Three Indians Advance to District Track Meet

            Tyrese Reid reached the medal stand in three events at last weekend's 

Chalmers Stroup throws the javelin during a regular season dual meet, Stroup qualified for this weekend's District One Class AA meet during the Pioneer Athletic Conference championships, held May 11-12 at Pope John Paul II.

Pioneer Athletic Conference track and field championship meet. The Upper Perkiomen sophomore reached his goal in the 200 meter dash, finishing third at Pope John Paul II and qualifying for this weekend's District One Class AA championships at Coatesville High School.

            "It was exactly what I expected," he said.

            Reid also finished third in the 100 meter dash and second on the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 4 inches.

            Cameron Junk and Chalmers Stroup each performed well enough to advance to this week's district meet. Junk, a senior, finished fifth in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:59.33. Stroup, a junior thrower, added a silver medal in the javelin with a throw of 166 feet 5 inches. He added an eighth place finish in the discus (114 feet), but fell short of the district qualifying distance.

            The 4x800 relay team of Dylan Simms, Cody Schwenk, Jon Trzaska and Ethan Trzaska ended up in seventh place. Evan Hanney and Hunter Flack finished second and third, respectively in the pole vault.

On the girls side, Kayleigh Durning reached the finals in three events. She finished in third place in the 100 meter hurdles (16.43 seconds) and fourth in the 300 meter hurdles (49.15 seconds).

Durning teamed with Kyra Trauger, Jess Schaut and Abrianna Gato to finish sixth in the 4x100 meter relay (52.85 seconds).

            "The team did great," Junk said. "There were several personal bests."

            Reid, who had already qualified for districts in the 100 and the long jump, focused on the 200 meter dash last weekend. He said the performance of Norristown's Austin Montgomery helped motivate him qualify.

            "The competition in the race made me run faster," he said.

            According to Reid, excelling at all three events might be a physical challenge since the semifinals and the finals in the 200 and the long jump are both scheduled for Saturday.

            "Doing both on the same day would be a lot for me," he said. "I want to experience everything."

            Junk said he wasn't sure he would reach the qualifying time at the end 800 meter final. He surprised himself by exceeding the goal.

            "I was a little concerned I was not going to get it," he said. "It was so close. But with my hard work, I was able to do it. The coaches were there for me."

Stroup, who qualified for districts in the javelin on his penultimate throw, thrived under the pressure of hoping to move on, according to throwing coach Meredith Rinehart.

            "We all screamed," Rinehart said. "We were waiting for that throw all season. That's exactly where we knew he could be all season. Chalmers knew it was now or never. You could tell he was really trying. I don't know that he did anything differently, but he gave a little bit more of everything."