No rest for Bermudian's Carlson as she shares new District 3 record in pole vault

Carlson had spent Friday qualifying for the finals in the 100-meter hurdles, and came through with the second-fastest time behind only Susquenita’s Samantha Wechsler. She was also seeded fourth in the 300 hurdles, and was the top seed in the pole vault, her speciality. On Saturday she started her day at the pole vault. By the time she came in at 10-feet, 6-inches, only she and Trinity’s Alicia Woodward were left. Carlson cleared 10-6, then 11-0, then missed at 11-6. It was precisely then that she had to motor over to the starting line for the 100 hurdles.

“I just keep going and keep trying, and hope I’m prepared enough,” Carlson said of her busy schedule of events. “The hurdles was looking to be such a good race. I think I was running really good, until the end.”

True to form, Wechsler was leading the race, going on to win in 15.49. Carlson was not far behind — until the 10th and final hurdle. Her lead foot caught the hurdle, and down she went. Somehow, she got up, stumbled forward, and threw her body across the finish line. Remarkably, she ended up third in 16.78, but just missed a berth at this weekend’s state championships.

Teammate Aliza Staub medaled in fourth (16.96) with Delone Catholic’s Emma Bunty in fifth (17.34). Then Carlson had to go back and try to clear 11-6 in the vault.

“It was something that I had to get together mentally and try to recover from,” Carlson said. “I just focused on what I wanted to accomplish in pole vault and what my goals were. I had to focus on my jump instead of worrying about what just had happened. It is what it is. There is never a dull moment.”

Carlson recovered well enough to clear 12-0, as did Woodward, with Woodward winning with less overall misses. But both athletes broke the District 3 Class 2A record and will share that honor. And both will go at it again this weekend, possibly as the best in the state, at the PIAA Championships.

But the affable athlete was not done her day, as she ran over to run the 4 x 100 relay with her teammates Emma Patton, Alison Watts, and Staub. The quartet placed fifth, but their time of 51.92 broke the school record in the process. They were ecstatic, but Carlson still was not done. Off she went to get ready for the 300-meter hurdles, where she came into the meet seeded fifth. She ran an outstanding race to place third in 49.21, a personal best time. This time it was Wechsler’s sister, Claire, who won the event in 48.30.

Alison Watts was on the record-setting Bermudian relay, and she had a busy meet as well. After winning the high jump on Friday (5-0), and placing second in the long jump (17-5.75) to Samantha Weschler, Watts had the triple jump left on Saturday. Watts was the state champion in the triple in 2021, and looked ready to challenge for that honor again. The two battled it out, all the way through the final jump.

Watts was in second place, just one inch behind Wechsler, with one jump remaining. She came through with her best jump of the day, 36-1.5, to take the lead. But Wechsler had one jump remaining, and put it all together for a leap of 36-9.25 to take the gold.

“It was an amazing competition,” Watts said. “This season has been really exciting. We have been pushing for the 4 x 1 record the whole time. And I have been trying all season to get back to where I was my freshman year for the most part. I have been trying my best at everything. It is just so much fun being here. I am really excited for next week.”

Littlestown’s 4 x 100 placed third, and also qualified for states, based on time. The team of Miranda King, Bene Parker, Brooke Martin, and Emmy Nunemaker sped to a school record time of 50.74 to give themselves a chance to race for a state medal. The winning team was Wyomissing, running 50.43.

“It feels great,” said Nunemaker. “Every meet we have PRed, and now that we PRed again, and qualified for states, it is such a good feeling.”

The quartet never even had dreams of making it to states, but the Bolts have had the fastest group of sprinters in the area all year, and they were able to put it all together on the biggest stage.

“We did not ever really think we would make it to states,” King said. “We were just hoping to make it to districts, to get faster than we were last year. And now we have qualified.”

Ava Deming was not even ranked in the top 10 as a sprinter in 2022, but she worked hard this season and added the 400 to her list of speed events. The Fairfield senior came in as the No. 1 seed in the 2A 400, and she took it out of the blocks like she meant business.

“The only strategy I have is to get out fast, and maybe I’ll have enough to maintain it at the end,” Deming said. “I was scared on the homestretch, and I could hear everyone cheering, specifically saying, ‘go catch her’.”

Well, no one did, as Deming crossed the finish line in first place with a personal best 59.29. She also medaled in the 200, finishing seventh in a personal best 27.12.

When asked how it felt to be district champion, she said, “It sounds crazy, bonkers and I didn’t expect it at all. Even when I saw the seedings, I just didn’t believe it. I would not have believed I would make it to states at the beginning of the season.”

