Penn State 02/24 – PTFCA Indoor State Meet Over the final weekend in February, members of the Patriots’ mid-distance crew capped off a tremendous indoor season with some outstanding performances at the 2019 PTFCA Indoor State Championship at Penn State; most notably a silver medal finish for senior David Endres in the open 800.
Running against the best in the state, Endres took the lead after the first lap with a speedy 26-second split. As the crowd managed to surround him during the second lap of the race, Endres decided to be aggressive and jumped out of the pack to surge ahead once more to close the third lap in the lead. As the competitors entered the final 200-meter stretch, Endres pulled away from the pack and finished with only one competitor in front of him while clocking a 1:54.92 (within .02 of his personal best) to take home the silver medal as the second fastest 800-runner in the state.
Before Endres took the track, his teammates competed in the 4x800-meter relay to kick off the meet. Senior Ryan Testa led off the relay and showed no fear as he stayed with the front pack through the first three laps of his race. Despite a fall navigating a crowded field entering his final lap, Testa still nearly matched his season personal record with a strong 2:05.9 split. Senior Sean Lahetta then took the baton and surged ahead with a confident first two laps. Maintaining a strong pace on the final two laps, Lahetta ran an indoor personal best of 2:00.6. Then, junior Jack McManus, showed why he earned a spot on the relay late in the season with another personal record; this time by another three seconds with a split of 2:02.7. Finally, senior Matt Miller delivered his final rock-solid split of the indoor season with a 2:06.7 anchor leg. The team finished 17th in the state with a time of 8:15.87.
The mid-distance crew made their school proud and will head into spring with a lot to look forward to.
Lehigh 02/16 – Meet of Champs The Patriots were well-represented at the Meet of Champions with athletes competing in all four relays and multiple individual events, but it was the pole vaulters who stole the show.
Junior Nolan Case set a new personal best of 13’ to earn a fifth-place medal while junior Alex Da Cruz tied a personal best of 12’6” to finish with a sixth-place medal himself. The two have been rock solid all winter and are setting themselves up to be a dynamic duo come spring time.
On the track, several individuals earned personal bests while competing against the best in the area. Senior Ryan Testa clocked a personal best of 2:05.35 as the lead off leg of the 4x800-meter relay while junior Jack McManus smashed his previous personal record of 2:10 with a 2:05.99 as the third leg. In the 4x200-meter relay, sophomore Marcos Lopez earned a personal record of 23.96 while junior Ethan Korb (who competed in three events on the day!) earned a personal record of 23.92. At the end of the meet, Lopez once again set a personal best with a lead off leg of 54.33 in the 4x400-meter relay and senior Jac Mapily set a personal best of 53.86; which is over three seconds faster than his times last season.
The team finished with two medals and eight personal bests on the day.
Lehigh 02/08 - Last Chance Meet The Patriots headed to Lehigh on Friday night to embrace their last chance to qualify for the Meet of Champions at the TFCAofGP’s annual Last Chance Meet. A couple individuals took full advantage of that chance while a few others improved their seeding in the Meet of Champs; collecting medals and personal records along the way.
The most exciting finish came late in the evening in the 4x800-meter relay. Behind nearly half a lap when he received the baton and at least 50 meters entering the final lap, senior David Endres came out of nowhere to pass rival CB West and bring home the gold. Endres ran a 1600 to start the meet and still managed a 1:58.44 as the anchor leg. The gold would not have been possible without strong performances from his teammates as well. Senior Ryan Testa continued his impressive transition to middle distance with his second straight personal best in the race and a 2:06.36 to lead off. Senior Matt Miller ran an outstanding race himself and set a personal best of 2:04.41. And senior Sean Lahetta, also in his second race of the day, earned a 2:07.63 on the third leg.
