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C-M teams, Trinity girls knocked off track

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IRWIN – It came down to the final event of this 4½-hour track meet.

Pole vault, of course.

Canon-McMillan didn’t reach the heights Norwin did and had its dual meet season end in the semifinals of the WPIAL Class AAA Track Team Tournament on a raw, rainy Tuesday afternoon at Norwin High School.

The Big Macs needed a sweep of the pole vault, a tall order considering Norwin’s strength in the event.

The Knights got enough height, tying Canon-McMillan for first place and securing a 78-72 victory in this girls quad meet.

Norwin also came away with a win in the boys meet, so both teams advance to the team finals, which will be held Monday at Baldwin.

The Trinity girls team also had its dual meet season end, dropping two of the three meets in the quad and finishing in third place, a spot ahead of Franklin Regional.

Like Canon-McMillan, Trinity will compete in Friday’s Pine-Richland Invitational before prepping for the WPIAL Championships May 18 at Baldwin High School.

“You have to give Norwin credit,” said Big Macs head coach Mark Galley. “They moved some people around and got some more points. I thought our girls stepped up and competed well. Every point was important.”

While the pole vault was C-M’s last opportunity to advance, it was a bizarre situation in the 1,600-meter relay that actually drove the spike through Canon-McMillan’s chances and handed the Big Macs their first loss in 11 meets.

Heading to the exchange zone for the final handoff, Canon-McMillan and Norwin were nearly in identical positions battling for the lead. Lexi Abbott made a clean exchange with Tamara Mathis in Lane 1 at nearly the same time Norwin did in Lane 2.

But Norwin’s runner crossed into Lane 1 on the turn and knocked Mathis off stride.

“I got the baton and she cut in in front of me,” said Mathis. “I tripped and I couldn’t catch up to her at the end. I was in full speed. When she cut in front, I had to slow up. We thought we could win that race. I didn’t have anything left (down the stretch).”

No foul was called and Mathis had to expel energy to get back in front. That didn’t come until the final turn but the lead was short-lived. A burst of speed by the Norwin runner gave her a first-place finish by 1.04 seconds and the five team points that went with it.

Had the result gone the other way, Canon-McMillan would have won the meet by four points instead of losing by six.

“It had a little affect but her final time was pretty much what she does,” said Galley. “It’s like 60 seconds. So she ended up running the time she usually does.

“The hard part was because it was on a relay handoff. When that handoff is made, there is always all kinds of chaos going on (during the exchanges). Lots of times, when they call interference, it’s usually the one handing it off not the person who is getting it. It even looked like she was off the track for a while. The officials were watching every move. They were standing there watching it.”

Mathis, a sophomore with great potential, won the 400 with a time of 1:00.99 and anchored the 400 relay team that crossed first in 51.03.

Canon-Macs’ Chyna Beck won the triple jump (34-10), Stephanie Keelon the 3,200 (12:18.38) and Maddie Germeyer the discus (112-2). Trinity’s Jamie Handra won the high jump (5-7½).

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