This week’s notebook highlights some of the SOL’s top performances in the early season invitationals.
By DENNY DYROFF
This is the time of year when the scholastic track and field season attempts to find its identity. There are a number of early annual invitational meets that usually are a mixed blessing for coaches and athletes.
On the plus side, these meets provide opportunities for athletes to face strong competition against teams they don’t meet in their own league or conference dual meets.
On the negative side, these meets are frequently contested in weather conditions that range from bad to downright miserable. There have been two weekends featuring invitational meets this season, and both have had weather that has been windy, cold, damp or a combination thereof.
The biggest meet on the opening weekend of the season was the 30thAnnual PTFCA (Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association) Pennsylvania Track Classic. On the girls’ side, the SOL National Conference had Neshaminy and Council Rock North leading the way.
Neshaminy was paced by Alyssa Zukowski, who won the gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles at 15.99. She also teamed with Abby Alexis, Cheyenne Oswald and Gabby Farrell on the 4x100 team that won the bronze medal at 51.39.
“The weather wasn’t that nice and a few of our girls got sick,” said Neshaminy coach Margie Stefan. “Alyssa won the hurdles. She’s usually in the low 15s. But, it was rainy and cold so her time was all right for the conditions.
“Our 4x100 did pretty good. They were two-tenths of a second away from qualifying for districts (District 1 Class AAA Championships). We’ll be running a hard 4x100 at our Lady Skins Invitational this weekend. We made district finals last year and were fifth at states in 2013.
“Our 4x400 will probably be our best relay. Last year, we were in the finals at districts. We ran state-qualifying time but needed to be in the top six to go to states. Our team this year is Alex Jackson, Saloni Hebron, Abby Alexis and Cheyenne Oswald.
“We won’t run the 4x400 this weekend at our meet because Saturday night is Neshaminy’s Junior Prom, and a lot of the girls on the team are going to it. We’ll be focusing more on individual events.”
Other Neshaminy girls who fared well at the Pennsylvania Track Classic were Kabrina Weaver (third, 3200), Allyson Smolnik (third, pole vault), Victoria Lieber (fourth, triple jump) and Nora Okwara (fifth, shot put).
Pennsbury’s Kornelius Klah was silver medalist in the 300 hurdles with a clocking of 40.98 while Council Rock North’s top finisher was Erica Rummel, who placed third in javelin with a throw of 117-4.
Neshaminy’s boys finished first in both the 4x100 and 4x800 and D’Andre Pollard took second place in triple jump.
Truman’s boys turned in a strong performance at the Track Classic. The Tigers were paced by Eric Parson, who went double-gold. He took first place in long jump at 19-8 and topped the field in triple jump with a leap of 43-5.5.
Other top finishers for Truman were Samson Bloh (second, 100; sixth, 200), Terez Franklin (third, triple jump) and the 4x100 relay (third).
At the Diamond State Relays, which were held April 4 at A.I. DuPont High School in Greenville, Delaware, Bensalem’s Amelia Ali was first in shot put at 37-2.5 and third in discus at 93-7, and her Owl teammate Elayna Van Arsdale was second in both events with a 95-11 in discus and a 31-0.75 in shot put.
Two of the National Conference’s best finishers at the 28thAnnual Kiwanis Invitational, which was held at Council Rock North on April 4, were the host school’s David Gumino (second, 200) and Chris Welde (second, 100).
Other medalists were Abington’s Isaiah Smith (second, 400) and Jordan Neely (second, 800) and Neshaminy’s Sean Conway (third, 400).
William Tennent’s girls had shining moments in two events at the Brother Jerome Benway Memorial Invitational, which was held March 28 at St, Basil’s Academy in Jenkintown. Miranda Laskey was second in the 100 hurdles and WT’s 4x200 snagged a silver medal.
At the same meet, Abington’s Marissa Heath won the gold medal in the 400 at 1:00.74.
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North Penn served notice to its Continental Conference opponents to be wary with impressive performances from the boys’ team at its own Knights Invitational on April 2 and the girls’ team at the Pennsylvania Track Classic.
The Knights were first in the 4x400 and second in the 4x100 and had a quartet of individual silver medalists -- Andrew Himes (1600), Janeel Solanki (300 hurdles), Long Nguyen (pole vault) and Shaun Collis (3200).
The North Penn boys had a quartet of bronze medalists -- Ben Sogonniuck (110 hurdles), Chris Jeffereis (400), Michael Cooney (800) and Alex Hayashi (javelin).
Central Bucks South also put on a display of strength at the meet, led by gold medalists Connor Irwin (3200), William Donahue (shot put), Adam Smoluk (long jump) and Tim Radwanski (800).
Donahue, who was also third in discus, led a C.B. South sweep in shot put with Jack Mummert taking second place and Uhura Kamau finishing third. Smoluk also placed second in triple jump and third in the 300 hurdles.
The Titans’ other standouts were Stephane Elion (second, javelin), Josh White (third, 100), Mike Melair (second, long jump), Jack Marquis (third, 1600; third, 3200), Josh Adams (third, 200), Daniel Nguyen (third, long jump), Matt Smith (third, pole vault), Eric Tomaselli (second, 800), 4x400 relay (second) and 4x100 (third).
Hatboro-Horsham had four gold medalists at the Knights Invitational -- Bobby Gablein (22), Tyler Gibbons (high jump), Tommy Haas (javelin) and Nicholas Marino (pole vault).
North Penn’s girls put on a show of dominance at the Pennsylvania Track Classic, including gold medals in the 4x100, 4x400 and distance medley relay and a silver medal in the 4x800.
