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Central Bucks South's Przekop takes 3rd in Relays girls' high jump

Sometimes the grandest stages can provide a measure of anonymity. With all the hustle and bustle of the Penn Relays, Central Bucks South junior Val Przekop found peace, hiding among the masses during the bustling infield events Thursday.

Sometimes the grandest stages can provide a measure of anonymity.

With all the hustle and bustle of the Penn Relays, Central Bucks South junior Val Przekop found peace, hiding among the masses during the bustling infield events Thursday.

"I feel like I don't get as nervous being in a big setting," said Przekop, who finished third in the girls' high-jump championship. "Maybe just because there's a lot of people, and I don't feel like anyone is watching [just] me. I kind of feel like I'm by myself."

Perhaps that perceived solitude helped Przekop overcome what she thought were daunting odds. Last year, her personal-best jump was 5-feet. On Thursday, she jumped 5-53/4 inches. The winner, Erika Voyzey, from Tyrone Area, jumped 5-71/4.

"It feels great because I was ranked 14th, and 5-foot-6 is my personal record, so I didn't know how it would go," she said. "I felt good coming in, but I was obviously intimidated. I didn't think I'd get third place, I know that's bad to say, but it was kind of crazy."

The reason for her drastic turnaround, she said, was better use of her ears and what is stored between them.

"I think a lot of it was mental, and I started listening to my coaches," she said, as coach Justin Crump, standing to her right, concurred with a smile and a nod. "I was more focused, but I also think athletically I got stronger."

Two-timers with new-timers. For the second consecutive year, Coatesville claimed the 4x400 Suburban Ches-Mont championship.

When asked to compare the two victories, Makayla Eberly, a junior who ran the third leg of the relay, smiled while shivering in the cold.

"Last year's race had beautiful weather compared to this," she said, smiling.

Intermittent showers mixed with the occasional chill notwithstanding, Eberly and senior Karley Hess helped shepherd freshmen Sammie Miller and Patricia Rokins.

"They are like big sisters to me," said Miller, the first leg. "I look up to them, and I know that if I have a rough day at practice they're there to encourage me."

Eberly is contemplating college at La Salle, Temple, or Lafayette. Hess, who ran the anchor leg, will attend St. Joseph's but isn't sure if she'll run.

She is sure, however, that she enjoys being the closer.

"It's nerve-racking watching everyone," Hess said, "but I guess it prepares me because I get excited to go, and I get to cheer for them."

Alone but with friends. The giant screen that sits high atop the field at the Penn Relays is there for a reason.

On Thursday evening, Haddonfield High School (N.J.) junior Briana Gess used it to sneak a peek at Weini Kelati, the Heritage (Leesburg, Va.) junior who flirted with the Relays record (9:15.3) during the girls' 3,000 meters. Kelati finished at 9:19.91.

"She's just incredible," Gess said. "I was watching her on the screen when I was running."

Gess, competing by herself for the first time at the Relays, finished 12th overall (9:50.95), besting her goal of 10 minutes flat.

Gess, who competed in the distance medley as a freshman and then the 4x800 last year, said, "I feel like when you go in with a team you go in together.

"This time I didn't have a team with me, but I had a bunch of friends [fellow competitors] here, and I tried to think of it as going through it with them."