NORTH SEWICKLEY TWP. — For most Beaver County seniors, the Beaver County Track and Field Championships are a chance to cap a career, defend titles or improve on past performances.
For Hopewell’s Tara Gologram, though, neither applied. The senior was attending her first Beaver County Championships at Riverside’s Memorial Stadium after competing the past two seasons at Keystone Oaks.
She made the most of her one shot, though, winning both Most Valuable Field and Most Valuable Overall Performer honors. She won both the 100 meters and the long jump, finished second in the triple jump, and third in the high jump.
“I definitely expected tougher competition,” said Gologram. “I’ve run against Innocense Ross before, so I knew she was tough (Ross finished third in the 100, .45 seconds behind Gologram). I wasn’t completely sure of what to expect, though, track is a little bigger deal here than at Keystone Oaks.
“I’ve aimed more at numbers than places, but it’s been tough this season with the weather. Still, I hit my number in the long jump, so now I set a new goal.”
Gologram’s number to reach in the long jump had been 16 feet. After jumping 16 feet, 5 inches — more than a foot better than her closest competition, she now has set her goal at 19 feet and will start the quest for that goal Wednesday at the MAC Championships at Mars.
She has been accustomed to hitting her numbers for a lot longer than the three years she has concentrated on track, too. Before that, she was a gymnast and expected that to be her ticket to college.
“I started track as a way to fill time before gymnastics practice but I’ve grown to love it.
“My gymnastics career is over now. I’m doing track full time, and next year, I’ll be running track at Robert Morris,” said Gologram. “They’ll be using me as a jumper; the long jump is my favorite.”
Before reaching Robert Morris, though, Gologram still has some scholastic career left at Hopewell. With her two MVP awards and two more from fellow senior Dantae Ranieri, the Vikings won the combined team championship.
The overall girls team winner was Central Valley, with Hopewell second. Izea Lay of Aliquippa received the Most Valuable Track Performer Award.
They’ll all get to build on that at the MAC Championships, then the WPIAL championships and, ultimately, the PIAA Championships at Shippensburg on Memorial Day weekend.
“Getting to Shippensburg is definitely my goal,” Gologram said.
Based on her first Beaver County Championships, it seems an attainable goal.