SHIPPENSBURG — Wyomissing junior Addie Cohen and sophomore Alexis Hardy entered the 2023 District 3 Track and Field Championships with one goal: win gold in each and every one of their individual events.
While they had never collectively swept the sprints and distance events in their careers, the duo walked off the track on Saturday following the second day of action at Shippensburg University with plenty of hardware around their necks.
Cohen won gold in the 800 and 1600 to sweep the three distance events at the district championships after winning the 3200 on Friday. Hardy finished first in the 100 and 200 on Saturday to sweep the sprints.
“The distance trifecta is one that is very, very exciting to win,” Cohen said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s awesome.”
Cohen won the Class 2A 1600 with a time of 5:18.32, defeating the second-place finisher by more than 10 seconds. She finished second in the 1600 at last year’s district championships
“It feels really great,” Cohen said. “It was very fun, very exciting to redeem myself.”
Cohen followed that performance with a career-best 2:19.49 to win the 800. Saturday marked the first time Cohen ran the 800 this season at a major meet.
“I had absolutely no idea what I was capable of,” Cohen said. “I surprised myself.”
Cohen entered the 1600 as the No. 1 seed and the 800 as the No. 2 seed. She also ran on the Spartans’ 3200 relay team, which finished fourth.
“My confidence, my mentality, my attitude was really good,” Cohen said. “All distance runners dream of getting the 3200, the 1600 and the 800.”
Cohen now shifts her focus to the PIAA Track and Field Championships, which will be held next weekend at Shippensburg University.
“It’s a good positive, because she knows she can do multiple events in a day,” Wyomissing distance coach Erik Uliasz said. “It gives her some confidence going into next week.”
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Running anchor in the 400 relay for the first time in her career, Hardy received the baton from teammate Georgia Delucas and looked down the 100-meter homestretch, only to see Annville-Cleona ahead by a wide margin.
While the Spartans were firmly in second place, Hardy believed the lead was not insurmountable.
“They put me in a good position,” Hardy said about her teammates. “Seeing the ground I had to make up, I felt like everyone worked so hard, it made me want to work hard so we could get that first place.”
The district’s top sprinter in Class 2A, Hardy ensured her relay team, composed of Ayla Snyder, Aliah Contreras, Delucas and Hardy, would be taking home a gold medal.
Hardy caught up to Annville-Cleona and took the lead at the line, as the Spartans finished first in the 400 relay in a season-best 50.423, just two-thousandths of a second faster than the Dutchmen’s time of 50.425.
“It was an insane feeling,” Hardy said. “That was a really memorable experience.”
The relay victory was one of three first-place medals Hardy took home on Saturday, as she won the 100 and 200.
“It’s a very good feeling,” Hardy said. “Coming back this year, my ultimate goal was to go No. 1 in any event I ran.”
Hardy entered the 100 as the top seed and won with a time of 12.39. She finished second in the event at last year’s district championships.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Hardy said. “Going from second to first was obviously my main goal, and for it to actually happen was incredible.”
Hardy also redeemed herself in the 200, finishing first with in a career-best 25.60 after taking third last year. She entered the event as the No. 1 seed.
“It was insane,” Hardy said. “I pushed myself really hard.”
With the first individual district titles of her career now behind her, Hardy’s focus shifts to the state championships.
“She brought her A-game today,” Wyomissing sprints and head coach James Delp said. “She’s running on a whole other level. She’s very confident, and that’s the key with a sprinter.”
The Spartans finished third in the Class 2A girls team standings with 90.5 points, the most for any Berks girls team in Class 2A. Twin Valley led all Berks girls teams in Class 3A, scoring 11 points to finish 21st.