Two new Patriots added their name to the Meet of Champions’ list. Senior Cole Sands ran a steady race top to bottom in the mile and picked off multiple opponents later in the race to run a personal best of 4:37.74 and pick up a fifth-place medal. In the 400, junior Wyatt Knipe used a powerful second lap to clock a season-best in the open of 51.96; finishing sixth and just tenths away from the state standard.
The Distance Medley Relay put together their best time of the season with a 10:55.66. Senior Cade Sands went out strong with the front pack and clocked a personal best of 3:21.65 in the 1200. Senior Jon Walter delivered a rock solid 400 with a personal best of 53.90 and senior Sean Lahetta battled to keep the team in the medal hunt with a 2:06.49 in the 800. Senior David Endres then ran his first 1600 of the season in impressive fashion; clocking a team best of 4:33.62 to bring home a fourth-place medal. The relay has bettered its standing in what could be a very competitive heat next week.
Off the track, junior Nolan Case returned for his second meet appearance of the season and, while rocking the retro East jersey, cleared a personal best of 12’6” to snag a bronze medal. Junior Ethan Korb earned a bronze medal himself and a new personal best in the high jump when he cleared 6’0”. Senior David Moyer competed in the shot put for the second night in a row (the shot putters competed in Shot Put Night in the Valley on Thursday) and finished eighth with a toss of 40’7.25”.
Other notable performances came from individuals in the 4x200 and 4x400. Sophomore Luke Blackwell anchored the 4x200 with a personal best of 23.80 and senior Ben Power found his own personal best with a time of 24.93. In the 4x400, sophomore Marcos Lopez clocked a personal best of 54.6, junior Gavin Pettigrew ran a personal best of 55.8, and junior Wyatt Knipe had an impressive double with his second 400 of the day clocking in at 52.9.
The team collected two new Meet of Champion qualifiers, five medals, eight top ten finishes, and thirteen personal records. Now, the Patriots turn their attention to the prestigious Meet of Champions next weekend.
Lehigh 02/02 - TFCAofGP Meet #7 As the calendar page turned to February, the Patriots turned to a familiar venue; traveling to the Rauch Fieldhouse at Lehigh University for the final regular season meet of the indoor season. Feeling at home again, a couple individual athletes qualified for the Meet of Champions while the 4x400-meter relay put down their best time of the season.
It wouldn’t come until the end of the meet, but the team earned a state-qualifying mark in the 4x400-meter relay with a total time of 3:32.49. Senior Jon Walter led off the relay with a 55.01. Senior David Endres then passed multiple teams with a 52.07-split for the second leg. Senior Sean Lahetta clocked a personal best of 53.15 in only his second 400 of the season. And sophomore Wyatt Knipe sealed the deal with a 52.22 on the anchor leg. The relay earned a bronze medal and is now ranked in the top 20 in the state.
Individually, junior Ethan Korb squeaked into the two-heat final of the very competitive 60-meter hurdles and took full advantage of his second opportunity to run the event. After hitting two hurdles and clocking a 9.21 in the trials, Korb made sure to clear all five cleanly in the finals and qualified for the Meet of Champions with a time of 9.03 (ninth overall). Korb also finished seventh when making his triple jump debut with a leap of 39’2.5”. Junior Alex Da Cruz used his experience and momentum from the Archbishop Ryan meet to literally raise the bar on his performance in the pole vault. Vaulting a new personal best of 12’6”, Da Cruz qualified for the Meet of Champions and took home a fourth-place medal.
A few other athletes in the 4x800-meter relay had very strong performances while making their 2018-19 season debut. Freshman Jack Steitz ran a 2:16.9 and junior Cole Burmaster ran a 2:17.4. After running his first ever 800 last week, Senior Ryan Testa ran a personal best of 2:07.72 in the third leg of the DMR; working with junior Jack McManus (personal best of 3:28.57 – 1200), sophomore Carter Moore (60.90 – 400), and senior Cole Sands (4:45.83) to finish eighth in a very competitive DMR grouping. And senior Eric Granitski had a personal best of 25.34 leading off the 4x200-meter relay.
