Cal’s McIntosh won gold, too
Missing something or someone from Thursday’s WPIAL Individual Track & Field Championships was, unfortunately, was inevitable.
Naturally, I (kinda) did, not giving California senior Ashley McIntosh her total due. I went through the checklist and read her name, but, a long day was winding to an eventful end and I didn’t realize I failed to say what medals in which events and her assessment of her busy, successful meet.
The lead proclaimed McIntosh won three medals, but not what kind nor in which events.
So, to answer those burning questions: The senior won gold in the 300 intermediate hurdles, bronze in the 100 high hurdles and seventh in the triple jump.
As one might expect, McIntosh was one tired jumper as night descended on Baldwin Stadium.
McIntosh was the top seed entering the Class AA 300 intermediate hurdles and she showed why with a gold medal in the event in a personal best time of 45.73 seconds.
McIntosh pulled away, slightly, from Ellwood City’s Taylor Petrak in the final 120 meters for the win. Petrak finished second with a time of 45.84 seconds.
Section 6-AA had a strong performance in the event with Charleroi’s Shayla Watkins seventh and Beth-Center’s Kinlee Whited eighth. Watkins also medaled in the high hurdles, finishing eighth.
McIntosh broke down how she runs the arduous hurdles race.
“75, 85, 100 … that’s how you run the (300 IM hurdles). I didn’t want to lose her. I was afraid I wouldn’t have the energy to catch her,” explained McIntosh.
McIntosh has a little mantra that helped carry her through the finish line past Petrak.
“When you’re giving 100 percent, you always have 40 percent left in you. That last 100 (meters) is my 40 percent,” explained McIntosh. “I ran a personal best in the (intermediate hurdles).”
McIntosh spent most of her day running from event to event.
“I won my heat of the 100 high hurdles prelims. I had a break to recover,” said McIntosh. “I was caught up between the triple jump and high hurdles final. I had a quick sprint (to the high hurdles final).
“Then, back to the triple jump.”
“I didn’t run my best time in the high hurdles,” added McIntosh. “It was pretty frantic.
“I’m going home with three medals. That was my goal.”
Now, after falling shy by one-tenth of a second last year, the senior will be making her first trip to the state meet this weekend at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.
“This is my first PIAAs. I’m going for a medal in the 300s (intermediate hurdles). That’s my goal,” said McIntosh.
n n n
Lexie Marchando was still trying to catch her breath as she was standing near the medals stand. The Beth-Center senior knew she medaled in the Class AA 400, but wasn’t sure which one.
So, I managed to do a little snooping and found the results before they were announced to the crowd.
Knowing the results before I found Marchando again, I slowly pointed out the names from the gold medal down, and there was Marchando’s name, fifth on the list meaning her final high school track season was going to be extended for a week.
Small in stature, Marchando needed a moment to fully comprehend the results with a smile that lit up the then overcast afternoon.
My good deed for the day.
n n n
I knew Belle Vernon’s Sierra Lynn finished seventh in the Class AAA 100-meter finals, but, for some inexplicable reason, the brain failed to alert my fingers to type her name in the story, so …
Belle Vernon’s Sierra Lynn finished seventh in the Class AAA finals, breaking the tape in 12.81 seconds. The senior qualified for the state meet last year when she ran a school-record time of 12.46 seconds.
n n n
The first thing I learned about Belle Vernon’s Sydney Baciak when I interviewed her in an early season meet was she was a freshman.
Well, she’s still a freshman, but a freshman heading to the PIAA Championships.
But, she wasn’t sure when she completed the Class AAA high jump if she’d be traveling to Shippensburg or not because she tied for fourth place. Four places automatically advance to the state meet. Tiebreakers were exhausted and no jump-off was called for, so the freshman was state-bound.
I have a bit of a running joke now with the affable freshman, closing a question or comment with “and you’re only a freshman.”
n n n
For every “thrill of victory,” it seems, unfortunately, there is an accompanying “agony of defeat.”
Casey Phelan’s record-breaking gold medal in the pole vault, Madison Wiltrout throwing just once for her fourth gold medal in the javelin, Brenna Cavanaugh winning two golds, a silver and a fifth-place medal, four freshman girls advancing to the state meet, and Marissa Bitonti getting some sage advice from Wiltrout to help her win bronze in the javelin were the thrill of victory.
But, on the flip side, seniors Sophie Yantko (Belle Vernon) and Annya Kossol (Frazier) endured a tough day in their field events.
Yantko lost her junior year after undergoing elbow surgery, but battled back to advance to the district final in the javelin.
The throwers had to navigate difficult windy conditions and Yantko didn’t seem to get any rhythm in her three attempts. After each attempt, Yantko’s face showed the look of a competition slipping away. Sadly, Yantko did not advance to the finals, ending her comeback season.
I talked to Kossol, a bit teary-eyed, after the awards ceremony in the Class AA triple jump, but she deferred, asking to wait after the long jump.
Kossol finished sixth in the triple jump, with only five automatically going to the state meet. Bentworth’s Brenna Cavanaugh finished fifth with a leap of 35-5 for her fourth medal of the day. Kossol was sixth with a jump of 35-3¾, so she missed out on the state meet by 1¼ inches.
The state qualifying standard in the event was 35-6, so Kossol was just 2¼ inches short of that mark.
We conversed after she missed out of the finals in the long jump, her eyes still a little teary. Kossol graciously gave me a couple minutes.
She is heading to Penn State for animal science. She wants to be a veterinarian for exotics.
n n n
The exuberance of a freshman, like Frazier’s Skye Eicher, Baciak and teammate Hannah Seitzinger, and Brownsville’s Gionna Quarzo, a senior record-breaker (Phelan), the quiet confidence of Wiltrout and Cavanaugh, and the disappointment of not reaching a goal show the range why folks compete.
It’s still rather amazing to me the poise these young ladies (and gentlemen) display within that range.
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t always close on the awards podium or at the state meet. In the case of Kossol, the story will hopefully be one where she’ll be the vet who nurses a child’s cherished pet back to health.