‘Nothing but joy’: How Bellefonte made history at PIAA Track and Field State Championships
Bellefonte junior Zane Hummel just wanted some chicken fingers.
The long-jump specialist stood in line at the concession stand Friday, after he thought he failed to advance in the long jump event at the 2024 PIAA Track and Field State Championships. But, because of a PIAA error, it turned out Hummel did actually advance — something he didn’t realize until a student-athlete from Tyrone hurriedly grabbed him in line and explained the situation.
Hummel sprinted back to the event, tossed on his gear and — as the No. 10 seed entering the long jump — somehow finished second to earn a silver medal in Class 2A. Hummel’s mark of 22 feet, 11.75 inches set a school record, proved to be the weekend’s top finish by a Centre County athlete and made Red Raiders history.
According to Bellefonte coach Seth Miller, Hummel’s medal was the first earned by the Bellefonte boys in at least 30 years. When asked what he would’ve said last week if told he’d finish second, Hummel admitted he didn’t dream this big.
“I wouldn’t have believed it at all; I was just hoping for a medal,” he said in a telephone interview. “When I saw that mark, nothing but joy came. I think I was more happy because it was a school record, and I was chasing that all year.”
None of Centre County’s student-athletes returned home from Shippensburg with gold Saturday night, but plenty still came back with hardware.
Bellefonte, Penns Valley and State College combined to medal in nine events Friday and Saturday in Class 2A and 3A. Those top-8 medals included Hummel’s runner-up finish, a bronze and two fourth-place medals.
Bald Eagle Area and St. Joseph’s also competed.
State College junior Jesse Myers fell short of lofty expectations — he won three state medals last year, including a gold — but still became the only county athlete over the weekend to medal in two individual events. He placed third in the 200-meter dash and fourth in the 100-meter dash.
“He knows there’s bigger things ahead,” Little Lions coach Artie Gilkes said. “He’s not going to forget that he came up a little short, but it says something when his ‘a little bit short’ is almost better than everyone else in the state.”
Here’s a closer look at how each Centre County team fared:
State College (Class 3A)
Medalists: Boys — Jesse Myers (3rd-200 dash; 4th-100 dash); Adam Bell (4th-pole vault); Nathan Haas (5th-javelin). Girls — Josie Younkin (5th-high jump); Alyssa Lipski (6th-discus)
Coming into states, State College coach Artie Gilkes felt the boys belonged among Class 3A’s five top programs — and the overall gold was there for the taking.
The Little Lions came up short in the end and tied for fifth out of more than 80 competing schools. (The girls finished tied for 33rd.) But Gilkes lauded his squad’s resilience.
“We had a couple injuries that took us out of this thing, but the team really pulled together the whole weekend,” he said. “We were never out of it until the very last event, which, as a coach at the scholastic level, it’s good seeing kids working together.”
Jesse Myers, a junior, paced State College with two medals — for finishing third and fourth, respectively — but it just wasn’t his meet. In the 100-meter dash, where he didn’t boast a great start, two other competitors both broke the 7-year-old PIAA record of 10.43 seconds. (Myers’ fourth-place time was 10.58.) Myers also didn’t have a great turn in the 200-meter dash, which hurt his third-place time of 21.60. And he didn’t make it out of preliminaries in the 400-meter dash.
“What’s the saying — the best athletes have short memories? Well, the best sprinters have even shorter memories,” Gilkes said. “He went home with his mom and had a smile on his face. ... He’ll bounce back like he always does.”
Other male medalists included junior Adam Bell (fourth place, pole vault) and Nathan Haas (fifth place, javelin). Bell reached a height of 15-0 in his first-ever appearance at states, while Haas registered a throw of 186-0.
Isaac Opppermann, a junior, didn’t medal. But he did better his personal record by about 10 seconds in the 3,200-meter run, with a time of 9:14.65. He finished 12th.
On the girls side, State College flashed both its youth and ability.
Only one senior (Chloe Poindexter) took part in an individual event, while seven non-seniors competed in non-relay events and will return next season. Among the returners will be sophomore Josie Younkin and freshman Alyssa Lipski, who both medaled over the weekend.
Younkin recorded a height of 5-5 in the high jump for fifth place, while Lipski tossed the discus 118-2 to finish sixth. Lipski was the lone freshman among the event’s 25 state qualifiers.
“When she wants something, she goes after it,” Gilkes said of Lipski. “I was having breakfast with her this morning, and I thought there was no way this girl wasn’t medaling. And she was so laid back about it. No nerves; just ice in her veins.”
Gilkes is optimistic about the girls next season.
“We think there’s a lot of potential for a very good team,” he added.
Bald Eagle Area (Class 2A)
Medalists: N/A
The Eagles boasted one overall competitor at states, in Kaiden Gates on the boys side.
The junior finished with a height of 6-0 in the high jump, and that tied him for 16th place among 24 participants. The event’s winner, North East’s Noah Crozier, had a height of 6-8.
Bellefonte (Class 2A/3A)
Medalists: Boys — Zane Hummel (2nd-long jump); 3,200-meter relay team (7th)
Because of a PIAA quirk, Bellefonte’s boys have competed in Class 2A the past two seasons while the girls have competed in Class 3A. Next season, the boys will return to Class 3A — so they made the most out this year’s opportunity.
Besides Hummel, Bellefonte’s 3,200-meter relay earned a seventh-place medal with a time of 8:08.79. Runners there included Caleb Vinnedge, Kaiden Williams, Grady Garrison and Alexander Crist.
The fact the Bellefonte boys earned medals in two events at states — the long jump and 3,200-meter relay — was labeled “huge” by the head coach.
“Things just fell into place for us,” coach Seth Miller said. “We hope it builds our program, to continue to grow and compete against State College and Altoona. ... We hope this gets the community and the school wanting to be a part of our program.”
The Bellefonte girls, who competed in the tougher Class 3A, didn’t return home Saturday with any medals. But Miller believed the future looked bright, with Bellefonte’s two female student-athletes at states both being underclassmen.
Althea Helms, a freshman, had a time of 58.25 in the 400-meter dash, while sophomore Victoria Schellenberg competed in the pole vault.
Miller praised Helms’ consistency and believed Schellenberg had the potential to boost her personal record about 17 inches to an even 12-foot.
Penns Valley (Class 2A)
Medalists: Girls — Abigail Stitzer (8th-800 run)
Two girls and one boy represented Penns Valley over the weekend, and one senior wouldn’t be denied a medal.
In her final appearance at states, Abigail Stitzer entered the 800-meter run as the No. 11 seed — but she left it with an eighth-place medal and a time of 2:18.05. That time bettered her seed time by 1.83 seconds.
Stitzer also competed in the 400-meter dash, where she did not medal. She was joined on the girls side by fellow senior Chamiqua Gentzel, who threw the javelin 111-5 and finished outside the top 10.
Greyson Kimler was the lone boy to compete for the Rams. He clocked a time of 41.37 in the 300-meter hurdles, missing out on the finals by about 1.52 seconds.
St. Joseph’s (Class 2A)
Medalists: N/A
Like BEA, St. Joseph’s had just one overall competitor — and that was senior Colin Simander.
The Wolfpack’s lone wolf finished with a respectable time of 2:02.58 in the 800-meter run. That kept him outside the top 8 by a little over 5 seconds.
