Runs a personal best in 60-meter hurdles; Mills 9th in 3K
By Hannah Christopher, Track and Field Reporter, UnionvilleTimes.com
Unionville's Alicia Minella. Photo by Charisse Ellsworth
STATE COLLEGE — Alicia Minella, a senior at Unionville High School and a star sprinter and hurdler, finished fifth in the Pennsylvania Indoor State Track Meet Saturday in the 60 meter hurdles.
The meet was held at Penn State’s Multi–sport indoor facility. Alicia ran a 9.14 in the preliminaries and a speedy 8.98(personal best) in the semis and finished with a 9.20 in the Finals. Lauren Mills, another senior at Unionville placed ninth in the 3000-meter run with a remarkable 10:24.
The Distance Medley quartet made up of the following girls Annie Berkmeier (sophomore), Courtney Smith(freshman), Jordan Close (senior) and Christine Mapa(junior) placed 9th at the State Meet. The Distance Medley consists of the 400, 800, 1200, and the 1600 meter run. Coach Mark LaCianca when asked how he felt about the performances in the State Meet, he said he was pleased, considering Alicia had a personal record in the 60 and Lauren a (pr) in the 3000 meter run. Minella had to scratch from the 200 due to injury though, he stated. The Distance Medley team had a representative from each class shown and two of them were ill and this may have affected the overall performance of the relay team.
In the boys division at the State Meet there were no qualifiers from Unionville High School. Steven Yannocone (sophomore) was eight seconds from qualifying in the mile at the Meet of the Champions. Among Chester County runners, Luke Lefebure (senior) of WestChester Henderson placed 3rd in the 800 meter run. Lefebure is headed to Stanford in the fall on a track scholarship.
It was an impressive showing by Unionville in a very large and competitive state. Next on the agenda for these girls is Spring Track which starts officially on March 7. The first dual meet is on April 12 at Oxford for both the boys and girls outdoor track team.
Two of the large meets that have great competition and huge fan bases are the Unionville Track Invitational on April 30 and the state track meet on May 27 and May 28th at Shippensburg State. Coach LaCianca expects 140 boys and girls to be participating in his track program this spring. He is looking forward to a successful season with the great amount of talent he has to work with.