After breaking the school record in the 100 hurdles earlier in the year, New Oxford senior Maya Richwine turned her sights to qualifying for states. She ran what she considered to be sub-par races on Friday, but she did qualify for the final on Saturday. Richwine, who will attend Muhlenberg College next year, got a great start and was in the mix right from the outset. Though she had no chance of beating winner Ella Bahn from Spring Grove (14.48), she maintained her composure through the final barriers to place fifth in 15.19. That is the fastest fully automatic time she has ever run, and the fifth place qualifies her for states in 3A competition.

“I only ran 15.7 yesterday, and I really think it was just a mental thing,” Richwine said. “Last night I really focused on stuff, and this morning I got into the zone. I knew I could run it, it was just a matter of doing it. I am just so happy to just be going to states. I’m not looking at doing anything other than what I have been doing. I could feel myself moving faster at the end, and I thought, oh my gosh, I am with them. It was good and it feels great.”

Also in 3A, Gettysburg’s Alivia Colgan came through in the 400, placing fifth in 57.48, just two-tenths off the Warrior school record. Colgan burst out of the blocks and was leading the race as the runners went into the final turn. Though she got passed coming into the homestretch, she held strong, fighting for the final qualifying spot.

“We have been training to go out hard the first 50, then kind of relax and get into a kind of float to the 200, and then kick it in from there,” Colgan said. “That’s what I tried to do. I pushed myself more in the first 200 than I usually do, because I wanted to get out there and get ahead.”

Freshman Kaddel Howard of Cedar Crest upset defending state champion Jillian Sydnor of Shippensburg, running a remarkable 54.68 to win by four-tenths of a second. Colgan was gunning for third, but there were a few position changes in the final gut-wrenching yards of the race. She was just over three-tenths of a second from third.

After a stellar sophomore campaign, Colgan took last year off to concentrate on soccer, and also, track was painful to her. The senior standout will continue her athletic career on the soccer field at St. Joseph University, but since her return she has developed a love of track and field.

“Throughout the season I slowly came to the realization that I love this sport,” Colgan said. “This season has been a breath of fresh air, and it is so great to just be here competing. There are a lot of great athletes, and they just push you to do your best. And my coaches have been great. They just bring such energy to the team and we all love to just be around them.”

Also for Gettysburg, junior Winter Oaster is back to form. Having dealt with health issues that compromised her endurance last year, she is running the best she ever has, and broke her own school record in the 1600 on Saturday. Though she finished 11th, her time of 5:14.37 updated her record, and has her smiling as she regains her form.

“It is just so great,” Oaster said of running once again with energy. “The past two years have been rough, but to be able to come back to where I was and to improve on it is all I have been hoping for. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. It has been a great season, and I have been pretty consistent throughout it. I’m happy with how it went.”

Spring Grove junior Laila Campbell, who made national headlines with her fast times last year, topped herself in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Campbell broke her own district records in both events, running an amazing 11.55 to win the 100 by over a half-second, and then coming back to run 23.24 to win the 200. She will be favored to win states in both events this weekend. Her teammate, freshman Bahn, not only won the 100 hurdles, she won the high jump (5-5), and the 300 hurdles (44.67) as well. She was also seventh in the 800 in 2:18.17, one event after having won the 300s. Hers are not events that are compatible, but she handled them with ease.

Ella Lucas from Warwick also set a district record in the discus. Her throw of 157-7 beat second place by nearly 20 feet.

Though not qualifying for states, there were a number of Times Area girls that earned district medals. Delone Catholic’s girls placed eighth in the 4 x 800 to claim a district medal. The Squirettes’ team, consisting of Ella Hughes, Sophia Kennedy, Kaylie Brown, and Samantha Bealmear, ran 10:52.35, its fastest time of the year, but was not able to get past seventh place Tulpehocken. Trinity won the relay with a time of 9:52.24.

Fina Mochi vaulted 8-6 to claim sixth place in the pole vault for Delone, and Emma Bunty was seventh in the 300 hurdles, in 50.97. Shelby Tuckey placed eighth in the shot put for Bermudian with a throw of 31-2.25.

Bermudian Springs, mostly on the strength of Carlson and Watts, placed a respectable fifth as a team in 2A competition with 63 points. Annville-Cleona capture the district team title with 104.5 points.

The PIAA Championships will be held on Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University. Complete results can be found online at https://pa.milesplit.com/results.