May 26, 2002 By Jim Downey 5 min read

SHIPPENSBURG – The day didn’t work out like Michelle DeShields had planned, but the Uniontown senior was happy with the results anyway because she brought home two medals Friday from the PIAA Individual Track and Field Championships held at Shippensburg University. DeShields wasn’t the only two-time medallist in the state meet. Waynesburg Central’s Helen Higgins brought home medals in the shot put and discus. Jefferson-Morgan’s Shanna Yourchik also placed in the top eight for her first medal.

DeShields opened Friday morning in what is considered her best event, the girls Class AAA high jump. The Lady Red Raider had no problems at the opening height of 4 feet, 10 inches and continued on through 5-feet.

She missed her opening attempt at 5-2 before nailing the height on her second try. DeShields needed all three jumps to make 5-4 before missing all three tries at 5-6. She tied with Central York’s Laura Phillips at the same height but Phillips finished sixth by missing fewer attempts.

Erie McDowell’s Sheena Gordon began her personal assault in the state meet by winning the gold medal with a PIAA record jump of 5-11.

The 9 a.m. start was not to DeShields’ liking, taking her a little longer than usual to get going.

“It’s too early in the morning. I tried to stay loose. It took so long to jump,” DeShields said of the competition. “It was a mental thing, wanting my jump to come. It seemed like it took forever. I’ll start all over again in the long jump.”

It wasn’t the difference between night and day, but the post-lunch start in the long jump seemed more to DeShields’ liking. She qualified for the state meet with a jump of 17-31/2, barely longer than the 17-3 qualifying standard.

DeShields made the most of her chance by winning the silver medal with a leap of 18-91/4, her second attempt in the preliminary round. Gordon soared to her second gold medal of the day by jumping 19-101/4. DeShields was not only pleased with what she did, but also by what she didn’t do.

“(The medals) should have been the other way around, but I’ll take it. I felt good today. The high jump woke me up. Everything was over 17-feet today. I didn’t get into the 16s,” DeShields said.

Higgins came so close to a medal last year when she qualified for the finals in the shot put, but placed ninth overall. The Waynesburg junior left nothing to chance in either event, finishing fourth in the girls Class AA shot put on Saturday and sixth in Friday’s Class AA discus.

“I didn’t do as well as I thought I could,” said Higgins, who hit her winning attempt of 36-113/4 in the first round of finals. “I wanted to better my personal best of 38-2, but it didn’t turn out that way. It’s fun just to be here. There are so many awesome people at the top of their game.

“I was ninth last year and that wasn’t a good feeling to have.”

Higgins was the WPIAL gold medallist in the shot put and won silver in the discus in horrible weather conditions. The weather was perfect for throwing over the weekend, allowing Higgins to hit 118-4 for sixth place in the discus.

“I hit 118-4 on my final throw of the first round and was second in my flight. I was sixth going into the finals and I knew I was in medal range,” Higgins said.

“I was on my heels (in the finals). My form didn’t come together in the last three throws. I really wanted to medal. My goal was to medal in both events.

Yourchik was in the championship round in her first trip to the states last year, but finished ninth overall. The junior wanted a medal this year and did so by placing in a tie for sixth place in the girls Class AA high jump at 5-2.

The field started at 4-8 and the bar increased two inches at a time. Yourchik didn’t miss until 5-2, needing two attempts, but was unable to get the height at 5-4. Yourchik accomplished a great deal considering she’s a one-girl team with no track to call home.

“I wanted a medal this year. I was hoping to clear 5-4,” said Yourchik, the first Lady Rocket to win a state medal of any color. “This was a great day to jump. The weather was awesome.

“Mr. (Ron) Headlee makes a place for me to practice. I don’t even have a mark. I just pick a place and go. A lot of people are graduating this year so I’m going for the gold next year.”

Two other local athletes advanced to the finals Saturday afternoon but missed out on the medal podium. Laurel Highlands junior Mikie Monaghan ran into a tough field, finishing 11th in the girls Class AAA 1,600 with a time of 5:11.92. Connellsville junior Christina Roadman was ninth in the girls Class AAA discus. Her best throw of 121-7 was three inches short of William Tennent’s Krystal Woods in eighth place.