High school track: Redington shines in final home meet

By Todd Hummel
For The Daily Item

May 16, 2008 05:34 am

— SUNBURY -- The Brothers Grimm couldn't have written a better fairy tale ending for Shikellamy senior Lauren Redington.
Redington, running in her final meet on her home track, claimed four District 4 Class AAA gold medals Thursday night, winning the 100-meter dash, long jump, triple jump and running the anchor leg for the winning 4x100 team.
"(Today) was really awesome. I am so happy," Redington said. "This meet is all I could think about all week. It's like the final showdown. It's my senior year. I wanted to do well so badly."
Redington didn't disappoint, winning the 100 (13.1 seconds), the long jump (17 feet-3 inches) and the triple jump (35-1). But the most impressive performance came in the 400 relay. The Braves fell behind in the first two legs of the race to Selinsgrove, but Tiff Frederick made up some ground in the third leg and Redington finished it off as the Braves won in 50.99. Along with Frederick and Redington, the other team members were Tomisha Swank and Becka Snee.
"Selinsgrove always scares me in that race (the 4x100) and Williamsport was right there, too," Redington said. "Tiff made up a lot of ground (in the third leg) and it got me the baton in good position."
Redington's performance didn't get the Braves the team title. That was won for the second consecutive year by Selinsgrove, which finished with 243 points. Shikellamy finished second with 185, Jersey Shore was third with 138 and Williamsport was fourth with 92 points.
Erika Girton and Morgan Fleetwood each won two individual events for the Seals and each had a little bit of extra motivation.
Girton, a junior, has been plenty fast in her own right in the 100 and 300 hurdles events, but two local AA runners, Montoursville's Tesa McKibben and Lewisburg's Hannah Jones have both been faster this season. Girton felt she had something to prove in both races after finishing behind both runners in the Susquehanna Valley Conference meet.
Then when she had a poor race in the 100 hurdles heat on Thursday, well that was the push over the edge for Girton.
"At leagues, I was hitting every hurdle and both of those girls (McKibben and Jones) were really good," Girton said. "Then I had a bad race in the trials of the 100 hurdles. I kept that stuff in the back of my head to push myself."
Girton won the 100 hurdles in 15.92, beating Missy Gotschall of Jersey Shore, her closest AAA competitor the past few years. She followed that up with a win in the 300 hurdles in 46.81 over teammate Emily Phillips and Gotschall.
For Fleetwood, it was the final race of her career. Despite gold medals in the 200 (27.16) and 400 (1:00.85), the senior won't be headed to Shippensburg because she'll attend field hockey camp.
"I feel bad. It was such a hard decision, but I'm going to college to play field hockey (Fleetwood has a scholarship to Indiana University in Bloomington)," Fleetwood said. "This has really been a great year, going undefeated. We are such a close team and do everything together. We really wanted to win this meet and were mentally prepared in every event."
Both Fleetwood and Girton also ran winning legs on Selinsgrove's 4x400 team that finished in 4:12.93
Kirsten Krebs also claimed three gold medals for the Seals, winning the 800 (2:23.67) and winning legs on the 4x800 (10:01.1) and 4x400 relays.
Sophomore Gabby Damiano won two golds for Selinsgrove, winning the 1,600 (5:31.53) and a leg on the 4x800 team.
Discus thrower Kehanna Kline also won gold with a throw of 111-11.
Danica Deckard claimed her second consecutive high jump title, tying the district record in the process. Deckard leaped 5-6, tying the district AAA record of Erin Meschter of Danville set in 200.
"The last time I did 5-6, I really felt like I was going to do well," Deckard said. "(Thursday) I felt a little shaky. Obviously, I wanted to win, but I wanted to have a good jump so I would be seeded higher at states."
It's the second time in five days that Deckard has jumped at Shikellamy High School.
"It helps a little bit. It easier to get your steps down," Deckard said.

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