Obama Academy track standout Ny’Asia Benton was in the middle of a media interview when a teammate walked by and remarked, “Watch, she smiles a lot.”
Benton quickly replied, “I’m smiling more than usual today.”
She had good reason.
On a sun-splashed Friday afternoon at the Mars Invitational track and field meet, Benton had her share of shining moments and gave a shot in the arm to City League track.
Obama is in the City League, but Benton had a good day against some top WPIAL runners. She won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.21 seconds, which tied her personal best. She finished third in the 300 hurdles with a time of 49.10 and also ran a leg on Obama’s 400 team that finished first in 50.44. The other three Obama runners on the relay team were Hannah Redwood, Aaliyah Snowden and Jazmine Herriott.
Benton’s time in the 100 hurdles would be second-best this year in the WPIAL.
“I’m smiling hard,” Benton said with a laugh. “I feel like I’ve been proving myself this year, but I want to prove myself even more and get my (100 hurdles) time down to 15 flat.”
What also made Benton happy was the 400 relay team ran its best time of the season. Benton also thought she had a good chance to win the 300 hurdles and was in the lead for a while. But she finished third with a time of 49.10. North Hills’ Sarah Folmer was second at 48.90 and Addison Gherke of Parkersburg (W.Va.) won in 47.66.
“I think I just went out too fast,” Benton said of the 300 race. “By the time we got to the final turn, I was so tired. I have to learn to go out slower.”
Obama teammate Leslie Manson won the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 3 inches, and finished second in the triple jump at 37-2 ½.
The meet, which had about 30 boys and girls teams, had only one athlete who won two individual events. North Catholic senior Trevor Paschall, a University of North Carolina recruit, easily won the 200 in 22.13 seconds and the 400 in 50.79. He also ran a leg on North Catholic’s 400 relay team that finished first with a time of 43.47 seconds. Other members of the team were Chase Arrington, Luke Mager and Jack Fennell.
Paschall was a little displeased at his 400 time.
“I think I didn’t come out strong enough at the start,” Paschall said. “I was thinking of running to win, but today I wanted to run against the clock.”
Paschall is used to winning two – and sometimes three - events. He won the 100, 200 and 400 at last year’s WPIAL Class 2A championships and also ran a leg on the WPIAL championship 400 relay team. Few runners in WPIAL history have won four sprinting titles.
Paschall didn’t run the 100 Friday. But he plans on running all three individual events at the WPIAL championships May 18.
“I didn’t run the 100, just to keep my body safe,” Paschall said. “I wouldn’t say it wasn’t my best day, but this was a good day to see where I stand. I’m faster than I was at this point last year. I have some big goals in mind and I’ve been working hard to get there. I want to repeat at WPIALs, and I want to get two, if not three state gold medals.”
A meet record was set by Seneca Valley’s Luke Simpson, who ran the 800 in 1:55.29. He beat the 13-yeard-old record of 1:56.46, set by DuBois’ Michael Robinson. Simpson’s previous best in the race was 1:56.33 last year.
Simpson also is an excellent 1,600 runner. He hasn’t decided yet whether to run the 800, 1,600 – or both – at the WPIAL championships.
“If I feel I can get two high medals, I’ll run both,” Simpson said. “If I feel I can win the 800, then I’ll just go for the 800.”
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mwhiteburgh
First Published: April 30, 2022, 12:29 a.m.
