Nikki Kerns was in the process of trying to win the high jump competition on Thursday when it was announced the 300-meter hurdles final heat was ready to begin.
The Altoona Area High School senior sprinted across the Mansion Park Stadium jumping area to the starting blocks for one of the most grueling races in track and field.
"As soon as I got there, they said, 'OK, get in your block,''' Kerns said. "I said, 'All right.'''
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Altoona’s Katelyn Goodman waits for her turn in the javelin.
Kerns proceeded to win the 300 hurdles without much competition and then went back and finished winning the high jump. A little later, she won her third event of the day, the 100 hurdles, to highlight area girls performances in the District 6 Class AAA Championships.
In addition to Kerns' three victories, Altoona junior Katelyn Goodman captured victories in the shot put and discus. State College won 11 of the 18 events to claim the team championship with Altoona finishing second and Hollidaysburg fourth.
Kerns and Goodman will now compete at the PIAA Championships next Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University, along with Altoona sophomore Abby Wagner, who finished second in the triple jump but bettered the state qualifying standard.
Kerns, sporting bruises on her right leg from hitting hurdles in practice, capped off a decorated district career for the Lady Lions. She became a three-time champion in the 300 hurdles, a two-time state qualifier in the 100 hurdles and a first-time champion in the high jump after placing second the last two years.
"I always get nervous for these meets, especially in the hurdles,'' Kerns said. "Anyone can fall. I try to focus on each individual final, and I just try to bring down times - nothing more than that.''
Although Kerns was relieved to win her three events, she wasn't too excited about her times and height. Her 300 hurdles time of 46.86 seconds was more than 1 second better than the second-place finisher but well above her seeded time and the times she ran at the last two district meets.
Kerns' 15.82 in the 100 hurdles was slower than the 15.08 she posted at districts last year when she finished second, and the 4-foot, 11-inch winning high jump mark was 4 inches below her best this season. She was forced to win the high jump in a jump-off with Hollidaysburg's Emily Gonsman.
"I don't know what happened, but something was not right today,'' Kerns said. "Hopefully, subconsciously, I was saving my best for states.''
Kerns finished out of the medal hunt the last two years at states, finishing 16th in the 300 hurdles both years. She said her goal this year will be to make the medal stand, which holds the top eight.
"I'll be very disappointed if I don't bring [a medal] back,'' Kerns said. "There will be no excuses.''
Goodman will be making her first trip to the state meet after competing in track and field for just two seasons.
She won the discus early in the day with a throw of 110 feet, 9 inches, which was nearly 2 inches off her best mark of the season but more than a whopping 25 feet better than her discus effort at last year's district meet.
"Spin,'' is what Goodman attributed to her rise in the discus competition. "Learning that changed everything for me,'' she said. "[AAHS throwing] coach [Rob] Veloz taught me everything I know.''
Goodman was seeded first in the discus and javelin. She didn't quite live up to her standard in the javelin, throwing 112-0 to finish third, but she came back to win the shot put, where she was seeded third.
Her winning throw in the shot put was a 33-10, which was a personal best. It came on her final throw of the meet.
"I got beat out in the javelin, but that's OK,'' Goodman said. "I was seeded third in the shot and threw my PR. It was exciting. I had won [the event] with my first throw in the finals [32-8], and I just wanted to get a higher seed at states on my final throw.''
As for her first competition in the state meet, she said she'll try to get in the 120s in the discus and 35 feet in the shot put.
"You have your good days and bad,'' Goodman said. "Hopefully, I'll have a good one there.''
Wagner will be making her second visit to the state meet after winning the long jump as a freshman last year. That experience was admittedly a little overwhelming to her, but it helped her stay focused this year.
"I knew the competition, and I knew I'd have trouble beating [Somerset junior Jayna Coyle],'' Wagner said. "I wanted to get the qualifying mark, and I wasn't scared like I was last year.''
Wagner qualified for states on her first triple jump, leaping 37 feet, 3 inches. She was eventually nosed out by Coyle, who sprung for a 37-3.5 distance.
