HARBORCREEK - Warren's Ellis Beardsley and Austin Jerman are next-door neighbors.
Residents on that quiet street had a pair of District 10 champions return home Wednesday night.
Beardsley won a pair of District 10 Class AAA titles Wednesday at Harbor Creek High School, winning both the girls 1600 and 800-meter runs with personal best times. Jerman added a District 10 title in the javelin with a personal best throw of his own.
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Times Observer photo by Allen Seybert
What it’s all about
Warren’s Ellis Beardsley reacts after her District 10 championship winning run in the girls 1600 event at Wednesday’s District 10 Class AAA Track & Field Championships Wednesday at Harbor Creek High School. Beardsley was a two-time D-10 champ on the day later winning the girls 800-meter run.
Both will compete at the PIAA Class AAA Track & Field Championships May 25 and 26 at Shippensburg University, and they won't be alone.
For the second straight season, the Warren boys' 4X400 relay team is a District 10 champion, setting a new school record in the process. The team of Tanner Rosenberg, Jordan Willetts, Caleb Hultman and Luke Wortman won the race in 3:25.74 and will also compete at next week's state championships.
Despite not winning a D-10 title, the Lady Dragons' Sabrina Anderson is also bound for states for a second time. Anderson was third in the girls high jump and cleared five feet, three inches - good enough to meet state qualifying distance.
In all, Warren won three district titles on Wednesday and will send seven athletes to Shippensburg next weekend.
A magical end to a magical season.
Nobody shined at the D-10 Class AAA Track & Field Championships like Beardsley. The junior ran third for much of the girls 1600-meter run before moving to second in the first half of the closing lap and first with 200 meters to go. Her winning time of 5:26.80 was a personal best by 11 seconds.
Later in the evening, Beardsley won the 800 with another personal best. This time, she clipped four seconds off her previous best, winning in 2:25.51.
Needless to say, Beardsley was elated after securing her first trip to the PIAA meet in track & field.
"It didn't really hit me until after I crossed the finish line," she said. "In the last 100 meters, I could hear my mom and John Wortman screaming for me and I was very confident. I owe so much to coach Sweet and coach Norris. They've helped me get to where I am today."
Warren coach Mark Sweet said the day featured 13 personal bests, but Beardsley's two winning performances were certainly the highlight.
"Ellis was just incredible today," said Sweet. "To clip that much time off her previous best at the district meet - you just can't ask for more than that. Honest to God, we couldn't be happier with the day. Everyone was phenomenal."
Anderson will make her second trip to states for the Dragons after qualifying in the high jump as a freshman in 2010. The junior expects to be much more comfortable at states this time around.
"It felt good to get the monkey off my back and make it back to states this year," said Anderson. "The whole scene was a little intimidating the last time I went. I think I'll be more relaxed this time and that should allow me to do better."
Jerman entered Wednesday's meet as the second seed overall in the javelin, but he had not cleared 164 feet all season. With his final throw in the preliminaries, Jerman put together a throw of 171 feet, 10 inches - the best in his stellar career. With the preliminary throws carrying over into the final, Jerman's throw stood up for the title. It was close though as Franklin's Nick Fiorentino put together a throw of 171 feet, three inches in the finals.
"The throw felt perfect," said Jerman. "Last year, I entered districts having thrown 168 feet and I hadn't got there yet this year. Today, I worked out all the kinks and threw to the best of my abilities. It feels awesome to win a D-10 title with a throw like that."
And what about Fiorentino's throw?
"That kind of scared me, I'm going to lie," said Jerman.
Warren boys coach Steve Norris said he fully expected Jerman to win the javelin all along.
"We really did (expect Austin Jerman to win the javelin)," said coach Norris. "He was so close and he was seeded second, and there wasn't much difference between them. Today he was on with every throw he had. That shows what he was capable of doing. Last year, he and Matt Stapleford battled back and forth."
Warren's boys relay team had to wait until the final event of the evening to run - but the wait was well worth it. Last year, Willetts and Wortman teamed with Allen Burnett and Stapleford to win the title and Hultman and Rosenberg stepped in this year.
