The beginning of the 2018 spring track and field season has had a familiar feeling for Tierra Hooker.
The
Timber Creek sophomore, best known for her performances in the high jump, has mirrored her first three outings from her freshman year. In two years worth of appearances in the Penn Relays, Rowan University Open and now the Camden County Championships, Tierra has cleared respective heights of 5-7.25, 5-8 and 5-6 in those meets the past two years.
Her latest performance lifted her to the second-straight gold medal at the Camden County Championships, clearing 5-6 and almost hitting the 5-8 mark for the second time this season.
Yet despite the similarities in height compared to her freshman season, Tierra knows that the consistency that was missing last year is there.
“I feel way better this year," Tierra said. "Last year, I was hitting 5-2 or 5-4, I’d hit 5-6 or 5-8 the next week and then I’d go back down to that 5-2, 5-4 again. I’m not going down as much this year, I’ve been more consistent this year.”
Tierra, who also placed first in the 100m hurdles in 14.93 and second in the long jump with a 17-3 leap, has found inspiration in competition with another jumper/hurdler in
Winslow's
Tionna Tobias. The duo usually clash with the two teams appearing in many of the same meets with both athletes usually at the front of the pack.
That friendly competition has been to the benefit of both, especially Saturday. Tobias secured the top spot in the long jump at 18-5.75 and followed Tiera in both the high jump (5-2) and 100m hurdles (15.07) with second-place finishes.
“When I’m running with Tionna, she always beats me or I’ll get too nervous and I’ll false start. I just wanted to have a clear mind and PR in the hurdles," Tierra said. "It definitely pushes me. Last year and during the indoor season she would always beat me by just a little bit. So I’ve been working on my starts, it wasn’t good at all today but since she was ahead of me it really pushed me to try and get past her.”
PANTHERS POUNCE ON SMALL SCHOOL TITLECollingswood and
Haddonfield duked it out for the Camden County small school title with Collingswood taking the slight edge for the championship, 107-106.
Emily Wallace was the lone Panther to earn an event victory, doing so in the 100m dash with a time of 12.94. But the depth and talent of Collingswood shined bright Saturday with a total of six second-place finishes and three events with multiple top-four finishers. Precious Ayeni and Deriana Bryant showcased that in the throwing events as the duo went 2-3 in the shot put with respective throws of 36-2.25 and 31-5.25. Ayeni also claimed second in the long jump with a 15-4.5 leap with earning third in the discus with a 99-8 performance.
Dash Cruz earned a pair of top-three finishes, claiming second in the 400m dash at 1:08.78 and earning bronze in the 200m dash with a time of 27.02. Quinn Basewitzand Mackenzie Wilhelm teamed up in the 3200m to collect 12 points with Basewitz placing second in 11:36.40 with Wilhelm earning fourth off a 12:29.23 run.
Jaaliyah Evans medaled in two events as well, clearing 5-0 in the high jump to place second and leaping to a 31-6.25 outing in the triple jump for third.
Collingswood clinched the meet in a fast 4x400m relay. Wallace, Cruz,
Taylor Perkowski and
Samantha Hamrick raced to a fast 4:01.98 to place second, edging Haddonfield who took third place. The Panthers would have set the meet record, set by the 2015 Haddonfield team in 4:03.18, had it not been for
Camden Catholic's crew that clocked in at 4:00.82.
PAUL VI PREVAILS IN LARGE SCHOOL DIVISIONPaul VI butted heads with state power Winslow and came out on top, edging their fellow Eagles 103-98. Carly Schimdt, Gabriella Babore and Aliya Rae Garozzo each earned three individual medals over the course of the meet. Schmidt placed second in the pole vault after clearing 9-6 and earned third place in the 400m hurdles in 1:04.42. She also led the way for Paul VI in the 100m hurdles, clocking in at 15.44.
Garozzo claimed 10 points in the 400m hurdles, winning the race in 1:03.36 and following Schmidt in the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.73. She also claimed fourth place in the 400m dash, crossing the line in 58.52.
Babore left her mark on the jumps, medaling in all three jumping events. Her top performance came in the triple jump where she won the event with a 33-9 leap. She placed third in the long jump off a 15-9.5 showing and fifth in the high jump as she cleared 4-10, behind teammate Kambi Walker who also cleared 4-10 for third place.
The 4x400m relay team claimed the top spot in the large school race in 3:56.49 while Julia Bruno earned silver in the 800m race with a time of 2:23.69 and Bridget Lyons claimed third with an 11:34.14 3200m run.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE GIRLS CAMDEN COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS• The 1600m winners had little issue claiming the top spots in their respective divisions.
Sterling's
Madison Coppolino had the fastest time of the day in 5:09.46 to win the large school race while
Bishop Eustace's
Katy Storti crossed the finish line in 5:13.95, over 12 seconds faster than the next finisher, to take gold in the small school run.
•
Eastern's
Jewel Ash won a race filled with talent in the 400m dash large school run. Ash claimed first in 57.0 with the Winslow pair of
Shakira Dancy and
Flora Ahiarakwe running respective times of 58.0 and 58.25.
•
Nia Holden threw down a huge 800m time on her home track. The
Haddon Township junior ran under 2:20 for the first time, racing to a win in the large school event in 2:16.29. Her previous best was 2:21.61 that she ran at last season's AAU Junior Olympic Games.
•
Cydney Thomas of
Haddon Heights claimed two first-place finishes thanks to her throws in the shot put and discus. The sophomore's 112-1 performance in the discus earned gold, as did her 39-8.25 toss in the shot put.
•
Cherry Hill East's
Alana Cohen hit a big PR in the pole vault and was just shy of the meet record. Cohen, whose PR sat at 10-2, cleared 10-9 to easily win the event as she was just one inch off the meet standard of 11-0, set by Emily Waldron of Triton in 2014.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
Small school
Collingswood 107; Haddonfield 106; Audubon 66; Camden Catholic 63; Haddon Heights 58; Camden 28; Bishop Eustace 26; Gloucester Catholic 10; Haddon Township 10; Lindenwold 7; Overbrook 6
Large school
Paul VI 103; Winslow 98; Eastern 87; Sterling 80; Timber Creek 60; Cherry Hill East 41; Highland Regional 21; Camden County Tech 5
