DISTRICT 2 TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW
Dallas and Redeemer teams, Coughlin’s Black lead WVC
Dallas girls look strong in 3A, Royals to contend in 2A boys and girls. Black could win four events.
By Tom Robinson
Go Lackawanna sports correspondent
The ability to score points in nearly every event makes the Holy Redeemer and Dallas girls, as well as the Valley View boys, dangerous teams going into the District 2 Track and Field Championships this week at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
Dannah Hayward of Coughlin, along with teammate and defending state champion Shelley Black, have a chance to give the Crusaders one-two finishes in both hurdles events on Tuesday.
Fred adams/for the times leader
Shelley Black of Coughlin is favored to win both hurdles events Tuesday in the D2 Track and Field Meet. She is the defending state champion in both races.
Fred adams/for the times leader
If you go
WHAT: District 2 Track and Field Championships
WHERE: Scranton Memorial Stadium
WHEN: Class 2A boys and girls (3 p.m., Monday)
Class 3A boys and girls (3 p.m., Tuesday)
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
The following teams and individuals are back to potentially defend their titles at the District 2 Track and Field Championships at Scranton Memorial Stadium Monday (Class 2A) and Tuesday (Class 3A):
Class 3A Boys
Honesdale team
Reece Ayers, Tunkhannock, 1,600
Lionel Wilson, Honesdale, 400, long jump
Pete Calderone, North Pocono, shot put
Class 3A Girls
Abington Heights team
Shelley Black, Coughlin, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, long jump, triple jump
Summer Hill, Honesdale, 1,600
Jenn Slagus, North Pocono, discus
Class 2A Boys
Darrell Crawford, GAR, triple jump
Mike Bedell, Elk Lake, 1,600
Sean Carney, Elk Lake, 400
Zach Kruger, Blue Ridge, 300 hurdles
Nick Vales, Susquehanna, pole vault
Al Tuzze, Lakeland, shot put
Class 2A Girls
Nikki Black, Northwest, 300 hurdles
Madison Lavery, Meyers, shot put
Tori Doyle, Lakeland, 100 hurdles
Lauren Ellsworth, Lackawanna Trail, 400
Allison Hall, Blue Ridge, 800
Vanessa Munley, Riverside, pole vault
Maria Trowbridge, Elk Lake, 1,600, 3,200
Notes: Teams only listed if returning to same class. Athletes only listed if entered in event in same class. None of the 2010 winning relay teams return intact.
Shelley Black of Coughlin and Lionel Wilson of Honesdale have the ability to pile up points individually and have strong enough supporting casts to potentially lift their teams into contention.
The Class 2A meet is set for Monday with Class 3A scheduled to follow on Tuesday, although weather could disrupt the schedule.
The closest of the team races could be in Class 2A boys where a rematch from cross country season is expected. Elk Lake and Holy Redeemer finished 1-2 in the state in cross country on both the boys and girls sides after Holy Redeemer had beaten the Warriors out of both District 2 Championships a week earlier.
“Elk Lake is very strong,” Holy Redeemer coach Ed Roman said. “They’re strong overall and they’re excellent in the distance and middle-distance races.”
Both Holy Redeemer teams, the Tunkhannock boys, and the Dallas, Coughlin and Hanover Area girls and Tunkhannock boys give the Wyoming Valley Conference a chance at a breakthrough.
Lackawanna Track Conference teams swept all four team titles a year ago and took three of the four championships in each of the three previous years, meaning the WVC has just three of the 16 team titles decided since Hazleton Area and Dallas swept the girls’ titles in 2006.
“We look pretty strong going into districts Monday, but we’re not overconfident,” Roman said. “We know there are a lot of good Scranton schools to beat.
“Our balance is definitely an advantage. It’s something we haven’t had in the past.”
Former Class 2A powers will be trying to show they can win on the Class 3A level.
Dallas won three straight 2A girls titles from 2006 through 2008.
The Lady Mountaineers appear to have a strong chance of ending the four-year Abington Heights reign.
“We’re fortunate that we have a very well-rounded team this year,” Dallas coach Matt Samuel said. “That is something we like to focus on.
“It is a team sport and we try to treat it as one. Obviously, there are some very good teams we have to try to get by.”
Valley View won the last two Class 2A boys titles and could add to the Lackawanna Track Conference Division 1 and championship meet titles it has already claimed this season.
A closer look at each meet:
CLASS 3A BOYS
Top teams: Defending champion Honesdale and Valley View could be in for a tight race at the top of the team standings.
The Cougars already handled the Hornets in the league meet and the Robert Spagna Lackawanna Conference Championships, but projections of points based on the seeds show an edge for Honesdale when competing on the district level. The presence of Wilson, a standout sprinter and jumper, may be able to win more events than the entire Valley View team, makes it essential for the Cougars to continue getting the most out of their depth.
