PG East: Area throwers are good as gold, led by Hempfield throwers
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. -- The Hempfield High School throwing contingent had a dominant performance at the PIAA track and field championships this past weekend at Shippensburg University.
Senior Weston Banks, a Louisville recruit, earned the double, grabbing gold medals in the boys' Class AAA shot put (63 feet, 2 1/2 inches) and the discus (180-5).
With the double, Banks finds himself in elite company, becoming just the fifth WPIAL representative to earn gold in both.
Banks joins a list that includes Centerville's Bob Worrell in 1956, John Harchar from Thomas Jefferson (1973), Mark White of Upper St. Clair (1985) and John Halli of Kiski Area (1991).
When Banks jumped off the medals stand, it was news to him that he had earned a spot in a select club.
"I had no idea that very few people had done it," Banks said. "Regardless of that, even not knowing about it, I had a goal to get both as a personal goal."
Banks' success would have been enough to make Hempfield throwing coach Dave Murray proud, but another athlete, junior Kim Kanala, sparkled as well.
She captured the girls' Class AAA discus title with an effort of 149-9, a personal best. Kanala fouled on her first throw, but bounced back to earn the title.
That victory complemented a second-place finish in shot put competition at 42-6.
Jeannette hurdler shines
Jeannette junior Nick Spino turned in a personal-best time -- and has a silver medal to show for it.
Spino finished in 14.96 seconds in the Class AA 110-meter hurdles to place second. He was edged out by Corry's Zach Dow.
There wasn't much pressure on Spino, who entered the finals as pretty much an unknown.
"I just ran the finals to have fun because, at that point, I knew I would get some kind of medal," Spino said. "I kind of felt like no one expected me to do anything in the finals because I was the sixth-ranked person."
Spino even exceeded his own expectations.
"To be honest, no I didn't expect myself to get second place," he said. "I have to say that I think I might have come out of nowhere to a lot of people and, I'll admit it, I kind of surprised myself a little bit too."
Spino, who also plays football and basketball at Jeannette, is quite an athlete: Is he gaining any ground on Jeannette phenom Terrelle Pryor in being considered the top junior athlete at Jeannette?
"Uh, no," Spino said with a laugh. "I had a good spring, but I don't think I've bounced in front of Terrelle. He does things that are unbelievable."
Staying up front
Penn-Trafford senior distance specialist Diana Filtz secured third place in the girls' Class AAA 1,600 meters, rolling to a time of 4:56.44, less than a second slower than second-place finisher Sarah Morrison of Chambersburg. The field ran into a juggernaut, as Shippensburg junior Neely Spence turned in a 4:50.98 in a runaway win.
Nonetheless, a third-place finish was something Filtz, a Richmond recruit, was extremely happy with.
"I knew I would have to run under five minutes to get a medal," she said. "I was just trying to run the best I could and just hang with the leaders and then sprint the last lap. Overall, yes, I thought I ran a pretty good race and I'm happy with third."
Kiski Area pair fares well
Kiski Area had representatives in the top 13. Junior Lauren Butler earned sixth place with a 130-8 and senior Leah Ulizio captured 13th with a 121-1 effort.
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