By Mark Nance/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Anyae Grissom of Williamsport cleared the final hurdle to win the women's 100-meter hurdles at the Selinsgrove Invitational Track Tournament on Saturday in Selinsgrove. Hoffman took first place.
SELINSGROVE — Most people wouldn't expect a dropped baton to be the start of a great day. Then again, most people aren't like her sophomore Bailey Espinosa of Lewisburg.
During a close 3,200 meter race, a botched exchange between Lauren Schwartz and Espinosa caused the baton to fall to the ground. Espinosa picked it up inside their respective exchange zones, stayed calm and ultimately crossed the finish line a few tenths of a second ahead of Hughesville's Elizabeth Wolfe, securing a first-place finish for the relay team.
“It added a little extra drama to it, but at the same time, it was an opportunity to try to summon a little something deeper within ourselves to catch the Hughesville team on the last line.” Louisburg coach Michael Espinosa said of the race. “So even if I wasn’t happy at the time that the baton was dropped, I was really happy about it.”
This wasn't the only time Espinosa reached the top of the podium.
Two hours after the second half of the relay race, the second-year students were back on the track for the 1,600-meter run. Espinosa, who had the chance to break Lewisburg graduate Jenna Farmer's meet record, fought off strong winds to win and set a new meet record with a time of 5:05.10.
Mark Nance/Sun Gazette Correspondent Runners round the first turn of the women's 4×800 at the Selinsgrove Invitational Track Tournament in Selinsgrove on Saturday. Hoffman took first place.
“She is the only woman who came close to breaking my mother's record.” Bailey Espinosa said, referring to her mother Ashley Wetzel's program record of 4:55.12. “I love my mom, but I also joke around with her like I'm here for the record.”
“Bailey grew up watching Jenna Farmer race when I was her coach.” Coach Espinosa said of this achievement: “We were emailing Jenna all day and she said, 'If someone's going to delete your record, I hope it's another Lewisburg girl.'”
But she wasn't the only area girl to set a meet record.
Williamsport seniors Anyae Grissom and Elizabeth Schultz will set their own records on Saturday, with Grissom breaking her own record at last year's meet with a time of 15.52 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. She won bronze in the 300m hurdles in the afternoon, falling just short of her two first-place finishes, but she is still proud of both efforts.
“I was very happy because I broke my own record. I'm very grateful to be able to leave a record like this.” Grissom said. “I haven't had a very good record in the 300 hurdles, so that was my PR this season. I think it'll get better once it gets a little warmer.”
By Mark Nance / Sun-Gazette Correspondent Bailey Espinosa of Lewisburg, left, races Vivian Espinosa of Hughesville in the 4×800 run during the Selinsgrove Invitational Track Tournament in Selinsgrove on Saturday. He passed Draper. Hoffman took first place.
Schultz's record was in the 400-meter dash. After breaking one minute last week in his second year of track and field, Schultz continued to make steady progress, breaking Lauren Ball's meet record with a time of 59.15 seconds.
“I just wanted to get a game record this week.” Schultz said. “I'm happy. The wind was a little scary, but it didn't affect me too much.”
That covers four of Area's eight first-place finishes and two of Lewisburg's four first-place finishes on the afternoon.
The Green Dragons' Alana Jacob and Emma Bolton took first place in the 3,200-meter jump and high jump, respectively. And Warrior Run's Aurora Cieslukowski (pole vault) and Milton's Mackenzie Lopez (300 hurdles) also topped the podium on Saturday.
In Williamsport, Isabella Sanders (800 points, 1,600 points), Madeline Sanders (1,600 points), Isabella Morrow (triple jump, high jump), Nadjia Smith (high jump) and Dayanna Baynes (javelin) also made the podium. Finished the round. Probably the deepest area of the event.
“Despite the weather and everything else, I was happy with the kids’ performance today.” Williamsport head coach Vicki Everhart had this to say about her team's performance: “There were quite a few PRs and several new records set.”
Lewisburg followed close behind, with Madison Moyers (100 meters, 200 meters), Anna Drouin (shot put), Leila Lakhab (long jump) and Ella Mirshahi (pole vault) finishing sixth or better in their respective events. Ta.
“Athletes are able to put together PR efforts even in situations that don’t necessarily favor PR time.” Espinosa said. “They came out here with a competitor's mentality in adverse conditions. I think that's another thing I'm really proud of from top to bottom on the team.”