Tunkhannock also could threaten while North Pocono, which was unbeaten going into the regular-season finale against Valley View, is the only other potential contender because of its field strength.
Top individuals: Honesdale’s Wilson, Hazleton Area’s Jimmy Hischar.
Wilson is coming off the Spagna Championships where he won four gold medals and set two records. He is the top seed and defending champion in the 400, the defending champion in the long jump, the top seed in the 200 and a threat to anchor one of the Hornets relay teams to a win.
Hischar is the top seed in both the 110 high hurdles and the high jump.
Keys: Honesdale can pile up points with two runners seeded in the top four in the 100, 200, 400 and 800. If the Hornets can double up there, Valley View or Tunkhannock might have to knock off strong Honesdale 1,600 or 400 relay teams to stay in contention.
CLASS 3A GIRLS
Top teams: Dallas appears to be a clear favorite with defending champion Abington Heights and Coughlin more likely to battle for second place than to take down the Lady Mountaineers.
Dallas has the only team in the four meets that can expect to score points in all 18 events, based on seeding. Points are awarded for top-eight finishes.
Abington Heights continues to put together the best combination of relay teams, but the Lady Comets have less standouts than usual and, although they also have versatility, they are likely to pick up individual points in smaller increments.
Dannah Hayward could join Black for 1-2 finishes in both hurdles races, but Coughlin could struggle to produce any points in more than half the events.
Top individuals: Black of Coughlin, Reagan Rome of Dallas and Sara Dubravcak of Valley View.
Black gave her team 40 points with four titles on a record-setting day last year. The Pennsylvania Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 2010, according to Gatorade and ESPN Rise Magazine, is the defending state champion in both hurdles races. Black also is a standout in the long jump and also runs in relay races.
Rome, a freshman, is the top seed by wide margins in the 1,600 and 3,200.
Dubravcak is the top seed in the 100 and 200.
Keys: As long as Dallas gets just a few gold, silver and bronze medalists, it should have too many points for the other contenders from the rest of its girls that finish in fourth-through-eighth place.
CLASS 2A BOYS
Top teams: This could end up as the tightest and deepest of the points races.
Elk Lake and Holy Redeemer seem to be about as difficult to separate as in cross country season while Dunmore and Blue Ridge are also well within range of championship contention on a good day.
Top individuals: Elk Lake’s Sean Carney and Mike Bedell, GAR’s Darrell Crawford, Blue Ridge’s Dan Kempa.
Carney and Bedell, individual medalists and two of the top three runners on the state cross country champions, are defending champions and top seeds in the 400 and 1,600 as well as vital components on strong relay teams.
Crawford won the triple jump last season on the way to a fourth-place finish in the state and is the top seed in that event as well as the long jump this year. He is seeded second in the 110 high hurdles.
Kempa, a King’s football recruit, is the top seed in the javelin and uses his sprinting speed to help build two strong relay teams. He was a quarterback at Susquehanna as part of his school’s co-sponsorship of football there.
Keys: Who can score the most points in the relays? Elk Lake has top seeds in the 1,600 and 3,200, Holy Redeemer has the top seed in the 400 and Blue Ridge is strong across the board.
CLASS 2A GIRLS
Top teams: Holy Redeemer is the obvious favorite, with Holy Cross the most likely contender. Hanover Area and Elk Lake are the long shots.
The strength of the cross country programs again will be apparent in Marissa Durako, Rachel Sowinski, Cassandra Gill and Mary Frank of Holy Redeemer and the Trowbridge sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, for Elk Lake.
Holy Cross won the Class 2A division of the Spagna Championships for the first title in a multi-team event for the six-year-old program.
Top individuals: Hanover Area’s Olivia Jendrzejwski, Riverside’s Vanessa Munley, Lackawanna Trail’s Lauren Ellsworth, Holy Cross’ Emily Hughes, Lakeland’s Tori Doyle.
Jendrzejwski is the top seed in the long jump and triple jump and shares the top spot in the high jump with Doyle.
Munley earned her second state pole vault medal with a fifth-place finish last year and is a contender as a hurdler and jumper.
Ellsworth was fourth in the state in the 400 last year. She will not defend her district 200 title, but instead will go in as the top seed in the 100.
Hughes is the top seed in both the discus and javelin, an event in which she broke the Spagna Championships record last week.
Doyle was a state medalist as a 100-meter hurdler as a freshman and high jumper as a sophomore.
Keys: The strong chance of placing three runners high in both the 1,600 and 3,200 could put Holy Redeemer over the top.
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