Mike Vukovcan Emma Palmieri is now 4 times a GOAT! The senior sprinter added her name to the school record books in two more places on Wednesday at the WPIAL Track and Field Championship at Slippery Rock University.
Palmieri was already part of the record setting 4×100 relay and broke the 200m record (25.60) earlier this season. The 400m record, held by Elise Farris since 2010, has been a 4-year project for Emma, and the payoff came on a championship stage. She passes 3 other runners in the 100 meters to claim the WPIAL silver medal and the long sought-after record in 57.45 seconds.
The second school record Emma claimed was the last event of the day and came with a little help from her friends. The girls 4x400m relay record of 4:10 had also stood since 2010. Freshman Harley Hample, junior Madison Inderelst, senior Reese Murray, and Palmieri came into the meet with a season best of 4:14.
The girls put together their fastest splits of the season, and got the baton to Emma in striking distance of the record at 3:11, and she closed it out with a 57.9 split to seize an 8th place medal and the new Hopewell record of 4:09.67. It was the first WPIAL medal for Harley, Madison and Reese.
Palmieri earned two more medals on the day. The first came with the 4x100m relay team, alongside junior Maya Richburg, sophomore Avery Boyd, and senior Nevaeh Persi-Jones. The quartet ran their fastest time (50.20) in their 2 years together to earn a sixth-place medal and again qualify for the PIAA Championships next week at Shippensburg University. The girls are peaking at the right time and will be at their best for the state meet.
Emma’s 4th medal of the day came with a 5th place finish in the 200m dash. She ran her 3rd fastest time ever (25.72) and will have another chance to improve on her school records next week at States, where she will compete int he 200m, 400m and the 4x100m relay.
Hopewell had one more medalist on the day. Junior pole vaulter Emily Bauknight cleared a new personal best height of 9’6″ and earned an 8th place podium finish. She will be spending the next year going after the school record of 10’3″ that is shared by Megan Parrish and Emily Pleslusky.
Hopewell’s Emma Bauknight
Other highlights for the girls included Marlee Page breaking the century mark with the javelin. She finished 10th with a new personal best of 105’1″. The 4x800m relay team of Madi Inderelst, Keira Mann, Skylar Elias and Caylee Sundy running their best time of the season! Freshman Tessa Burgess competed on the 100m hurdles and got valuable championship experience.
On the Boys side, the deeper competitive field in AAA made it a lot tougher than in past years to get on the podium. Senior Connor Progar finished his career in a tie for 9th place in the pole vault at 13’9″. The school record holder and captain has been a standard of dedication and helpfulness to his teammates. After graduation, he will be pursuing a career in law enforcement.
Senior Zach Lucas had a rough 100m hurdle prelim, but the soon to be Geneva College Golden Tornado had a remarkable season. He was one of the Top 50 most improved hurdlers in the country, taking nearly 4 seconds off his best time from last year to finish the season with a personal best of 15.44 seconds. He will be competing next year at Geneva and is just scratching the surface of what he can do.
Senior sprint captain Zach Kovell’s high school career also ended on Wednesday. He finishes with 2 school records in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, but more importantly, he leaves Hopewell with a legacy of determination, hard work, and a desire to prove oneself by running through the fire of the hardest workouts and the hardest events. That legacy could be seen in how his 4×400 teammates competed, running their hearts out in the last event of the day.
This team that broke the 40-year-old school record earlier this spring was the first boys 4×400 relay to qualify for the WPIALs in decades, but it will be the beginning of a 400m culture that started with Zach, and will be carried on by Julian Baldwin, Jack Biega and Josh Brunton. Zach will continue his track and field career next year at Westminster College, along with his friend and relay teammate Aaron Dickhart.
