SIGHTS FROM THE SIDELINES: FRIDAY'S 1-2 FINISH BY NTL JUMPERS A TRUE RARITY (2021-05-29)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
It wasn’t just a banner day for the NTL at the PIAA, Class AA Track and Field Championships on Friday, it was a historic one as well.

State titles are nothing new for the Northern Tier League, but how it came about certainly was. It’s uncommon enough to get two NTL athletes to compete at states in the same event, but to have them go 1-2 - and the way that they went first and second - is certainly a once in a generation, if not a once in a lifetime, event.

The NTL has seen two, or even more, athletes medal at states in the same event, but going top two is another beast all together.

And the high jump is a very persnickety event, it takes a jumper a strong attention to detail on a consistent basis to be successful. Be off an inch anywhere along the approach, jump off point, or going over the bar can be the difference between a state title, and going home empty handed.

The balletic nature of the event makes it very easy to have an off day, and it's not like other events where the jumper can just grit their teeth, and plug on. It takes other types of adjustments to be successful.

That’s why a lot of jumpers who hit the state qualifying height of 5-feet 2-inches a week ago failed to even get past 4-feet, 10-inches on Friday.

Yet, Towanda’s Porschia Bennett, and Williamson’s Charlize Slusser, were able to be at their best when they needed it the most. And their best proved to be head and shoulders above the rest of the state in Class AA. 

And the high jump is naturally high drama because, at some point, gravity wins, and the bar will get too high to clear. It’s as much a competition with the laws of physics as it is with a field of athletes. Everybody is the underdog, and they know, in the end, physics is going to win.

Each time it looked like they were going to go out - they found a way to defy physics again.

That’s what made the Friday morning jump off between Bennett, and Slusser, must watch TV for any NTL track and field fan. Or repeat viewing for anybody who got to see it the first time.

Because they may never see something like it again.

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The two NTL boys who medaled - Troy’s Dustin Hagin (5th in the high hurdles), and Wyalusing’s Kashawn Cameron (6th in the long jump) - probably felt they left a little bit out there when they were done.

Hagin’s state finals time of 15.46 was slower than his prelim time, and his time from the District IV Championships, when, in the finals there, he stumbled out of the blocks, but still ran 15.44 to make states.

If he ran his 15.22 that he put down at the semifinals at districts, that would have put him top three on Friday.

As for Cameron, his 21-feet, 4 1/4-inches is his shortest jump of the last three weeks - shorter than the 21-feet, 11-inches that won him a district title, or the 22-feet, 8 1/2-inches from NTLs that was the biggest jump in the state at the time. Both of those would have gotten him silver.

It’s a testament to their abilities that they can be less than their best, and still state medal. It’s also their first time at states, and, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, they didn’t go to any big invitationals that they would in a normal year. It’s those events that prepare them the best for states.

But now that they have gotten their feet wet, and have their hardware, they will be on the hunt for higher spots on the podium.

Only two other underclassmen above Cameron return in the long jump, meaning he will be on the short list for the state title favorites.

It will be tough for Hagin to get down to Southern Columbia’s Jake Rose’s state winning time of 14.10- that’s .1 away from the state record - but there’s no question that sub-15 is in his sites.

Either way, both of them have their motivation for next season.

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Williamson’s Owen Cummings may not have come away from Shippensburg with a state medal, but he did get valuable experience.

He was the only freshmen in the field, and was the highest placing District IV runner in the 1600. 

Since South Williamsport’s Port Habalar is graduating, that means Cummings will come into the 2022 season as the favorite in the mile - as a sophomore. 

The future looks bright for him.

NP-Mansfield’s Noah Shedden wasn’t even going to be in the 2-mile field originally, only making the cut after District IV’s second place finisher dropped out to focus on the 4x800 relay.

Shedden, though, made the most of it by besting his time from last week by five seconds.

It was a particularly senior heavy field, meaning there were just four underclassmen ahead of Shedden when all was said and done. That’s an awful lot of open space for the junior to try and fill up going into next season.

Wyalusing’s Grady Cobb didn’t have the best premier at states, but he soaked up a lot of valuable experience. Two of his jumps were easily over the bar, he just clipped them with his feet. 

It should help motivate him to get back to states next season alongside Cameron.

The Wellsboro 4x100 relay weren’t able to improve their time, but they kept the Hornet tradition of solid sprint teams going.

They return three of the four - Jack Poirier, Samuel Rudy, and Dillon Boyce - so their future is bright. As for senior Joe Grab, Shippensburg is a nice place to finish out your career.

The same holds true for Williamson’s Seth Neal and Athens’ Asher Ellis. Both likely had higher expectations for their final meet - Ellis was seeded seventh in the javelin - only a few athletes can say they were able to compete at the PIAA Championships, and now they’ve joined that group.