by Tom Utescher

Area runners brought a number of medals home from State College, Pa. on February 28, when Penn State University hosted the 2016 Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association Indoor Championships.

Silver medals went to Springside Chestnut Hill sprinter Brooklynn Broadwater (400 meters), Germantown Academy distance ace Abbe Goldstein (one mile), and a boys’ and a girls’ relay team from Germantown Friends. Goldstein was also a bronze medalist in the 3000 meters, and Broadwater was part of the third-place 4 x 400 relay for SCH.

The state meets in outdoor track separate competitors into a number of different divisions, but at the PTFCA event includes athletes from the largest public schools down to the smallest independents.

Broadwater, a senior who has signed with the University of Tennessee, went into the meet as the defending state champion in the 200 meters, and the two-time defending champ in the 400. After she suffered a hamstring injury during the 2015 outdoor season and had recurring problems, it was decided that she would not run events shorter than 200 meters this year.

She led through much of the 400 meter race two weekends ago, but was passed near the finish by North Penn High School junior Uche Nwogwugwu, who won in 55.01 seconds. At 55:09, Broadwater took second ahead of Penn Wood High School’s Agnes Mansaray (55.40). SCH sophomore Allie Kitchell, who experienced some hamstring troubles of her own in 2015, was sixth in the race, in 57.62.

Kitchell and Broadwater ran the lead-off leg and the anchor leg, respectively, in the Blue Devils’ 4 x 400 relay. With sophomore Haley Unthank at number two and freshman Olabisi Adams at number three in the middle of the order, SCH finished third in three minutes, 57.63 seconds.

The state champion quartet from Penn Wood (3:52.35) included junior Terri Turner, who ran at SCH as a freshman and sophomore and was part of the Blue Devils’ winning 4 x 400 a year ago. Norristown High was second this year, in 3:53.98.

GA’s Goldstein, still a junior, is a three-time Inter-Ac League cross country champion who only took up competitive indoor track this year.

Formerly a swimmer in the wintertime, she made an impressive indoor debut this season, and at States she doubled up in two tough events, the mile and the 3000.

Running the mile in 4:56.66, she finished a close second to Friends Central sophomore Gabby Wilkinson, who took gold in 4:55.15. They were followed by two athletes from PIAA District 1 high school powerhouses; Unionville’s Anna Jull was third (5:00.54) and Pennsbury’s Olivia Sargent was fourth (5:01.11).

Later on, Goldstein became the bronze medalist in the 3000 meters (9:57.73), behind Erin Feeney from Scranton Prep (9:48.91) and Aislinn Devlin of Downingtown West (9:52.93). Another GA runner, senior Maggie Hallahan, was fifth in the race in 10:06.48. Hallahan had been fighting through an injury, but still was able to register a new PR by almost 14 seconds.

On the boys’ side, GA sophomore Kyle Garland missed the finals in the 60-meter hurdles by one place, but was able to take sixth in the high jump at 6’4”. Williamsport’s Qayyim Ali was the gold medalist with a leap of 6’6”, which also happens to be Garland’s PR. Penn Charter junior Akeem Blake was 10th in the event, clearing a 6’2” bar.

Springside Chestnut Hill captured a bronze medal in the 4 x 400 Relay thanks to (from left) senior Brooklynn Broadwater, freshman Olabisi Adams, and sophomores Haley Unthank and Allie Kitchell. Broadwater was the silver medalist in the 400 meter dash.

As usual, Germantown Friends put together a formidable boys distance medley relay team, and at Penn State the Tigers’ time of 10:26.23 was surpassed only by Cardinal O’Hara (10:24.52), which is consistently a force in the PIAA.

Senior Grayson Hepp led off for the silver medalists and then passed the baton to junior Eli Schwemler, a Norwood Fontbonne Academy graduate. After senior Gordon Goldstein performed the third segment of the race, junior Nick Dahl ran 4:17.7 on the 1600-meter anchor leg.

Silver was also earned by the girls’ 4 x 200 team for the Tigers. Sophomore twins Portia and Teasha McKoy began and finished the race, while sophomore Taryn Barrett was second in the order and senior Eliza MacNeal was third. Teasha McKoy brought it home for GFS with a 26.3 split and the team’s time was 1:47.38, a new school record in the event.

Central High won in 1:46.84, and Upper Darby was a close third in 1:47.46.

The Tigers’ Hepp and Dahl ran in the 4 x 800 relay, switching their roles from the DMR as Dahl led off this time and Hepp anchored. Dahl gave GFS a strong start by covering the first two laps in 1:55.7, and the middle legs were run by junior Jonnie Plass and sophomore Colin Riley. The Tigers finished fourth here, with a strong field pushing them to a new school record time of 7:52.95. The hometown team from State College High School won in 7:48.29.