It proved to be the winning combination.
The team of Dragons blazed across the finish line in 3:25.74, setting a new school record and securing another trip to states.
"It was a phenomenal win," said Norris, noting that all are underclassmen. "(Assistant coach) Justin (Norris) has brought them along so far this year. Every time they ran they knocked time off... we were self-conscious about Slippery Rock and Grove City because they posted better times than we had. (We) just turned in an unbelievable time. We're thrilled to death."
While Beardsley, Jerman, Anderson and the 4X400 relay will be heading to states next weekend, they weren't the only Warren competitors to deliver placewinning efforts on Wednesday.
For the girls, Anderson was second in the 400 and Paige Rimer added a third in the 800. Also placing third for the Lady Dragons was Brooke Armanini in the long jump.
Casey Kulka added a fifth in the 100 and Amanda Castagnino was fifth in the 3200. Nikki Atkins delivered a sixth in the shot put and Lindsay Onuffer was sixth in the 300 hurdles. Anna Falvo finished seventh in the 800, Rachel Lasecki was seventh in the 100 hurdles and Kaitlyn Levesque was eighth in the 100.
The Lady Dragons also placed all three relay teams in the top four. The 4X800 team of Castagnino, Sydney Paris, Falvo and Rimer was third, the 4X400 team of Beardsley, Kulka, Falvo and Rimer was fourth as was the 4X100 team of Anderson, Armanini, Levesque and Kulka.
For the boys, Rosenberg was a strong second in the 400-meter run and Wortman a solid third in the 300 hurdles. Fourth-place finishes were contributed by Chris McNeal in the shot put, Nathan Zigler in the 300 hurdles and Mark Davis in the high jump. Zigler also placed sixth in the 100 hurdles and Davis placed seventh in the long jump where he entered as a 16th seed and eclipsed 20 feet for the first time this season. Senior Brad Simmons placed seventh in the 3200.
In addition to the winning 4X400 team, Warren's 4X800 team of Simmons, Christian Harrington, Hultman and Rosenberg was third.
The Lady Dragons were fifth in the overall team standings with 81 points. Grove City was first with 156, Meadville second with 125, McDowell third with 97.33 and Fort LeBoeuf fourth with 86.67.
Cathedral Prep won the boys competition with 120 points followed by Grove City and McDowell. Warren was fourth with 62 team points.
Here are the results from Wednesday's District 10 Class AAA Track & Field Championships at Harbor Creek High School:
District 10 Class AAA Track & Field Championships
May 16, 2012
at Harbor Creek High School
Girls
Team standings: Grove City (GC) 156, Meadville (Mead) 125, McDowell (M) 97,33, Fort LeBoeuf (FLB) 86.67, Warren (W) 81, Corry (C) 80, Franklin (F) 33, Strong Vincent (SV)24, Oil City (OC) 15, Central Tech (CT) 2
