Scott Huff recaps some of the highlights of the past week in SOL track and field. To view photos of the Pennsylvania Track Classic, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
The 28th Annual Pennsylvania Track Classic was held at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School on a cold, rainy, and raw Saturday last week. But Neshaminy head coach Margie Taylor saw some unseen rays of sunshine after the spring’s first open event.
“Obviously the weather wasn’t great, but I was thrilled with the performance of the girls,” said Taylor who is now in her third year as head coach of the Lady Skins. “The times that we ran were actually very good, and I thought the girls fought through the bad weather and had a great day.”
The best of the those days came from freshman Cheyenne Oswald who took second place in the 400-meters with a clocking of 1:01.12 and collected gold medal performances in both the 4 x 100 relay (51.63) and the 4 x 400 relay (4:17.11) for the Lady Skins. Oswald ran the second leg in the 4 x 100 and ran the third leg in the 4 x 400 relay.
“Cheyenne had an awesome performance,” said Taylor of her tall and slightly built ninth grader. “She is much stronger now than she was in the winter as part of our 4 x 200 relay, and she is going to continue to get stronger the older she gets. Training will give her muscle, and she her times will continue to get better.”
Another blue-chip performance was turned in by Neshaminy senior Casey Cerankowski. Cerankowski – who finished fourth in the 200 meters (27.74) – anchored both winning relay teams for the Lady Skins.
“Casey is our captain and is always the runner who is up for a challenge,” said Taylor. “She is the one I want running the anchor. Casey always gives it her best effort.”
There were other fine showings by the Lady Skins at the Classic. Those efforts include a seventh place finish by junior Erin Farrell in the 200 meters (28.34); an eighth place finish by freshman Abby Alexis in the 400 meters (1:03.64); a seventh place finish by junior Kelly Larson in the 3200 meters (12:07.37); a third place finish by the 4 x 800 relay (10:49.58); and a third place finish by senior Katie Denis in the pole vault (8-6).
Taylor now has her focus set on the 6th Annual Lady Skins Invitational to be held on Saturday April 14, 2012.
“This is my second year running the meet, and it really is a lot of work,” said Taylor. “Having the meet here is good in that we don’t have to travel, but there is no question that your attention is divided by hosting the meet. It should be a great day.”
To date, Suburban One League schools that will compete in the Invitational include Central Bucks East, Council Rock South, North Penn, and Upper Moreland.
Top Five @ PW
The following are a list of SOL top five performances on the female side of the ledger at the Pennsylvania Track Classic:
200 meters – 1st – Taylor Chapman – Pennridge – freshman – 26.48
200 meters – 5th – Emmy Magnant – Hatboro-Horsham – sophomore – 27.88
3200 meters – 1st – Tori Gerlach – Pennridge – senior – 10:40.01
100 meter hurdles – 4th – Sara Damon – Pennridge – sophomore – 17.48
300 meter hurdles – 5th – Sara Damon – Pennridge – sophomore – 50.04
4 x 100 relay – 2nd – Hatboro-Horsham – 51.98
4 x 100 relay – 4th – Wissahickon – 53.02
4 x 400 relay – 2nd – Upper Merion – 4:17.92
4 x 400 relay – 5th – Wissahickon – 4:22.08
4 x 800 relay – 4th – Upper Merion – 10:30.94
4 x 800 relay – 5th – Wissahickon – 10:30.96
Distance Medley Relay – 2nd - Pennridge – 14:12.46
DMR – 3rd – Plymouth Whitemash – 14:16.75
High Jump – 4th – Emmy Magnant – 5-0
Never Never Land
Pennridge has never beaten North Penn in girls track and field during the tenure of Ram head coach Bill Smith. The Lady Rams have built a successful track and field program under Smith for the last 12 seasons, but a dual-meet victory over the Maidens – not happening.
However, Pennridge entered that Never Never Land on a bright and sunny Tuesday afternoon at North Penn when the Lady Rams captured an 86-64 victory over the Maidens. PHS did its damage on the track winning nine of 11 track events, while North Penn was strong in the field events.
“I was hoping for just one time in my coaching career that we could beat Coach (Jim) Crawford at North Penn, and I thought coming into the meet that this might be the year,” said Pennridge head coach Bill Smith. “Counting cross country and spring meets, the seniors on this team were a collective 0-7 against North Penn.
“Our team has great respect for what North Penn has done over the years, and to be able to beat them makes me happy for our kids,” added Smith. “Our seniors had one last chance to beat them head to head, and we were able to come through.”
Pennridge senior Tori Gerlach was spectacular as she collected blue ribbon efforts in the 1600 meters (5:01.4) and the 3200 meters (10:57.7). She also anchored the winning 4 x 800 relay (9:42.9) and the victorious 4 X 400 relay (4:03.5). The other members of the 4 x 800 included Cait Sheva, Jessye McGarry, and Marissa Sheva. The remaining members of the 4 x 800 relay included Marissa Sheva, Lindsey Sheehan, and Stacey Nocera.
Junior Natalia Pinkney also registered a twin win performance winning the 100 meters (12.4) and anchoring the 4 x 100 meter relay (48.9). The members of that winning squad included Taylor Chapman, Arian Przyblowski, and Casey O’Brien.
