Inch by inch, Pine-Richland High School junior Ashley West keeps raising the bar.
After finishing second in the high jump at the WPIAL Class AAA Track Championships Thursday at Baldwin High School, she already was looking ahead to the state championships.
“I’m really looking forward to the whole experience of competing at the state meet,” she said. “I’m really excited to go up against a greater variety of competition from the whole state.”
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West cleared the bar at 5 feet 7 inches to finish behind India McCoy of Ambridge who went two inches higher.
Although she could barely clear the bar at five feet to start the season, West qualified for her first trip to the PIAA Track and Field Championships, which will be held May 27-28 at Shippensburg University.
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“Now, my goal (at states) is 5 feet 9 inches,” she said.
West also claimed a sixth-place medal in the long jump at 17 feet 3 inches.
Three other Pine-Richland athletes – including a pair of sophomores -- earned WPIAL medals for finishing among the top eight at the region’s premier individual track event. An enthusiastic crowd of more than 2,000 watched the action despite the threat of thunderstorms.
Rams senior Andy Borgen threw the javelin 171 feet 6 inches and placed fifth. He missed advancing to the PIAAs by one place in the final standings.
Although she also missed qualifying for the state meet by one place, Rams sophomore Lydia Sargent said she was satisfied with her fifth-place finish in the girls 100-meter hurdles in 15.94 seconds.
“I’ll have other chances,” she said.
Sargent said she tries to use her 5-foot-10 height as an advantage in the race.
“I’m tall, so I go high over the hurdles,” she said with a laugh.
In the 1,600-meter run, Pine-Richland sophomore Thomas Reinhart finished sixth in 4:29.07, which was about five seconds off the state qualifying mark. Reinhart, who held onto second during the third lap of the race, pushed many of the more experienced runners.
“I left it all out on the track,” Reinhart said. “I had a great bunch of guys to run against, and it was a great race.”