By Kenny Varner

UNIVERSITY PARK – Centre County was well represented Thursday as the locals gathered to Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track and Field facility to compete in the State College Invitational.

State College finished strong topping out most of the first place finishes in both boys and girls action.

Other Centre County teams participating in the event were Bellefonte and Penns Valley.

In the opening event for the boys, the 4000 DMR relays, the Little Lions finished fifth with a time of 11:50.21.

In the 60-meter hurdles, Penns Valley’s Greyson Kilmer led the Centre County crews with a 6th place finish of 9.14.

Kilmer looked sharp in the triple, posting a 5th leap of 37’ 6.50”.

State. College phenom Jesse Myers topped out in first place in the 60-meter dash with a blistering time of 6.83.

Myers also captured top honors in the 200-meter run posting the fastest time of 21.19.

Finishing in second in the 1-mile run was Owen Coughlin posting a mark of 4:19.34.

Teammate Luke Bradbury posted a 4th place time of 4:21.33.

Matt Morningstar paced the Centre County contingency posting a time of 54.98 in the 400-meter run for State College.

In the 800-meter run, Ryan Caldwell led the Little Lions to a second place finish with a time of 1:58.44.

Theo Oppermann led a contingent of Little Lions in the 3000-meter as they finished with 3-of-4 top spots. Opperman topped it out in first with a time of 8:47.46.

State College also took top honors in the 4×200- meter relay posting the top time of 1:30.32.

They also took top of the charts in the 4×400-meter relay, with a time of  3:34.03.

In the field events, Bellefonte’s Zane Hummel finished third in the long jump with a top jump of 21’1”.

State also took the pole vault. Adam Bell finished in the top spot with a vault of 14’6”.

Capturing the five spot in the shot put was the Little Lions’ Luke Solbakken with a toss of 41’ 7.25”.

Continuing the State College strangle hold was Max Bodner’s 5th place finish in the high jump with a launch of 5’ 9”.

On the girls’ side, the little Lions won the 4000DMR relay with a mark of 12:27.09.

Centre County had a strong showing in the 60-meter hurdles as SC’s Ellie Embser finished with a 10.69. Teammate Lauren Craft was next with an 8th place finish of 10.78.

Bellefonte took the 9th spot as Ruthann Smoyer finished with a time of 10.84.

State College also took 4th place honors in the 60-meter run. Malia Abdullah finished with a time of 8.12.

Julia Bigger gave the Little Lions a 3rd place finish in the mile run posting a time of 5:35.15.

Bellefonte runner Althea Helms took the top spot in the 400 with a time of 59.28.

In the 800, State College’s Devon Jackson finished third with a time of 2.20.01.

Kamilla Peachey shined for State College in the 200, posting a seventh place finish and time of 27.85.

Sylvie Hutchinson placed a strong 4th in the 3,000 posting a time of 11:54.51.

State also finished second in the 4×200 relay with a time of 1:53.13.

They also finished runner up in the 4×400 relay with a finishing time of 4:09.01.

Bellefonte’s relay team finished in 4th with a time of 4:21.58.

In the field events, State’s Lydia Tate took second place in the shot put finishing with a throw of 35’ 8.25”.

State’s Sanai Abdullah took the triple jump event with a best leap of 37’ 1”.

State College girls dominated the pole vault as they finished second through sixth.

Placing second was Stella Roop with a vault of 10’0”.

In the high jump, State College’s Josie Younkin won with a jump of 5’ 2”.

Bellefonte’s Anna Tyson finished fourth with a final best of 4’ 8”.