MAHANOY CITY - The annual Schuylkill League Track and Field Championships are a good way to warm up for the next biggest track event in the sport - the District 11 championships.

Every thinclad dreams of trying for a district gold medal and the ultimate prize - a berth in the PIAA State Championships. Wednesday's all-league meet can be looked at as a springboard for each and every participant, and the measuring stick in terms of time and distance for where they stand for the next meet at Whitehall, Tuesday and Wednesday.The Times News area produced 15 gold medals in Wednesday's meet, including 11 individuals and four relay teams. The 11 individual golds came from 11 different athletes. Tamaqua garnered six firsts, while Jim Thorpe had five, Lehighton three and Marian one."It's critical to have good times and how far your throws are in order to see where you stand for (districts)," said Marian's first-year coach Frank Lally.In some quarters, those times were sparkling. There was Marian's Tina Capparell breezing to the finish line in the 1600 meter event in a time of 5:21.45, but her best event comes in the 800. A year ago she captured a gold medal at districts and made her maiden voyage to states - as a freshman.Tamaqua's Monika Shimko was elated about her performance, and like Capparell, she was a state final participant in her freshman season."I was really happy with the time I ran (in the 800)," Shimko said of her season-best 2:19. She was also part of two relay events.The foursome of Chelsea Frantz, Janette Kabana, Victoria Labar and Shimko captured the 1600 relay in a time of 4:07.72, staving off Pine Grove, Blue Mountain and Marian in that order."The girls did really well today," said coach Tom Kanger of Tamaqua. "Kailee Carroll, in the two mile, came around today and had a good event. Our focal point coming in was the relays - mid-distance and up. We wanted to get ready for next week."Frantz had a season best in the 400 with a time of 1:01. "I was really excited about our relays, and I was so happy with the (400). It was my best time of the season."MISSING IN ACTIONJim Thorpe may have the best contingent of athletes, but there were a number of missing participants. Senior skip-Friday didn't allow all the athletes to come to this meet here at Alumni Stadium."They're young people who made a mistake," was the way head coach Frank Miller explained the suspended athletes. "They'll learn from this. They came to practice, but didn't come to this meet."The limelight certainly shone down on the Cope sisters - Brooke and Autumn, along with Shawn O'Toole and Dylan Bucior. All four Olympians garnered gold medals."Yeah, it was great," said Brooke Cope, the standout senior who has excelled in the shot put, who a year ago tossed her career best of 36-3 1/2 at districts. "I'm really excited… I want to get back (to states). I got bumped out of the (finals) on the last throw.""They're easy to coach," said Erick Moore, who is the throwing coach for the Olympians. "They're so competitive, they have that drive that all the great athletes have and want to get better."Autumn Cope was trying to better her career best in the javelin event of 139-10, which she set at the Tamaqua Invitational earlier this year. Wednesday she tossed a 135-6, beating out Morgan Boyle of Tamaqua, who tossed a 124-3 to finish second."I'm looking forward to districts," Autumn said. "I was confident and I was throwing pretty well. It would be neat if both of us make it to states."O'Toole's victory medal came in the 200 meters when he sprinted to the finish line in a time of 23:15, besting his prelim time of 23:45, while holding off Pottsville's Christian Witman (23:54), Minersville's Austin Pritiskutch (23:51) and Lehighton's Tanner Hydt (23:88).O'Tool's teammate, Bucior, picked up a gold medal in the 1600 meters. Bucior was never threatened as he ran a time of 4:29.94, beating Minersville's Colton Fox (4:37.92). Weatherly's Jared Hinkle (4:42.90) came in third, followed by Tamaqua's Adam Melnick (4:43.54) and Marian's Aaron Srinivasan (4:46.99).FIRST TIME A CHARMHunter Greene used to be a baseball player. Now he heaves the javelin and the shot put for Lehighton. A year ago, Greene was tossing the baseball as a pitcher for the Indians."I got tired of baseball and wanted to try (track)," said the subdued senior. All Greene did was come into the meet as the top seed in the javelin event, and capture first place with a throw of 161-1. Now he'll be focusing on the district meet.Greene's teammate, Nick Chambers, can fly like the wind and blew by the competition to take first place in the 100 meters in a time of 11:46. "I wanted to do well for my teammate and my coaches," said Chambers, who has an 11.02 as his personal best. Chambers also keyed the 400 relay team to victory running the first leg, followed by Mike Mayernik, Gavin Zehner and Dom Palumbo. They hit the finish line at 45:15. North Schuylkill (45:52) was second, Marian (45:82) was third, and Panther Valley (46:76) was fourth.Matt Smarr came up strong in the pole vault. Smarr vaulted 13-3 to win the gold medal ahead of Lehighton's Aaron Bowman (12-6). Cullen Murphy (11-6) of Tamaqua and Brandon Bell (11-0) of Thorpe were fifth and sixth, respectively.Marian's Brenna Karnish didn't bring home any gold, but she was impressive in all of her field events with two second-place medals. Karnish lost out to North Schuylkill's Emma Green - one of the top discus throwers in the state. Green flipped a 119-11, while Karnish was throwing a 114-4. Karnish (15-7) finished second in the long jump to Mahanoy Area's Samantha Gnall, who had a 16-2.