Rylee Long

BROOKVILLE — Moniteau's Rylee Long fully expected Friday's District 9 Class 2A Track and Field championship meet to be her last competition this spring.

She was pleasantly surprised to discover otherwise.

The sophomore's effort of 34 feet, 3/4 inch in the triple jump earned her a district title and a trip to next Friday's state meet at Shippensburg University.

“My best jump this season was (33-3¾),” said Long. “That came early in the season and I never hit it again until today. I didn't expect this at all, but I'm really excited about getting to states.”

A-C Valley junior Baylee Blauser was seeded first in the triple jump, but did not compete in the event due to injury.

“That was very unfortunate,” said Moniteau coach Sue Scialabba, “but we told Rylee that this was her time and to go for it.

“She lost out on her freshman season and it's awesome to see her do well.”

This is Long's first year of competing in track and field. It didn't take long for her to find her niche in the triple jump.

“I was involved in gymnastics and a lot of gymnasts are good jumpers,” she said. “I tried all the events and was definitely better in the triple jump.”

Blauser's injury, a sprained left ankle suffered in a softball game on Monday, nearly kept her from competing at all on Friday.

“The swelling was so bad right after it happened, but I walked and jogged (Thursday) and it felt pretty good,” she said.

Good enough for A-C Valley coach Dave Sherman to allow Blauser to compete in the long jump.

“I pulled her out of the triple jump because it's too much of a pounding on the body,” he said. “But her speed was pretty good (despite the sprain) and she can jump like a deer, so we let her go.”

Blauser jumped 15-7¾, far from the school record of 18-3½ that had her ranked first in the district entering the meet. But it was good for second place, which sends her to the state meet.

“I'm just going on adrenaline right now, but I'm pretty inconsistent with my steps,” she said. “I still feel I could've done better, but I'm trying to be realistic ... I have a sprained ankle.

“I'm going to keep moving it over the next week, don't want it to stiffen up. Hopefully, I can do better at states.”