When it was all said and done, the team collected one state-qualifying mark, two new Meet of Champion qualifiers, two medals, nine top ten finishes, and seven personal records.
Archbishop Ryan High School 01/30 - Archbishop Ryan Invitational It isn’t too often that the Patriots get to go head to head with a Catholic League School that has such a rich history of track and field success as Archbishop Ryan, but that was the case this past Wednesday night. With boys’ and girls’ teams from Neshaminy, Wood, and Bensalem in attendance as well, a small group of East athletes competed in the halls and gym of Archbishop Ryan to put their skills to the test.
In the 60-meter hurdles, junior Ethan Korb captured gold with a time of 9.14 in the finals. Junior Jared Farrior captured a bronze medal with a finals’ run of 9.34. And junior Ethan Duncan finished fourth with a personal best of 9.74. All three runners ran a faster race in the finals than they did in the trials. Later in the night, Korb captured his second gold medal of the day with a high jump of 5’8” and Duncan finished right behind him with a leap of 5’6” to earn the silver medal.
The 60-meter dash was full of strong performances from the Patriots with Nick Correra having the most outstanding one; running a personal best of 7.44 in the trials and a 7.64 in the finals to win the gold. Junior Peter Kimball ran a personal best of 7.94 while sophomore Jack Pierce ran a time of 8.44.
Meanwhile, rising star Alex Cruz cleared 11’6” in the pole vault to earn a gold medal himself.
Freshman Noah Wilson had a personal best of 27’2” in the shot put while fellow freshman Jameson Molloy made his season debut with a throw of over 27’ himself. Senior George Bershtein launched a 30’ throw as well.
Ocean Breeze Complex 01/26 - Ocean Breeze Invitational The Patriots traveled to Staten Island to take part in the largest indoor high school meet of the year on Saturday, January 26th and it was the mid-distance crew who led the way. By the end of the always competitive Ocean Breeze Invitational, it was senior David Endres and sophomore Holden Emery who took home some hardware.
In the second race of the day, senior David Endres found himself head to head with some of the best runners in the state; and a few of them happened to be familiar foes from the Suburban One Continental League. After battling a crowd in the first half of the race, David found some separation, edged out rivals from Pennridge and CB West, and battled his way to a silver medal while running the fastest time by a PA runner this season with a 1:55.19.
Shortly thereafter, fellow seniors Sean Lahetta and Matt Miller followed their captain by winning their respective heats in the 800. Looking smooth throughout, Lahetta and Miller refused to remain complacent alongside the pack and ran a personal best of 2:01.72 and 2:04.59 respectively. Using the model of his teammates, sophomore Holden Emery took control of his own heat and earned a bronze medal in the sophomore division while running a personal best of 2:04.76. Later in the day, Emery would set a personal best in the 400 later in the day with a 54.78 (edging out a CB West runner in the process).
Some of the young guns embraced the big stage as well. Freshman Evan Clark set a personal best of 23.95 in the hot heat of the freshman dash trials. Sophomore Marcos Lopez set a personal best not once, but twice in the 200. First, Lopez ran a 24.40 in the sophomore open event and later ran a 23.98 in the 4x200-meter relay. Off the track, sophomore Ben Cobin set a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 33’7.75”.
Lehigh 01/26 – TFCAofGP Meet #6 Even though the threat of winter weather eliminated the Patriots’ first chance to compete at Glen Mills, they got a second chance this past Saturday, January 26th and took full advantage.
Junior Nick Correra captured a third-place medal in the dash with a time of 7.73. Senior Ben Power earned a fifth-place medal in the 200 with a time of 26.89. Junior Kevin Fay earned a fifth-place medal with a personal record of 2:24.71. And sophomore Gideon Weber earned a fourth-place medal with a triple jump of 32’8”.
