Swenson's Bailey is a winner in four events

Tim Hickey's opinion is well respected when it comes to evaluating track athletes.

He developed some of the nation's premier high school girls' sprinters as William Penn's head coach for 31 seasons.

So when he speaks to excellence, you tend to listen.

Yesterday, Hickey - who coached all-Americans the last three seasons as West Catholic's assistant before moving on to help out at Swenson this year - spoke volumes.

"If Shanae [Bailey] ever decides that she wants to run the 400, she can be one of the best 400 runners there's ever been," he said of Swenson's standout freshman, who covers the event in 56.60 seconds. "As a ninth-grader with the amount of training that she's had and the way she runs it right now, she can be as good as anybody."

Bailey was held out of what Hickey called her best event at yesterday's PIAA District 12 Class AA championships at Northeast.

It didn't matter, as the 15-year-old still dominated, taking individual titles in the 100 and 200. She also anchored Swenson's winning 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

But . . .

"I didn't do so good in the 100," said Bailey, unhappy with her times. "In the 200, I have no idea what happened. But, things happen. . . . I know I could have done better."

If she had run faster, her victories would have been more lopsided.

Despite a slow start in the 100, she had commanding lead midway through the race and won it 12.41 seconds. Masterman's Asha Jaramogi finished a distant second in 12.84.

Bailey's most impressive performance came in the 200.

Uncomfortable in the starting blocks, she held up her hand with the hope of preventing the start of the race.

The starter fired his gun, anyway.

"He said he saw it, but he didn't see it," Bailey said. "I didn't know what to do. I just froze. I said to myself, 'Should I get up and run?' I just got up."

Despite giving her competitors a 10- to 15-meter head start, she easily won the event in 25.74. Her time was well ahead of the 26.20 posted by teammate and runner-up Vanessa Mack.

The duo also teamed up with Anthonia "Mouse" Ballard and Jayee Wright on the Lions' winning 4x100 relay team (48.50). Then Khristy Neou joined Ballard, Mack and Bailey to take first in the 4x400 (4 minutes flat).

"That girl is a beast," Engineering and Science sprint coach Ray "Coach Mar" Womack said of Bailey. "She is lightning quick, and she has yet to really run. We will see what she can really do when she gets to the states."

While Bailey was the meet's top individual, the Masterman girls and Engineering and Science boys won the team titles.

Engineering and Science finished first in seven of the 15 events to score 166 points during the two-day meet. Communications Tech finished second with 94.

Masterman scored 161.5 en route to winning its title. Swenson was the girls' runner-up with 139.5.

The winners of each event automatically qualify for the PIAA state championships on May 25 and 26 at Shippensburg University.

The competitors with the 12 best overall performances in yesterday's meet and today's District 12 Class AAA championships will compete in the Public League championships on May 18 at Northeast.

The Results

Class AA GIRLS

Team scoring: Masterman, 161.5; Swenson, 139.5; Engineering & Science, 138; Paul Robeson, 72.5; Communications Tech, 11.5; Strawberry Mansion, 11; Parkway, 9; Robert Vaux, 6; Bodine, 2.

4x800 (9:50.40): 1, Paul Robeson (Shatievah Lewis, Rochelle Hill-Hunter, Dashera Richardson, Quanisha Grimes), 9:42.85. 2, Engineering & Science, 9:51.69. 3, Masterman, 11:10.84.

300 hurdles (47.64): 1, Anthonia Ballard, Swenson, 45.72. 2, Christina Neilson, Masterman, 47.21. 3, Vanessa Mack, Swenson, 48.28.

100 (12.80): 1, Shanae Bailey, Swenson, 12.41. 2, Asha Jaramogi, Masterman, 12.85. 3, Nikeyah Stafford, Paul Robeson, 13.17.

1,600 (5:18.74): 1, Syeeda Gee, Engineering & Science, 5:22.82. 2, Kasia Taylor, Engineering & Science, 5:22.89. 3, Breyonna Spriggs, Engineering & Science, 5:54.19.

4x100 (51.39): 1, Swenson (Jayee Wright, Anthonia Ballard, Vanessa Mack, Shanae Bailey ), 48.50. 2, Paul Robeson, 50.08. 3, Masterman, 50.45.

