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SHIPPENSBURG -- Dealing with a broken nose and facing competition more experienced and accomplished than herself, all Bermudian Springs pole vaulter Georgia Williams had to fall back on was the power of positive thinking.
One of four vaulters -- all from the YAIAA -- to propel herself over the 10-foot, 3-inch barrier during the Class AA competition of Friday's District 3 track and field championships, Williams took a deep breath and attempted to clear 10-9 for the first time outside of practice.
"The whole time I just thought, 'Vertical, vertical, vertical,'" Williams said. "I just tried my best to not think about missing it."
The sophomore made the personal-best vault on her first try to earn the district championship at
Williams and Hanover's Lindsay Kopenhaver were the only athletes to clear the height, and neither of them managed to fly over the 11-1 barrier in the next round. Because Kopenhaver needed two vaults to clear 10-9, Williams picked up the gold medal.
Hanover's Cassandra Wallen and Bermudian Springs' Krystal Baker were the other two vaulters to clear 10-3 and earn a berth in next week's PIAA meet along with Williams and Kopenhaver.
Williams broke her nose during last week's YAIAA meet when her knees slammed into her face during a bad landing. She did not have the nose set because it would keep her from vaulting, so she pushed that appointment back until after the state meet.
It was a painful decision -- the sophomore hit her nose again on her third vault -- but one that allowed her to get the gold. She even came close to clearing 11-1 on her third attempt, which would have set a new district record.
"I thought I had it, but I hit it when I was coming down," Williams said of her last vault. "My butt or something hit it."
Getting back at states for the second straight season, Williams has a clear goal in mind.
"Everyone else that I know, all my friends, they've all jumped 11," Williams said. "I want to jump 11. I want to. I definitely want to make it there, or even higher. That would be nice."
Early faults don't faze Arey: York County Tech's Renee Arey was only a few inches away from missing the finals of the Class AAA javelin competition.
The junior, who won last week's YAIAA competition with a throw of 123 feet, 7 inches, faulted during her first two attempts and sent her last throw dangerously close to the right boundary line.
"I wasn't sure," Arey said of the toss. "I was just hoping it was going to be in."
It did, and landed 127-11 from the starting point for the longest throw of the day at that point.
Arey stepped it up even further in the final round, throwing a personal best 130-2 to take the gold medal. Top-seeded Brittany Harlacker of Red Lion finished third with a toss of 122-4 to earn a berth in the PIAA meet along with Arey.
"I was pretty confident I was going to be one of the top three," Arey said. "But to get first was pretty amazing."
Jenkins saves it up: When New Oxford's Jordan Jenkins finished second in the Class AAA 3,200-meters, she had no idea what her time was and whether she was even close to beating her personal best.
And she didn't really care.
"It was about qualifying for states and saving myself for (today) -- the 1,600," Jenkins said. "I'm going to try to get as close to five-flat as I can."
The junior's time of 10 minutes, 57.14 seconds in the 3,200 easily earned her a spot in next weekend's PIAA meet, but was 4.6 seconds
slower than her personal best. Jenkins was not concerned.
"States is the main focus," Jenkins said.
Leonard also qualifies: William Penn junior Micah Leonard recorded a season-best distance in the triple jump, taking fourth place with a leap of 36-8 and clearing the state qualifying threshold by two inches.
smclernon@ydr.com; 771-2045
