Hempfield’s Bannon races to PIAA silver medal in hurdles
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Saturday, May 25, 2019 | 6:53 PM
Hempfield’s Jared Bannon runs the PIAA Class AAA 110-meter hurdles final.
Hempfield’s Mackenna Orie competes in the girls Class AAA discus finals.
Greensburg Salem’s Malia Anderson (left) competes in the girls Class AAA 800 meter run final during the PIAA track and field state championships Saturday, May 25, 2019, at Shippensburg University.
Waynesburg’s Daniel Layton wins the boys Class AA 110 meter hurdles final during the PIAA track and field state championships Saturday, May 25, 2019, at Shippensburg University.
Waynesburg’s Daniel Layton wins the boys Class AA 110 meter hurdles final during the PIAA track and field state championships Saturday, May 25, 2019, at Shippensburg University.
SHIPPENSBURG — Two races in a short time might have cost Hempfield senior Jared Bannon a gold medal Saturday at the PIAA Class AAA track and field championships.
Bannon ran the 200-meter semifinals at 11:45 a.m. at Seth Grove Stadium.
A half hour later, he ran in the 110 hurdles final.
“I trained all season for it,” Bannon said. “It was a quick turnaround, and my legs were spent. But that’s no excuse.”
Bannon finished second with a time of 14.85 seconds, his slowest at the two-day event. He ran a 14.45 in Friday’s preliminaries and a 14.63 in Saturday’s semifinals. He ran a 14.11 at the WPIAL finals.
“It was a sloppy race,” Bannon said, “my sloppiest of the season, but I can’t get it back. It is what it is. The winner got off to a good start, and I hit hurdles trying to make up the difference. The mindset is probably what affected me the most.”
Central Dauphin East senior Emanuel Niang won in 14.28.
“Even though I came up a little short, I’m still happy,” Bannon said. “Getting silver is not that bad. I wanted to win gold, but I gave it my all.”
Bannon said he will decide his future college this upcoming week. Seton Hill and Duquesne are his top choices.
Orie earns silver
The goal for Hempfield senior Mackenna Orie this weekend was to win a gold medal in the Class AAA shot put or discus or both.
Things didn’t go as planned.
The DePaul commit settled for a bronze medal in Friday’s shot put and silver Saturday in the discus.
Going into the discus finals, Orie’s top throw of 142 feet was leading, but Council Rock South sophomore Siniru Iheoma hit consecutive throws of more than 149 feet to win the event. Iheoma’s winning throw was 149-9.
“It wasn’t my worst meet of the season,” Orie said. “The girl hit a big throw, and I didn’t.
“Overall, it was a good a season. I hit some good marks, and now I’m looking forward to college.”
Orie admitted she probably put too much pressure on herself.
“It didn’t help in my favor,” she said. “I did have fun in the discus.”
Mayo places fourth
Hempfield senior Gavin Mayo said he will be back in the pool Monday, but Saturday was memorable.
That’s because he finished fourth in the Class AAA long jump with a leap of 22-3¼. He bested WPIAL champion Brendan O’Malley of Baldwin, who finished 11th.
“I’m pleased,” Mayo, a North Carolina swim recruit, said. “It wasn’t my best jump, but I’ll take it. No one jumped their best.”
Mayo will swim at North Carolina.
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: Greensburg Salem, Hempfield
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