Rebounding from a poor 2005 PIAA state championship in which, Emily Ingle ran a time that served only as a training factor for this year. On Saturday at Seth Grove Stadium on Shippensburg University, Ingle served notice that the past was forgotten and that 2006 was the season for celebration.
Ingle, a Tyrone senior, who is a three-sport star, participating also in cross country and basketball, collected a gold medal in the 1600 meter race, finishing in 4:57.43, a full 2.5 seconds in front of her nearest challenger and over eight seconds better than the rest of the field.
“Man, that was exciting, unbelievable!” was Tyrone track and field coach Tony Yaniello’s initial comment. “She made a good choice to do only the 1600, but I believe that with her conditioning, she could have run the 800 and still won the 1600. Emily did everything right. Her God-given talent, training regimen, a rough schedule, coaches and the intangibles that nobody can teach all came together at the right time.
Emily, who coach Yaniello informed is in the top 96 percent of 1600 runners in the entire nation, led the race on Saturday from wire to wire and wasn’t really even pushed, yet still won easily and was just a little over four seconds away from the state record.
“We are so proud of her,” said Yaniello. “It was scary, she led from the start and didn’t even have anybody push her. With no indoor track season, like the kids from the big schools like the Philadelphia area, it is really tough to be a state champ. I believe Emily is the first girls from Tyrone Area High School to win a gold medal in any kind of sports competition. Although for the rest of the state, it seemed like she came out of nowhere this year, it certainly was no surprise to us that Emily was so dominating.”
Dominating the local area all season long, Ingle seemed to set records every time she ran over the later portion of the season, stringing together a new record in every invitational and the district meet. She also won the 800 meter race in the District 6 meet, but chose to put all her efforts in the 1600, a move which paid off with gold at the PIAA meet.
Joining her senior teammate, junior Liz Tepsic also claimed a PIAA medal. Liz finished sixth in the triple jump with a combined jump of 36-0 1/2. Tepsic’s jump tied her with Erinn McMahon of St. Basil’s, but the Lady Eagle was awarded the sixth place medal because her second-best jump of 35-5 1/2 was further than McMahon’s. The winning jump was also a personal best for Tepsic, who also was active in the 100 intermediate hurdles on Saturday, but was eliminated in the semifinals as she was competing in the triple jump. Her time of 16.09, was eighth in her heat, not qualifying her for the finals.
“We are also very proud of Liz Tepsic and her accomplishment in winning a state medal as a junior,” said Yaniello. “I believe Liz is the top returner for next year, all the girls in front of her were seniors. We are excited about what she can do, especially if she is able to follow Emily’s example.”
Bellwood-Antis sophomore Ben Hatch also brought home a medal with a seventh place finish in the boys 800 meter race. Hatch, who was just short of a school record in the preliminary heat on Friday, set a new Blue Devil mark with his time of 1:56.63 in the finals.
“Ben has been focused all year, he got a sour taste in his mouth from his performance at states last year as a freshman,” said Bellwood-Antis boys coach Nick Lovrich. “He really wanted to improve. He bettered his time each day at Shippensburg and broke the school record formerly held by Brad Wertz. To be spoken of with Brad Wertz, is quite an honor. Wertz had held all three distance records at Bellwood-Antis, and now Ben has this one. Ben is really proud of his accomplishment.”
Bellwood-Antis senior Tony DelGrosso finished one place away from a medal, with a ninth place finish in the boys discus with a throw of 144-8.
B-A junior Brandon Humphreys and Tyrone senior Trey Brockett finished out of medal status in the triple jump. Brockett, who was the second seed coming into the state meet, was 16th with a combined total of 20-6, while Humphreys was 21th with a total of 19-6.
