BY JEFF FALK
LANDISVILLE – There is something to be said for assertiveness and immediacy, and immediate assertiveness.
Hannah Woelfling knew what she wanted, she knew how to get it and she simply went out and took it.
Besides, it’s so much better playing with the lead.
On a moist Friday evening at Hempfield High School, Woelfling’s gold-medal performance in the girls’ discus highlighted the Lebanon County effort during the opening day of the annual Lancaster-Lebanon League Track and Field Championships. Woelfling fired a 134-10 on her initial throw in the preliminaries to easily win her signature event.
While the Cedar Crest senior’s medal was the shiniest earned by a Lebanon County competitor at the league meet yesterday, it wasn’t the only one. Woelfling was joined on the medal stand by an Annville-Cleona senior and an Elco senior, just to name two.
The Lancaster-Lebanon League Track and Field Championships will resume and conclude on Saturday, back at Hempfield High School.
“The adrenaline was really there,” said Woelfling. “I was thinking about throwing throughout the day. I warmed up really well. I was excited to throw.
“My first throw is usually my best,” added Woelfling. “I probably do it backwards. Everybody tries to build up to it.”
Woelfling wasted precious little time establishing her superiority.
The 134-10 she popped on her first attempt ended up being 15-2 farther than runner-up Kristen Herr of Lampeter-Strasburg and the rest of the competition. Woelfling’s current personal best stands at 135-9.
Woelfling was the defending champion in the discus, but entered the competition seeded second behind Herr.
“That’s a really good feeling,” said Woelfling of being referred to as both the defending champion and the reigning champion. “I was seeded second coming in, so I was a little nervous. But after my first throw, I felt better.
“I was just trying to stay consistent,” Woelfling continued. “That (first throw) set the bar. I wanted to stay in the 130s. But on the first throw, I wasn’t thinking as much.”
Woelfling will compete in the shot put and the high jump during Saturday’s resumption of the league meet. She may also compete in those events at next weekend’s District Three Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University, but ultimately she will turn her attention to the discus.