The number eight seemed to be the magic number on the day as the team collected four eighth place finishes in division one events. Senior Jack Brodish ran a personal best of 5:27.52 in the mile to finish eight. Senior Kevin McGovern ran a personal best of 2:26.7 in the 800 on a relay that finished eighth as well. McGovern was aided by senior Ryan Testa, who made his debut in the event with a 2:08.7, sophomore Connor Brodish, and junior Carter Moore. In the Distance Medley Relay, senior Alex Yahaghi ran a personal best of 59.8 in the 400 alongside teammates Patrick Kleemeier (1200), Andrew Van Siclen (800), and Danny Spillane (1600) to earn a (you-guessed-it) eight place finish. Sophomore Elijah Carpenter also finished eighth overall in the 3000.
In the end, the team collected four medals, five top ten finishes, and nine personal bests.
Lehigh 01/13 – TFCAofGP Meet #5 The Patriots dusted off their cars (and the team bus) and traveled to Lehigh for the fifth Track and Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia meet of the season on Sunday. And when they got home, the team had to dust off some more shelf space for all the medals they earned.
The team highlight came at the end of the day when the 4x400-meter relay team qualified for the Meet of Champions and earned a bronze medal. Making the feat even more impressive was the fact that all four athletes on the relay also participated in the Lavino Relays less than 24 hours before their race. Senior Jon Walter was first up and clocked a 55.56. Senior David Endres then went to work chasing down a couple runners, including rival CB South, while splitting a 52.36 on the second leg. Senior Jac Mapily elevated his game with a personal best of 54.60 to keep the team’s medal hopes alive. Junior Wyatt Knipe then powered his way back into podium position once more and ran a 53.0 in his first 400 since being injured for the first few weeks of the season. The team time of 3:35.56 was over three seconds faster than the necessary time for the Meet of Champions.
Individually, two other athletes found a new spot in the Meet of Champions. Junior Nolan Case, who spends the majority of his time training and wrestling during the winter, must have reviewed enough of his skills in one day of practice this week because he cleared the qualifying mark of twelve feet in the pole vault; earning a bronze medal in the process. Sophomore Luke Blackwell found a way to refocus after two early fouls to jump 39’8” in the triple jump and secure a second-place finish and his place in the prestigious meet in mid-February.
The medals, and just as importantly, personal records did not stop there. While sporting the retro CB East uniform, junior Jack McManus earned a bronze medal with a personal best of 9:25.48 in the 3000. Senior teammate Cade Sands followed behind him with a personal record that was over ten seconds faster than his previous best; clocking a 9:30.24 and finishing sixth overall. In the Distance Medley Relay, which featured all four athletes in the retro East jersey tops, junior Andrew Conte had a personal record of 3:29.56 and sophomore Holden Emery had a monster personal record of 2:06.9 in the 800 to help bring home a fourth-place medal. The 4x200-meter relay featured three personal records from senior Ben Power (24.96), junior Nick Correra (24.60), and junior Seth Wilson (25.49). The 4x800-meter relay also featured three personal records for junior Matt Curry (2:23.47), junior Andrew Van Siclen (2:22.8), and junior Kevin Fay (2:31.1). Senior David Moyer ran a personal best of 7.86 in his first 60-meter dash of the season, sophomore Danny Spillane earned his best time of the season in the open 800 at 2:20.63, and sophomore Brendan Bergmann clocked a personal best of 2:34.9 in the Freshman/Sophomore 4x800.
Finally, it is important to note that a few other individuals found their way into the top ten in their event. Senior George Bershtein made his season debut with a ninth-place finish in the shot put (31-6.75) and freshman Evan Clark finished ninth in the 200 with a lap of 24.84.
In total, the Patriots collectively had three Meet of Champion qualifiers, five medals, nine top ten finishes, and fifteen personal records. The team now has all four relays qualified for Meet of Champions along with four other individuals.
