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Pirate Thomas Smigo snags gold at states

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At the PIAA Track and Field Championships last weekend at Shippensburg, senior Thomas Smigo hauled in some treasure.

The Palisades Pirate won the boys 2A 1,600 meter in 4:13.05. He was in 21st place for his first 400 meters but turned on the jets to beat second-place finisher Logan Strawser (East Juniata) by .9 seconds. Smigo finished third in the event last year at states.

In addition, the Pirate boys 4x400 meter team of Smigo, Bryce Guthier, Gianluca Leblanc and Hugh Salva clocked a 3:26.03 to earn the bronze. Palisades’ 16 points tied them for eighth in 2A team.

Pirate classmate, Palisades’ Paige Casterline, medaled in the 2A high jump. Her fourth-place leap was 5 feet, 4 inches.

Jared Hess, the 2022 PIAA indoor triple jump champion, capped his outstanding Pennridge career with a third-place finish. He tripled jumped 45 feet, 8.75 inches on Friday to be the first area 3A athlete to medal.

The Pennridge Lady Rams medaled in three events. Victoria Angelo finished fifth in the 300-meter hurdles with a 44.48 time. Ashley Landis placed sixth in the 800 meter with a 2:10.90 clocking. Landis, Nora Ritting, Ava Polturak and Kaegen Smith earned a bronze medal with a 9:16.82 time in the 4x800 meter relay.

Pennridge’s SOL rival Central Bucks West brought home five medals. Junior Mimi Duffy’s 55.12 time was good enough for a bronze in the girls 400 meter. The team of Duffy, Claire Dalsass, Abigail Kolbe and Maile McFadden medaled twice: in the 4x400 relay with a sixth-place time of 3:53.22 and in the 4x800 relay with an eighth-place time of 9:22.80.

The West boys brought home a bronze in the 4x400 relay with a 3:20.62. The team of Tekalegn Leaf, Nate Fehrman, Nathan Terry and Noah Gartenberg finished admirably considering that West’s fastest runner, Conor McFadden, injured himself on Saturday and could not compete. On Friday, McFadden’s 21.34 second time in the 200 meters was the fastest qualifying team in 3A.

The Bucks 4x800 team finished eighth with a 7:53.60 time. Team members are Terry, Fehrman, Richard Newell and Andres Herrera.

Archbishop Wood’s Gwen Hamilton, just a freshman, earned a bronze in girls 800 meter with a 2:10.34 time. Quakertown sophomore Otani Ekpe came in fifth in the boys 300-meter hurdle, clocking 38.77 seconds. Grace Patterson earned a medal for Council Rock South, coming in seventh in the girls high jump with a 5 feet, 4 inches leap.

The 45 individual area athletes or teams competing in Shippensburg brought home 15 medal (top eight) finishes.

Solebury School had two medalists at the PAISAA meet on May 20 at Malvern Prep. Sawyer Betz (10:44.91) came in fifth in the 3,200 meter. Aum Desai (4:28.54) finished seventh in the 1,600 meter.


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