Three runners and a jumper, with two top seeds each, lead a contingency heading to the District 3 Class 2A Track and Field Championships that features 15 number one seeds overall for Berks County athletes.
Wyomissing’s Alexis Hardy (100 and 200) and David Giles (1,600 and 3,200), and Brandywine Heights’ David Bates (100 and 200) are each top ranked in those events. Kutztown junior Clara Engel is the top seed in the girls long and triple jumps.
The District 3 meet is Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University, the site of the PIAA Championships a week later.
Hardy, a senior, won both sprints at last week’s BCIAA Firing Meet and is seeded first in the 100 in 11.91 and the 200 in 24.28. She won the Berks title in the 100 last week in 12.05 and the 200 in 24.59.
Giles, coming off winning the 3,200 in the Berks Firing Meet, has the top time in the 3,200 in 9:20.10 which he ran last week to win the county title. He ran his top-seeded time of 4:18.93 in the 1,600 at the Twin Valley Raider Invitational on April 17.
Giles is the defending champion in the 3,200, running 9:34.00 last year with Oley Valley’s Ryan Gourley second at 9:37.96. Gourley is seeded second this year in 9:28.43. Gourley is also seeded second in the 1,600 at 4:20.29.
Bates is the top seed in the 100 (10.77) and 200 (21.78) with Wyomissing’s Justice Hardy second seeded in both events – 10.87 for the 100 and 22.44 for the 200. Bates’ teammate Jon Shuey is seeded third in the 100 (10.91) and is also seeded second in the 400 (50.95).
Bates was third in the 200 last year and fifth in the 100 with Hardy fourth in the 100.
Engel’s best this season in the long jump is 18-3½ with Schuylkill Valley sophomore Lilah Gilmore the second seed at 17-7. Gilmore is also seeded third in the 100.
Engel’s best this season in the triple jump is 37-6½.
Kutztown senior James Undercuffler is the top seed in the boys triple jump at 43-2.
The Oley Valley girls are the top seed in the 4 x 800 relay with a time of 9:43.78, which is more than 20 seconds faster than second-seeded Annville-Cleona.
Schuylkill Valley junior Keira Stork is the top seed in the 100 hurdles (14.92) with two Berks athletes seeded second and third – Wyomissing sophomore Lily Paolini (15.59) and Tulpehocken junior Lyla Pugh (15.88).
Paolini is the top seed in the 300 hurdles (45.44) with Pugh the third seed (46.76).
Oley Valley freshman Julianna Gourley is the top seed in the 1,600 at 5:15.25 and will also run a leg on Oley’s 4 x 800 relay team.
Schuylkill Valley freshman Aimee Frantz is the top seed in the pole vault at 11-3.
Schuylkill Valley freshman Julianna Kowalski is seeded second in the 400 (59.51) and her teammate Darasimi Adeyemi, a sophomore, is seeded second in the shot put (36-6¾).
Wyomissing senior Georgia Delucas is the second seed in the javelin (114-8).
In the 4 x 100 relay, Wyomissing’s girls are the second seed (49.39) and Schuylkill Valley is the third seed, 49.84.
In the boys meet, Oley Valley is the second seed in 4 x 800 relay (8:09.37) with Wyomissing the third seed (8:13.87).
The Oley Valley sophomore duo of Aspen Freed (41.70) and Ben Haines (41.9) are seeded second and third in the 300 hurdles. Their teammate, junior Andrew Zook, is seeded second in the 800 (1:58.39).
Oley’s freshman pole vaulter Jacob Mackie is seeded second at 13-6.
Wyomissing senior Max Tipton is the second seed in the shot put (50-9), and Berks Catholic senior Mathew Kerchner is the second seed in the javelin (174-4).
The top two finishers in each event qualify for the PIAA Championships May 23-24 at Shippensburg University, and any third- through eighth-place finishers who better the state qualifying standard at the district meet also advance to the state meet.
Source: Berkshire mont