Four Southmoreland athletes hoping to reach medal stand at state track meet

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Keera Frye in Sports // 0 Comments

(See updated results at bottom of this story.)

Senior distance runner Vayda Farino remembers her experience on the medal stand at the state track meet two years ago as a sophomore. Farino hopes to return from the state meet with a medal again this year as a senior. And she’s not the only one.

“I would love to medal at states as a senior,” said fellow distance runner Ben Bickerton. “It’d be even more memorable if both me and Vayda medaled because we’re both seniors and it would be awesome to see two athletes from our school medal.”

It is fairly rare to have two athletes from the same school, especially a AA school like Southmoreland, medal at a state meet, but the Southmoreland track coaches believe that their athletes have the potential to return with more than one medal for Southmoreland.

To qualify for the state qualifiers, athletes must place in the top 5 at WPIALS for their event or run a qualifying time. Bickerton placed 4th at WPIALS in 3200 meter race and is ranked only one position lower in the state at 5th. Meanwhile, Farino has made it to the medal stand in the past in the 800 meter run and has trained hard this season to recover from health issues from the past season.

“It would mean a lot to me to place this year at states because I had a hard year last year with some health and training issues,” said Farino. “I accomplished a lot less than I wanted to, so this season I’ve done everything in my power to make sure I’m training and eating correctly.”

Farino’s sophomore sister and distance runner Kaylee Farino placed 7th at WPIALS with a qualifying time in the 1600 meter race. Kaylee made it to states last year, but hopes to medal this year with the support of her sister.

“I like having Vayda there with me because she can calm me down if I get too nervous and she has more experience in that environment since she’s qualified every year,” said Kaylee.

This year one Southmoreland freshman, Nick Hyde, also qualified for the state track meet for discus. Although Hyde trains hard, he wasn’t expecting himself to qualify because he had to compete against upperclassmen who had some more experience.

“When the announced the top ten and heard my name at 4th place, I was ecstatic,” said Hyde. “Making it to states as a freshman wasn’t something I was expecting but it’s an amazing feeling.”

On May 26, Bickerton, Hyde, and the Farino sisters will compete against the best athletes in their events from all across Pennsylvania with hopes of returning as state medalists.

Update: Bickerton reached the medal state, placing 8th in the 3200 meter run. Vayda Farino, who medaled in the 800 meter run as a sophomore, narrowly missed returning to the medal stand with a 9th place finish.