The 2024 Don Wilhour Selinsgrove Classic saw success and exciting racing in many areas. There's still a lot of time left in the season, so there should be a lot more where that came from.
100: 1. Carly Aument, Selinsgrove, 12.34; 2. Jilly Dibert, Shikellamy, 12.59; 3. Olivia Haley, Wyalusing, 12.87; 4. Madison Moyers, Lewisburg, 13.13; 5. Sierra Klinger, Shamokin, 13.21; 6. Makenna Fogle, Mifflinburg, 13.26; 7. Anna Thicke, Jersey Shore, 13.26; 8. Camron Rausch, Milton, 13.34.
100 hurdles: 1. Anyae Grissom, Williamsport, 15.54; 2. Eva Riback, Central, 15.61; 3. Kamryn Pyle, Midwest, 16.48; 4. Mackenzie Lopez, Milton, 16.52; 5. Alyssa Barias , Selinsgrove, 17.04; 6. Emma Bolton, Lewisburg, 17.40; 7. Jada Tillman, Mifflinburg, 17.43; 8. Bailey O'Connell, Central, 17.48.
200: 1. Carly Aument, Selinsgrove, 25.89; 2. Ellie Ronk, Shikellamy, 26.70; 3. Olivia Haley, Wyalusing, 27.06; 4. Madison Moyers, Lewisburg, 27.21; 5. Elizabeth Schultz, Williamsport, 27.60; 6. Kylie Temple, Hughesville, 27.83; 7. Anna Thicke, Jersey Shore, 27.91; 8. Jocelyn Davis, Montoursville, 27.92.
300 hurdles: 1. Mackenzie Lopez, Milton, 47.33; 2. Kamryn Pyle, Midwest, 47.86; 3. Anyae Grissom, Williamsport, 48.36; 4. Eva Riback, Central, 48.52; 5. Rebecca Brinser , Greenwood, 48.65; 6. Kylie Temple, Hughesville, 48.99; 7. Carly Harter, Shikellamy, 49.24; 8. Gigi Beach, Selinsgrove, 49.61.
400: 1. Elizabeth Schultz, Williamsport, 59.15; 2. Olivia Haley, Wyalusing, 59.51; 3. Anna Thicke, Jersey Shore, 1:00.61; 4. Raygun Lust, Warrior Run, 1:01.47; 5 . Haley Bull, Central, 1:01.63. 6. Bella Pistoia, Bloomsburg, 1:01.82; 7. Caitlin Temple, Hughesville, 1:04.08. 8. Elizabeth Wanner, Montoursville, 1:04.78.
800: 1. Kate Moncavage, Southern, 2:19.19; 2. Abigail Stilzer, Penns Valley, 2:23.65; 3. Alexis Bressi, Shamokin, 2:29.74. 4. Isabel Sanders, Williamsport, 2:30.86. 5. Claire Dufresne, Warrior Run, 2:31.09. 6. Olivia Solomon, Shikellamy, 2:31.27. 7. Dent Lake, Selinsgrove, 2:33.58; 8. Lauren Sharbaugh, Greenwood, 2:35.85.
1,600: 1. Bailey Espinosa, Lewisburg, 5:05.10; 2. Kate Moncavage, Southern Columbia, 5:15.33. 2. Isabel Sanders, 5:28.33; 4. Madeline Sanders, Williamsport, 5:34.72. 5. Jenna Binney, Lewisburg, 5:37.17. 6. Claire Dufresne, Warrior Run, 5:37.99. 7. Odin Rayer, Danville, 5:41.27. 8. Olivia Solomon, Shikellamy, 5:42.95.
3,200: 1. Alana Jacob, Lewisburg, 11:48.91. 2. Shera Kursky, Danville, 12:02.60; 3. Lillianna Smith, Penns Valley, 12:12.57. 4. Lauren Benfer, Danville, 12:17.43. 5. Clara Wade, Williamsport, 12:28.48; 6. Emma Parker, Danville, 12:35.33. 7. Maya Sack, Lewisburg, 12:36.29. 8. Kiara Shafer, Warrior Run, 12:51.52.
400 Relay: 1. Shikellamy (Ellie Ronk, Lily Pershing, Jilly Divert, Emma Koontz), 49:45; 2. Hughesville, 52.07; 3. Lewisburg, 52.27; 4. Central Columbia, 52.91; 5 .Mifflinburg, 52.97; 6. Warrior Run, 53.22; 7. Shamokin, 53.29; 8. Milton, 53.70.
