Krais, Bing top field with multiple wins

Methacton's Ryann Krais and Cheltenham's Brandon Bing, two phenomenal athletes, were unbeatable in their events yesterday at the Suburban One League American Conference track and field championships at Upper Dublin.

Krais won three races, one in meet-record time, and the long jump to help her team to amass an astounding 223 points - 131 points better than its nearest rival - and enable the Methacton girls to defend the league crown they won last year.

Bing also won three events and ran the anchor leg of the Panthers' 4x100-meter relay, which placed third. Cheltenham placed fourth in team scoring behind winner Wissahickon, Methacton and Upper Dublin, respectively.

Wissahickon coach Don Betterly, who guided the Trojans to their fifth consecutive league championship with 165 points, was particularly pleased with his 800-meter group, whose runners placed first, third and fifth.

"At leagues it's all about getting points rather than fast times," Betterly said.

Wissahickon junior Nick Crits, who won the 800 in 1 minute, 56.35 seconds, thought his time was fine considering that he had a bad start and was boxed in in the backstretch. Crits also won the 1,600 in 4:20.32 and was part of two winning relays.

Methacton coach Rob Ronzano said the highlight of the meet for his team was its placing one through five in the 400 girls' dash, won by Krais in 56.33 seconds.

A junior phenom, Krais was first in the 300 hurdles in 43.35 and broke a 12-year-old meet record in the 100 hurdles with a time of 13.98.

Bing's story was one of will and determination. The Rutgers recruit has been making a comeback since injuring his right ankle about a month ago while exercising. The mishap caused the senior wide-receiver/defensive back and track star to miss almost two weeks of training as well as the Penn Relays.

A triple and long-jumper, Bing passed on those events yesterday and said he likely will not do them the rest of the season. Bing ran well enough to win the 100, 200 and 400 - but not well enough for him.

The 5-foot-10, 157-pounder won the 100 in 11.03, the 200 in 22.10 and the 400 in 48.35. The first two races were close.

"My starts aren't too good to begin with. I use blocks, and we had two left blocks," Bing said about the beginning of the 100. "If I'd had left-right blocks, I'd have done better."

Bing recorded the state's fastest outdoor times this season of 10.85 in the 100 and 22.03 in the 200, his best event, on April 4.

"That [200 time] was one of the worst times I ever ran," Bing said. "The start was OK. It was me. I missed two weeks of training."

Last year at the PIAA District 1 Class AAA meet, Krais was clocked in 13.91 to win the 100 hurdles. Her time was faster than the state-meet record time of 13.96. In the 300 hurdles at the district meet, Krais set a Class AAA record time of 41.46.

Preferring to speak about the accomplishments of her teammates yesterday, she indicated that her performances were nothing to be excited about. Ronzano said there was no one to push her.

The Results

GIRLS

Team scoring: Methacton, 223; Quakertown, 92; Wissahickon, 84; Cheltenham, 49; Plymouth Whitemarsh, 47; Upper Dublin, 31; Springfield Township, 14; Upper Moreland, 12; Upper Merion, 6.

100 hurdles: 1, Ryann Krais, Methacton, 13:98 (broke Plymouth Whitemarsh's Chanel Williams' 1995 meet record of 14.22). 2, Kenyetta Givans, Plymouth Whitemarsh, 15.70. 3, Caitlin Stuetz, Cheltenham, 16.16.

100: 1, Brittany Ducally, Wissahickon, 12.70. 2, Alicia Melnick, Methacton, 12.91. 3, Raven Wingate, Plymouth Whitemarsh, 13.00.

4x800: 1, Cheltenham (Becky Normile, Bethann Goldman, Damaris Wright, Jessica Freeland), 9:55.46. 2, Quakertown, 9:55.93. 3, Wissahickon, 9:57.12.

200: 1, Ducally, Wissahickon, 25.57. 2, Monique Clemons, Wissahickon, 25.89. 3, Melnick, Methacton, 26.15.

300 hurdles: 1, Krais, Methacton, 43.35. 2, Givans, P-W, 45.59. 3, Clemons, Wissahickon, 46.37.

1,600: 1, Gina Ranieri, Upper Dublin, 5:22.26. 2, Crystal Burnick, Methacton, 5:23.96. 3, S Samantha McNett, Methacton, 5:32.69.

400: 1, Krais, Methacton, 56.33. 2, Melnick, Methacton, 59.41. 3, Eileen McCarthy, Methacton, 1:00.27.

4x100: 1, Wissahickon (Molly Crumlish, Taylor Clayton, Clemons, Ducally), 49.82. 2, Plymouth Whitemarsh, 49.90. 3, Springfield, 50.91.

800: 1, Kim McManus, P-W, 2:20.96. 2, Megan Rhyner, Quakertown, 2:21.02. 3, Normile, Cheltenham, 2:23.94.

3,200: 1, Burnick, Methacton, 12:02.83. 2, Michele Rudolph, Wissahickon, 12:08. 48. 3, Elizabeth McLaughlin, Upper Dublin, 12:10.28.

