REGAN, FINN, SCHAFFER SWEEP AT PA STATE CHAMPS

Sunday, February 26th, 2006
The Express Times
From staff reports

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | It was a farewell and a coming out party all wrapped up in one for Easton Area High School’s Lindsay Regan and Abby Schaffer Saturday in the state indoor championship on the Morris Ashenfelter III track at Penn State University.

Regan, who has been recovering from a back injury and hadn't trained since finishing second in a national meet a few weeks ago in Reno , Nev lead the way with a gold medal and record fourth indoor state championship in the pole vault.

She wasn't alone when she cleared 12 feet. Easton teammate Abby Schaffer, a sophomore, and Becky Finn, a Liberty junior and a PIAA Class AAA runner-up last spring, all cleared that height.

Schaffer said she tried to hit the height in practice last week but fell short. She had no such problem on Saturday.

Finn said she was satisfied by her consistency she won the silver medal on the basis of fewer misses than Schaffer, who took bronze but Finn really wanted to clear 12-6.

Regan quickly cleared that height on her first try but Schaffer and Finn each missed on all three of their attempts. Regan then missed three times at 13-1, an inch above the state indoor record she set last year.