Valley’s Johnson defends WPIAL high jump title

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, May 17, 2018 | 10:39 PM

Darius Johnson knew what it was like to stand at the top of the medals podium at the WPIAL Class AA track and field championships at Baldwin High School.

He did it last year when he won the high jump title with a top leap of 6 feet, 4 inches.

Johnson repeated that feat Thursday at Baldwin and brought home his second straight WPIAL gold medal.

“I didn't jump my best jump, but I still came in above everybody else,” Johnson said.

Johnson, who battled through leg and ankle issues throughout the spring, cleared his first attempt at 6-4. Hopewell senior Dantae Ranieri also jumped 6-4, but it took two tries for him to achieve that height.

The top five finishers in each Class AA event and top four in Class AAA automatically qualified for the PIAA championships May 25 and 26 at Shippensburg. Last year at states, Johnson cleared 6-5 and placed fourth.

“There's always room for improvement, and I am still healing,” Johnson said. “I can't wait for states. I am aiming for the top three, but that No. 1 spot sounds very nice.”

Also, individuals or relays placing eighth or better at WPIALs punched tickets to states if their time, height or distance was equal to or better than the qualifying mark established by the PIAA.

The Deer Lakes boys 3,200 relay of Josh Yourish, Alex Sharkins, Josh Klemmensen and Colton Spence will be heading to states after the quartet ran to a second-place time of 8 minutes, 26.02 seconds, 14 seconds better than their sixth-place seed time (8:41.00).

“We have a lot of guys who can run good times, but we just hadn't run them all at the same time,” Yourish said. “It all comes together on one day, and it turns into a silver medal.”

Yourish is a double state qualifier as the Lancers junior also finished second individually in the Class AA 800, with a time of 2:00.29. Winchester Thurston's Gordon Pollock won the title and was the lone runner in the event to go under two minutes (1:59.47).

Eight other individuals and one relay from the A-K Valley recorded performances that earned them spots at the state championships.

Riverview senior Adam Walker is no stranger to the WPIAL championships, and he used his experience to clear a height of 13-0 in the pole vault, good enough to tie for third and qualify for the PIAA meet. The height equaled his best from the regular season.

Deer Lakes sophomore A.J. Dorman is a double state qualifier with a pair of top-four finishes in the sprints.

He came in seeded 14th in the 200-meter dash and 15th in the 100, but he charged up the ladder in a competitive field.

Dorman's time of 23.08 seconds in the 200 put him third, and his 11.29 in the 100 was good enough for fourth.

Freeport senior Johnathan Asay capped his WPIAL career with a state-qualifying third-place finish in 4:34.78 in the Class AA 1,600, while Fox Chapel sophomore Christian Fitch posted a third place in the Class AAA 3,200 (9:29.50).

The Freeport boys 1,600 relay of Alec Parker, Jake Sarver, Luke Kennedy and Austin Romanchak capped Thursday's championships with a fourth-place finish in a time of 3:34.87, nearly five seconds better than their seed time (3:39.72).

Highlands' C.J. Thimons raced to a fourth-place finish in the AAA boys 800 run with a time of 1:55.75. He topped his seed time by more than two seconds.

Also qualifying for the PIAA meet were Plum junior Hunter Linhart in the Class AAA discus (fourth, 146-8), Kennedy in the Class AA 110 hurdles (fifth, 15.63) and Freeport senior Anthony Aulicino in the Class AA javelin (153-9).

Aulicino's top throw was almost 12 feet better than his seed distance.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Highlands, Plum, Riverview, Valley