JV’s Hopsicker hoping to catch fire at the right time

Mirror photo by Michael Boytim
Juniata Valley’s Maddie Hopsicker finishes first, ahead of the pack, during the running of the 100-meter dash.

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

LOYSBURG — Juniata Valley senior sprinter Maddie Hopsicker won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes Monday at the Inter-County Conference championships held at Panther Community Stadium.

Hopsicker is hoping the championships help her gain some momentum going into the final high school meets of her career.

“I have been really consistent with my times,” Hopsicker said. “I have started getting in the 26s in the 200. But I really want to start getting sub-13s in the 100. It usually does bring the best out of me going up against the better competition. I’m hoping to get that, but I have raced against a few of the people I’ll see earlier in the season, and I haven’t done well against them. But in the moment, having states on the line, I hope it helps me.”

Hopsicker has Wednesday’s Juniata Valley Invitational before the District 6 championships next week where she’ll face stiff competition from Portage’s Cami Burkett and Tyrone’s Rebecca Lewis, among others.

Hopsicker was happy with her times Monday despite less-than-perfect conditions.

“The first one, it was really muggy and hot but moist,” said Hopsicker in a pouring rain after winning the 200. “Now it’s really wet.”

Hopsicker, who advanced to the PIAA meet as one of three District 6 runners, plus those that reached the qualifying standard, last year, won the 100 dash in 13.23 and the 200 dash in 26.76.

Hopsicker’s Juniata Valley teammate Bryce Weirich won the pole vault by clearing 12 feet in a driving rain after he won the same event at the Altoona Mountain Lion Classic on Friday.

Northern Bedford’s Bella Gable snapped out of a recent slump by winning the shot put with a throw of 31 feet, 1 inch.

“I was really excited, because I haven’t been having a good run recently,” Gable said. “All of my throws have been under 30 for the past few weeks. When I got the throw, it was like, ‘finally.’”

Gable, who was selected as the meet’s girls Outstanding Thrower Performer, credited an adjustment in technique.

“My coach told me to be as aggressive as possible,” Gable said. “I had to remember to keep my feet on the ground and not stand up as soon as I threw it.”

The Northern Bedford sophomore now has a bigger goal in her sights with the District 5 meet looming.

“I want to win,” Gable said. “I probably need 33 or 34 feet. There’s a girl from Bedford that is above me by a foot. That’s my competition for districts.”

Another Lady Panther with her eye on the District 5 meet is distance runner Savanna Hershberger, who won the 1600-meter run in 5:45.65. She was second in the 800 in 2:36.43 just behind Southern Fulton’s Mia Hiller in 2:36.32.

“Today, I felt good, but I raced in a meet Saturday at Carlisle, and I hit a PR there,” Hersherberger said. “I have had back-to-back meets for a couple weeks, so I’m a little bit tired. But I felt good. I felt strong and got out there and did what I needed to do.”

Hershberger is hoping once she’s rested she can better her personal best next week against good competition.

“It gives me way more confidence that I can get my times down,” Hershberger said. “In our district, this year for the mile, is stacked. I’m really looking forward to that mile, because I understand that’s probably going to be qualifying time for states.”

Berlin Brothersvalley won the girls team championship in its first year in the conference, 124-87, over closest competitor Southern Huntingdon, and Meyersdale won a thrilling boys team race with the help of senior Tristan Ohler’s sprint down the stretch in the 1600 relay in the final track event of the day, 126-122, over Everett.

Ohler also broke the meet record in winning both the 100 (10.90) and 200 dashes (22.37) and was named the track ICC Outstanding Performer. Mount Union’s Bryson Hetz won Outstanding Thrower for capturing the javelin title.

Cailyn Skopic, of Mount Union, won both hurdles and the high jump and was picked as the girls Outstanding Track Performer.

Sara and Noah Shaffer of Everett both won ICC Outstanding Jumper Performer in girls and boys competition.

BOYS

TEAM RESULTS (KEY)

1, Meyersdale (MD) 126; 2, Everett (E) 122; 3, Windber (W) 96; 4, Southern Huntingdon (SH) 46; 5, Berlin Brothersvalley (BB) 37; 6, Northern Bedford (NB) 31; 7, Mount Union (MU) 27; 8, McConnellsburg (M) 24; 9, West Branch (WB) 23; 10, Juniata Valley (JV) 12; 11, Tussey Mountain (TM) 8; 12, Williamsburg (WL) 4; 13, Southern Fulton (SF) 2.