400 (1:00.32): 1, Christina Neilson, Masterman, 59.67. 2, Jonae McAllister, Engineering & Science, 1:00.44. 3, Acoya Goines, Engineering & Science, 1:00.87.

100 hurdles (16.18): 1, Anthonia Ballard, Swenson, 15.34. 2, Khristy Neou, Swenson, 17.42. 3, Barbara Williams, Masterman, 18.55.

800 (2:20.60): 1, Benita Taylor, Engineering & Science, 2:19.89. 2, Shatievah Lewis, Paul Robeson, 2:24.28. 3, Syeeda Gee, Engineering & Science, 2:31.70.

200 (26.30): 1, Shanae Bailey, Swenson, 25.74. 2, Vanessa Mack, Swenson, 26.20. Christina Neilson, Masterman, 26.71

3,200 (11:35.00): 1, Jenna Arnold, Engineering & Science, 12:32.22. 2, Thuyen Nguyen, Masterman, 14:24.02. 3, Marissa, McGarry, Masterman, 14:29.35.

4x400 (4:10.36): 1, Swenson (Anthonia Ballard, Vanessa Mack, Khristy Neou, Shanae Bailey), 4:00.00. 2, Engineering & Science, 4:01.71. 3, Paul Robeson, 4:06.60.

Class AA BOYS

Team scoring: Engineering & Science, 166; Communications Tech, 94; Masterman, 85; Imhotep Charter, 68; Strawberry Mansion, 40; Robert Vaux, 29; Bodine, 29; Paul Robeson, 17; Mastery Charter, 15; FitzSimons, 14; Parkway, 4.

4x800 (8:15.55): 1, Engineering & Science (Jamar Jones, Terence Lee, Victor Roseboro, Austin Perron), 9:05.96 . 2, Masterman, 9:07.72 . 3, Imhotep Charter, 9:40.62 .

300 hurdles (40.80): 1, Kolon Rodgers, Bodine, 43.73. 2, Gary Miles, Communications Tech, 44.66. 3, Brandon Walton, Masterman, 47.48.

100 (11.27): 1, Herman Kirkland, Imhotep Charter, 11.47. 2, Ishmael Lane, Robert Vaux, 11.77. 3, Ramaan Ansley, Engineering & Science, 11.78.

1,600 (4:28.06): 1, Terence Lee, Engineering & Science, 4:50.50. 2, Jamar Jones, Engineering & Science, 4:50.70. 3, Anthony Burno, Imhotep Charter, 4:52.11.

4x100 (44.31): 1, Imhotep Charter (Khalief Evans, Gerald Bowman, Khaleel Evans, Herman Kirkland), 44.48. 2, Engineering & Science, 45.08. 3, Strawberry Mansion, 47.06.

400 (50.70): 1, Austin Perron, Engineering & Science, 49.56. 2, Stephaun Muse, Paul Robeson, 51.42. 3, Ackeeno Jolly, Communications Tech, 51.83.

110 hurdles (15.35): 1, Kolon Rodgers, Bodine, 17.65. 2, Ferlin Fletcher, Communications Tech, 18.35. Desmont Wade, Communications Tech, 18.86.

800 (1:59.70): 1, Jamar Jones, Engineering & Science, 1:58.48. 2, Austin Perron, Engineering & Science, 2:05.84. 3, Victor Roseboro, Engineering & Science, 2:13.17.

200 (22.88): 1, Herman Kirkland, Imhotep, 23.07. 2, Ishmael Lane, Robert Vaux, 23.58. 3, Ramaan Ansley, Engineering & Science, 23.78.

3,200 (9:48.01): 1, Terence Lee, Engineering & Science, 10:07.70. 2, Beau Feeny, Masterman, 11:02.21. 3, Anthony Bruno, Imhotep Charter, 11:26.18.

4x400 (3:29.87): 1, Engineering & Science (Austin Perron, Dereck Ferguson, Jamar Jones, Terence Lee), 3:33.27. 2, Communications Tech, 3:41.85. 3, Masterman, 3:46.32.