Tyler Cox - PSAC Men's Indoor Track & Field Champion Scholar

Tyler Cox is making Mom & Dad proud, ........ and Hempfield Track & Field!  Tyler, Hempfield 2010 graduate and running for Lock Haven and excelling in academics.  Check out the article:

Tyler Cox named PSAC Men's Indoor Track & Field Champion Scholar

And what does Tyler's coack at Lock Haven say:

“Tyler has always impressed me with his ability to balance a rigorous honors course load in a very difficult health science major with the demands of being a collegiate athlete,” said Russell.  “Despite all that he has on his plate, he always shows up to practice with a smile on his face and lifts everyone around him with his positive attitude.”

Tyler is having a great career at Lock Haven.  His 4 x 800 relay finished 4th this weekend in the PSAC indoor championships!  The Hempfield Track & Field program has had many outstanding young athletes, and Tyler is a fine example for future Hempfield Track & Field athletes!!

Hempfield High School Track at State Indoor Meet

The high school indoor season is over and we have one week to the outdoor season begins!  Let's look at the State Indoor Meet Results!

First, it is an honor to even get to the state indoor competition!  It is NOT easy to qualify!

Second, here are all The State Indoor Meet Results.

Here are the Hempfield Results.

For the girls, having one athlete in an event is great, two is AWESOME!  Dani Poletti & Kayla Garpstas are two very talented pole vaulters & probably the best 1-2 punch ever at Hempfield.  I'm sure Fellenbaum & Lundy and Ressler & Poletti(Dani's older sis) would argue!  Dani finished 8th with a 11' jump and Kayla 12th with a 10'6" jump!

For the boys, our highest finish was Devon Santos, 8th in the 60 hurdles.  Devon should have a great outdoor season & challenge the Hempfield records in the 110H & 300H!  Devon also should add depth to the relays!!! And Devon is now the school record holder in the 60H at 8.21, move over Kori Meshaw!

Tory Long was 18th in the 200m.  Tory had a great season last year and this year should be one of the best sprinters in the League!!  And as Devon, add his talent to the sprint relays!  Another school record of 22.71 and that is better than Justin Kiscadden, who had a great career at Hempfield!

The strength of the Boys team this year should be the sprints & the 4 x 200 m relay shows that at the state indoor meet - Santos - Long - Koenig - Zeamer placed 24th.  This group of sprinters should have successful run in the 400 relay and 1600 relay!!

Adam Karl finished 18th in the high jump, but had a great indoor season!  He is now the school record holder in the high jump at 6'4"!  See you later Zach Nolan!

The high school season starts on Monday, March 4th - "The Tradition Continues!"

Great Day for Hempfield Athletes at MAC Championships

Glad I (and my loyal wife) took the trip!  It was a long day, but the three Hempfield athletes had great day of competition!!  Let start with the Weight Throw & Eric Solomon!

Ever since Eric was in high school he loved the Weight Throw, problem was - we do not throw the weight in high school!  We have discus, shot, & javelin, but NO weight throw!  In college, Eric is shining!  Here is what was said about Eric's weekend at the school website:

Junior Eric Solomon (Columbia, PA) made an immediate impact by winning the weight throw with a meet-record-toss of 17.91 meters, one year after ending second.  That is tied for the 16th longest throw in the country this season.

Eric throwing the weight!!!

That is "first place", "meet record toss", and "16th best in the country (division 3)!!!  Great day for Eric!

Pole Vault, Rachel Poletti, Messiah.  Rachel, a junior at Messiah, had a great afternoon!  Rachel had her highest finish of her career for Messiah at the MAC Championships - a SIXTH place finish!  Rachel is still ranked number six all time in Hempfield History among lady pole vaulters!

Rachel her senior year at Hempfield!

Melissa Fellenbaum had an awesome day - GLAD I was there to see it!!  She WON the pole vault competition!  Set a new MAC Championship Meet Record - 3.82 meters or 12'6", and is ranked 3rd nationally in the women's division 3 pole vault!  WHAT A DAY!!!