INDIVIDUAL

100 dash: *1, Ohler, MD, 10.90; 2, Gunby, E, 11.26; 3, Glessner, BB, 11.49; 4, Suber, BB, 11.71; 5, Gillis, TM, 11.75; 6, Marx, W, 11.89. 200 dash: *1, Ohler, MD, 22.37; 2, Gunby, E, 22.81; 3, Glessner, BB, 23.95; 4, Marx, W, 24.05; 5, Suber, BB, 24.1; 6, Carr, WB, 24.64. 400 dash: 1, Winck, E, 51.42; 2, Hersch, MD, 52.52; 3, Carr, WB, 53.11; 4, Schoffstall, E, 54.14; 5, Johnson, M, 54.66; 6, Coffman, TM, 54.88. 800 run: 1, Erwin, SH, 2:03.53; 2, Mills, E, 2:05.73; 3, Page, W, 2:11.65; 4, Ross, WL, 2:11.66; 5, Jefferson, M, 2:13.02; 6, Brown, WB, 2:14.8. 1600 run: 1, McKelvey, W, 4:43.85; 2, Page, W, 4:58.29; 3, Miller, NB, 5:00.73; 4, Fletcher, M, 5:07.01; 5, Donitzen, MD, 5:10.78; 6, Loner, MU, 5:20.02. 3200 run: 1, McKelvey, W, 10:30.74; 2, Miller, NB, 11:14.79; 3, Fletcher, M, 11:23.16; 4, Donitzen, MD, 11:23.59; 5, Dusack, W, 11:55.92; 6, Loner, MU, 12:20.86. 110 hurdles: 1, Winck, E, 15.88; 2, Hersch, MD, 16.62; 3, Dran, MD, 16.88; 4, Calhoun, E, 17.32; 5, Minahan, W, 17.63; 6, Clouse, NB, 18.36. 300 hurdles: 1, Hersch, MD, 42.33; 2, Dran, MD, 43.15; 3, Calhoun, E, 43.95; 4, Grissinger, SH, 44.85; 5, Mellott, SF, 44.96; 6, Ripple, MU, 45.31.

400 relay: 1, Meyersdale (Easton, Hay, Hersch, Ohler), 44.98; 2, Everett, 45.58; 3, Berlin Brothersvalley, 45.67; 4, Tussey Mountain, 46.76; 5, Southern Huntingdon, 47.81; 6, Juniata Valley, 49.08. 1600 relay: 1, Meyersdale (Hay, Hersch, Easton, Ohler), 3:31.06; 2, Everett, 3:31.75; 3, West Branch, 3:46.45; 4, Berlin Brothersvalley, 3:48.29; 5, Southern Huntingdon, 3:51.17; 6, Windber, 3:53.75. 3200 relay: 1, Windber (Page, Dusack, Barkley, McKelvey), 8:45.81; 2, West Branch, 8:47.87; 3, Everett, 9:01.3; 4, Southern Huntingdon, 9:06.93; 5, McConnellsburg, 9:11.17; 6, Meyersdale, 9:13.71. High jump: 1, Brenneman, MD, 6-2; 2, Twombly, BB, 5-8; 3, Pittman, NB, 5-8; 4, Wojcik, NB, 5-8; T-5, Bell, E, 5-6; T-5, Synowietz, MD, 5-6; T-5, Alexander, WB, 5-6. Long jump: 1, Shaffer, E, 19-3.75; 2, Klosky, W, 19-3.5; 3, Shaulis, W, 19-0; 4, Wojcik, NB, 18-2.5; 5, Rice, SH, 17-10.75; 6, Synowietz, MD, 17-7,5. Triple jump: 1, Shaffer, E, 41-5.25; 2, Klosky, W, 39-10.25; 3, Moore, E, 38-3.75; 4, Rice, SH, 38-1; 5, Shaulis, W, 39-0.25; 6, Hersch, MD, 37-5.5. Shot put: 1, Richards, W, 43-0.25; 2, McKenzie, MD, 41-5; 3, Sechrist, MU, 41-1; 4, Rice, SH, 39-10.5; 5, Mobus, E, 38-8.75; 6, Brambley, E, 37-9. Discus: 1, Sechrist, MU, 115-6; 2, Mellott, M, 105-3; 3, Rice, SH, 105-0; 4, Synowietz, MD, 104-10; 5, Brambley, E, 101-10; 6, Conner, TM, 101-3. Javelin: 1, Hetz, MD, 146-3; 2, McFadden, SH, 141-3; 3, Barkley, W, 140-4; 4, Shaffer, E, 140-0; 5, Betcher, W, 135-3; 6, Norris, JV, 134-8. Pole vault: 1, Weirich, JV, 12-0; 2, Rose, MU, 12-0; 3, Sherwood, E, 11-0; 4, Hersch, MD, 10-6; 5, Foor, NB, 10-0; 6, Montgomery, BB, 10-0.

GIRLS

TEAM RESULTS (KEY)

1, Berlin Brothersvalley (BB) 124; 2, Southern Huntingdon (SH) 87; 3, Juniata Valley (JV) 60; 4, Everett (E) 50; 5, Windber (W) 45; 6, Northern Bedford (NB) 43; 7, Mount Union (MU) 30; 8, Meyersdale (MD) 27.5; 9, McConnellsburg (M) 25; T-10, Southern Fulton (SF) 18; T-10 West Branch (WB) 18; 12, Tussey Mountain (TM) 14.5; 13, Fannett-Metal (FM) 13.

