This week’s notebook highlights Souderton and Bensalem and highlights some of the top SOL invitational performances.
By DENNY DYROFF
Earlier this week, Souderton’s girls’ track and field team defeated Pennridge in a Suburban One League dual meet, and it was a big deal.
It was a big deal because it was unique in the true meaning of the word -- one of a kind. When Souderton posted a 79-71 win over Pennridge, it was the first time the Big Red defeated the Rams.
“It was the first time in school history,” said Souderton coach Mike Feliciani. “I think our upperclassmen understood the competitive landscape. They really did pick up the torch.
“We looked at previous results from the teams -- there’s really no hiding what you do in track and field -- and we thought we had a good chance of winning the meet.”
Souderton put on a display of dominance in field events, and that made the difference. The Big Red outscored Pennridge 49-14 in field events.
“This year, we’ve been doing great in field events,” said Feliciani. “We have a good group of kids and they’ve been working hard. We knew that we just had to hang tough on the track.
“Sarah Hershey had a good meet with a win in discus and a second-place finish in javelin. We swept triple jump with Terry Wilcox, Paige Collingwood and Sarah Hepler and went two-three in long jump with Wilcox and Micayla Brodish. Jaclyn Parry also scored a lot with first in pole vault, first in shot put and third in the 100 hurdles.
“In running events, Pennridge won almost everything except the 100 hurdles, 4x400 and 400. Micayla Brodish won the 100 hurdles. We swept the 400 with Sue Frustino, Nikki O’Donnell and Cara Jackson and then took first in the 4x400 with those three and Moira O’Malley.
“Our girls know that this can be a very good season this year. They like to work hard and it’s paying off for them.”
The Souderton boys made it a good day all around for the Big Red program when they also logged a win over their neighborhood rival in a Continental Conference dual meet.
Souderton’s girls also had a good day at the Viking Invitational, which was held at Perkiomen Valley on April 11. O’Malley took second in high jump (5-1) and third in the 200 (26.90), Sue Frustino was silver medalist in the 400 (1:01.67) and the 4x400 snagged the gold medal with a time of 4:06.56.
The Big Red’s boys’ team was led by the gold-medal distance medley relay (11:14.51), Cody Wilde (second, javelin, 164-1), Shamar Jenkins (second, high jump, 6-4; third, triple jump, 42-11) and Connor McMenamin (third, 3200, 9:59.28).
The Pennridge girls traveled to Chester County on April 11 to compete in the Hurricane Classic at Villa Maria Academy in Malvern.
Marissa Sheva took the gold medal in the 800, while Ariana Przybylowski was first in long jump and second in javelin and the 200. Also, Farrand Collins took second in shot put and Alicia Bell placed third in pole vault.
North Penn’s girls captured a slew of medals at the Lady Skins Invitational at Neshaminy High on April 11 and were paced by Allison King who won gold medals in the 100 (12.52) and the 200 (25.99).
The Maidens’ other top performers were Lauren Folis (first, 300 hurdles; third, 100 hurdles), Sarah Wiener (second, 100 hurdles; second, 300 hurdles), Ariana Gardizy (second, 1600), Olivia Dyer (second, 3200), Leiana Dean (third, 200), Uche Nwogwugwu (third, 400; third, high jump), Amelai Esraghi (third, 3200) and Felicia Mengel-O’Donnell (third, javelin).
North Penn also placed first in the 4x100, first in the 4x400 and second in the 4x800.
On the same day, the boys’ team competed in the 45th Annual TFCAOGP Spring Invitational at Coatesville High -- an all-boys meet.
Finishes in the top six were not easy to achieve at the huge meet that included schools from the Ches-Mont League, the Pioneer Athletic Conference, the Central League, the Del-Val League, the Inter-Ac, the Philadelphia Catholic League, the Friends School League, the Philadelphia Public League, the Berks County League and, of course, the Suburban One League.
North Penn’s best performances were produced by Brett Fenstermacher (fourth, 110 hurdles), Janeel Solanki (fifth, 110 hurdles) and 4x400 (fifth).
