By Brandon Paul
For The Daily Item
May 12, 2008 06:04 am
—
SUNBURY -- After a season of hard knocks on the track, the Shikellamy Braves decided to take out their frustrations Saturday morning during the running of the 3,200 relay at the Susquehanna Valley Conference Track and Field championships.
Entering the meet as the fourth seed, behind perennial distance powerhouses Lewisburg, Danville, and Southern Columbia, the Braves' squad of Kyle Attinger, Evan Kohl, Dan Francis and Miles Wolfe exploded for a season-best time of 8:10.75, just fractions off the school-record mark of 8:09.65, to grab the first gold medal of the day. Lewisburg finished second with a time of 8:17.32.
"We've had a lot of injuries," Francis said. "We're just starting to rely on each other as a team. (When we're running) we don't want to let one another down. I was trying to move to get the lead for (Wolfe). He and (Attinger) are probably the toughest guys I know."
Although the Braves were the story of the day early, the meet belonged to the SVC-I champion Montoursville Warriors, spearheaded on the track by the outstanding efforts of senior Keenan Michael. Michael took three golds by himself (both hurdles races and the 200) and ran a leg on the winning 1,600 relay (3:24.84). The Warriors' star, whose 38.60 mark in the 300 hurdles was a meet record, held off stiff competition from Selinsgrove senior Chad Drzewiecki and Danville senior Richard Smith to win both hurdles races. Michael overtook Smith at the second hurdle in the 110 race and cruised to the win in 14.56. Smith was second in 14.93, with Drzewiecki third at 15.04.
In the 300 hurdles, Drzewiecki jumped out to an early lead before Michael recovered around the 100 meter mark, passed the Seals standout, and never looked back.
"I thought I ran well in the 300s, my time (39.58) was close to a PR (personal record)," Drzewiecki said. "In the 110s, I should have been down there more (with my time)."
Montoursville claimed seven golds overall to take the team title with 131 points. Danville was second with 98 and Jersey Shore third at 73.
Warrior Run senior Chad Dixon spoiled some of the Warriors' glory by topping defending SVC 400-meter champion Gary Bush of Montoursville in a hotly contested race, 50.28 to 50.38.
Other local winners included Graham Huber, of Lewisburg, who successfully defended his high jump crown with a gold medal-winning height of 6-2, and Selinsgrove freshman Vince Fadale, a surprise winner in the 1,600 (4:33.45).
Jersey Shore received outstanding performances in the field from Tyler Thomas and Eli Skinner. Thomas was a double winner in the shot put (54-10.25) and discus (149-1), besting the Danville duo of Terry Dewalt (49-11) and Holden Wallace (137-9), respectively. Skinner out-distanced Southern Columbia standout Ted Heitzman by almost 20 feet to take gold in the javelin with a throw of 196-9.
Following the completion of the events on the track, long after most fans had exited Shikellamy Stadium, Milton junior Todd Postie and Shikellamy senior Nicco Dalpiaz put on a show in the pole vault. The two standouts have been neck-and-neck in competition for area vaulting supremacy all season, and Saturday it was Postie's turn to be the victor. Both failed on three attempts at 14-6, with Postie getting the gold on criteria, based on his one successful attempt at 14-0. Dalpiaz needed two tries to clear that height.
"This meet didn't really mean anything. Thursday (at districts) is what matters," Postie said. "(Nicco and I) are like the Red Sox and the Yankees, battling back and forth. Thursday, it's win or go home."
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