"That first jump, I hit it, and I thought I'd be good from there,'' Wagner said. "I was hoping to do the same in the long jump, but ''
Wagner's best long jump was 16-8.5 after traveling 17-10.5 at last year's district meet.
"The last step, I was stretching out and not jumping as far as I usually do,'' she said. "I wouldn't shoot my feet out in the sand as usual, so I decided to drop them down, and I ended up with a 16-8.''
Wagner finished 28th in the long jump at states last year and plans on being more relaxed at next weekend's meet.
"I know there will be a lot of competition, but this year, having been there once before will help,'' Wagner said. "I'd like to get out to 38 [feet] and hopefully place.''
Meet notes: Coyle also won the long jump with a 17-9.5 State College swept all three relays, and the Mifflin County 3200 relay team qualified for states State College individual district champions included Niara Valentine (100 dash), Lauren Bonness (200 dash), Chandley Book (400 dash), Emma Cousins (800 run), Nora Adams (1600 run), Hannah Catalano (3200 run), Kimberly Lightner (javelin) and Molly Love (pole vault) The Cindy Gutzweiler Performance Awards presented by the Blair County Chapter of PIAA Track and Field Officials went to Kerns and Hollidaysburg's Alexis Preston, who finished third in the 800 run. Other area girls who placed in the top three were Hollidaysburg's Emily Ansley (third, 3200 run) and Altoona's Alexis Mirenda (second, javelin), Hannah Mulhern (second, pole vault) and Shannon Albright (third, 100 hurdles).
Key, team standings: 1, SC-State College, 241; 2, A-Altoona, 153.5; 3, MC-Mifflin County, 85.5; 4, H-Hollidaysburg, 61.5; 5, SM-Somerset, 51; 6, J-Johnstown, 44; 7, CM-Central Mountain, 35.5; 8, B-Bellefonte, 20.
100 dash: 1, Valentine, SC, 12.54; 2, Smith, J, 12.88; 3, Bonness, SC, 12.88; 4, Smothers, J, 12.93; 5, Hay, SC, 13.15; 6, Aungst, H, 13.26; 7, Walters, MC, 13.26; 8, Loht, MC, 13.49.
200 dash: 1, Bonness, SC, 26.18; 2, Walters, MC, 26.64; 3, Hay, SC, 26.77; 4, Toretti, SC, 26.85; 5, Smothers, J, 27.14; 6, McKee, SM, 27.22; 7, Aungst, H, 27.74; 8, Toner, CM, 27.95.
400 run: 1, Book, SC, 59.97; 2, Smith, J, 1:00.62; 3, Heckman, SM, 1:01.19; 4, Becker, MC, 1:01.51; 5, Pond, H, 1:01.53; 6, Loht, MC, 1:03.10; 7, Black, H, 1:03.23; 8, Campolongo, SC, 1:03.82.
800 run: 1, Cousins, SC, 2:16.95; 2, Crawford, SC, 2:21.01; 3, Preston, H, 2:21.14; 4, Long, MC, 2:21.37; 5, McNaughton, SC, 2:22.52; 6, Heckman, SM, 2:27.16; 7, Becker, MC, 2:30.29; 8, Walbridge, CM, 2:31.94.
1600 run: 1, Adams, SC, 5:17.73; 2, Grubb, SC, 5:20.89; 3, Matthews, SC, 5:26.71; 4, Snyder, SM, 5:27.27; 5, Lidwell, A, 5:29.25; 6, Strohecker, MC, 5:33.89; 7, Port, A, 5:38.28; 8, Pensyl, A, 5:44.16.
3200 run: 1, Catalano, SC, 11:52.06; 2, Balogh, SC, 11:53.75; 3, Ansley, H, 12:09.53; 4, Krieger, SC, 12:11.75; 5, Lidwell, A, 12:25.05; 6, Boatman, B, 12:29.45; 7, Rogers, J, 12:30.48; 8, Port, A, 12:33.12.