100: 1. Corbin (GC) 12.63, 2. Sternby (Mead), 3. Smith (SV), 4. Smrekar (M), 5. Kulka (W), 6. Ke. Blackmon (FLB), 7. Ka. Blackmon (FLB), 8. Levesque (W)
200: 1. Sternby (Mead) 26.24, 2. Corbin (GC), 3. Smith (SV), 4. Nerlich (F), 5. Fish (M), 6. Bernarding (Mead), 7. Reed (F)
400: 1. Decker (GC) 59.78, 2. Anderson (W), 3. Sargent (SV), 4. Witt (F), 5. Ruby (OC), 6. Treiber (GC), 7. Gilmore (FLB), 8. Greer (C)
800: 1. Beardsley (W) 2:25.51, 2. Casalnova (GC), 3. Rimer (W), 4. Whitney (Mead), 5. McClain (GC), 6. Sargent (SV), 7. Falvo (W), 8. Daubert (M)
1600: 1. Beardsley (W) 5:26.8, 2. Krawiec (M), 3. Jaskowak (GC), 4. Manno (M), 5. Volna (Mead), 6. Bengel (FLB), 7. Treiber (GC)
3200: 1. Swantek (M) 11:57.47, 2. Ziegler (Mead), 3. Owens (C), 4. Jaskowak (GC), 5. Castagnino (W), 6. Whitney (Mead), 7. Blanton (C), 8. Mercer (GC)
100 hurdles: 1. Lowe (GC) 14.97, 2. Kassab (Mead), 3. Chodubski (M), 4. Depew (GC), 5. Cook (FLB), 6. Cornell (C), 7. Lasecki (W), 8. Lynn (Mead)
300 hurdles: 1. Lowe (GC) 45.88, 2. King (OC), 3. Sokol (M), 4. Stockton (C), 5. Cook (FLB), 6. Onuffer (W), 7. Cornell (C), 8. Carll (OC)
400 relay: 1. Grove City 50.92, 2. Fort LeBoeuf, 3. McDowell, 4. Warren (Anderson, Armanini, Levesque, Kulka), 5. Meadville, 6. Strong Vincent, 7. Franklin, 8. Corry
1600 relay: 1. Grove City 4:09.47, 2. Fort LeBoeuf, 3. McDowell, 4. Warren (Beardsley, Kulka, Falvo, Rimer), 5. Franklin, 6. Corry, 7. Meadville, 8. Central Tech
3200 relay: 1. Grove City 10:01.69, 2. Meadville, 3. Warren (Castagnino, Paris, Falvo, Rimer), 4. McDowell, 5. Fort LeBoeuf, 6. Corry, 7. Franklin, 8. Central Tech
High jump: 1. Jones (F) 5'5, 2. Kassab (Mead), 3. Anderson (W), 4. Fagan (GC), 5. Goodsel (C), 6. Smrekar (M), 7. Davis (OC), 8. Cass (FLB)
Pole vault: 1. Baglia (GC) 10'6, 2. Selden (GC), 3. Marn (M), 4. Royek (C), 5. Hall (GC), 6. Troyer (FLB), 7. Danylko (FLB), 8. Ptak (M)
Long jump: 1. Chodubski (M) 17'6, 2. Kassab (Mead), 3. Armanini (W), 4. Smrekar (M), 5. Baglia (GC), 6. Miller (FLB), 7. Guarriello (FLB), 8. Greer (C)
Triple jump: 1. Kassab (Mead) 37'10 3/4, 2. Chodubski (M), 3. Dickson (Mead), 4. Baglia (GC), 5. Miller (FLB), 6. Greer (C), 7. Murray (M), 8. Lynn (Mead)
Shot put: 1. Corbett (C) 40'11 3/4, 2. Smith (Mead), 3. Sprando (GC), 4. Lavery (FLB), 5. Bean (FLB), 6. Atkins (W), 7. Epps (Mead), 8. Hedglin (GC)
Discus: 1. Corbett (C) 115'11, 2. Patterson (C), 3. Smith (Mead), 4. Lavery (FLB), 5. Deemer (FLB), 6. Bean (FLB), 7. Arvin (Mead), 8. Andrews (GC)
Javelin: 1. Lindsey (Mead) 119'3, 2. Rose (FLB), 3. Corbett (C), 4. Nolan (C), 5. Bean (FLB), 6. Polkabla (F), 7. Royek (C), 8. Cass (FLB)
Boys
Team standings: Cathedral Prep (CP) 120, Grove City (GC) 100, McDowell (M) 79, Warren (W) 62, Oil City (OC) 51, Slippery Rock (SR) 49.5, Corry (C) 48, Fort LeBoeuf (FLB) 42.5, George Junior Republic (GJR) 42, Franklin (F) 28, Central Tech (CT) 27, Strong Vincent (SV) 25, East (EE) 16, Meadville (Mead) 11