Pennridge took third in the sprint medley relay and sixth in the distance medley relay. Individually, Tucker Desco was second in the 1600, Dan Williams was second in the 800, Josh Pinkney was sixth in the 100 and Austin Howell was sixth in the 400.
Central Bucks East’s top finishers were Connor Borkert (third, javelin), Eli Wood (fifth, 300 hurdles) and Ryan Mill (sixth, pole vault). The Patriots also placed first in the 4x800, second in the sprint medley relay and third in the distance medley relay.
Quakertown won the gold medal in the sprint medley. Individually, Josh Schwarz was silver medalist in discus and Brett Wolfinger was fifth in the 400.
The leaders for Central Bucks South were Adam Smoluk (fourth, triple jump), Uhuru Kamau (fourth, discus), Mike Melair (fifth, long jump) and Josh Adams (sixth, high jump).
The Bensalem Invitational at Bensalem High was also a boys-only meet. Carrying the banner for the Continental Conference was Hatboro-Horsham’s Casey Comber, who placed first in the 3200.
Central Bucks West’s pacesetters were Brian Iatarola (first, 1600), Jason Douple (first, pole vault), Rock Fortna (third, 400), Brian Miller (second, shot put) and Adam Anastasiadis (second, javelin; third, shot put).
The Bucks also finished second in the distance medley relay, second in the 4x400 and third in the 800 sprint medley.
Central Bucks girls posted a pair of gold-medal finishes at the Panther Invitational, which was held at Cheltenham High on April 10 -- Hannah Sexton in long jump and the 4x800 relay.
At the same meet, Central Bucks East’s Elizabeth Morris and Dawson Tate went one-two in the 3200 while Sommers Moyer was third in the 800 and Morgan Duncan was third in triple jump.
The CB South girls were at the Lady Skins meet where they took second in the 4x400. Individually, Brianna Stratz and Amber Stratz went one-two in the 3200 and Nancy McGrath placed third in the 1600.
At the Hurricane Invitational, Quakertown’s Janae Hickey was third in the 400 and fifth in the 200 while her teammate Sierra Camburn placed second in the 300 hurdles.
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Bensalem’s boys did all right at their own invitational but their big meet came one day earlier.
“We had a dual meet against Council Rock North on the Friday before our invitational,” said Bensalem coach Mary Ellen Malloy. “The guys got really up for that. They won the Rock North meet so they were a little flat on Saturday.
“The first time we ever beat North was last year. North is a quality team, so anytime you get a win against them is big.”
The Owls may have been flat for their Saturday meet but they were hardly deflated.
“Tyj (Mays) had a really good meet at the invitational in both the 1600 and the 3200,” said Malloy. “Dylan Caputo jumped well and we had a good 4x400. And, our throwers came up big -- all of them. The biggest surprise was freshman Yobani Morena in shot. He threw close to a 45.
“We had a lot of second-place finishes. Jason Tate was second in the 100 and third in the 200 and qualified for districts in both. He’s been nursing minor injuries. To see him on the track and doing well was rewarding.”
The Owls’ other silver medalists were Rahi Shah (800), Dave Marrington (110 hurdles), Mike Liota (400) and the 4x800. Bronze medals were won by Tommy Oliver (high jump), Kyle Steele (3200) and the 4x400.
Neshaminy placed first in the 4x100 and 4x800. D’Andre Pollard was first in triple jump and second in long jump, Ben Matzke was first in the 400 and Kyle O’Connell was third in the 100.
Pennsbury’s leaders were Kornelius Klah (first, 110 hurdles; first, 300 hurdles0, Alek Dauer (first, 800), Kyle McCormick (second, 300 hurdles), distance medley relay (first), 4x100 (first) and 4x800 (third).
Council Rock North was paced by David Gumino (first, 200), Edmond Lu (third, pole vault) and 800 sprint medley relay (second).
William Tennent claimed a gold medal when Sam Callazo won discus and Truman picked up a bronze medal when Eric Parson placed third in triple jump.
At the TFCAOGP Spring Invitational, Abington snared bronze medals in the 4x400 and 4x800 and Council Rock South’s sprint medley relay took fourth.
