May 16, 2006 By Jim Downey 4 min read

This afternoon’s weather forecast isn’t very promising, but, unless there’s lightning, the show will go on when a number of local athletes join the district’s best at South Side Beaver in the WPIAL Class AA Individual Track & Field Championships for a shot at a district medal and a berth into the state meet. The top five finishers in each of the 15 individual events and three relays automatically qualify for the PIAA Championships at Shippensburg University on May 26-27.

Additionally, those who finish sixth, seventh or eighth and hit the state-qualifying standard advance.

Brownsville’s America Cardine headlines the group that will travel into the bowels of Beaver County as she looks to repeat her four-medal performance from last spring. The junior finished second in the 200 and long jump, fourth in the 300 intermediate hurdles and eighth in the 100 high hurdles.

Cardine once again qualified in all four events and will be seeded in the top half of the 16 qualifiers in each event.

The Lady Falcons’ Amber Fabien qualified in the high jump while senior Joe Feick will have three opportunities to medal.

He won medals in both the long and triple jumps last year, and will have the chance to do so again along with a run in a new event, the 400.

The Waynesburg Central girls contingent is small, but comes with high hopes. Maria Shepas, a WPIAL medallist in cross country last fall, looks for a track medal in her first trip to the district meet as the fastest qualifier in the 800. There hasn’t been a year where a Lady Raider didn’t win a medal in the pole vault since Jocelyn Lindsay won the first gold medal as a freshman back in 1999, the first year the event was a medal sport for girls, and Morgan Bland will look to keep that tradition alive.

Frazier’s Natalie Gardner won the school’s first throwing medal as a junior last year when she placed eighth in the javelin. She’ll look to improve on last year’s throw of 100 feet, 10 inches. Teammate Vince Conti will look to do the same for the boys, although he will have to do so out of the first flight.

Waynesburg Central usually brings a decent-sized contingent of contenders to Hookstown, and this year will be no different.

Senior Jereme Yoders is the top seed in the discus after qualifying for the state meet last year after finishing fourth in the discus. He also earned a spot in the shot put. Paul Wolfe gives the Raiders another top-seeded thrower in the discus.

Jake Raddish has won a couple WPIAL medals in the high jump, and will look to end his high school career with medals and hopeful state berths in the high and long jumps. Keith Higginbotham (100), Dominic Denicola (110 high hurdles) and Nick Patton (pole vault) also qualified.

Dan Huygens and Chris Keifer just missed qualifying last year as a juniors after sixth-place finishes, Huygens in the 400 and Keifer in the 3,200. Kevin Snyder (110 high hurdles), Jim King (300 intermediate hurdles) and Ben Poorbaugh (discus) have also qualified.

Brianna Conty (200) and Rachel Mast (javelin) as well as the 1,600 relay qualified for the Lady Scots.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing qualifiers for today’s district finals is California’s Justin Long in the pole vault since the Trojans do not field a team and none of the adjoining school districts have facilities.

Beth-Center will have a small handful in attendance, including previous qualifiers in Jocelyn Dickey and Candace Gould.

Dickey finished eighth in the 400 last year and will have two shots this year, the 200 and 400. Gould just missed a medal in the long jump, but will have a shot at redemption this year in the event as well as in the triple jump. The Bulldogs had Dominic Malloy (100, 200) and Jeff Paletta, a top seed in the discus, qualify.

Jefferson-Morgan’s Melissa Cox finished fourth in the 400 last year to qualify for the state meet. The senior will have three shots at varying distances, the 100, 400 and 800. The Lady Rockets’ 400 relay and Ariel Bailey (3,200) also qualified.

Mount Pleasant’s Abbey Way has the opportunity for three medals in the pole vault, long jump and high jump. She is joined by Kristin Farkosh (100) and Taylor Funk (100 high hurdles, 300 intermediate hurdles). The Vikings will be busy in the pole vault with qualifiers Ian Wirth, Jesse Ansell and Brandon Fess while Derek Auen had the best qualifying throw in the javelin.

West Greene’s Nicole Pettitt looks to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish in the discus.