State College athlete breaks a 16-year jump record & more from the District 6 Class 3A championship

It was State College’s time to shine Thursday in the District 6 Class 3A championship.

Not only were the Little Lions blazing their path toward victory at balmy Mansion Park in Altoona, but they were in the midst of preparation for state championships. With their eyes on the goal of bringing home a district championship, the boys had 11 individual titles and girls brought home six, en route to a team championship for both programs.

State College girls long jumper Shannon Mullin not only was strong enough in the triple jump to break her personal record, but she broke the District 6 record that Rachel Gehret set in 2006 with a 39-03.00 jump. In the 86-degree weather and clear skies, Mullin leaped through the air with a jump of 39-11.50 to set the record. The senior jumper was elated when she learned about her accomplishment.

“I actually just found out a few seconds ago,” Mullin said. “It was very cool that I broke the record, but it feels good. I’ve gone over 39 a couple of times this season, but I’m so grateful for the support. It feels good to get that win under my belt and break a District 6 record that I had no idea about before.”

Mullin also won the district championship in the long jump (18-08.25).

“Shannon Mullin had an outstanding day,” State College head coach Jennifer Evans wrote in an email. “I can’t say enough about her as a person and as a competitor. It will be a pleasure to see her name on the record board for years to come in the triple jump at the District meet.”

Her teammates were also successful at the event, with junior Victoria Walker trotting to a time of 1:00.04 in the 400-meter dash, junior Grace Morningstar darting in 2:20.34 in the 800-meter race, the 4x800-meter relay team taking a time of 9:41.01 and freshman Sarah Tate with a time of 16.27 in the 100-meter hurdles, each being crowd as champions.

Bellefonte

Senior Eric Bennett took bronze in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:59.95. The boys 4x100-meter team of Nolan Weaver, Sherman Lowry, Collin Sharp and Jacob Hummel took third place (45.53). The 4x400-meter team of Aaron Carlini, Grady Garrison, Dillon Sette and Bennett finished third (3:40.77). Ella Underwood was the Lady Raiders’ strongest finisher with a bronze in the javelin throw (92-04.00).

“Overall, (there were) great performances from the program,” head coach Seth Miller wrote in an email. “(I’m) very pleased with how we ended the season. I’m guessing over 90% of our student-athletes that competed here either placed or set new PRs (personal records)! That is exactly how you hope your season or career ends. Our seniors will be missed.”

Senior Jacob Hummel had a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter dash (11.90). Sophomore Grady Garrison placed eighth in the 400-meter dash (54.98). Junior Chase Ebeling finished in fourth-place with a time of 4:41.59. Caleb Vinnedge took fourth in the 3,200-meter race (10:18.74).

Sophomore Sherman Lowry was an eighth-place finisher in the 110-meter hurdle (16.92). Senior Ryan Miller had a jump of 11-03.00 in the pole vault to finish seventh. Fellow senior William Spratt earned a fifth-place finish with a toss of 134-02.00 and senior William Brininger (152-11.00) took fourth in the boys javelin throw.

Senior Kerri Shutika had a fifth-place finish in the girls 200-meter dash (27.95). Freshman Annie Cernuska took eighth in the 800-meter race (2:38.01). Sophomore Emma Liadis took seventh-place in the 3,200-meter run (12:48.26). Shutika reached the podium against when she finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdle (17.03).

Bellefonte took seventh in the 4x400-meter relay (4:43.53) and fourth in the 4x800-meter relay (11:17.90).

State College

Senior Ryan Lindenberg led the boys with a win in the 200-meter dash in a time of 22.30 and the boys 300-meter hurdles (39.68). The Little Lions dominated the 800-meter race with seniors Sean Adams (1:55.99), Tony Tzolov (1:59.34) and Matthew Staniar (2:00.33) placing first, second and fourth respectively.

