Scott gets right to the point
BROOKVILLE — Neil Scott had quite a day at the District 9 Class AA Track and Field Championships.
The Union High School junior managed a throw of 192 feet, 8 inches in the boys javelin event.
The mark not only was a personal best for Scott, it also demolished his own school record of 178-10, set earlier this season.
And, best of all, it was good enough to top the entire district Friday at Brookville High School.
Scott will compete in the PIAA Championships, starting next Friday at Shippensburg University.
"I came into this season thinking that a district title was possible," Scott said. "I always hoped to win one, but this is a very tough district.
"I was really pumped up coming into today," he added. "It's such great competition here."
Scott's performance was just 10 inches shy of former Moniteau star Matt Schandelmeier's District 9 meet record of 193-6, set in 2006.
Union coach Denny Stewart was impressed with Scott's throw, but not surprised by it.
"I've been a coach for 35 years and he's got one of the best releases I've seen," said Stewart. "I think one of the things that really helped him is that he placed ninth in the state last year. That's very good for a sophomore.
"His first throw today was 190 feet, and his second was (192-8)," added Stewart. "He scratched on his third throw. He put what he had into those two throws."
Also qualifying for the state meet were two of Karns City's 3,200- and 400-meter relay teams.
Both placed second with times of 8 minutes, 35.52 seconds and 45.03 seconds, respectively.
The 3,200-meter team, comprised of Bryce Foreback, Chris Harmon, Aaron McGarvey and Ethan McGarvey, came in about 8.5 seconds behind first-place Elk County Catholic.
"We came in looking to make states and break the school record," said Foreback. "We came up about five seconds short of the school record, but we're happy with the time."
The Gremlins' 400 relay team included Josh Callender, Josh Grenninger, Cory Terwilliger and Anthony Stimac and was just .28 seconds behind first-place Clarion.
