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Henlopen Conference girls’ track wrap

June 10, 2022

Last week, I did an event-by-event breakdown highlighting the top boys’ track athletes in the Henlopen Conference, so this week I will take a look at the girls.

100 meters

The big three sprinters of the conference this season were Cierra Young of Lake Forest, Jamyla Davis of Dover and Tatiana Kelsic of Sussex Central. Young took the conference in 12.73 and was second in Division II states in 12.59. Davis was second in the conference and second at states in 12.50. Kelsic ran 12.86 for third in the conference and was fifth in the state meet in 12.70.

At the Meet of Champions, it was Davis finishing seventh in 12.87, while Ny'Ajah Henry of Sussex Tech ran 12.94.

200 meters

Young ran 25.70 to add the 200-meter conference championship to her resume, while Sadie Tunnell of Sussex Academy was second, also at 25.70. Aaliyah Smith of CR ran well to take third in 26.00, with Kelsic fourth in 26.30. Young came back strong in Division II states with a second-place finish in 25.67, while Kelsic was third in Division I in 26.28. Young ran her best race at the Meet of Champions, with a second-place finish in a blazing 25.38, while Kelsic was fourth in 25.99.

400 meters

Sussex Academy superstar Sadie Tunnell won the conference in 58.17 by nearly a four-second margin, while Jazelle Griffin of Dover was second in 1:02.06. Tunnell ran her personal best in the Division II state meet with a second-place finish in 57.49, then returned to the Meet of Champions for another second-place finish in 58.74.

800 meters

Caesar Rodney’s Bree Talley won in 2:27.47, with Alexis Blackwell of CR second in 2:28.22. Sussex Tech’s Arina Varrato was third in 2:28.63, while Druex Lail of CR was fourth in 2:29.41.  

1,600 meters

Cape’s Katie Kuhlman ran a season and personal best of 5:23.79 to win the conference title, while Varrato was second in 5:25.67. Brynn Crandell of IR was third in 5:26.35. Kuhlman returned a week later to run 5:30.73 to place seventh, while Varrato was eighth in 5:31.25. Alexis Blackwell of CR went 5:41.97 at the Meet of Champions.

3,200 meters

Crandell pulled away from Kuhlman in the late stages of the race to win the conference in 11:44.00, with Kuhlman second in 11:48.00. Lily Bowe of Sussex Academy was third in 12:15.00, with Varrato fourth in 12:25.00.  Varrato was third at states in 12:00.20, while Crandell ran 12:17.47 in the Division II meet and Bowe finished in 13:02.07.

Varrato returned for a nice race at the Meet of Champions in 11:44 for third, while fourth went to Ellie Yerkes of Polytech in 12:21, Faith Mitchell of Milford ran 12:48 and Taylor Cummings of Sussex Central ran 12:52 for a good Henlopen Conference rep.

110 hurdles

Jamyla Davis of Dover ran her best race of 14.92 to win the conference championship, while Brooke Duke of Smyrna was second in 15.92. Smyrna dominated the hurdles at the Division I meet, led by senior Denise Turpin in 15.45, good for second. Kailah Crews of Smyrna was fourth in 15.74, while Duke was fifth in 15.82. Gabrielle Almonte from Lake Forest ran 16.06 to grab second in the DII state meet. The conference was loaded at the Meet of Champions, as Turpin was second in 15.67, Crews was third in 15.68., Paris Drummer of Lake was fourth and Almonte of Lake was fifth in 16.60. 

300 hurdles

Cape’s Tia Jarvis, in just seven weeks of hurdling, won the conference title in 47.98, while Smyrna’s Denise Turpin was second in 48.10.  Alexa Dougherty of Cape was third in 49.62. Turpin returned at the state meet with a fourth-place finish in 48.21, while Jarvis was fifth in 48.49. Alyssa Kellem of Sussex Tech was sixth in 48.70, while Dougherty was seventh in 50.16. Jarvis put together her season and personal best of 46.80 to finish third at the Meet of Champions, while Dougherty was seventh in 49.34.