INDIVIDUAL

100 dash: 1, Hopsicker, JV, 13.23; 2, Harper, SH, 13.73; 3, Bozovich, BB, 13.84; 4, Shaffer, E, 13.9; 5, Foor, E, 13.96; 6, Glessner, BB, 14.05. 200 dash: 1, Hopsicker, JV, 26.76; 2, Bozovich, BB, 28.19; 3, Harper, SH, 28.22; 4, Sechler, BB, 28.86; 5, Peck, M, 28.9; 6, Foor, E, 29.04. 400 dash: 1, Bozovich, BB, 1:01.45; 2, Hiller, SF, 1:04.57; 3, Ogburn, BB, 1:04.62; 4, Brady, W, 1:06.39; 5, Gelvin, M, 1:06.59; 6, Peck, M, 1:06.72. 800 run: 1, Hiller, SF, 2:36.32; 2, Hershberger, NB, 2:36.43; 3, Hasenbuhler, FM, 2:38.82; 4, Keebaugh, E, 2:40.66; 5, Decewicz, W, 2:40.94; 6, Miller, BB, 2:45.62. 1600 run: 1, Hershberger, NB, 5:45.65; 2, Sneath, JV, 5:57.5; 3, Comfort, MD, 6:08.51; 4, Miller, BB, 6:13.94; 5, Russo, W, 6:18.1; 6, Oyler, W, 6:19.76. 3200 run: 1, Comfort, MD, 13:14.77; 2, Russo, W, 13:31.36; 3, Sneath, JV, 13:42.58; 4, Oyler, W, 14:16.11; 5, Yeatts, NB, 14:18.41; 6, Snyder, M, 14:19.68. 100 hurdles: 1, Skopic, MU, 16.06; ; 2, Williams, TM, 17.37; 3, Ickes, BB, 17.38; 4, Barnett, SH, 17.58; 5, Hill, W, 17.77; 6, Fairman, BB, 18.14. 300 hurdles: 1, Skopic, MU, 50.0; 2, Glessner, BB, 51.97; 3, Hawbaker, SH, 52.66; 4, Foor, BB, 52.81; 5, Walz, W, 52.86; 6, Hersch, MD, 53.13.

400 relay: 1, Berlin Brothersvalley (Fairman, Glessner, Ickes, Sechler), 52.69; 2, Southern Huntingdon, 53.58; 3, Everett, 55.32; 4, Meyersdale, 57.02. 1600 relay: 1, Berlin Brothersvalley (Ogburn, Sechler, Foor, Bozovich), 4:28.39; 2, Southern Huntingdon, 4:30.66; 3, McConnellsburg, 4:41.53; 4, Windber, 4:41.9; 5, Juniata Valley, 4:48.16; 6, Northern Bedford, 4:49.74. 3200 relay: 1, Windber (Decewicz, Oyler, Russo, Carney), 10:44.21; 2, Southern Huntingdon, 10:56.92; 3, Juniata Valley, 11:01.9; 4, Northern Bedford, 11:47.17; 5, Meyersdale, 12:35.12; 6, Berlin Brothersvalley, 13:06.66. High jump: 1, Skopic, MU, 5-2; T-2, Hasenbuhler, FM, 4-8; T-2, Fairman, BB, 4-8; 4, Detterline, NB, 4-6; 5, Edwards, W, 4-6; T-6, Knopsnyder, MD, 4-4; T-6, Williams, TM, 4-4. Long jump: 1, Shaffer, E, 16-1.5; 2, Manyara, JV, 14-10; 3, Glessner, BB, 14-7.75; 4, Hopsicker, JV, 14-7.75; 5, Sunderland, SH, 14-6.5; 6, Fairman, BB, 14-3.5. Triple jump: 1, Shaffer, E, 33-4.25; 2, Ickes, BB, 31-11.75; 3, Manyara, JV, 31-11.25; 4, Baker, NB, 30-5.75; 5, Sechler, BB, 30-4; 6, Iseminger, E, 29-8. Shot put: 1, Gable, NB, 31-1; 2, Price, SH, 30-4.5; 3, Walker, BB, 26-11; 4, Stevanus, MD, 26-6; 5, Iseminger, E, 25-4.5; 6, Birkhimer, W, 25-2. Discus: 1, Lane, SH, 92-0; 2, Holloway, SH, 89-11; 3, Shearer, M, 82-0; 4, Fisher, BB, 77-10; 5, Price, SH, 76-0; 6, Strait, M, 74-10. Javelin: 1, Croyle, WB, 103-4; 2, Hebel, WB, 95-3; 3, Richards, E, 88-8; 4, Keebaugh, E, 82-11; 5, Guyer, M, 82-3; 6, Shearer, M, 75-11. Pole vault: 1, Glessner, BB, 9-4.25; 2, Herrington, SH, 8-0; 3, Sumner, TM, 7-6; T-4, Edwards, W, 7-0; T-4, Strait, M, 7-0; 6, Barnett, SH, 7-0.

*Meet record