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Merckle wins a state title for Fort Cherry

Written by Joe Koch on .

Joe Koch's feature on Fort Cherry javelin champion Jessie Merckle:

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(Photo: Fort Cherry's Jessie Merckle captured the Class AA girls javelin title at the PIAA track and field championships last Saturday at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium. Matt Freed/Post-Gazette.)

 

"The PIAA Class AA girls javelin championship was setting up beautifully for Jessie Merckle. .

A senior at Fort Cherry High School, Merckle, the 2012 WPIAL champion and PIAA runner-up last year, had done all she could to ensure that she would get the last opportunity to hurl the javelin in every round of the six-throw competition.

Not only did she take advantage of having the top qualifying throw entering the event, she thrived on it when the 23 competitors lined up to compete last Saturday morning.

Merckle was unable to match the winning throw of 156 feet, 8 inches she had recorded in the WPIAL championships, but that didn't matter as her effort of 154-1 allowed her to soar past defending champion Christine Streisel of Tamaqua by nearly 5 feet (149-2) and earn the state title."