SHIPPPENSBURG — Kyle Moore is the PIAA Class 3A long jump champion, so his confidence level is as high as he gets after pushing off the board.
The Emmaus senior got a boost Friday at the PIAA Track & Field Championships when he finished fourth in the 3A triple jump. His best jump was 46 feet, 9.5 inches. It came on his last jump, which was good enough to move past Stroudsburg’s Kevin Polonia (46-8).
Freedom’s Shacre Colwell (44-3) was 11th.
“I felt way better this year,” Moore said. “The nerves didn’t get to me.”
Moore’s best jump came on his last attempt to push him past Polonia. He’ll take that momentum into Saturday’s 3A long jump where he is the defending champion.
The Penn State commit said his hip, which cost him a couple months of training, is not hindering his performance.
“It’s been feeling better than ever,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot of stretching before competing, something I probably should been doing all along.”
Lehigh Valley Academy has its first state medalist: Marcus Morales threw 169 feet, 2 inches to finish sixth in Class 2A javelin. It came on his third attempt.
“It’s just starting to sink in right now,” Morales said of his historic moment. “It’s amazing, but I’m just trying to set the standard for the school track team, to get more kids to come out, to show them what’s possible.”
Morales came to Lehigh Valley Academy from Dieruff. He finished second last week at the District 11 2A meet to Minersville’s Luke Stevenosky, who also was third in the state.
Northwestern’s Gavin Nelson was third in the 2A high jump after clearing 6-6, just shy of his personal best of 6-7. It finishes a stellar season in which he consistently got over the bar at 6-5 or better.
The junior will chase down the school record of 6-8.25 next season after what he promises to be an offseason of specialized training, something that paid dividends with this year’s progress.
“I’m going to work on my approach, my run-ups,” Nelson said, “to build up my leg strength. My butt keeps hitting the bar, so I’m going to work on stuff to get my butt up.”
Palmerton’s Ryan Burkett finished third with a best of 159-3. Marian’s Jesse Rodino was fourth at 156-2.
“I’m happy with my performance since I came in seeded second and stayed with all the other top performers,” he said. “[My seed] helped me calm down and helped me perform well because when I was seeded first for leagues and districts, I was stressed because everyone was focused on me.
“But when I come in as a second seed, everyone is looking at the No. 1 seed. That takes the stress off.”
Qualifying races
— Parkland’s Andrew Beers ran a PR 14.14 to win 3A boys 110 hurdles heat and qualify third overall. Southern Lehigh’s Jack Inglis finished tied for 10th with a 14.54. Dieruff’s Jorge Santana was 14th in 14.75.
— Beers (37.93), Dieruff’s Jorge Santana (38.71) and Southern Lehigh’s Jack Inglis (39.01) qualified first, third and fourth, respectively, for the 3A hurdles final.
— Palmerton’s Matt Machalik (11.03) qualified eighth for the 2A 100. Notre Dame-GP’s Alex Clark was 19th in 11.19. Bethlehem Catholic’s Robert Williams (11.28) was 25th. Minersville’s Paitin LaPoint (10.94) also qualified for the final.
— Palmerton (Bryson Walters, Ty Sander, Stephen Jones, Matthew Machalik) qualified seventh for the 2A 400 relay final with a 43.12.
— Notre Dame-GP’s Alex Pirog, Alec Miner, Saleem Diakite and A.J. Sasso lowers its school record again with a 3:22.89 to qualify first for Saturday’s final. Nativity BVM (3:23.08) was second. Bethlehem Catholic (3:29.37) was 14th. Minersville (3:32.08) was 23rd. Pirog replaced Joseph Phillips in the Crusaders’ lineup.
— Nativity BVM’s Noah Dolbin qualified seventh (14.74) in the 2A 110 hurdles. Palmerton’s Bryson Walters was 16th (15.55).
— There were no 3A 400 relay qualifiers: 11. Stroudsburg 42.60; 16. Blue Mountain 42.90; 18. North Schuylkill 43.10; 21. Southern Lehigh 43.23; 22. Parkland 43.29.
— Pocono Mountain West’s Mark Jackson (48.90) was 10th and Northampton’s Brady Dolak (49.99) was 17th in the 3A 400 prelims.
— Bethlehem Catholic’s Robert Williams (22.53) missed qualifying for the 2A 200 final by .09. Minersville’s Paiten LaPoint was sixth (22.32). Others: Pine Grove’s Nate Frankenfield (20th in 23.10), Catasauqua’s Hammaad Jenkins (25th in 23.27) and Nativity BVM’s Alec Gorski (26th in 23.44)
Other results
— Nazareth’s Gio Mastromonaco ran a PR of 4:13.97 to finish 10th in the 3A 1,600. Parkland’s Paul Abeln ran 4:19.64 to end up 25th. Butler’s Drew Griffith ran a national federation record time of 3:57.08 to win it.
— Central Catholic’s Duke Eberts finished 14th in the 2A 1,600 with a time of 4.24.84.
— Emmaus’ Tyler Grabinski cleared 13 feet, 6 inches to finish tied for 13th in the 3A pole vault.
— Bangor’s Dylan Krugh finished ninth in the 3A shot put with a best attempt of 54-0.25.
Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com
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