Lawrenceville 01/12 – Lavino Relays Once a year, the Patriot runners travel into New Jersey to showcase their talents against the best of the tri-state area at the prestigious Lavino Relays on the banked track at the Lawrenceville School. Meanwhile, the field athletes have the rare opportunity to compete as pairs as they dot the infield of the Lawrenceville Fieldhouse. This year, when it was all said and done, it was the 4x800-meter relay and pole vaulter Alex Da Cruz who took center stage.
The experienced relay, which consisted of all seniors, captured a silver medal and a state-qualifying time of 8:15.60. Alex Bardwell lead off the team with a 2:06.3; putting the state mark within reach. Then, Sean Lahetta and Matt Miller both rose to the occasion by clocking a personal best of 2:03.8 and 2:05.7 respectively. David Endres finished the job with the fastest split of the relay at 1:59.7.
Off the track, it was the Da Cruz brothers who got the attention of the crowd when both were able to compete in the pole vault relay. Junior Max Da Cruz tied his personal best when he cleared 10’6”. And junior Alex Da Cruz had a monster day when he cleared a personal best of 12’0” (which Coach Stemp had predicted was coming soon after his outstanding performances in practice and previous meets).
A few other notable performances were completed in the field as well. Junior Michael Forcina set a personal best of 34’1” in his first throw in the shot put. And junior Ethan Korb tied his indoor personal record of 5’10” in the high jump.
Despite having only a week of official hurdle practice as a group, the Shuttle Hurdle Relay team executed each 55-meter leg of their relay successfully and finished as the second-best hurdle relay team from PA. Junior Jared Farrior, the most experienced high hurdler, clocked a personal best of 8.1. Junior jumpers Ethan Duncan and Ethan Korb both made their debut in the event and clocked an 8.9 and 8.0 respectively. Senior Jac Mapily then finished the relay with a personal record of 9.7.
The runners in the Sprint Medley Relay showcased their speed with three of the four athletes earning a personal record. After escaping two other runners in a three-man waterfall start, junior Gavin Pettigrew clocked a personal best of 55.9 in the opening-400 leg. Senior Jac Mapily then flew around the track in a personal best of 24.0 seconds; only to be topped by sophomore Luke Blackwell who completed the second 200 of the relay in 23.9 seconds. And Matt Miller returned to gut out his second 800 of the day to clock a 2:09.5.
The trip across the border was worth it for the Patriots as the team earned a silver medal, a state-qualifying time, and nine personal records.
Lehigh 01/06 – TFCAofGP Meet #4 With a new year upon them, the Patriots set out to build upon their success from 2018 and accomplish new goals at the fourth Track and Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia meet this past Saturday, January 5th at Lehigh University.
Senior David Endres wasted no time in accomplishing one of his goals of qualifying for states in the open 800; also becoming the first on the team to make the state meet. Backing up his top-seeded time, David charged to the front of the pack and ran a 1:58.68 to take home the gold while qualifying for states as well as the Meet of Champions. Meanwhile, junior Jack McManus snagged a 5th place medal in the mile with a personal best of 4:40.58; coming within tenths of the qualifying time for the Meet of Champions.
In the field events, four of the five competing Patriots earned a top ten finish. Junior Max Da Cruz took sixth with a personal record of 10’6” in the pole vault. Senior Ethan Duncan took eighth in the triple jump with a personal record of 37’0.5”. Sophomore Luke Blackwell took seventh in the long jump with a jump of 18’8”. And sophomore Ben Cobin finished tenth in his shot put debut with a throw of 32’4.5”.
Despite it being a new year and a new lineup, the Distance Medley Relay couldn’t help but run its way to second place once again. Senior Alex Bardwell made his season debut in the 1200 and clocked an impressive 3:25.56. Freshman Jack Steitz contributed to his first medal-winning relay with a 59.04 while navigating a crowded track in the 400-leg. Senior Matt Miller remained rock solid with a 2:11.28 in the 800. And senior Cade Sands locked down the medal with a 4:40.48 in the 1600; coming within tenths of a personal best himself.
