ATHENS' ELLIS CAPS STRONG SENIOR SEASON AT PIAA TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
By: Tim Birney / May 28, 2021 / Photo: Joe Carreon
SHIPPENSBURG — Athens’ Asher Ellis capped a stellar senior season
throwing in two events here Friday in the PIAA Class AA Track &
Field Championships at Seth Grove Stadium on the campus of Shippensburg
University.
“(Asher) threw well today,” said Athens coach Scott Riley. “For it being his first time there, it’s a different environment.
“Not having invites this season really put a lot of kids at a disadvantage,” noted Riley.
“He had a great season that really had a huge impact for the team and he should be proud of all that he accomplished,” he added.
Ellis was well off his season-best throws in the javelin and discus on Friday.
The
javelin competition took center stage in the morning. The event was
broken into three flights, and Ellis, who was the seventh seed, had to
wait until the third heat.
He finished 16th with a throw of
155-feet, 9-inches, well off his season-best of 174-feet, 8-inches last
weekend at the District 4 Championships.
Bedford senior Elija Cook won PIAA gold in the javelin with an effort of 192-feet, 5-inches.
The javelin competition went long, so meet organizers pushed the discus competition along at a brisk pace.
Seeded
16th, Ellis finished 15th with a toss of 138-feet, 2-inches — more
than 11 feet off his seed distance of 149-feet, 10-inches.
Only
three of the 25 throwers in the discus beat their seed distance, and
many were more than 12 feet short. The tops seeds both were both 30 feet
under their season-best throws and finished 17th and 19th,
respectively.
Wyomissing senior Rob Williams won PIAA gold in the
discus with a mark of 169-feet, 7-inches — topping his seed by more
than 10 feet.
About the Author
Tim Birney
Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.
Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.
River Road Media Group includes five sites in "The Sports Reports" family that cover 24 school districts in five counties: Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020); Northern Tier West Sports Report (March 15, 2021) Southern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 16, 2021).