1,600 Relay: 1. Central Columbia (unnamed), 4:14.26. 2. Williamsport, 4:16.64; 3. Warrior Run, 4:19.30. 4. Southern, 4:19.81. 5. Lewisburg, 4:20.58. 6. Bloomsburg, 4:24.28. 7. Montoursville, 4:24.62. 8. Shamokin, 4:27.88.
3,200 Relay: 1. Lewisburg (Jenna Binney, Lauren Schwartz, Claire Driver, Bailey Espionza), 10:08.72. 2. Hughesville, 10:08.85; 3. Danville, 10:12.69; 4. Warrior Run, 10:22.50. 5. Shikellamy, 10:43.99. 6. Towanda, 10:47.78. 7. Greenwood, 10:49.42; 8. Selinsgrove, 10:56.14.
High jump: 1. Emma Bolton, Lewisburg, 5-0; t-2. Nadziah Smith, Williamsport, 5-0. t-2. Hannah Forspring, MCA, 5-0. 4. Caitlin Weatherill, Central, 4-10; 5. Maddie Hall, Loyasock, 4-10; 6. Isabella Morrow, Williamsport, 4-10; t-7. Bryn Zentner, Bloomsburg, 4-8; t-7. Carrie McRae, Southern, 4-8;
Triple jump: 1. McKenna Weller, Greenwood, 33-10 3/4; 2. Isabella Morrow, Williamsport, 32-9 1/2. 3. Carly Nye, Shamokin, 32-8; 4. Emma Koontz, Shikellamy, 31-8 1/2. 5. Zoe Furman, Montgomery, 31-3 1/4. 6. Queenlyn Zartman, Shamokin, 31-3; 7. Abby Pietraski, Royasoc, 30-10 3/4. 8. Sophie Myers, Greenwood, 30-9 1/4.
Long jump: 1. McKenna Weller, Greenwood, 15-7 3/4. 2. Charlie Schrauch, Bloomsburg, 15-5 3/4; 3. Bela Pistoia, Bloomsburg, 15-2 1/4; 4. Leila Rakhab, Lewisburg, 15-0 1/2. 5. Sophie Myers, Greenwood, 14-11 1/4. 6. Rubisolano, Montgomery, 14-9 1/2. 7. Elizabeth Sheasley, Mifflinburg, 14-9 1/4. 8. Camron Rausch, Milton, 14-6 1/2.
Discus: 1. Lindsay Donlan, Southern, 113-2; 2. Cassandra McGinley, Bloomsburg, 105-11; 3. Anna Baylor, Montoursville, 105-7; 4. Janna Tewskberry, Elk Lake, 99-2; 5. Abby Mangels, Selinsgrove, 97-9; 6. Leah Litzman, Greenwood, 96-1; 7. Briley Kessler, Shamokin, 95-2; 8. Brianna Gordner, Milton, 94-10.
Shot put: 1. Cale Dreckman, Central, 28-3 3/4. 2. Jasmine Williams, Midwest, 26-1; 3. Anna Drouin, Lewisburg, 25-3 1/2. 4. Olivia Spontarelli, Shikellamy, 24-11 1/4. 5. Kiana Lester, Elk Lake, 24-3 3/4. 6. Anna Hartman, Bloomsburg, 23-6 1/4. 7. Mia Varner, Shikellamy, 22-10 1/2. 8. Taryn Bogslow, Danville, 22-3 1/4.
Javelin throw: 1. Quinn Johnston, Southern, 124-1; 2. Mackenzie Lopez, Milton, 122-4; 3. Olivia Spotts, Jersey Shore, 110-9; 4. Dayanna Baynes, Williamsport, 109- 0; 5. Amelia Gainer, Milton, 106-11; 6. Chamiqua Gentzel, Penns Valley, 104-11; 7. Lindsay Hostetter, Central, 99-0; 8. Haley Carper, Warrior Run, 98-1 Defeat.
Pole Vault: 1. Aurula Cheslkousi, Warrior Run, 11-0; 2. Kendall Sims, Montoursville, 10-0; t-3. Alivia Ritenour, Warrior Run, 9-6. t-3. Allie Bingaman, Shikellamy, 9-6. t-5. Sara Bronovich, Shikellamy, 8-6; t-5. Grace Bingeman, Selinsgrove, 8-6; t-5. Ella Mirshahi, Lewisburg, 8-6; t-5. Eva Snyder, Central, 8-6;