The 4x200 and 4x400 had strong days as well with five of the eight athletes (between the two relays) collecting personal bests. Junior Jared Farrior took a break from the hurdles and clocked a personal best of 26.93 to lead off the 4x200 while sophomore Julian Servidio continued to improve on the season with a best of 26.48 to anchor the relay. Freshman Evan Clark made a two-second improvement in the 400 with a personal best of 56.95. Senior Jac Mapily showed off his endurance on the second lap of the 400 and snagged a personal best of 55.54 as the second leg. And senior Ryan Testa earned a personal best of 57.02 as the third leg. It is worth noting that senior Jon Walter had his best 400 of the season and came close to his personal best of last season with a 54.70.
A few other notable performances came from sophomore Holden Emery, freshman Patrick Kleemeier, and senior Jack Brodish. Emery smashed his old personal best of over 61 seconds in the 400 with a time of 55.99. Kleemeier beat his best indoor 800 by over five seconds with a time of 2:25.62. And Brodish clocked a multi-second personal best of 2:26.36 to anchor the 4x800.
The Patriots certainly made sure to get off to a great start in the 2019 calendar year and still have even more to give. In total, the team earned one state qualifying time, one Meet of Champion-qualifying time, three medals, nine top ten finishes, and ten personal records.
Lehigh 12/29 – TFCAofGP Meet #3 The lineup for the Meet of Champions at the end of the season just got a little more crowded after the Patriots performances this past Saturday, December 29th at the third Track and Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia meet of the season.
The excitement began early with the 60-meter hurdles. Junior Jared Farrior set a personal best of 9.38 to qualify for the finals, but saved his best race for the big moment. In the finals, Jared smashed his previous times by clearing all the hurdles in 9.16 seconds and qualified for the Meet of Champions by finishing with a silver medal.
Later in the day, it was the 4x200-meter relay that stepped up to the plate. Freshman Evan Clark pulled away from his competition in the first leg by running a 24.79. Seniors Jac Mapily and Jon Walter both then set personal records of 24.59 and 24.21 respectively to maintain the lead in the heat. And junior Ethan Korb, who seems to be enjoying his time away from the pit and on the track these days, brought home the Meet of Champion-qualifying time of 1:38.02 with a personal best of 24.45.
To go along with the qualifying times, the Patriots collected five medals and it came from the strong efforts of several individuals. In the Distance Medley Relay, senior Ryan Testa set a personal best of 56.9 in his second ever 400 and senior Matt Miller anchored the relay with a personal best of 4:57.78 in the 1600; bringing home silver along the way. Sophomore Holden Emery earned a fourth-place medal with a 4:50.51 in his indoor debut in the mile. Sophomore Alex Da Cruz tied for second in the pole vault with his second consecutive meet in which he cleared 11’3”. Senior David Moyer also earned a fourth-place medal with a shot put heave of 40’0”.
The young guns were also on display at Lehigh. The freshman/sophomore 4x400-meter relay team earned a fourth-place ribbon for their performance. Freshman Armaan Ahmed set a personal record of 61.45 in his second ever 400. Freshman Jack Steitz made his season debut with the relay’s best split of 57.54. Meanwhile, freshman Patrick Klemeier and sophomore Danny Spillane made their 400 debut with strong performances of 62.99 and 61.86 respectively. And sophomore Gideon Weber made his debut in the very technical triple jump and leaped 35’10”.
Overall, it was an outstanding day for the Patriots with an individual and a relay securing a spot in the Meet of Champions while many others heading home with medals around their neck. To accompany the two Meet of Champion performances and five medals were nine personal records.
Lehigh 12/26 - Robert J. Burdette Classic: Even though it wasn’t an easy journey for the CB East Patriots on Wednesday, December 26th, they still found success at the Robert J. Burdette Classic at Lehigh University. After an unfortunate moment where the team bus became stuck on the streets of Bethlehem, the team had to switch buses and refocus as they arrived just minutes before the start of the first event. Not one to let unplanned events deter them from their goals, the team regrouped and went back to taking care of business as usual.
