7.
"I really thought we both jumped well. I knew she was real good. I just tried to put a good jump out there," Redington said.
The Shikellamy senior still went home with two gold medals and the meet's female outstanding athlete award, winning the 100 in 12.92 and setting the school record in the 200 with a time of 26.43.
Redington has some decisions to make. She didn't compete in the triple jump -- an event in which she holds the area best -- to run the 200, but she plans to triple jump at Thursday's District 4 Class AAA meet, also at Shikellamy.
"I'm going to do the events I enjoy at districts since it's my last couple of meets," Redington said. "I like the triple jump more than the 200, so I'm going to triple jump at districts."
In addition to her win in the 800, Fisher won the 400 in 58.56, the only girl to break one minute in the race. But maybe the most impressive performances from the Lewisburg girls came in the relays.
The 4x400 team of Jones, Leah Bettner, Jenny Byerly and Fisher shattered the meet record by five seconds, winning in 3:58.87. The old record of 4:04.8 was set by Montoursville in 2006. Selinsgrove also broke the old record, finishing second in 4:01.
"Last year, we set our personal best at the state meet in four minutes, but that didn't even get us into the finals," Fisher said. "We know to get to the (state) finals, we'll have to go lower than this."
Fisher also ran the anchor leg in the 4x800 that won by 10 seconds in a time of 9:41.92. Maybe the scariest part is Fisher and her teammates (Miller, Kiah Hardcastle and Sophia Ziemian) have run for time just once this season.