The Little Lions continued to excel in the 1,600-meter race with junior Nick Sloff taking home the gold medal in a time of 4:22.06 and senior Trent Dinant earning silver with a 4:25.35 finish. Sophomore Owen Vaira finished fifth (4:43.38). State College also had a first and second-place finish in the 3,200-meter race with senior Charles Endres (9:41.10) and sophomore Samuel Endres (10:15.81) and Sam Viglione finished in sixth-place with a time of 10:24.14.

State College had three athletes in the 110-meter hurdles reach the podium with senior John Sicree (15.75) taking gold, sophomore Holden Roth grabbing bronze (16.30) and sophomore David Brown finishing seventh (16.75). More victories came in the 300-meter hurdle with Lindenberg finishing first, Sicree taking third (41.84) and Roth (42.09) taking fourth.

The boys 4x400-meter team won the race with a time of 3:26.12 and the 4x800-meter race with a time of 7:49.35.

Evans was impressed with her team’s grit and fortitude throughout the season. With COVID-19 numbers fluctuating in the 2020-2021 season and the number of athletes skyrocketing on this year’s team, it wasn’t particularly easy for the team to continue to grind through a grueling outdoor season. However, it brought a ton of competition.

“Last year we had 39 girls on the team, and we ended our District VI Championship by losing to a talented Altoona team by one point,” Evans wrote in an email. “This year we have 93 girls on the roster (many whom are new to the sport and program), and we are learning and growing in a variety of positive ways. State College Track and Field has a long-standing, storied history in the area, and we try to honor the people and traditions who have come before us.

“Last night was the first time that I almost felt like we were back to normal. We were working hard in every event area to better ourselves, better our performances, and achieve a better team outcome than last year. I was so proud of our athletes, coaches, and families. We all turned out and showed up! It was a beautiful evening filled with strong efforts, raucous cheering, and big smiles. I can’t say enough about these girls.”

Freshman Jesse Myers finished third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.69 and trailing closely behind him was junior teammate Nolan Markowski, who placed fourth (11.80). Markowski also placed fifth in the 200-meter dash (23.80). Freshman Max Bodner (5-11.00) took fourth in the high jump, junior Landon Liedy (20-05.50) placed eighth in the triple jump and junior Duncan Loviscky (43-03.00).

Sanai Abdullah sprinted to a time of 12.93 for a silver medal in the girls 100-meter dash and Moe’a Howell reached the podium with an eighth-place finish (13.71). The freshman Abdullah earned a bronze medal in the 200-meter dash (26.95) and junior Kylie Field placed sixth (27.99). Sophomore Chloe Poindexter finished slightly behind Walker in the 400-meter dash finals (1:00.28) to win a silver medal. Junior Alex Antoniono placed sixth with a time of 1:03.31 to reach the podium.

Natalie Koncoski finished third in the 800-meter run (2:27.05) for bronze with her teammate, sophomore Abigail Bigger finishing fifth with a time of 2:31.54. Junior Marlee Kwasnica’s time of 5:22.22 earned her a silver medal in the 1,600-meter race with Bigger (5:39.24) finishing sixth and freshman Devyani Wadhia taking seventh 5:40.30. Kwasnica earned her second silver medal with a time of 11:57.66 in the 3,200-meter race. Senior Maya Ikenberry took fifth (12:28.58).

Sophomore Reese Kramer (18:50) finished eighth in the 100-meter hurdle. Tate earned a silver medal in the 300-meter hurdle (47.93) with Kramer finishing fifth (53.05) and junior Lauren Watkins taking eighth (54.72). State College finished fifth in the 4x100-meter relay (53.01) and in second in the 4x400-meter relay (4:03.28). Junior Annamae Leitzinger took seventh in the high jump (4-07.00). Seniors Mia Iceland (9-06.00) and Alex Steward (8-06.00) finished second and third in the pole vault. Junior Irene Garcia had a toss of 97-06.00 for a bronze in the discus.