The Maidens’ individual event winners were Allison King (100), Sarah Weiner (pole vault), Olivia Dyer (3200) and Uche Nwogwugwu (high jump). Their silver medalists were Leiana Dean (200), Lauren Follis (300 hurdles), Brittany Van Strien (shot put) and Moran Kull (pole vault)
North Penn also had a foursome of third-place medalists -- Ariana Gardizy (1600), Kathleen Stevenson (shot put), Weiner (100 hurdles) and Nwogwugwu (400).
The Maidens showed their depth the following weekend at the Colonial Relays at Plymouth Whitemarsh High.
They won gold medals in the distance medley relay and the 4x100, a bronze medal in the shuttle hurdles and silver medals in the 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800.
Other solid showings by the Continental Conference at the Kiwanis Invitational were produced by Central Bucks West’s Rock Fortuna (first, 800), Central Bucks East’s Jake Brophy (second, 3200) and Quakertown’s Brett Wolfinger (third, 800).
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The boys’ teams from Upper Dublin and Wissahickon are perennial powerhouses in the American Conference, and, based on early-season results, the trend should continue this season.
At the Pennsylvania Track Classic, UD’s Kieran Moore won the discus and shot put events, David Bryan placed first in the 100 and fifth in triple jump. The Cardinals’ silver medalists were George Weems in the 400 and Brian Kaufman in long jump.
Kaufman also took fifth place in triple jump. Kyle Markley was bronze medalist in pole vault and Kyle McMullen was fourth in the 400. The Cards also finished fourth in the distance medley relay and fifth in the 4x800.
“That was a very early race for David Bryan,” said Upper Dublin’s long-time coach Rich Ames. “He ran well there and he’s been running really well ever since. He ran 11.9 at the Track Classic and he’s now running 11.2.
“He’s also the anchor of our 4x400. The other three are Kyle McMullen, Tom Henry and George Weems. Our 4x400 is getting there. Kyle has done 51-flat, Tom 51.6 and George ran a 51.7 at the Track Classic. The relay still need work with the handoffs -- and meet experience. It needs to put more nuances in.”
Ames is also happy with the progress of the Cardinals’ field event aces.
“Kyle Markley and Dominic Paone are vaulting really well right now,” said Ames. “Kieran Moore is a very mature young and a very hard worker. He was selected as the Outstanding Field Athlete at the Track Classic.”
At the Colonial Relays, Moore won the shot put and finished second in discus. The Cardinals also placed first in the 4x200 and third in the shuttle hurdles.
Wissahickon’s boys looked strong at the Colonial Relays with gold medals in the sprint medley relay and the 4x100 and bronze medals in the 4x400 and 4x800. Additionally, Yondell Dudley won the discus event and finished second in shot put.
At the Haverford Invitational on March 28, Wissahickon won the 4x400. Individually, Darien Williams took first in the 400, Kyuande Johnson finished second in the 1600 and Ethan Dolberry-Wescott was third in the 110 hurdles and sixth in the 300 hurdles.
In the girls’ portion of the meet, Wissahickon was silver medalist in the 4x400. Anna Chiodo-Ortiz took second in the 400, Autumn Hair was third in triple jump and Anna Morgan took second in javelin and fourth in shot put. The Trojan girls also were third in the 4x400 at the Colonial Relays.
In other action at the Haverford meet, Hatboro-Horsham’s Rebecca Desipio was third in the 100 hurdles and Alyssa Quinn was third in the 3200 on the girls’ side while Tommy Haas was second in javelin and Nicholas Marino was third in pole vault.
Upper Merion’s Noah Falasco was third in the boys’ 800 and Carolyn Helenski was third in girls’ javelin.
Helenski, who was a key player on the Vikings’ District 1 Class AAA champion volleyball team in the fall, also had a good day at the Colonial Relays. She had the meet’s longest throws in both javelin and discus while her teammate Jordan Wilson finished with the second-best distance in discus.
Norristown’s lone top-three finisher at the Pennsylvania Track Classic was Nate Reynolds (third, 200). Norristown’s girls went to Greenville, Delaware to compete in the Diamond State Relays and returned home with a pair of silver medals -- 4x100 and 4x200.
Plymouth Whitemarsh’s girls started their season with three bronze-medal performances at the Pennsylvania Track Classic -- Taylor O’Brien in the 300 hurdles, 4x100 and 4x400.
The Colonial boys were paced by Quincy Williams (second, shot put; fifth, discus), Doug Luba (third, 3200) and Adjua Dashield (second, javelin; sixth, triple jump). Williams also placed third in shot put at the Colonial Relays and his teammate Ryan Clancy was second in high jump.
Cheltenham’s teams are just getting used to competing outdoors after a long indoor season that concluded at the National Championships in New York.
At the Pennsylvania Track Classic, John Lewis captured the gold medal in the 300 hurdles at 39.43, which is a “National Elite” time.
At the Kiwanis Invitational, Lewis crossed first in both the 400 and the 400 hurdles. His teammate Cordell Richardson was bronze medalist in the same hurdles race. Additionally, Christian Brissett was gold medalist in the 100 and the 200.
Upper Moreland’s high points in invitational meets this season were Drew Lindsey’s gold medals in the triple jump and 400 at the Brother Jerome Invitational and Maria Antoni’s gold in the 800 in the same meet.
Springfield’s Chris Stone snagged the gold medal in high jump at the Colonial Relays with a height of 6-4.
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