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Local roundup: Wyoming Seminary wins PIAA team tennis opener

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SCRANTON &#8212; Victoria Atkinson followed the lead of some of the Wyoming Valley&#8217;s top female athletes to an event in which they have collectively made an impact on the state level and beyond.First, however, the Scranton Prep senior from Mountain Top had to wait for the time to be right just to try the pole vault.With the Classics lacking a pole vault coach at the time, Atkinson said she was &#8220;not allowed&#8221; to try the event as a freshman at the school.Three years later, Atkinson is preparing to head to Cornell University to continue competing in the event on the NCAA Division I level while studying at the Ivy League school in Ithaca, N.Y.Atkinson won Phil Tochelli Lackawanna Track Conference Junior High Meet titles in both the long jump and triple jump, setting a Scranton Prep school long jump record, as a freshman. Her interests, however, remained in soaring high.&#8220;I started pole vaulting because all my friends were doing it,&#8221; said Atkinson, who followed the lead of older gymnasts at Shooting Starz in Wilkes-Barre. &#8220;I thought it was a good idea to start it.&#8221;Ellie Bennett was a two-time district champion and three-time state qualifier at Crestwood on her way to Division I Elon College in North Carolina where she was a Colonial Athletic Association first-team all-star last season as a junior. Madisyn Hawkins won two district titles and a state medal at Coughlin before heading to Lehigh University where she has earned Patriot League bronze and silver medalists in her first two seasons. University of Pennsylvania freshman Abby Norwillo earned three state silver medals &#8211; two outdoors and one indoors &#8211; and placed nationally in the event while at Pittston Area.That group was a big part of making District 2 one of the state leaders in the challenging event. Atkinson said she did not receive specific advice from the other Shooting Starz gymnasts-turned-pole vaulters, but they encouraged her to try it.Scranton Prep now has an assistant coach for the event. Timothy Atkinson learned the nuances of pole vaulting along with his daughter, who went out of the area for specialized training.Like some other District 2 standouts in the event, she trained for two years at Vertical Assault in Bath. Atkinson then switched to Philly Jumps Club in Havertown last summer.The extra efforts have paid off.Atkinson is the top seed for Thursday&#8217;s District 2 Class 3A Track and Field Championships and has been among the state leaders in the event this season after finishing sixth in last year&#8217;s championships at Shippensburg University.Competing closer to home late in the season at the James Cross Invitational at Solomon-Plains Middle School, Atkinson reached a new personal high of 13-1 &#189;.Facing more difficult conditions in last week&#8217;s Robert Spagna Lackawanna Track Conference Championships at Scranton Memorial Stadium, the site of the district meet, Atkinson found herself in a similar situation, clinching the win then inquiring about the meet record. The answer was 12-3.&#8220;I actually found out right before I put the bar up to 12-6,&#8221; said Atkinson, who cleared that height on her third attempt.Atkinson proved earlier in her career that she is capable of competing among the district&#8217;s best in the long jump and triple jump, but her concentration Thursday will be strictly on the event that has become a showcase for former gymnasts at a Wilkes-Barre club.<style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Tom RobinsonFor Times Leader</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>ATHLETES TO WATCHDistrict 2 Track and Field ChampionshipsClass 2A Boys(Wednesday)Collin Chidester, Montrose &#8230; 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 1600 relayC.J. Dippre, Lakeland &#8230; shot put, discus, javelinMatt Saxe, Northwest &#8230; javelin, long jump, 1600 relayClass 2A Girls(Wednesday)Trina Barcarola, Western Wayne &#8230; 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, pole vault, 1600 relayChalice Guyette, Montrose &#8230; 100, 200, 400 relay, 1600 relayAbby Korba, Hanover Area &#8230; long jump, triple jump, high jump, 400Mikayla Marino, Lakeland &#8230; shot put, discus, javelinAbby Paczewski, Lake-Lehman &#8230; 1600, 3200 relay, 3200, 400Annie Skirpan, Western Wayne &#8230; 400, 800, 1600 relayClass 3A Boys(Thursday)Nazir Dunell, Meyers &#8230; 300 hurdles, 110 hurdles, 1600 relayAntonio Maletta, Abington Heights &#8230; 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 1600 relayRafael McCoy, Coughlin &#8230; 100, 200, long jump, 400 relayTrejon Turner, Tunkhannock &#8230; high jump, long jumpTyler Wirth, Wallenpaupack &#8230; 800, 1600, 3200, 1600 or 3200 relayClass 3A Girls(Thursday)Victoria Atkinson, Scranton Prep &#8230; pole vaultKyahni Harbin, Scranton &#8230; 100, 200, 400 relayCalista Marzolino, Abington Heights &#8230; 100 hurdles, high jump, long jump, triple jumpMadelyn Resciniti, Wyoming Area &#8230; shot put, discus</factboxMeta></div>

Mountain Top’s Atkinson aims for pole vault gold at District 2 championships