100 hurdles: 1, Kerns, A, 15.82; 2, Shawver, MC, 16.30; 3 Albright, A, 17.23; 4, Vonada, SC, 17.48; 5, Patterson, CM, 17.55; 6, Wylie, SC, 17.66; 7, Palfey, A, 18.09; 8, Muir, H, 21.91.
300 hurdles: 1, Kerns, A, 46.86; 2, Shawver, MC, 47.89; 3, Lake, MC, 47.95; 4, Randolph, SC, 48.05; 5, Albright, A, 48.57; 6, Patterson, CM, 49.49; 7, Fry, SC, 49.55; 8, B. Luciano, A, 50.01.
400 relay: 1, State College (Toretti, Hay, Bonness, Valentine), 48.98; 2, Mifflin County, 50.70; 3, Altoona, 51.05; 4, Hollidaysburg, 54.03; 5, Central Mountain, 1:03.12.
1600 relay: 1, State College (Toretti, Book, Cousins, Valentine), 4:00.92; 2, Mifflin County, 4:05.32; 3, Altoona, 4:07.47; 4, Hollidaysburg, 4:11.41; 5, Central Mountain, 4:20.57; 6, Johnstown, 4:29.10; 7, Bellefonte, 4:49.54.
3200 relay: 1, State College (Adams, McNaughton, Crawford, Cousins), 9:27.14; n 2, Mifflin County (Lake, Long, Peters, Strohecker), 9:34.58; 3, Hollidaysburg, 10:04.46; 4, Altoona, 10:06.85; 5, Central Mountain, 11:01.16; 6, Johnstown, 11:05.77.
High jump: 1, Kerns, A, 4-11; 2, Gonsman, H, 4-11; 3, (tie), Heggenstaller, CM, and Weston, A, 4-9; 5, Stollar, J, 4-9; 6, (tie), Robinson, SC, and Verica, SC, 4-7; 8, Mulhern, A, 4-7.
Long jump: 1, Coyle, SM, 17-9.5; 2, Wagner, A, 16-8; 3, Toner, CM, 16-8.5; 4, McKee, S, 15-10.75; 5, Muir, H, 15-10.25; 6, Altomare, SC, 15-9; 7, Lender, A, 15-7.25; 8, Robinson, SC, 15-2.75.
Triple jump: 1, Coyle, SM, 37-3.5; n 2, Wagner, A, 37-3; 3, Robinson, SC, 34-11; 4, McClemins, SM, 34-0.5; 5, McKee, SM, 34-0.25; 6, Parnell, H, 32-9.5; 7, Vaughan, SC, 32-9.5; 8, Altomare, SC, 32-4.
Shot put: 1, Goodman, A, 33-10; 2, Book, B, 32-5.5; 3, Rearick, MC, 30-7.25; 4, Marshall, SC, 30-5.25; 5, Laich, A, 30-3.25; 6, Smith, H, 29-5.25; 7, Hoffman, CM, 28-11.75; 8, Swanson, SC, 28-9.5.
Discus: 1, Goodman, A, 110-9; 2, Swanson, SC, 100-10; 3, Franks, B, 91-8; 4, Woolridge, SC, 90-5; 5, Marshall, SC, 90-2; 6, Wilson, J, 90-0; 7, Laich, A, 89-8; 8, Givler, H, 86-2.
Javelin: 1, Lightner, SC, 121-0; 2, Mirenda, A, 118-10; 3, Goodman, A, 112-0; 4, Irwin, SC, 105-1; 5, Pearce, MC, 104-11; 6, Hileman, A, 95-11; 7, King, SC, 94-0; 8, Barnes, CM, 90-1.
Pole vault: 1, Love, SC, 11-0; 2, Mulhern, A, 10-6; 3, Nese, SC, 9-6; 4, Minemyer, J, 9-0; 5, A. Luciano, A, 9-0; 6, Galanti, H, 9-0; 7, Baldessaro, A, 8-6; 8, Rogers, B, 8-0.
n - Met state qualifying standard