Abington’s girls’ team took third in the 4x400 at the Panther Classic. The Ghosts’ Victoria Matthews and Victoria Collins went two-three in high jump.
William Tennent was led by Lynne O’Connor (third, 1600) and Miranda Laskey (third, high jump).
Council Rock South’s Taub sisters collected a lot of medals last weekend.
At the Panther Classic, Allsion Taub won high jump and javelin and was third in discus while Shannon Taub was first in triple jump and third in long jump. At the same meet, Domenique Franco took first in pole vault and Melissa Nichols was third in javelin.
At the Lady Skins Invitational the next day, Shannon Taub took gold in high jump and triple jump while Allision Taub was second in javelin and shot put and third in discus. South’s other key performers were Savannah Wood (first, pole vault), Jaclyn Timoney (second, triple jump) and Katelyn Deissler (second, pole vault).
Council Rock North’s Erica Rummel was gold medalist in javelin, Bensalem’s Amelia Ali was first in discus and shot put and her teammate Elayna Van Arsdale was second in discus and third in shot pit.
Neshaminy Alyssa Zukowski claimed the gold medal in the 100 hurdles and Kianna Bussey was second in long jump and third in triple jump. Neshaminy also placed second in the 4x100.
Truman was third in the 4x100 and also received solid performances from Evelina Sloboh (second, 100; second, 200) and Phideline Guillobel (second, 400; third, 400).
Pennsbury’s girls collected a lot of hardware at the Panther Classic -- Uche Onuoha (first, 300 hurdles; second, 100 hurdles), Dasia Pressley (second, 100; second, 200), Erin O’Connell (second, 800), Hannah Molloy (second, 1600), Alexis Mongiello (second, pole vault), Husniyyah Rogers (third, 400), 4x100 (first) and 4x200 (second).
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Teams from the American Conference acquitted themselves well at the 45th Annual TFCAOGP Spring Invitational at Coatesville High with Cheltenham, not surprisingly, leading the way.
John Lewis captured the gold medal in the 300 hurdles at 39.43 and Christian Brissett was gold medalist in the 200. Saahir Bethea took gold in long jump while Richard Abram Austin was fourth in triple jump and sixth in long jump. The Panthers also placed first in the 4x400.
UD’s Kieran Moore won the discus, placed second in shot put and sixth in javelin. The Cardinals also took fourth in the 4x400 and sixth in the 4x100. Springfield’s Chris Stone won the gold medal in javelin and the silver medal in high jump.
Wissahickon was second in the 4x800 and fifth in the sprint medley relay. The Trojans’ other standouts were Darien Williams (second, 100; third, 200), Yondell Dudley (third, shot put), Max McCullough (fourth, Javelin) and Darren James (fifth, 200).
Cheltenham’s girls hosted the Panther Classic and made sure quite a few of the gold, silver and bronze medals never left the premises -- including the gold in the 4x400, the silver in the 4x100 and the bronze in the 4x800.
The Panthers’ list of top-three finishers included Ciara Leonard (first, 100 hurdles; second, 300 hurdles) Ashley Alexander (first, shot put), Chanel Brisset (first, 100; first, 200), Nicole Burke (first, 400; third, 200), Madison Langley-Walker (second, long jump; third, 100 hurdles), Bailey Balmer (third, 3200) and Alexis Crosby (second, 400).
Upper Dublin took the silver medal in the 4x800 while Wissahickon’s leaders were Lotte Black (first, 1600), Anna Chiodo-Ortiz (first, 800) and Anna Morgan (second, javelin).
At the Lady Skins Invitational, Springfield’s Sydni Stovall picked up the bronze medal in the 800.
Upper Merion was the lone American Conference team at the Hurricane Invitational. The Vikings took second in the 4x400 and fourth in the 4x800.
Top individual finishers for Upper Merion were Carolyn Helenski (first, javelin; second, discus), Regie Robinson (first, high jump), Rose Sedgwick (second, pole vault; second, triple jump) and Lexi Ryan (third, 200).
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