Other Berks female athletes who won medals on Saturday: Wyomissing’s Cadi Hoke, fourth in Class 2A 400, 1:00.21; Wyomissing’s Hannah Shimp, seventh in Class 2A 400, 1:02.52; Brandywine Heights’ Sienna Miller, eighth in Class 2A 400, 1:02.58; Twin Valley’s Sarah Ann Miller, second in Class 3A 800, 2:14.71; Exeter’s Carly Keith, Class 3A 800, 2:16.99; Tulpehocken’s Vanessa VanTiggelen, second in Class 2A 800, 2:22.21; Brandywine Heights’ Addison Benner, fourth in Class 2A 800, 2:26.52; Exeter’s Gabrielle Keith, fourth in Class 3A 1600, 5:02.32; Conrad Weiser’s Sydney Werner, seventh in Class 3A 1600, 5:07.48; Tulpehocken’s Abigail Gehris, third in Class 2A 1600, 5:35.77; Oley Valley’s Meghan Higgins-Haas, fourth in Class 2A 1600, 5:37.78.
Conrad Weiser’s Katelyn Murphy, sixth in Class 3A 100 hurdles, 15.36; Wilson’s Violet Houck, seventh in Class 3A 100 hurdles, 15.48; Wyomissing’s Aliah Contreras, eighth in Class 2A 100 hurdles, 18.43; Wilson’s Violet Houck, third in Class 3A 300 hurdles, 46.10; Tulpehocken’s Lyla Pugh, fifth in Class 2A 300 hurdles, 50.85; Wyomissing’s Aliah Contreras, sixth in Class 2A 300 hurdles, 50.94.
Brandywine Heights (Hannah Ray, Reece Ferry, Layla Reinert, Ashley DeLong), eighth in Class 2A 400 relay, 52.74; Twin Valley (Laura Posh, Addison Pratt, Sarah Ann Miller, Olivia Miller), sixth in Class 3A 1600 relay, 4:05.01; Wyomissing (Vanesa Aguay, Hannah Shimp, Scarlett Mathis, Cadi Hoke), fourth in Class 2A 1600 relay, 4:17.93; Brandywine Heights (Layla Reinert, Hannah Ray, Ashley DeLong, Sienna Miller), eighth in Class 2A 1600 relay, 4:23.33; Wyomissing (Vanesa Aguay, Addie Cohen, Cadi Hoke, Scarlett Mathis), fourth in Class 2A 3200 relay, 10:15.03 ; Brandywine Heights (Annaliese Horvath, Cloey Renner, Addison Benner, Sienna Miller), fifth in Class 2A 3200 relay, 10:28.03; Oley Valley (Cathryn Fegely, Taylor Vaccaro, Hannah Houp, Meghan Higgins-Haas), sixth in Class 2A 3200 relay, 10:36.44; Tulpehocken (Abigail Gehris, Faith Forry, Rakya Cullins, Vanessa VanTiggelen), seventh in Class 2A 3200 relay, 10:49.60.
Berks Catholic’s Julia Rosenberger, fifth in Class 3A high jump, 5-2; Conrad Weiser’s Lindsey Preston, sixth in Class 3A long jump, 17-2.25; Fleetwood’s Chanel Hercules, eighth in Class 3A long jump, 16-9.25; Wyomissing’s Emily Cassler, fourth in Class 2A triple jump, 34-5; Kutztown’s Clara Engel, fifth in Class 2A triple jump, 34-3; Tulpehocken’s Rebecca Herrmann, sixth in Class 2A triple jump, 33-4.5, Wyomissing’s Natalya Hemmings, tied for fourth in Class 2A pole vault, 8-6; Tulpehocken’s Ember Sunday, eighth in Class 2A pole vault, 8-6.
Hamburg’s Amanda Smith, second in Class 2A shot put, 33-1; Hamburg’s Alexia Ewing, sixth in Class 2A shot put, 31-8; Schuylkill Valley’s Emma Deyarmin, fourth in Class 3A discus, 125-3; Wilson’s Maddie Henne, eighth in Class 3A discus, 116-8.
Source: Berkshire mont
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