Shikellamy boys look for second district title in a row

Shikellamy bolted to a significant lead in the Class 3A boys standings after the first day of the District 4 championships.

The Braves collected 74 points and lead second-place Williamsport by 26 points. Shikellamy crowned three district champions on Thursday.

One of the three was pole vaulter Aaron Bucher, who cleared 14 feet, 6 inches to win the district title for the second consecutive season.

Bucher qualified for the final race the 110-meter high hurdles during Thursday’s preliminaries. Bucher finished with a 15.80, which was the third-fastest time. Bucher’s teammate, Maddox Hoover, recorded the second-quickest time with a 15.44.

Bucher and Hoover will look to dethrone defending district champion Kye Diakite of Williamsport. Diakite finished with the fastest time in the heats (14.87).

Hunter Bordner won in the triple jump, and will be looking to add another piece of hardware in the long jump. Bordner is seeded third in the event while teammates Thomas Pollock is second. Williamsport’s Tevin Williams owns the top seed at 23-10 3/4.

Pollock qualified for the 100 finals, along with Selinsgrove’s Noah Walter and Shamokin’s Ryan Bickert, Logan Steele and Adrian Alexander. Bickert blazed to a 10.79, which is was only four one-hundredths of a second faster than Williamsport’s Alex Takach.

Bickert is also the top seed in the 200 — he’s the only sprinter with a time below 22 seconds.

Shikellamy and Shamokin are also favored in the 4x100 relay as the only teams that own a time below 43 seconds. Selinsgrove’s team is also in the mix as the third-best seed in a seven-team race.

In the throws, Shikellamy’s Willie Bender owns the top seed in the javelin. Brody Rebuck has the second-best seed. Both Bender and Rebuck threw at states last season where Rebuck finished seventh. Selinsgrove’s Chase Carter will also look to qualify for states for the second year in a row.

Bender’s personal best in the javelin is 207-1, and he’s looking to break the district record set by Selinsgrove’s Josh Hostetler in 2005 (205-11).

“I’m feeling pretty confident,” Bender said last week after winning the HAC title after throwing 204-6. “I want to try to get the meet record or the district record there.”

Bender, Rebuck and Carter will also compete in the shot put on Saturday. Shamokin’s Za’kem Clinton is the defending district champion and is the top seed at 53-6. Selinsgrove sophomore Ethan Portwood is another name in contention.

Midd-West’s Wyatt Nelson is seeded first in the 800 (1:54.85). Connor Stoltzfus and Lyncoln Hoffman have also clocked in sub-two minute times, as has Selinsgrove freshman Grant Pyers.

Nelson ran a 1:55.17 at the HAC meet last week.

“I wanted to go 1:53, but I didn’t end up going there,” Nelson said. “I knew going into it, I wasn’t feeling the best. But at the end of the day, I am going 1:55 into districts. It’s definitely a goof feeling to have that pace.”