Shriver, Fort Cherry relays strike gold
SLIPPERY ROCK – When Taylor Shriver stands at the top of the runway to the pole vault pit, a lot of things could be running through her head.
Does she have her steps down?
Can she generate enough speed to reach the heights she needs to clear the bar?
Is that geometry test tomorrow morning?
There are dozens of things that could cloud her mind while on her approach.
So what most invades her mind? None of them.
“I don’t think of anything,” sadi Shriver. “I clear my mind.”
That strategy works really well.
Shriver, a sophomore at Waynesburg, set a WPIAL record with a pole vault of 12-7 at the WPIAL Class AA Track & Field Championships at Slippery Rock University Thursday afternoon.
Shriver and the 3,200- and 1,600-meter relay teams from Fort Cherry were the girls gold medalists from the Washington-Greene County area.
The group will join about two dozen other local female athletes competing in the PIAA Championships at Shippensburg University over next weekend.
Shriver hit 12-7, snapping the record of 12-6, set by Marissa Kalsey, also of Waynesburg, in 2012.
“I think about absolutely nothing,” said Shriver. “I tend to overthink things a lot. So I listen to what my coaches tell me on the way back. When I get on the runway, I take a deep breath and all thoughts go out of my mind.”
Shriver came in at 10-9, skipped 11-0, went to 11-3, then 12-0 before clearing 12-7.
“I took one attempt at 13 feet but my grip slipped on it, so I called it right there,” said Shriver. “My legs were tired because I was just in the (400) relay.”
Shriver competed in the Junior Olympics last year at Slippery Rock and cleared 12-3, which was a PR at the time.
“I like the pit here,” she said.
When Mara Whalen took the baton for the anchor leg in the 3,200-meter relay, she was staring at the backside of a Burrell runner.
It didn’t last long.
Whalen caught, then passed the runner and brought Fort Cherry the gold in a PR time of 10.03.10, six seconds faster than the Bucs.
“It felt pretty good,” said Whalen, a sophomore. “She was close at the (exchange zone) but I started to pull away on the second lap.”
Also running legs for the Rangers were Kayla Salvini, Morgan Zickefoose and Emma Blickenderfer.
Zickefoose is the lone senior in the group. She was hoping for a time in the low 2:30s for her leg. She posted a 2:34.
“We knew we had to take a few seconds off our PR and we did,” said Zickefoose. “We had a chance to win if we did that.”
Salvini ran the opening leg.
“It’s really important because you want to be in the lead,” she said. “We were third (at the exchange) but we were pretty bunched up. I knew we could pull it off.”
The Rangers repeated the feat in the 1,600 relay only with less drama. This time, Whalen held a lead and blew the field away.
It was eerily similar to the way Fort Cherry won the event at the WPIAL Team Tournament at Peters Township High School two weeks ago.
This time, Fort Cherry roared to the finish in a school-record 4:03.1. The WPIAL record is 4:01, set by Springdale in 2008.
McKenzie Faurer, Jadyn Hartner, Alex Guerra and Whalen made up the team. Guerra was on the Rangers’ 1,600-meter relay that won the WPIAL title two years ago.
“Pretty lucky, huh?” saiid Guerra, who missed last season with a knee injury.
The win was especially sweet because the team was disqualified last year for a lane violation.
“We were shooting for 4:05,” said Hartner.
Fort Cherry has found success without a track at the school.
“This is incredible,” Faure said. “We showed we can work hard without all the luxuries.”