L-L League track and field: Schneider, Howard combine for 4 golds, 3 meet records

LANDISVILLE – Cedar Crest placed third in the girls’ team standings at the Lancaster-Lebanon League track and field championships on Saturday afternoon, carried to that high standing with a combined four gold medals and three meet records by sophomores Eliana Schneider and Kaddel Howard.

Schneider here, there and everywhere…

Schneider had to keep moving fast on Saturday, and not just when she was in the midst of a race. She was called upon all over the Hempfield stadium complex.

Schneider started her day by winning the javelin with a meet-record and career-best 153 feet, 1 inch on her first attempt. But that competition was simultaneous to another one of her events, the high jump.

“A lot of it is, if I do well at one event, I’m very good at carrying it over into the next one,” Schneider said of her success on a busy day.

Schneider clinched the gold in the high jump when she cleared 5-4 on her second attempt, and ultimately cleared 5-6 on her third try. She made it past 4-10 and 5-0 on her first tries, then cleared 5-2 on her second attempt.

Her day was scarcely done, though. The moment Schneider stepped off the medal stand with her high jump gold medal, it was time to limber up for the 800-meter run. She placed third with a 2:17.64, just behind second-place teammate Lizzie Lowe, who had a 2:17.55. Running against a teammate in a battle for silver and bronze felt familiar, but not particularly different from running against an athlete from another school.

“Running with Lizzie, we have good competitions and good energy when we’re together,” Schneider said.

While she was being interviewed following the 800-medal presentation, Schneider discovered she would be inserted into the 4x400 relay team for the Falcons, where she teamed up with the day’s other big performer, Howard.

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…Meanwhile, Howard is over there (well ahead of everyone)

Howard set two meet records of her own, and getting those standards was the only drama in the 200 and 400 races.

In the 400, she finished with a 53.64, well ahead of second-place Jianna Long of Ephrata’s 56.24. In fact, she was well ahead of the previous record, a 56.15 by Leah Graybill in 2019.

“I just run for time, so when I come around that 300-meter mark, I look at the timer, and that’s my motivation,” Howard said.

The 200 was only closer because it was shorter. Howard still dominated the field with a 24.27, bettering the old mark by Kamyah Wright last year by .25 seconds.

It was no surprise to see Howard back on the track for the final leg of the final girls’ event, the 4x400 relay. Schneider, who helped keep the Falcons in the middle of the pack, handed the baton to her, and Howard caught up to all but two runners: the anchor runners from Conestoga Valley and Warwick. However, Warwick was disqualified, so Howard’s effort, and the combined 4:03.11, earned Cedar Crest a silver medal.

Whigham and Haas, back-to-back, back-to-back

Apart from Cedar Crest, the only Lebanon County girls' gold medalist was Lebanon’s Zariyah Whigham, who leapt a 38-2 ¼ in Friday night’s triple jump session. Elco’s Makenna Haas was second with a 37-6 ½.

They repeated that act, sort of, in Saturday’s long jump. Though they were not at the top of the medal stand, they were right next to each other in the standings again. Whigham was third with an 18-0 ¼, and Haas was fourth with a 17-8 ¼.

Annville-Cleona teamwork

Annville-Cleona was the only Lebanon County team to medal in all three relays. Their 4x100 team of Miracle Hershey, Jada Morales, Sophia Caporaletti and Kendall Cooper placed fourth with a 49.33. The same four, though in a different order, were also eighth in the 4x400 with a 4:13.15. The 4x800 quartet of Megan Brophy, Addison Sanchez, Emily Maag and Mackenzie Stellmach posted a 10:10.59 for eighth place.

Long day for A-C's Moran

In the first event of the morning, A-C entered the 4x800 relay seeded fifth, and looked to be doing well when the Dutchmen were sitting in third entering the last lap of the race. But anchor runner David Moran rushed ahead of Conestoga Valley and McCaskey with 200 meters to go to take a gold medal. Landon Hostetter, Matt Clemson and Oliver Funck ran the first three legs for A-C, which finished with an 8:08.15.

Moran also nabbed a silver medal in the 800, crossing the finish line at 1:57.46. He was just a stride behind Manheim Township’s Cole Stevens, who had a 1:57.27.

Though he came away with a gold and a silver medal, Moran had mixed feelings by the end of the day.

“I didn’t do what I meant to do today,” Moran said. “I wanted to come out with a 55 [in the first 400] and I didn’t do that. But second place is pretty good since I didn’t run the 800 last year. I was hoping to use this week to propel myself into districts and states.”

More relays stepping up

Cedar Crest also out-performed its seeding considerably. The Falcons were eighth coming in, but placed fourth with an 8:18.50. Ben Causak, Jack Williams, Jake Perhonitch and Zachary Margut combined for that time.

The Falcons also did a bit better than expected in the 4x100 relay, though they were given a bit of outside help. Cedar Crest placed second with a 43.48, behind Conestoga Valley’s 43.28. It had appeared that McCaskey won the race, but the Red Tornado was disqualified. Leo Tirado, Jeremiah Santiago, Cameron Tirado and Shade Rahman ran for the Falcons.

The Lebanon 4x400 relay team of Jalik Hill, Owen Kreider, Tyler Long and Ramon Urena Batista placed fifth with a 3:31.26. This was about an hour after Hill was third in the 200 with a 22.61, which in turn followed a fourth-place finish in the 400 with a 50.98.

Crest throws itself into competition

The Falcons made an impact in the throws all weekend, starting with Dylan Groff’s victory in the javelin on Friday night. Sitting in second behind Conestoga Valley’s Aidan Zimmerman entering the last round, Groff popped a 180-6 to claim the gold medal.

There were no more golds for the Falcons on Saturday, but they were commonly visiting the medal stand. Also medaling were Tristan Long and Alex Kissinger, who were fourth and fifth in the shot. Long jumped over his teammate on his last attempt of finals with a 48-11 ¼. Kissinger had a 48-10 ½. Kissinger added an eighth-place finish in the discus with a 129-8.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: L-L League track and field championships: Cedar Crest girls strike gold