Sat. Pa. track: Trio of titles for O'Hara's James

Kevin James was tired entering the Delaware County Championships' final day on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinal O'Hara junior had won the 3,200-meter National race Thursday in 9 minutes, 28.52 seconds, before taking the SAT Saturday morning and rushing up to that afternoon's meet at Interboro's South Avenue Athletic Complex.

James' quest toward county supremacy quickly gained steam, however, when he took the 1,600 in 4:14.22, just ahead of teammates Nick Smart (4:16.34) and Jim Belfatto (4:17.94).

Roughly 50 minutes later, James completed the triple when he put on a furious kick in the home stretch of the 800 to win in 1:55.85.

The junior edged Upper Darby's Ramsey Kerkula (1:56.10) and Marple Newtown's James Hare (1:56.42) to capture his third title of the meet.

"Around 300 meters left in the 800, I was dying," James said. "I had to get around [Sullivan] and then the crowd got really loud and I just kept driving."

"It's pretty cool to win all three events because I never thought I'd be able to do it."

As in the 1,600, James topped mates Smart and Belfatto en route to the 800 gold.

In other action, Ridley senior Malik Jones captured the 200 and 400 titles with times of 21.65 and 47.93, respectively, and helped Ridley 4x400 relay team take the bronze medal.

The three-medal performance put Jones back on the area map, as the senior had been nursing a strained hamstring suffered in the Delaware County Relays in early April.

"That's a darn good time," Jones said of his 200, laughing. "I feel blessed getting the opportunity to get out here. I've been rehabbing my hamstring, and knowing it's my senior year, I wanted it to heal up and do the best I can do."

Strath Haven's Nathaniel Kent enjoyed a double-gold medal performance, winning National titles in the 300 and 110 hurdles, crossing in 39.86 and 15.50, respectively.

Lower Merion Invitational. Neshaminy sophomore Dasia Pressley took down a pair of meet records in sprints. Pressley won the 100 meters in 11.89, edging out the mark of 11.9 set by Lower Merion's Lorraine Weldon in 1999. She also won the 200 in record fashion. Her time of 23.95 topped the 24.40 run by Springside Chestnut Hill's Brooklynn Broadwater last year.

Central's Walt Pegues won three events, led by a record-setting time of 10.77 in the 100. He bested the 10.82 held by Phoenixville's Quenton Boyer since 2004. Pegues also took gold in the long jump (21-2) and triple jump (43-83/4. His Central teammate, Samuel Reid, smashed a 14-year-old record in the shot put. He tossed it 59-11 to dethrone the 56-11 toss of North Penn's Chris McKelby.

Lady Rocker Invitational. Council Rock South's Shannon Taub was dominant en route to sweeping the jumping events at Council Rock North. Taub won the high jump (5-6), long jump (16-8) and triple jump (37-6) by whopping margins.

Grace Becker of Central Bucks East also had a strong day. She won the 100 hurdles (15.72) by more than a second and was second to Bensalem's Ade Hunter in the 200 and second in the high jump.