Yourchik medals in four events
HOOKSTOWN – Shanna Yourchik was a bit achy and stiff when she finished competing Tuesday, but it was a good sore for the Jefferson-Morgan senior because she won four medals at the WPIAL Class AA Girls Individual Track and Field Championships, including two berths into next week’s state finals. Beth-Center’s Danielle Hutchinson, West Greene’s Emily Mathason and Waynesburg Central’s Helen Higgins will join Yourchik in the PIAA Class AA Championships at Shippensburg University on Friday and Saturday, May 23-24.
A busy day on the track is nothing new for Yourchik, so running between three events at once was just another meet for her. Her day started on a high note with a third place finish in the high jump after jumping 5 feet, one inch.
In between attempts in the high jump pit, Yourchik readied herself for the preliminaries of the 100 high hurdles. After successfully qualifying for the finals, she finished up in the high jump before running over to compete in the long jump.
She had a bit of a break before her attention turned to the triple jump – with the finals of the 100 high hurdles spliced in between. Yourchik qualified for the state meet in a second event when she finished seventh in the high hurdles with a personal best time, just .01 seconds under the state qualifying time of 16.18 seconds.
Yourchik capped her day with an eighth place medal in the triple jump with a best jump of 34-4.
Just another day at the office for the California University of Pa. volleyball and track recruit.
“I hoped to win the high jump after being second the past two years. My steps were off. There’s more room (in the jumping pit) at Waynesburg Central where I practice,” said Yourchik, last year’s sixth place finisher in the high jump.
The wind was fierce in Hookstown Tuesday afternoon, even blowing the bar off as Yourchik attempted to clear in her first attempt.
“I wanted to clear at least 5-5. I’ve jumped 5-4 in practice. Once I qualified in the high jump, the pressure was off and I relaxed. I wanted to qualify in all four. I didn’t consider dropping any event.
“There’s so much awesome competition coming up in the states. I can’t wait.”
Yourchik’s jumping mate did her one better when West Greene’s Emily Mathason finished second in the high jump by virtue of fewer misses to become the school’s first athlete in the state meet.
“It was harder with the wind. It was a big challenge,” the sophomore said. “I was in the three. Two or three girls had to miss. When they did it was ‘okay, I’m in.’
“Shanna and I are good friends. It’s a good experience for both of us because we don’t have a track and we work together.”
“I’m tremendously happy for Emily. She definitely deserves to be (in the states),” Yourchik said.
Another familiar face to Seth Grove Stadium in Shippensburg is Higgins, though she’ll only compete in one event this year after finishing second in the shot put. The Waynesburg senior had the second longest throw in the shot put this year, and the scenario played out in the finals with Jeannette’s Winter Hall winning the gold.
Higgins finished fourth in the discus with a throw of 108-10, missing the qualifying distance of 112-feet. Fellow Raider Nikki Jones was eighth in the shot put with a throw of 33-2½.
“I’m disappointed. I worked real hard in the discus last week. It was tough throwing into the wind,” Higgins said. “I love the shot. I can concentrate on just that now. I want the school record of 40-9.”
Hutchinson was hoping to make the state meet in her final attempt, but was pleasantly surprised to advance in the javelin. The senior finished second in the javelin with a throw of 118-feet while teammate Samantha Slagle couldn’t overcome a bad day, finishing eighth with a throw of 109-feet.
“I was hoping to throw in the 100s. I went up to Laurel Highlands and had coach (Kerry) Whitman help me with my steps. I was ninth in the first round, but my first throw of the finals was 118-feet,” Hutchinson said.
An injured shoulder prevented Hutchinson from throwing any more in the javelin and kept her out of the shot put. She did the discus, but had to borrow someone’s because she recently broke hers.
Waynesburg Central’s Randi Patton finished tied for fourth in her first pole vault final with a vault of 8-6 while Southmoreland’s Cara Petonic was eighth in the 300 intermediate hurdles in a time of 51.58 seconds.