Clarion Jr. High Track Club Shows Determination at Franklin’s Scott Pell Memorial Invitational! (05/08/16)

(By Christie Datko)

(Photos by Christie Datko) Great evening for all club members!

Clarion Junior High Track Club attended the Franklin Middle School Scott Pell Memorial Track Invitational which was held at the Franklin High School on Wednesday, May 4. Junior high track teams from Corry, Cranberry, Franklin, Iroquois, Meadville, Moniteau, Northwestern, Oil City, Parker Middle School, Titusville and Wilmington were also in attendance.

All the athletes on this Clarion Club showed tremendous determination, and it paid off as they brought home several top ten ribbons. Morgan Kahle had a very good night as she competed in the triple jump and long jump. She finished fifth in the triple jump (24-09.50) and ninth in the long jump (12-01.25). Once again, Ava Cherico showed great skill throwing the discus and set a personal record of 67-05, which earned her third place out of 25 competitors.

Morgan Kahle showing great form in the triple jump!

Ethan Burford continued to improve on his time in the 300 hurdles and put in his best performance of the season as he ran the event in 50.85, finishing in third place. Nate Datko had a strong performance in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:02.98 which earned him a fifth place finish.

Nathaniel Lerch received an eighth place finish in the1600 (5:37.04) and eighth place in the high jump (4-08). Kiara Girvan high jumped to tenth place (3-10). Not only did the team celebrate top ten finishes, but they celebrated their teammates who achieved personal best times, as well. Among those to earn personal best times were Ben Murtha in the 1600 and Nathan Kline in the 110 meter hurdles.

Brianna Warner and Emma Spitz competed very well in the 1600 with a fifteenth (7:10.91) and eleventh place (6:57.71) finish respectively. Josh Mitchell ran hard in the 100 and 200 meter dash. Hollee Workman threw well in the shot put and discus events. Alex Cussins also showed great determination as he ran a solid 1600 race.

Nate Datko sprinting to the finish line!

To close out the evening of events, a very exciting race was run by the boys 4×400 relay team. Lerch, Daniel Hackenberg, Burford, and Datko put forth a tremendous effort in this race. Each runner pushed hard on his lap, but going into the last 200 meters Datko found himself about 20 yards behind the 3rd place runner from Cranberry. Eventually, he caught up to the Cranberry runner headed into the final 100 meters. It was an all out sprint from there, and Datko crossed the line first. The team finished third with a time of 4:21.91.

(Thanks to Christie Datko for this article and photos. Good Work Bobcats!!!!)