On Thursday, May 15, 2025, Quakertown seniors Sarah Morishita, Melanie Palen and Mikayla Kessler were recognized for committing to compete in track at the collegiate level. (Photos provided courtesy of Jennifer Banas/QCHS)
Mikayla Kessler – Moravian University (Track & Field)
Major: Early Childhood Education
Final list of colleges: Moravian, Kutztown, East Stroudsburg, York
Reasons for choosing Moravian: “The track coach made me feel like the team would feel like home, and I can see myself spending the next four years there.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in track and field at the collegiate level? “I thought it was a possibility to throw at the collegiate level my junior year of high school. I started looking at schools mid-junior year, and coaches were reaching out to me. Summer before my senior year, the Moravian coach reached out, and I fell in love with the program.”
Coach Jason Anderson: “Mikayla is an accomplished multi-sport athlete, which is what you need for throws. Track and field has 18 different events, so we need people who can do anything, and Mikayla’s like that. Shot, disc, javelin – that’s her expertise. She had a very successful indoor season in shot, and after deciding to kind of focus on that instead of swimming, which is one of her many sports, she really did well there. She’s a very vocal leader, asks questions, makes observations, and she helps clarify the team mission. We’ve got a very big, diverse team, so it’s nice to have someone who’s like, ‘Hey, wait a second, what’s happening tomorrow? How do we do this?’ She had a great league meet – an outdoor lifetime PR in discus, helping us to earn some team points, which was fantastic. She picked a great school with a championship track and field program – Moravian University. We have four 2021 grads, alums that are graduating this year. Two are also Coach Justin’s throwers, so she’s joining a great program, and they’re getting a great athlete.”
About Mikayla:
Favorite food: Sushi
Favorite movie: Anyone But You
Favorite artist: Tate McRae
Sarah Morishita – Widener University (Cross Country/Track & Field)
Major: Electrical Engineering
Reasons for choosing Widener: “I chose Widener for the small class size, it’s close to home, affordable and has a good campus.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in cross country and track at the collegiate level? “When I was on a tour at the college, the tour guide told me to fill out a Google form if I was interested in playing sports in college,
so I did. From there, the coach reached out to me, and a little later, I went on a tour of the athletic facilities at Widener.”
Coach Jason Anderson: “Sarah is a track athlete of the highest caliber. She does distance events – the farther, the longer, the better – two-mile, 3,000. You tack them together and Sarah can do it. She’s a four-year varsity letter winner. A little bit about her academics because I think it’s kind of cool. She studies mechatronics at the tech school. I looked it up, and it’s like a multidisciplinary engineering program with all the big names – electrical, mechanical, etc. She’s choosing electrical. She took AP classes at the high school, so she’s a very accomplished student-athlete.
“She’s going to have a highly successful career, I feel. I’m thinking probably some of us at some point will message her on LinkedIn and say, ‘Hey, remember the time I saw you at the college signing? Can you get me a job? Can you get my kid a job?’ Sarah will be very, very successful. She’s an officer in the philosophy club, so I tried to find a quote from a philosopher that I think exemplifies her. So, I chose Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. He’s a stoic philosopher, and he has a quote that says, ‘The obstacle is the way,’ and I think that kind of summarizes Sarah. The two-mile is a really long race. It’s not a popular choice for high school athletes. Sarah does it with a smile every meet. In our win again PW, she wanted to do the distance gauntlet, which I don’t know if anyone else has ever called it that or has ever done it. The distance gauntlet is the 4x800 at the beginning of the meet, then the 800 and then the two-mile all in the same meet, and Sarah did all of them with a smile. We all cheered for her. That, to me, kind of makes a philosopher/emperor in my book. Sarah, best of luck at Widener. They’re getting a fantastic person. Please don’t forget about your track family here in Quakertown. When you cure cancer, we’ll name a stadium after you.”
About Sarah:
Favorite food: Brownies
Favorite TV show: The Good Place
Melanie Palen – Millersville University (Track & Field)
Major: Meteorology
Final list of colleges: Millersville, West Chester
Reasons for choosing Millersville: “I love the overall feel of the school, they have a wonderful meteorology program and a great throwing program.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in track and field at the collegiate level? “I thought about it my junior year, but it wasn’t a huge possibility until this year. As my throwing progressed and improved, opportunities opened up, and I would love for my passion for throwing to continue.”
Coach Jason Anderson: “Mel Palen throws the district and the shot. She’s very quiet, very reserved in public, she’s quick to smile and is very supportive of her teammates. She’s had a really good senior year. It’s kind of opened up for her this year. She qualified for districts at the Pennridge Helman/Hosier Invitational. She had a lifetime PR in shot at leagues. We contacted the Millersville coach after Helman, and he was like, ‘Oh my goodness,’ so he called her and set everything up. It’s been great, really fast-moving.
“Most importantly, Mel has really been a stalwart for us in track and field. She’s part of Coach Justin’s crew. He’s had so many awesome throwers over the year, and we have two more here. Good luck at Millersville. It happened fast, but we’re all very excited for you.”
About Melanie:
Favorite food: Enchiladas
Favorite movie: Tangled
Favorite artist: Kali Uchis
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