May 16, 2007 By Jim Downey 6 min read

HOOKSTOWN – America Cardine just missed a trifecta and Abbey Way raised the bar higher than anyone else Tuesday in the WPIAL Class AA Individual Track & Field Championships hosted by South Side Beaver High School. Brownsville’s Cardine qualified in three events for the PIAA Championships for the second consecutive year, finishing second in the long jump, third in the 100 high hurdles and fourth in the 300 intermediate hurdles. Mount Pleasant’s Way successfully defended her title in the pole vault and surprised herself with the gold in the high jump.

The multi-medal winners will not be alone in Shippensburg over Memorial Day weekend. The Lady Vikings’ Taylor Funk edged Cardine for a silver medal in the 100 high hurdles and a bronze in the 300 intermediate hurdles. Waynesburg Central had a minivanful qualify, including Maria Shepas (800), Morgan Bland (pole vault), Lori Wise (javelin), Rachel Corfont (high jump), and the 400 relay team.

The top five finishers in each of the 15 individual and three relays automatically advanced to the PIAA Championships to be hosted by Shippensburg University on May 25-26. Those who finished sixth through eighth medalled, but needed to hit the qualifying mark to advance.

Cardine had another busy afternoon, as she has had each time she’s advanced to the district finals. She spent the early part of her day in the long jump, taking a moment to run her heat of the 100 high hurdles. The finals in both hurdles came later in the day.

The Lady Falcon was third after the preliminary three jumps, but hit her silver medal distance on her first attempt of the finals, 17-2½.

“I was seeded first from the south regional. I worked hard all week at California University of Pa.,” explained Cardine, whose program doesn’t have a track to call its own. “I jumped 16-5¾ last week (at the qualifiers). I knew I was going to do better. I worked on my hitch kick.

“My main goal was to qualify, but I wanted first place.”

Cardine was eerily consistent in the high hurdles, finishing her preliminary run in 15.57 seconds and repeating the time in the finals. The senior had to deal with an injured heel in her heat of the intermediate hurdles, slowing her down just enough to miss the top three.

“My foot and heel started hurting. I took the second hurdle too far away and messed up my steps. I hit my right foot and hurt it.”

Cardine wanted more, but was not unsatisfied with her performance.

“A second, third and fourth, not too bad for a long day. I did my best,” said Cardine. “Being a senior is not a sad thing. I look over the four years and I’ve had good years. It’s a happy thing. I’ve done what I had to do and done it well.

“It’s all worth it in the end. My whole track career has been a team effort. My parents, family, coaches, friends, have all helped me in so many ways.”

Way seemed as excited about vaulting six inches better than her person best as she did winning a second gold medal in the pole vault.

“I’m really excited. I usually use a 12-foot pole, but I changed to a 13-foot, 130 pole and I think that helped me,” said Way. “It’s very tough to defend a title. I knew the girl from Freeport had already cleared 11 feet. A lot of competition pushes me.

“Clearing 11 feet makes me more confident, not cocky. I’m not scared of it any more.”

She gave 11-6 three attempts, but missed on all three. Way didn’t do so well in the long jump, but surprised herself by winning the high jump with a top jump of 5-1.

“I did not expect to win the high jump at all. I expected to place, but not win,” said Way, whose PR is 5-2. “I was clean (on her attempts) until I went to pole vault. I needed two at 4-9 and two at 4-11, but made 5-1 on my first try.”

Teammate Taylor Funk also surprised herself a bit, running 15.28 in the high hurdles for second after placing fourth each of the past two seasons and a PR of 46.89 in the intermediate hurdles.

“That’s the best time ever (in the 300 intermediate hurdles). I never ran 46 before,” a smiling Funk said. “This is more than I expected. Definitely.”

The Lady Raiders’ Bland kept a traditional alive that dates back to 1999, Jocelyn Lindsay’s freshman season. A Waynesburg Central girl has won a medal every year since Lindsay did so in that inaugural season the event was offered for girls, and Bland kept the streak alive as she finished third with a PR of 9-9.

She missed her first attempt at the opening height of 7-9, cleared 8-9, 9-3, and 9-9 on her first attempts, before coming up short at 10-3. She was fifth last year as a sophomore and sixth as a freshman.

“Jocelyn came down to help out yesterday. Coach (Butch) Brunell is bringing me up to a bigger pole. He’s amazing,” said Bland. “I did weight training and ran (in the off-season). That’s what helped.”

Teammate Rachel Corfont had clean jumps at 4-7 and 4-9, but missed all three at 4-11 to finish tied for fourth in the high jump for her first WPIAL medal, although she almost made her final attempt.

“I hit the bar with my butt on my third attempt. It almost stayed on. It was kinda depressing,” said Corfont, a junior. “I knew I could clear 4-9, but I hoped I could get 4-11 and break my school record (of 4-10) again.”

Wise was third after the prelims in the javelin with her school record throw of 113-6, but fell two places in the finals to fifth place.

“I was more happy because I threw 113 feet and broke the school record,” explained Wise, who was seventh two years ago as a sophomore. “I want to find a 115-foot throw before it’s all over.”

Shepas jockeyed for position through the first 400 meters, and managed to put on a burst with under 200 meters remaining to hold on for third in the 800 in 2:24.34.

“I had a good start. Last year, that’s where I messed up,” said Shepas.

The Lady Raiders’ Jenna Patton didn’t want the her leg of the 400 relay in the second heat to be her last race, so she put her head down and finished what Claire Vehar, Tiffany Stansberry and Katie Baker started for a fifth-place finish in 44.1 seconds.

“Our goal was to try to get to states. As soon as Katie said stick, I was gone,” said Patton, a senior. “I knew I had to pass somebody. Whenever I got fifth, I was ready to cry. I was afraid we didn’t make it.”

The Mount Pleasant 3,200 relay team medalled, but did not qualify for states. Southmoreland’s Brittani Eicher finished eighth in the 100 high hurdles with a time of 15.96 seconds.