4-by-100 relay

The ladies from Sussex Central proved to be the hottest sprint team in the conference, as they took the title by two seconds in 49.48 over CR in 51.31 and Milford in 51.60. The Golden Knights returned to the Meet of Champions, where they won a close one in 49.30.

4-by-200 relay

CR rose to the occasion at the conference meet by taking the title in a season best of 1:46.57 in a near photo finish over Central timed at 1:46.62. At the Meet of Champions, Central was fourth in 1:45.60.

4-by-400 relay

Cape captured the mile relay in 4:12.00, with Sussex Academy turning in its season best of 4:14.92 to finish second at the conference meet. Cape ran 4:19.61 at the DI state championships for fifth, while CR was fourth in 4:19.16. CR took fifth at the Meet of Champions in 4:14.56, while the Vikings were eighth in 4:21.54.

4-by-800 relay

Cape broke the 10-minute mark with a time of 9:59 at the conference championships and came back with a time of 10:03 at the DI state championships to finish second to Padua. In the DII state meet, Sussex Academy ran 10:33 for seventh overall, while Lake was ninth. At the Meet of Champions, the Riders finished fifth in a time of 10:18 as the lone conference team.

Long jump

Sussex Central senior Bre Reid won the conference at 18-feet-5-inches, winning by almost 2 feet over Elizabeth Talamini-Kelemen of Polytech. Reid was second at the state championships in 17-5, while Talamini-Kelemen was third in 16-9. At the Meet of Champions, Reid won with a jump of 18-11¾, while Talamini-Kelemen jumped 17-2 for fifth place. 

Triple jump

Senior Denise Turpin jumped 35-2 to win the conference title, just ahead of Gabrielle Almonte of Lake who jumped 35-1 for a close second. 

Turpin had a good jump of 36-8 for third at states, while teammate Brooke Duke was fourth in 34-6. Almonte was third in the DII meet in 34-3. Turpin jumped 35-5 for fourth at the Meet of Champions.

High jump

Duke jumped 5-4 to win the conference title followed by Bre Reid of Sussex Central in 5-2. Duke jumped 5-6 at states for the DI win, while Reid jumped 5-4 for third. At the Meet of Champions, it was Duke in second at 5-4, followed by Reid at 5-2.

Shot put

Lake Forest grabbed a big 18 points in the shot as Kirja Hickman, just a sophomore, won in 36-8, with teammate Gabrielle Almonte second in 35-5. Hickman had a big throw of 39-6 to win the DI title and returned to toss a 38-6 at the Meet of Champions for second place. 

Discus

Sophomore Aniya Hill of CR and Kirja Hickman of Lake broke away as the class of the discus, with Hill taking the conference title in 110-8 and Hickman second at 103-8. Cape’s Cailyn Bledsoe was third in 98-3. Hill returned to take third at states in 106-1 and followed it up at the Meet of Champions with her best throw of 119-0, while Hickman was sixth in 104-4. 

Hickman recorded a distance of 113-0 for second place in the DII meet.

Pole vault

Elizabeth Talamini-Kelemen of Polytech took the conference title in 9-9, followed by Abby Cholewa of CR in 9-0. Cholewa came back with a third-place finish at states and was able to get 9-6 at the Meet of Champions for second. Talamini-Kelemen was fourth at states and third at the Meet of Champions.

Finish chute

Last week at the John Hay Pennsylvania Distance Festival in West Chester, Cape’s Liam O’Donnell, running unattached, turned in his season best and personal best in the mile of 4:28.26, which converts to a time of 4:26.70 in the metric 1,600 meters. Liam was 46th overall and put together back-to-back 2:14s to run his personal best. The first evening of summer track workouts will be from 6 to 8 p.m., this Tuesday, June 14, at Legends Stadium, as we will host all-comer workouts for all ages and all ability levels. It’s a good way to lower your PR in the 5K with a little speedwork for some much-needed turnover.

 

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