California’s Qualk wins PIAA long jump title in comeback fashion
SHIPPENSBURG – California senior Lee Qualk sat in fourth place after the preliminary round of the PIAA Class 2A long jump.
That’s when the skies opened up.
Heavy rain made conditions less than favorable for posting a better jump, but that didn’t deter Qualk.
He shook off the rain drops to put together a historic final attempt.
Qualk went 22-10½ on his final jump to win the Class 2A long jump title Friday at the PIAA track and field championships Friday at Shippensburg’s Seth Grove Stadium.
Qualk, a senior, was an inch and a quarter better than the second place jump and became the first California boys athlete to win a PIAA track and field championship.
He’s the second overall joining Kaylin Clancy, who won a girls title in shot put.
“I knew going in there was only one other person to ever finish first from Cal and I wanted to be the second one and the first boy,” Qualk said. “That was my goal coming in. To take home gold.”
Fort Cherry’s Sophia Holmes (fourth, girls javelin) and Jonah Pfender (fourth, boys shot put) and California’s Ella Neil (eighth, girls high jump) earned medals in their respective Class 2A events.
South Fayette’s Jenson Gregorich placed seventh in the Class 3A boys pole vault.
Several other local athletes qualified out of preliminary races to make Saturday’s finals on the track.
Heavy rain came through as the long jump finals were getting underway and Qualk said he struggled through his first two attempts, but the third time was the charm.
“With my last jump I kind of relaxed and said ‘whatever happens, happens’,” Qualk said. “The other two jumps in the rain I had pushed too much, and they weren’t as good as I could’ve been. When I saw (the final jump) was 22-10, I jumped up in the air and started celebrating, because that’s exactly what I wanted to see.”
Throwers on Friday dealt with breezy conditions.
Pfender set a WPIAL record and won the discus title last week, but couldn’t quite replicate it at states, but did pick up his first PIAA medal in the event and second overall.
“The wind definitely played a factor today, but I’m proud of my throws today,” Pfender said. “You can’t have a massive PR like I had last week, every week. Coming out of last year and not making the final (in discus) I’m pretty happy with how I performed.”
Pfender will go for gold in shot put Saturday.
Holmes, a junior, earned her first state medal. Her best throw was 119-10.
“Medaling is great, but I was hoping to PR as well, but it didn’t work out,” Holmes said. “I threw 119 today and 127 last week. I tried to wait on (the wind) a few times, but it just kept coming. It affected a lot of people though.”
Neil, a senior, cleared 5-2 in her second attempt, which guaranteed herself her second consecutive state medal. She finished fifth last year.
“I’m overwhelmed with joy just getting to be here last time,” Neil said. “It’s such a competitive field. I’ve been with my high jump friends here for the last three years and it’s bittersweet that this chapter is coming to a close, but I’m going on to compete in college (at Washington & Jefferson).”
Gergorich cleared 13-6 on his first try on the pole vault but ran into trouble at 14 feet, missing on all three attempts. Only six participants cleared 14 feet, so Gregorich was scored seventh.
One of the biggest surprises of the day was Fort Cherry boys 400 relay not making the final after winning the 2A state title last year.
The Rangers were winning going into the final leg of their heat race, but Shane Cornali and Matt Sieg passed the baton outside of the designated exchange zone, which triggered a disqualification.
“Before the race even started the wind was blowing like crazy,” Cornali said. “My tape blew away and I had to get some other tape from a guy on the side. Matt’s tape blew away too and our timing got a little screwed up. We were running a great race. It sucks that it had to end like that.”
Another surprise, but in a positive way, was Beth-Center’s Deakyn DeHoet.
DeHoet was seeded 28th out of 32 entrants in the 2A boys 100 dash, but he outperformed that by finishing second in the first heat with a time of 11.14. That put him at sixth fastest overall, which qualified him for Saturday’s final.
South Fayette’s Delaney Schumaker won WPIAL titles in the 3A 100 and 300 hurdles and will race for the state title in both events. Schumaker won her heat in the 100 and was the third fastest overall in prelims and eighth in the 300.
Canon-McMillan’s Aaron Taylor made the 3A boys 110 and 300 hurdle finals. He was second fastest in both prelims. He won the WPIAL 300 title.
Burgettstown’s Peyton Mermon made the 2A girls 400 final by finishing sixth in prelims.