L.M. Track's Yankelev Grabs Bronze at States; Harriton's Norris Reaches Final Mile

Lower Merion junior Eliana Yankelev, an , earned a 100-meter-hurdle bronze medal at last weekend's state track championships and had her chance for a second medal, in high jump, hurt by tight scheduling.

Meanwhile, Harriton sophomore distance runner Max Norris was one of the 12 1,600-meter runners to advance from preliminary heats that contained 30 state qualifiers. He placed 12th in Saturday's final.

Yankelev had to run straight from an attempt at the high-jump pit to the starting line of the 100-meter-hurdle preliminary heat Friday morning, relying on another jumper to help her put on her jersey number.

She won the heat to advance to the semifinals, then to Saturday's final. She had a quick start, and after trouble with one hurdle she rallied for a time of 14.84, good for third place.

“I am happy with my medal,” said Yankelev, who is already mapping her strategy for next year. “I stayed in my seeding all weekend. I came in here ranked third and got the bronze medal. It was tough today battling a head wind, but it was the same for all of us.”

But she couldn't beat 5 feet 2 inches in the high jump, a height she normally makes pretty easily, dropping her out of medal contention.

“I am very disappointed in my high jump,” said Yankelev. “It’s what happens some times, I had to rush all of my jumps since I was in the flight that was going on while my hurdles heats were getting ready to run."

Norris, who qualified for states with a District 1 sophomore record time, ran well in the preliminaries with a time of 4:22.59.

In the final, Norris used up his energy reserve early as he had to battle through traffic for more than 800 meters before dropping out of contention in a race where Upper Moreland’s Drew Megaha set a new PIAA state record with a time of 4:07.32. Norris finished in 4:33.94.