Cheer

Cheers to Ori Rinaman, a Mars High School senior and the school’s one-man, no-coach indoor track team.

Rinaman, training on his own, placed fifth in the 60-meter hurdles, posting a time of 8.18 seconds last weekend at the Pennsylvania Indoor Track and Field Championships at State College.

Rinaman has been the indoor track team for the past three years now. As a sophomore he qualified for the state indoor meet and finished 17th. He didn’t get to states last winter, having competed in only one indoor meet. “They kept canceling meets because of bad weather,” Rinaman recalled.

This year, he managed four meets, all at Edinboro University, to qualify for the state meet.

Actually, the qualifying part begins with daily workouts — all self-motivated — setting up hurdles in a downstairs hallway at Mars High School, followed by workouts at a local gym, from two and half to three hours a day.

It was a different story in the fall, when Rinaman played football for the Planets. Last season, he rushed for 1,237 yards and 16 touchdowns.

But his first love is the hurdles.

And his winter track will be a little more sociable next year when he’ll attend Shippensburg University to compete in the hurdles and pursue a major in criminal justice.

Jeer

Sew a crimson “H” (for hypocrite) on the chest of Reading, Pa. officials. Last week they were forced to stop ticketing residents who failed to shovel snow and ice from their sidewalks after the city acknowledged its own crews were unable to properly clear snow from the city’s properties.

Public Works Director Ralph Johnson said freezing rain Tuesday created an icy coating on sidewalks that made them harder to clear. Additional snow later last week only compounded the mess.

The city owns more than 100 properties and has prioritized plowing streets during the recent bad weather. Still, Johnson said officials asked City Hall employees to volunteer for snow shovel bridades to clear sidewalks on city-owned properties.

The city requires residents to remove snow and ice from a path at least three feet wide on sidewalks and around fire hydrants.

Cheer

Lyric Beth Ackelson has succeeded in keeping it in the family.

Ackelson, 20, the daughter of Beth and Mike Ackelson of Butler was crowned Miss Butler County recently at Succop Theater on the Butler County Community College campus. It was the same title won 25 years ago by her mother, then Beth Taylor, in 1988.

Beth and Lyric are the first and only mother-daughter combination to win the Miss Butler County title. Lyric says her mom was her secret weapon, helping prepare her for the different stages of competition: swimsuit, talent, evening gown and on-stage interview.

“She had a lot of advice to give me. She was super helpful because this was the first time I competed in the Miss America system,” said Lyric. “She had a lot of advice for my interview. Not telling me what to say, but telling me to make eye contact and be confident. She helped me pick out my dresses and swimsuit. She helped me pick my talent.”

And, apparently, there’s a grandmother’s influence as well. Lyric, a Butler High School 2012 graduate, says her mom’s mom, Bobbie Taylor of Butler, loves pageants. “She likes to see people get up there and perform,” Lyric says. “We do it for her.”