May 23, 2002 By Jim Downey 5 min read

Waynesburg Central senior Jocelyn Lindsay looks to regain the title she vaulted to as a freshman while 13 other local athletes hope to bring home top honors from the PIAA Individual Track and Field Championships held at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium on Friday and Saturday. Lindsay has won all four WPIAL Class AA gold medals offered in the event. The Purdue University recruit won the first state gold medal, but has returned home the past two years with the silver. She wants to cap her stellar career with a second state gold medal.

“I want states to be a finish to my career. I think I have a pretty good idea (of the competition),” Lindsay said after the district championship.

The boys will have representatives in both classes in the pole vault with Waynesburg senior Nathan Freedman in Class AA and Laurel Highlands’ Brandon Mahoney in Class AAA.

Believed to be the only boy to qualify in the pole vault all four years, Freedman brought a second pole vault gold medal to Waynesburg with his vault of 14-feet despite atrocious weather conditions. The senior enters Friday’s competition with the third-highest qualifying vault.

Mahoney finished second to Baldwin’s Paul Hecht’s vault of 14-9 by clearing 14-3. The junior has the fourth-highest qualifying mark with Hickory’s Andrew Rademacher topping the field at 15-5.

Looking to rise high above the bar will also be a pair of girl high jumpers. Uniontown’s Michelle DeShields and Jefferson-Morgan’s Shanna Yourchik will both make their second trip to the state meet.

DeShields finished tied for fifth in WPIAL Class AAA with a jump of 5-4 – tied for the second-best qualifying height – to return back to the PIAA meet after failing to qualify as a junior. The senior will have a busy day Friday because after she’s done in the high jump in the morning DeShields returns after lunch for the long jump.

The Lady Red Raider was fourth in the long jump, qualifying for the state championships by a 1/2-inch.

Yourchik had high expectations after qualifying in the event as a relative novice as a sophomore. The junior tied Mohawk’s Larissa Papich at 5-3, but Yourchik finished second due to more missed attempts. Yourchik just missed the medal stand by placing ninth in 2001.

“I want a medal to place in the top eight at states,” said Yourchik, who hopes to better her personal best by two inches at Shippensburg. “There was definitely a lot of pressure. Everyone was expecting me to go back.”

Laurel Highlands’ Mikie Monaghan will be in familiar company when she runs in the girls’ Class AAA 1,600 preliminary Friday morning. The junior, who finished fourth with a time of 5:09.58, ran against three of the top qualifying times at the WPIAL Championships.

“I’m so excited. I can’t wait to go to states,” Monaghan said after the WPIAL race. She also qualified in the 800, but opted out of the second race.

Southmoreland’s Tom Brittain successfully defended his Class AA gold medal in the 1,600, and now looks to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish at the states. Running in poor weather conditions, the senior enters the preliminaries Friday morning with a sluggish time of 4:40.17.

Brittain earned a second berth in the 800, but opted out of the state race to open a spot for Beth-Center’s George Hilverding. The Bulldog junior finished fourth with a time of 2:08.

Local athletes will compete in all but the javelin over the weekend, including two-time qualifiers Derek Mears and Helen Higgins, both of Waynesburg.

Mears won gold in both the shot put and discus, and will be in the top flight in both events. The Canisius University recruit will take aim at Lanfer Simpson’s school record of 53-1/2 in the shot put.

“I would have been happy to qualify in one event, but I’m glad I’m going in both. I hope to feed off both events,” Mears said after the district finals.

Higgins finished second in the discus and won gold in the shot put. The junior is seeded fourth in the shot put and 12th in the discus. Finishing ninth last year, Higgins had a taste of the big meet and wants more this year.

“It was so hectic last year. I want to go and have a good time this year. I’m looking forward to a medal this year,” Higgins said.

A pair of Connellsville discus throwers will be at Shippensburg. Clint Richter, Class AAA bronze medallist, didn’t fare well at the states last year while Christina Roadman’s third-place finish earned her first berth.

Southmoreland’s Tim Fratto flew a personal best 43 feet, nine inches on his first attempt in the triple jump and never looked back to win his first WPIAL Class AA gold medal.

Brownsville’s Doug Patterson saved his best jump for last, leaping 19-111/4 for the Class AA long jump bronze medal to automatically qualify for the states.

Most of the athletes in the field events will compete Friday with heats of the 1,600 in the late morning and early afternoon and the 800 scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. The track finals begin 9 a.m. Saturday with field events scheduled throughout the day.