North Penn’s Sydnee Jacques was a triple winner for the Maidens. Jacques won the 110 hurdles (15.4), the long jump (16.2.75) and the triple jump (36-0).
Wissahickon ran well to defeat rival Norristown by a 94-56 score in a SOL American dual-meet.
Ebony Grasty was terrific with four wins to spark the Lady Trojans. Grasty took first in the 100 hurdles (16.4), the 300 hurdles (50.0), the triple jump (34-7.75), and anchored the 4 x 400 relay. Janine Brandt had a strong meet and won both the 1600 meters (5:45.5) and the 3200 meters (12:39.2).
Norristown swept the sprints with Rowanna Watson winning the 100 meters (12.6); Alexis Bell winning the 200 meters (26.0), and Zanya Milligan winning the 400 meters (60.1).
Spotlight On SOL Boys Dual-Meets
Pennridge came up with a huge 82-68 SOL Continental Conference victory over North Penn in a dual-meet held Tuesday at Pennridge.
Ram sophomore Mike Class was extremely impressive with wins in both the 100 meters (11.2) and the 200 meters (22.9). Class anchored the victorious 4 x 100 meter relay that was included Sean Hagerty, John Kim, and Pat Pike. Austin Kohler won the 800 meters (1:55.5) and collected a win in the 4 x 800 relay along with Stefan Bruder, Joe Masgai, and Joey Logue.
Jack Macauley paced the North Penn effort with wins in both the 1600 meters (4:24.4) and the 3200 meters (9:51.8). John Garland won both the shot put (52-7.75) and the discus (132-8).
Pennsbury captured an impressive 117-33 SOL National Conference victory over Neshaminy in a dual-meet held on Tuesday at Neshaminy.
Falcon Francis Jajua won the 100 meters (10.8) and ran on both the winning 4 x 100 relay and the 4 x 400 relay. Adam Lewis ran with Jajua on both winning relays for Pennsbury.
Redskin Bryan Reice collected first place performances in both the 200 meters (21.8) and the 400 meters (51.35). Cody Minnig won the long jump with a leap of 21-4.
Central Bucks East won a SOL Continental Conference meet with a 78-72 victory over Hatboro-Horsham.
The best of the Patriot efforts were dual wins by both Frank Brophy and Jarrett Button. Brophy captured first place in both the 110 hurdles (15.7) and 300 intermediate hurdles, while Button collected first place finishes in both the long jump (19-9.5) and the triple jump (41-1).
The best of the Hatter efforts were dual wins by both Tevin Kirby and Sam Hibbs. Kirby won both the shot put (53-5) and discus (127), while Hibbs anchored the 4 x 800 relay and won the 3200 meters (9:52.5).
Wissahickon raced – and jumped – and threw – to a huge SOL American Conference win over Norristown.
Tanoh Kpassagnon was impressive with three throwing wins for the Trojans. Kpassagnon won the throwing trio of the discus (151-2), javelin (141-2), and shot put (48-11.25). Nkoski Jones with both the long jump (20-3) and the triple jump (40-4.75) for Wissahickon.
Norristown sprinter Tyrone Leach took first in both the 100 meters (11.0) and the 200 meters (22.5). Jaylen Ramsey collected first place in the high jump with a jump of 6-foot, 6-inches.
Outstanding Boys SOL Performances in the Pennsylvania Track Classic
3200 meters – Francis Feruzzi – Upper Dublin – 9:28.70
3200 meters – Sam Hibbs – Hatboro-Horsham – 9:29.44
3200 meters – Connor Quinn – Hatboro-Horsham – 9:35.69
Discus – Tanoh Kpassagnon – Wissahickon – 153-5
Shot Put – Tevin Kirby – Hatboro-Horsham – 52-2.75
Top Five @ PW
100 meters – 4th – Tyler Whitmore – Upper Moreland – freshman – 11.51
100 meters – 5th – Christian Brisett – Cheltenham – freshman – 11.59
200 meters – 4th – Corey Hackett – Hatboro-Horsham – senior – 23.0
400 meters – 2nd – Hackett – 49.46
400 meters – 3rd – Bryan Reice – Neshaminy – senior – 50.12
400 meters – 5th – Dave Stellato – Wissahickon – sophomore – 51.11
800 meters – Jeffrey Wise – Council Rock – sophomore – 2:00.91
1600 meters – 5th - Cassidy Silverthorn – Plymouth Whitemarsh – junior – 4:36.53
110 hurdles – 2nd - Josh Cosme – Upper Dublin – senior – 15.85
110 hurdles – 3rd - Tyheed Jackson – Hatboro-Horsham – 16.12
300 hurdles - 2nd – Harley LaCroix – Cheltenham – senior – 41.53
4 x 100 relay – 1st – Cheltenham – 43.28
4 x 400 relay – 1st – Wissahickon – 3:27.76
4 x 400 relay – 4th – Cheltenham – 3:22.81
4 x 800 relay – 4th – Cheltenham – 8:21.74
DMR – 5th – Upper Dublin – 11:23.94
High Jump – 4th – Carlos Bennett – Plymouth Whitemarsh – junior - 6-0
Long Jump – 1st – Harley LaCroix – Cheltenham – senior – 22-1.75
Shot Put – 4th – Evan Mao – Upper Dublin – senior – 46-8.75
Javelin – 3rd – Travis Young – Hatboro-Horsham – junior – 148-8.
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