100: 1. Record (GC) 11.14, 2. Jordan (CP), 3. Richardson (GJR), 4. Cragg (C), 5. Blanks (SV), 6. Tate (M), 7. Oduho (CP), 8. Muldrew (SV)
200: 1. Deak (M) 22.83, 2. Oduho (CP), 3. Cragg (C), 4. Jordan (CP), 5. Kirksey (E), 6. Hajec (C), 7. Hanna (GC)
400: 1. Deak (M) 50.13, 2. Rosenberg (W), 3. Kirksey (E), 4. Horn (E), 5. Hajec (C), 6. Rosendary (SV), 7. Steehler (M), 8. Kalivoda (CP)
800: 1. Thompson (SR) 1:57.80, 2. McWilliams (FLB), 3. Knaby (GC), 4. Belle (CP), 5. Whiteman (GC), 6. Beggs (F), 7. Scott (GC), 8. Swartzfager (M)
1600: 1. Jaskowak (GC) 4:21.57, 2. McWilliams (FLB), 3. Natalie (SV), 4. Zegarelli (CP), 5. Louis (CP), 6. Lacy (CP), 7. Phipps (OC), 8. Cordell (M)
3200: 1. Jaskowak (GC) 9:34.80, 2. Pondel (C), 3. Louis (CP), 4. Zegarelli (CP), 5. Danielson (CT), 6. Anna (SR), 7. Simmons (W), 8. Budnik (GC)
110 hurdles: 1. Ragon (OC) 14.91, 2. Miaczynski (CT), 3. Trinch (GC), 4. Dimit (SR), 5. Trocki (CP), 6. Zigler (W), 7. Smith (C), 8. Shoulders (GJR)
300 hurdles: 1. Miaczynski (CT) 38.86, 2. Mooney (F), 3. Wortman (W), 4. Zigler (W), 5. Person (SV), 6. Ragon (OC), 7. Do (CP), 8. Boone (OC)
400 relay: 1. Cathedral Prep 43.37, 2. George Junior Republic, 3. McDowell, 4. Strong Vincent, 5. Central Tech, 6. Franklin, 7. Grove City, 8. Slippery Rock
1600 relay: 1. Warren (Rosenberg, Willetts, Hultman, Wortman) 3:25.74, 2. Slippery Rock, 3. McDowell, 4. Grove City, 5. Fort LeBoeuf, 6. Cathedral Prep, 7. Strong Vincent, 8. East
3200 relay: 1. Grove City 8:00.51, 2. Slippery Rock, 3. Warren (Simmons, Harrington, Hultman, Rosenberg), 4. Cathedral Prep, 5. Corry, 6. McDowell, 7. Meadville, 8. Central Tech
High jump: 1. Gardner (FLB) 6'3, 2. Price (Mead), 3. Depeal (GC), 4. Davis (W), 5. Baranauskas (GJR), 6. Hanna (GC), 7. Kirkwood (SR), 8. Moffett (CP)
Pole vault: 1. Ackerman (M) 13'9, 2. Dreese (C), 3. Wyllie (GC), 4. Clark (CP), 5. Gerlach (SR), 6. Middleton (FLB), 7. Nientamp (M), 8. Holes (FLB)
Long jump: 1. Tate (M) 22'0, 2. Oduho (CP), 3. Moffett (CP), 4. Jordan (CP), 5. Timpano (M), 6. Richardson (GJR), 7. Davis (W), 8. Hanna (GC)
Triple jump: 1. Tate (M) 45'7, 2. Trinch (GC), 3. Jones (GJR), 4. Moffett (CP), 5. Pearson (GJR), 6. Depeal (GC), 7. Kress (FLB), 8. Timpano (M)
Shot put: 1. Baumann (CP) 52'7, 2. Hollidge (OC), 3. Moon (OC), 4. McNeal (W), 5. Kroner (SR), 6. Mcnish (GJR), 7. Seely (C), 8. Wickham (Mead)
Discus: 1. Hollidge (OC) 150'4, 2. Moon (OC), 3. Daniels (C), 4. Kroner (SR), 5. Baumann (CP), 6. Craig (GC), 7. Moore (GC), 8. Roane (GJR)
Javelin: 1. Jerman (W) 171'10, 2. N. Fiorentino (F), 3. A. Fiorentino (F), 4. Richardson (GJR), 5. Kula (FLB), 6. Moon (OC), 7. Wilkins (FLB), 8. Roane (GJR)