Centre County athletes bring home 6 medals from PIAA Class 2A Track & Field Championships
Penns Valley’s Colton Sands went into Friday’s PIAA 2A State Track and Field Championships with the end of his high school career in sight. The senior long-distance runner has won plenty in his four-year career and closed it out by earning another medal.
“It’s been a great four years,” Sands told the Centre Daily Times. “I’ve accomplished pretty much everything there is to accomplish in Pennsylvania. I won a state title in every season, the team has had some great success. ... It’s been a really fun year and a great year to cap things off. I’d have loved to cap my career off with state golds, but I’m really satisfied with how I raced today. I think I did myself and my school proud.”
Sands finished third in the 1600m with a time of 4:17.28, just ahead of teammate Brendan Colwell, who finished fifth with a time of 4:20.11.
The two Rams have had decorated careers as runners and it’s no surprise to see them both winning medals again. The duo have made their mark at Penns Valley and that wasn’t lost on head coach Garrett Milner.
“Brendan Colwell and Colton Sands, coaching two athletes like them is a once in a lifetime experience,” Milner told the CDT. “But I really think they inspired a lot of kids on our team. I really do think that we can build off this.”
The 1600m came down to the final stretch when Sands attempted to pass Schuykill Valley’s Luke Seymour. The senior thought he was set to wear another gold medal around his neck as he was set to pass Seymour, who was losing steam.
With his eyes on Seymour, Sands felt he had the race in the bag until Deer Lakes’ Carson McCoy blew past both runners to earn the gold medal. While the shock of McCoy’s speed in the last 100 meters of the race affected the Penns Valley runner, he was still happy with his performance in his final athletic event as a Ram.
“I was really happy with the 1600,” Sands said. “That was my focus going in. ... Carson and Luke just had the better of me today, and that happens sometimes. I’m happy with my finish and really happy with my time with how the season has gone.”
While Sands and Colwell — who will go on to North Carolina and Penn State, respectively to run long distance — found plenty of success, it was a Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy athlete and relay team who took home the highest finishes among Centre County athletes.
SJCA’s Clare Marsh finished second in the 100m hurdles at the event and was well out in front of the competition in the 300m hurdles before clipping one of the gates and falling.
She was still processing the moment on her ride back from states, but was happy to have done as well as she did in the 100m hurdles.
“I’m glad I was able to get back up,” Marsh said. “It took me a second to realize what happened. I knew I wanted to finish the race. ... The 100 hurdles wasn’t something I originally thought I could be that good at. It turned out to be something that I worked really hard at. To get that medal and that (personal record) was really, really exciting to me. It means a lot.”
Her performance there was the high watermark for the individual Centre County track and field athletes. Her time of 14.86 seconds set a school record — just as the rest of the SJCA medalists did.
“Today was a culmination of all of our efforts since November,” SJCA head coach Jayson Jackson said. “The kids gave it their all and really put everything on the line. It was exciting to watch and be a part of.”
Saint Joseph’s also had its boys’ 4x800m relay team earn silver medals when Asa Reynolds, Brendan Scanlon, Josh Hershbine and Jonah Clark combined to run the race in 8:07.05.
Their teammate Kathleen Simander added a bronze medal for the WolfPack, finishing third in the 800m with a time of 2:16.88.
The county combined for five medals in track events Friday in Shippensburg and one field medal, as well. Penns Valley’s Leah Beben finished eighth in the high jump with a jump of 5-02.00.
“She’s the first high jumper we’ve had in a very long time to get a medal at states,” Milner said.
Here are the complete results for Centre County athletes at Friday’s championships:
PIAA Class 2A Track & Field Championships
(Friday at Shippensburg)
Centre County results: girls’ 100m hurdles: Clare Marsh, Saint Joseph’s, 2nd in 14.86; girls’ 300m hurdles: Marsh, Saint Joseph’s, 16th in 49.19; girls’ 800m: Kathleen Simander, 3rd in 2:16.88; girls’ 1,600m: Anna Stitzer, Penns Valley, 17th in 5:29.08; girls’ 3,200m: Stitzer, Penns Valley, 9th in 11:34.05; girls’ 4x400m relay: Camryn Eby, Simander, Tara Hershbine, Marsh, Saint Joseph’s, 9th in 4:11.07; girls’ high jump: Leah Beben, Penns Valley, 8th in 5-02.00; Cameron Upcraft, Penns Valley, t-9th in 5-00.00; girls’ triple jump: Beben, 20th in 32-05.50; girls’ shot put: Sarah Holler, Bald Eagle Area, 15th in 35-01.75; boys’ 800m: Brendan Colwell, Penns Valley, 9th in 2:00.15; Colton Sands, Penns Valley, 14th in 2:02.54; Jonah Clark, Saint Joseph’s, 15th in 2:03.62; boys’ 1,600m: Sands, Penns Valley, 3rd in 4:17.28; Colwell, Penns Valley, 5th in 4:20.11; boys’ 3,200m: Thad Smith, Penns Valley, 17th in 10:06.33; Daniel Kelly, Penns Valley, 21st in 10:37.61; boys’ 4x800m relay: Asa Reynolds, Josh Hershbine, Brendan Scanlon, Jonah Clark, Saint Joseph’s, 2nd in 8:07.05; boys’ triple jump: Owen Irvin, Bald Eagle Area, 18th in 40-08.00; boys’ javelin: Colin Niewinski, Penns Valley, 19th in 138-07.00.