4x400: 1, Methacton (Melnick, Courtney DeGemmis, Laura Bombgardner, McCarthy), 4:05.93. 2, Wissahickon, 4:07.67. 3, Cheltenham, 4:14.64.

High jump: 1, Jess Rhyner, Quakertown, 5-2. 2, Betsy Denpsey, Methacton, 5-0. 3, Melissa Irwin, Upper Merion, 4-10.

Pole vault: Jen Kihm, Quakertown, 10-0. 2, Allyson Malack, Quakertown, 9-0. 3, Hannah Fried-Petersen, Cheltenham 8-6.

Long jump: Krais, Methacton, 18-4. 2, Carly Wackerman, Quakertown, 16-0. 3, Brit Grzywacz, Methacton, 15-10.

Triple jump: Rhyner, Quakertown, 33-71/2. 2, Grzywacz, Methacton, 33-41/4. 3, Stacey Clark, Methacton, 33-4.

Shot put: Jessy Mahan, Methacton, 32-3. 2, Caitlin Jeffers, Methacton, 31-9. 3, Ahlaura Johnson, Upper Dublin, 30-1.

Discus: Mahan, Methacton, 104-2. 2, Dayna Mecrewell, Cheltenham, 95-7. 3, Jeffers, Methacton, 91-9.

Javelin: Mahan, Methacton, 110-6. 2, Cailee Wyatt, Methacton, 100-1. 3, Janelle Carney, Quakertown, 90-8.

BOYS

Team scoring: Wissahickon, 165; Methacton, 120; Upper Dublin, 116.5; Cheltenham, 76; Plymouth Whitemarsh, 27.5; Quakertown, 18; Springfield, 16; Upper Moreland, 10; Upper Merion, 9.

110 hurdles: hurdles: 1, Moon Suh, Upper Dublin, 15.46. 2, John Grosko, Wissahickon, 15.48. 3, Keith Ogden, Cheltenham, 15.51.

100: 1, Brandon Bing, Cheltenham, 11.03. 2, Kevin Bray, Wissahickon, 11.38. 3, Kyle Sims, Upper Merion, 11.49.

4x800: 1, Wissahickon (Scott Kern, Brahma Kuman, Nick Crits, Ted Miller), 7:56.65. 2, Upper Dublin, 8:00.73. 3, Methacton, 8:03.93.

200: 1, Bing, Cheltenham, 22.10. 2, Kevin Bray, Wissahickon, 22.75. 3, James Broady, Upper Dublin, 23.22.

300 hurdles: 1, Ogden, Cheltenham, 39.44. 2, John Grosko, Wissahickon, 40.24. 3, Brendan Royal, Wissahickon, 41.31.

1,600: 1, Crits, Wissahickon, 4:20.32. 2, Patrick McLaughlin, Upper Dublin, 4:24.59. 3, Joe Dorris, Upper Dublin, 4:24.98.

400: Bing, Cheltenham, 48.35. 2, Bray, Wissahickon, 49.40. 3, Larry Mackall, Springfield, 50.54.

4x100: 1, Wissahickon (Tyrone Clayton, Chris Kim, Grosko, Myron Ross), 44.18. 2, Quakertown, 45.36. 3, Plymouth Whitemarsh, 45.37.

800: 1, Crits, Wissahickon, 1:56.35. 2, Mike Palmisano, Upper Dublin, 1:58.33. 3, Scott Kern, Wissahickon, 1:58.69.

3,200: 1, Joe Dorris, Upper Dublin, 9:54.76. 2, Edward Miller, Wissahickon, 9:55.50. 3, McLaughlin, Upper Dublin, 9:59.64.

4x400: 1, Wissahickon (Kuman, Morgan Hill, Crits, Bray), 3:25.51. 2, Upper Dublin, 3:25.53. 3, Cheltenham, 3:26.24.

High jump: 1, Folarin Ijelu, Wissahickon, 6-0. 2, Ben Piazza, Methacton, 5-10. 3, Greg Smith, Upper Moreland, 5-10.

Pole vault: 1, Percell Berry, Methacton, 14-0. 2, Shane Ordway, Methacton, 13-0. 3, Phil Krieg, Upper Dublin, 11-0.

Long jump: 1, Ijelu, Wissahickon, 21-91/4. 2, Carlton Lavong, Methacton, 21-83/4. 3, Chris O'Sullivan, Methacton, 20-7.

Triple jump: 1, Carlton Lavong, Methacton, 45-8 (broke 1994 meet record of 45-4 by Upper Merion's Kurt Bridge). 2, Ijelu, Wissahickon, 45-0. 3, Taurian Bsptiste, Wissahickon, 43-8.

Shot put: 1, Bradley Brown, Plynmouth Whitemarsh, 51-2. 2, Wes Lavong, Methacton, 50-2. 3, Joe Nwankwo, Methacton, 46-9.

Discus: Wes Lavong, Methacton, 147-4. 2, Brown, P-W, 137-8. 3, Jared Brandenburg, Upper Dublin, 131-5.

Javelin: Eric Brittingham, Methacton, 187-5. 2, Matt Daniele, Cheltenham, 177-7. 3, Brandenburg, Upper Dublin, 160-11.