Just a jog in the park for McMichael
Ringgold’s Kirsten McMichael wasn’t worried about her performance at yesterday’s Scott Frederick Mid-Mon Track and Field Classic.
Six months removed from a stress fracture in her left fibula and only a week after suffering through severe calf tightness, McMichael viewed yesterday’s event at Ringgold High School as a glorified practice.
So much for planning ahead.
McMichael surprised her coach, her team and even herself by winning individual titles in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, both in meet-record times, and helping the victorious 3,200 relay team set meet and school records en route to a team title for the Rams.
McMichael ran 5:38.52 in the 1,600; 12:15 in the 3,200; and teamed with Janika Hutton, Jamie Klebanski and Nicole Wills in the 3,200 relay.
“With the way my calf has been feeling, (Monday) was supposed to be a chance to get some extra work,” said McMichael, who also finished second in the 800. “It turned out to be a little better than I thought.”
McMichael learned at the end of October that she had been running what was likely the bulk of the cross country season with a stress fracture, mistakenly treating it as tendonitis.
The three months of rest were brutal for McMichael, who has been running since she was 8. “I hated being out,” McMichael said. Here’s proof: On the first day she was allowed to run outside, there was six inches of snow on the track. McMichael ran anyway. Her mile time – around 10 minutes – doubled what she normally runs.
“It made me appreciate being able to compete a lot more,” McMichael said.
McMichael began experiencing sporadic calf tightness this spring, the result of other muscles being weakened by her time away.
The worst came at the Washington-Greene County Coaches Championships on April 23, when McMichael, overcome by pain, finished third in both the mile and two-mile races.
“She couldn’t get the drive in her legs,” said Jennifer Lejeune-McMichael, Kirsten’s mom and Ringgold’s track and field coach. “At the county meet, you could see her form breaking down.”
Jennifer took Kirsten to the UPMC Sports Medicine Center in Pittsburgh, and the McMichaels got a set of exercises to strengthen Kirsten’s stabilizer muscles: her quads, ankles and hip flexors. The program has had some effect, Kirsten said, but Monday’s performance wasn’t anywhere close to expected.
“I was hoping to do well either way, but the way things were going, I didn’t want to make it too big of a deal; I want to get healthy,” McMichael said. “But once we got the 4×800 record, I knew it was going to be a good day.”
Yesterday’s Carmichaels-at-California Section 1-A baseball game will resume today with one out in the top of the third inning and the Mikes ahead, 1-0. It was suspended Monday after a 17-minute delay because of rain at Cal’s Malden Yards.
Colton Henry led off the top of the third with a ground-rule double to right and moved to third when a ball got away from California catcher Jake Columbus. One batter later, Henry scored on Justin Newman’s suicide squeeze after Columbus slipped on the mud trying to field it.
Brian Fisher threw 32 pitches for California (5-2, 11-4), and Brandon Lawless threw 25 for Carmichaels (7-0, 10-2).
The game will resume with a 3-0 count on Carmichaels leadoff hitter Josh Mundell.
With seven starters gone from last year’s team, Bentworth baseball coach Dion Jasante didn’t know what he was going to get this season.
That held true, too, with the Bearcats committing as many as 11 errors in a game, but Bentworth has quickly improved, winning six straight to nullify a 2-3 start.
“Losing seven starters, you’re not sure how things are going to go,” Jasante said. “Plus, playing Class AA baseball for the first time in about 15 years, you’re not sure how you’re going to stack up. I don’t know if we were intimidated or what.
“We didn’t get on our field much at all because of the weather. I know everybody else had that, but I think we needed to get out there and get some work in. Once they got comfortable and realized routine plays aren’t that difficult, things started working for us.”
Bentworth (7-3 in Section 2-AA, 8-3 overall) has benefited from the pitching combination of Jake Rothka and Adam Bell, a dup that has combined for seven of the team’s eight wins and 42 of the Bearcats’ 55 strikeouts.
Outfielder Ben Carlisle is tied with Wood for the team lead in batting average at .500 and has stolen 17 bases. Bell (.429) is tied with Wood for the team lead in doubles (six) and Justin Wiltrout for tops in RBI (12).
Canon-McMillan guard Brett Haney, an Observer-Reporter All-District selection for boys basketball, will continue his career at Penn State-Behrend. Haney averaged 16.9 points per game last season, eighth-most in Class AAAA. He shot 78 percent (103-for-132) from the free-throw line and 33 percent (51-for-153) from three-point range for the Big Macs, who advanced to the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs out of Section 5.