Apr 27, 2019 4 min read

McMURRAY – Talk about an impressive performance.

Taylor Shriver needed about 20 minutes to set the tone for this year’s Washington-Greene County Coaches Track & Field Championships.

The sophomore from Waynesburg High School lifted her pole on the fast runway at Peters Township High School on a sunny Saturday, planted it in the base and soared like no other pole vaulter in the history of this event.

Shriver set the pole vault record, clearing 11-8 and snapping the previous girls record of 11-6 set by Waynesburg’s Marissa Kalsey in 2011.

On Friday, Shriver shattered the school record of 12-6 shared by Kalsey and Jocelyn Lindsay when she cleared 12-9 at the Mountaineer Classic in Morgantown, W.Va. Interestingly, she set the school record vaulting indoors at the scheduled outdoor meet because of the rainy weather.

“I was shocked and really happy,” Shriver said of setting the school record. “I was really happy that my coaches and family were there to see it. I was able to get completely inverted in my vault, which definitely helped. I was staying tighter to the pole and that allowed me to get higher.”

Shriver’s marks coincide with her moving up to a stronger pole that allows for more whip at the top of the vault.

“She had that as a goal and she said she wanted to go out there and get it done,” said Waynesburg vaulting coach Butch Brunnell. “When you have a full invert, the pole snaps you right up. There is hardly any warp to it at all. It’s scary to be in that position.”

“I knew after watching her after three weeks from the time she stepped on the track in the seventh grade that she would have a chance. Whether she would get it or not, I didn’t know. I knew she had a shot at it.”

“I would not be here if it weren’t for Butch,” said Shriver. “I would not have gotten into it if it weren’t for him.”

Not to be outdone, Canon-McMillan’s 400-meter relay team set a meet record by crossing in 50.11, besting the 50.24 set by Washington in 2014.

Canon-McMillan’s relay team was made up of Trista Miller, Tamara Mathis, Skylar Sobansky and Cerena McBride.

“I was on the (1,600 relay) but (our coaches) wanted to get the record,” said Mathis. “So I was put on the 4-by-100. … I’ve been on it for two weeks.”

Mathis finished a fine meet by being named the Track MVP. She caught and passed Trinity’s Faith Gandy over the final 15 meters of the 100-meter dash, crossing in 12.95, .03 of a second ahead of Gandy.

Mathis had to hold off another Trinity runner, Julia Chakos, to win the 200 dash in 26.75. Chakos finished in 26.92.

Mathis had an easier time winning the 400, but not by much. She crossed in 59.26. Fort Cherry’s Mara Whalen was second in 1:00.42.

McBride was the Overall MVP. She won the 100-meter hurdles in 16.65, the 300 hurdles in a comfortable 46.59 and the high jump by clearing 5-0.

“I’ve been working for this and I was hoping to see it all fall into place,” said McBride. “My strongest event is the high jump. My PR is 5-4.”

Miranda Schramm of Burgettstown earned the Field MVP by winning the discus with a throw of 124-6, 5-8 farther than the throw of Peters Township’s Caroline Fyock; took third in the discus with a 105-3 effort; and fourth in the shot at 31-7.

“I knew it was going to be close, but I thought I had a chance,” said Schramm. “I’ve been doing a lot of technical work over the winter. And the weight lifting has helped a lot.”

Canon-McMillan swept both big school team title and Fort Cherry girls and Burgettstown boys led the small schools.