From the Alvernia University website:

Bethlehem, Pa. (Feb. 23, 2013) - Senior Melissa Fellenbaum (Mount Joy, Pa./Hempfield) won the Middle Atlantic Conference Pole Vault title for the second straight time at the at the Indoor Track and Field MAC Championships held at Lehigh University on Saturday.  With Fellenbaum's jump of 3.82m she not only took gold, but also set a new meet-record in the process.  The second place finisher in the Pole Vault came in at 3.15m.  Last season, Fellenbaum took the 2012 indoor title with a jump of 3.50m.

Melissa had an outstanding career at Hempfield!  Until last year, she had the school record, at one time had the PIAA District 3 record, & now has the Alvernia School Record!  Wow! Good luck Melissa at Nationals next week in Illinois!!!

Headed to MAC Championships at Lehigh University

Will be headed to Lehigh University to see the MAC Championships today.  The Hempfield Grads I will see will be:

Melissa Fellenbaum, ranked 1st in the pole vault
Rachel Poletti, Messiah pole vault
Eric Solomon, weight throw

Here is the MAC Championship website information

Hempfield participants:

Eric, Melissa & Rachel!!

GO HEMPFIELD COLLEGE TRACK & FIELD ATHLETES!!!!

Hempfield Grad Matthew Groff Having Great Season at University of Richmond

Hempfield Track & Field has had a great tradition of distance runners! Matthew Groff, has continued his running success at the University of Richmond!  Check out his times at:

Mattthew Groff - University of Richmond Statistics

Matt is the top runner in the 800, 100, & mile!!!

Matthew is very busy all year at the University of Richmond, besides Indoor Track, Matthew also runs Cross Country in the fall and Track in the spring!  At the A10 Championships, Matthew ran 4th for the team and finished in 25:46.  

This week in the A10 Indoor Championships, Matthew placed 6th in the mile with a time of 4:19.54.

Eric Solomon(Widener University) Weight Throw Video!

A Weight Throw is a unique event!  For most people, it is an event that needs a little coaching!

First how about a picture!

Want to purchase one - look at the Gill Catalog for the Weight Implement

The idea is to throw this as far as possible and the weight is between 20-35 pounds!!!!!!!  I think the men's college weight is 35 pounds (ladies 20?)!  How about the technique - let's take a look at Eric!

Ready to give it a try?  OK. duct tape 2-3 bowling balls together, cut the handle off one of your wife's or girl friends purse & tape that on and let it rip!!!  Good luck!

Check out Eric in The MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships this Saturday, February 23 at Lehigh University!

Akers Makes it to Big East Finals in the 500 Meters!

Check out the video of Hansel Akers 500 Meter Trial.  In this heat he qualified for the finals!

Hansel's Qualifying Heat Video(You need to scroll to the video with the time - 3:00.19

Here is the Finals of the 500 meters, scheduled for Sunday.  Hansel seeded 7th!

 1 Christopher Giesting      SO NOTRE DAME           I 1:02.53Q
  2 Brycen Spratling          JR PITTSBURGH           I 1:03.00Q
  3 Samuel Ellison            JR VILLANOVA            I 1:02.61Q
  4 Alexander Reber           FR VILLANOVA            I 1:04.17Q
  5 Charles Ross              JR PITTSBURGH           I 1:04.06q
  6 Chris Whyte               SR CONNECTICUT          I 1:04.60q
  7 Hansel Akers              JR GEORGETOWN           I 1:04.63q
  8 Kyle Chou                 SR VILLANOVA            I 1:04.76q
  9 Marcus Motill             FR LOUISVILLE           I 1:04.78 
 10 Ryun Holder               FR GEORGETOWN           I 1:04.95 
 11 Justin Doehr              FR CONNECTICUT            1:05.33 
 12 Corey Caidenhead          JR RUTGERS                1:07.47