Easton Area High School girls win Lehigh Valley Conference track title; Nazareth repeats in boys

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/05/easton_area_high_school_girls_10.html FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES Speed is Easton Area High School's calling card in girls track and the Red Rovers used that card for all it was worth Wednesday in the Lehigh Valley Conference Championships. Easton has a deep stable of sprinters and coach Steve Powell utilized it to the highest degree as the Red Rovers rolled up 114 points to cruise to their 17th championship meet title. On the boys side, Nazareth overcame some adversity in the 400 meters and long jump to earn its second straight LVC title, the Blue Eagles rolling up 127 points to hold off Parkland (114) and Easton (89). Kenesha Brown, who never seems to be happy with her times, didn't deviate from that attitude Wednesday but she, nevertheless, was part of four championships, taking the 100 and 400 meters as an individual as well as being part of Easton's winning 400 and 1,600 relay teams. Damirah Graham, who won the 300 intermediate hurdles title on Tuesday, also figured in four wins by capturing the 100 high hurdles (15.67) and also taking part in the two relay victories. "My starts were good but the middle of my races I kind of fell off a bit," said Brown, who won the 100 in a fully-automatic 12.57 and the 400 in 57.95. "The 100 just isn't my race and in the 400, I just can't get under 57.8 (her personal best)." Graham anchored the 400 relay team that ran 49.09 with Savannah Buckley leading off, Brown taking the second leg and Kiana Farrar delivering the baton to Graham. Farrar later won the 200 in a career-best 25.83 seconds. Arielle Latourette led off the 1,600 relay team with Graham second, Farrar third and Brown anchoring. The Rovers' time was 3:57.71, the 10th-fastest time in Express-Times region history. "We had some outstanding performances, led by Damirah and Kenesha, and we got a surprise first (Tuesday) in the long jump by a girl who was seeded 11th (Nicole Pritchard)," Easton coach Steve Powell said. "That was huge and we got some other contributions in the field." In all, Easton totaled 62 points in the dashes, including the two relays. Nazareth's boys had to deal with a stunning development in the 400 when apparent winner Andrew Bridgeforth was disqualified for stepping on the outside line of lane 3 (he was in lane 4) three times in succession during the race. Teammate Tanner Lipsky (50.81) was awarded first place but the Eagles lost eight valuable points here. In the long jump, top-seeded Adam Bridgeforth, Andrew's twin, took one jump, fouled and felt a twinge in his hamstring. He did not take any other attempts, electing to save himself for next week's District 11 Championships. Adam Bridgeforth earlier took second to Bethlehem Catholic's Tyler Horton (14.68) in the boys 110 high hurdles and Andrew anchored Nazareth to a meet-clinching second place in the 1,600 relay behind Easton (3:27.62). Andrew also got revenge on an individual level, coming back to win the 200 title in 22.41 to edge Freedom's Julian Hill, who won the 100 crown earlier in 11.19. "I wasn't angry at the DQ but I was disappointed," Andrew Bridgeforth said. "That's the first time in my career I was ever disqualified in a race." Alex Wolfe of Easton won the 800 title in 1:57.79, closing strongly over the final 100 meters to beat Emmaus' Eric Jones by about 10 meters. Wolfe was also a part of the Easton 1,600 relay team along with Kevin Griffin, David Toribio and Brandon Scott, who anchored. Another Easton runner, freshman Colin Abert, enjoyed his first trip under the 4:30 barrier by winning the 1,600 in 4:27.20, seriously challenging the region all-time freshman record of 4:24.7 set by Southern Lehigh's Tim Erickson at the 1999 District 11 Class AAA Championships. The Liberty 400 relay team of Ehymer Ortiz, Adam Uliana, Devon Jones and Gerald Vital ran 43.43 and held off top-seeded Freedom for the win. The Hurricanes got another surprise first in the pole vault behind Jud Smull, who added six inches to his personal best by clearing 12-6. On the girls side, Liberty's Amy Darlington nipped Emmaus sophomore Hanna Brosky in the 1,600 in 5:05.11 for her fifth LVC track title. Teammate Gracie Hargrove won the shot put and discus, throwing 40 feet, 1 3/4 inches in the shot. That ranks No. 9 all-time in the region and Hargrove is the first girl to surpass the 40-foot barrier in the region in nine years. Liberty got another first in the high jump behind sophomore Casey Harewood. Harewood and Nazareth's Lindsey Stitzer, who was denied her third straight LVC title, and Jane Lukas all cleared 5-4 to match the meet record but Harewood was declared the winner on misses. Nazareth's Abby LaBar won the girls 800 in 2:20.88.