Merwine third in 800 at state meet

By KATIE MCDONALD
kmcdonald@tnonline.com
Knowing that the 800 at the PIAA State Track & Field meet would be the last race of Jon Merwine’s high school career, Becahi coach Ralph Yeager told the Hawk senior to relax, have fun, go out 120-percent, and you’ll be happy with the outcome.
In return, Merwine placed third in Class AA with a time of 1:57.33, earning a state medal at Shippensburg University last weekend.
Later that day, Annie Aaroe, Sarah Braun, Rachel Balogh, Jenny Schadt, and Christa Irzinski medaled in the 4x800 relay, placing fifth in 9:36.73. Irzinski ran anchor on Friday during preliminaries, while Schadt ran anchor for Saturday’s final.
Braun said, “Annie went out strong and came through around sixth. I caught up to second, and Rachel got it between second and third. Jenny had a lead, and this whole pack caught up to her, but she has a really good kick.”
The Hawks just missed fourth place by 4/100 of a second to Villa Joseph Marie (9:36.69).
“It was really exciting. We medal every year, so I definitely wanted to carry on that legacy,” said Braun. “All that was going through my head was that I better break 2:20. I wanted to go out with a bang.”
This was the fifth year in a row that the Hawks medaled in the girls 4x800 at the state meet.
Coach Yeager said, “Five years in a row, we won the state medal, and it was a good way to end the seniors’ high school career. I’m proud of Annie, Sarah, and Jon, and the year they gave us.”
Alyssa Cardillo was 24th in the long jump with a distance of 15-10. Kelly Brown was 17th in the shot put with a throw of 34-4 1/4.
***
In 3A action from the state meet, Liberty’s Jarrod West was 13th in the high jump clearing 6-2.
Amy Darlington took 11th in heat 2 prelims with a time of 5:05.32. The 3200 relay team made up of Darlington, Julie Horvath, Jess Cygan and Lauren Gonzalez was seventh in heat 1 with a time of 9:29.15. The time bested last week’s district winning time of 9:35.48 but unfortunately didn’t qualify them.
In the 1600 relay, the team of Raven McChristian, Cat Noack, Erika Shumock and Gonzalez had a 4:01.89 giving them third in heat four but the time didn’t allow them to move on. They were seeded at 4:01.66.
Freedom’s Nate Palmer was 26th in the 3200 run with a time of 10:03.67.