June 30, 2024 –
The final night of trials, and the Track & Field team is set. None of the Philly schools had a participant in the last night of the meet, but there are athletes with a local connection trying to land a spot on the team. And we did see a new World’s Record in the Women’s 400m Hurdles as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set the new standard time of :50.65.
Women’s Pole Vault
Chloe Timberg of Rutgers and CB West High School finished 7th in the event. She cleared 4.63m on the third attempt, but went no higher. Three other vaulters went out at that mark. The winning height was 4.73m by team members Bridget Williams, Brynn King, and defending Olympic Champion Katie Moon.
Men’s 800m
Virginia and Lower Moreland High School runner Shane Cohen ran a personal best time of 1:44.65. He was in the back of the pack after one lap then did use his finishing kick to place 6th. The splits for Cohen were :52.06 and :52.59. The three runners going to Paris are; Bryce Hoppel with a meet record time of 1:42.77, Hobbs Kessler (1:43.64 a personal best), and Brandon Miller at 1:43.97.
Other Local Flavor
Nia Ali, an Olympic medalist from Philadelphia, participated in the Women’s 100m final placing fourth. Ali ran a season-best :12.37, just .6 seconds away from being in the top three. Running for Team USA in the event will be Masai Russell who ran a World Lead and meet record :12.25. Alaysha Johnson was second with a personal best :12.31. Grace Stark took third running her best ever time of :12.31totie Johnson.
Two other athletes participated in the final that have roots in the Philadelphia area. Terry Toohey, formerly of the Deco Times, informed PhillyCollegeSports.com that Josh Hoey (Men’s 800m) and Sydni Townsend (Women’s 400m Hurdles) are from the area. They each had their Olympic opportunity in the finals.
Hoey ran for Bishop Shanahan High School before turning pro. Hoey finished in the dreaded fourth position despite running a personal best time of 1:44.12, a mere .15 seconds behind Miller and a place on the team. The splits were :51.56 and :52.54.
Townsend went to Neumann-Goretti High School. She ran for three colleges: NC A&T, Pitt, and most recently Houston where Townsend owns multiple school records in track. She would finish in 9th place running a :55.47. The best segment time Townsend would post would be :04.13 at Hurdle 2. However, she would be a part of history as McLaughlin-Levrone broke the world record. Also going to the Games in the event are Anna Cockrell who ran :52.64, a personal best, and Jasmine Jones who posted her fastest time of :52.77. Olympian Dalilah Muhammad placed 6th covering the distance in :54.27.
On To Paris!
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
Be the first to comment