The Patriots continued to find success in the 4x800-meter relay despite having their third different lineup of the season. Senior Matt Miller relied on his grit and toughness to set a personal record of 2:08.79 in the leadoff position. Juniors Jack McManus (2:13.78) and Andrew Conte (2:14.69) were steady and used their endurance base from cross country to keep the team in medal contention as the second and third legs respectively. Senior David Endres, who was placed as the anchor for the second straight meet, brought home the 5th place medal for the team with a split of 2:04.27.
In the mile, it was senior Sean Lahetta who took advantage of his day to shine. Seeded in the top three, Lahetta jumped out to first early in the race and used that speedy start to earn a bronze medal while finishing in 4:41.64. Junior Jared Farrior finished 9th in the hurdles with a time of 9.62. Freshman Evan Clark had an impressive day himself while running a 24.67 in the open 200 and splitting a 25.16 in the 4x200-meter relay later in the day.
Meanwhile, off the track, a few field athletes had big days of their own. Sophomore Luke Blackwell was outstanding in the triple jump as he set a personal best by over a foot from last season and completed a jump of 40’11.5” to snag a fourth-place medal. Even with a shortened warm-up from the team’s unfortunate journey to the meet, junior Alex Da Cruz earned a personal best in the pole vault when he cleared 11’3”; securing a fourth-place medal in the process. Senior Ethan Duncan tied his personal best from last season and earned a 9th place finish with a high jump of 5’6”. Senior David Zapata, who was making his indoor shot-put debut, cleared the 30-foot mark with a personal best of 30’7.5”.
Lehigh 12/22 - TFCAofGP Meet #2: Before the Patriots officially parted for the holiday break, they took one more trip to Lehigh and came home with some hardware to hang alongside the stockings above the fireplace.
The best relay of the day was the 4x800-meter relay, which captured a silver medal and a place in the Meet of Champions with a total time of 8:32.57. Junior Gavin Pettigrew battled a crowded field as the leadoff leg and smashed his previous personal best by over ten seconds with a time of 2:11.8. Junior Andrew Conte (2:12.4) and senior Sean Lahetta (2:07.5) kept the team in the medal hunt with two impressive legs of their own in the middle of the relay. Then, senior David Endres moved the team up to second with the best time of the relay at 2:00.8.
Inspired by the 4x800, the Distance Medley Relay earned also fought its way to a silver medal and a place in the Meet of Champions. Senior Cole Sands took ten seconds off his personal best from the 1200 last season with a leadoff leg of 3:25.4. Senior Matt Miller then got a rare chance to run the 400 and clocked a strong 56.9. Sophomore Holden Emery proved his 800 last week was no fluke with a 2:10.8 to keep the team in medal contention. In the end, it was senior Cade Sands who pulled the relay to second place with a personal best of 4:40.41 in the 1600 anchor leg.
Individually, junior Ethan Korb had an outstanding day in the high jump. Korb qualified for the Meet of Champions while tying his personal best of 5’10” from last season; finishing tied for 7th in a very competitive field. Senior Jack McManus took on his first official indoor 3000-meter race and brought up a bronze medal with a time of 9:26.39; just six seconds off the Meet of Champions qualifying time.
The Patriots found reasons for holiday cheer beyond the medals too. Freshman Evan Clark clocked the fastest 60-meter dash on the team on the young season with a 7.61 and later clocked a sub-60 in his first ever 400. Senior Alex Bardwell (who is still working his way back from a cross country injury) fought his way to sixth in the mile with a time of 4:48.67 while senior Eric Granitski set a personal best of 25.87 in the open 200. In the field, junior Michael Forcina set a personal record of 33’9” in the shot put and junior Max Da Cruz set a personal record of 10’3” in the pole vault.
In the end, it was quite an accomplished day as the Patriots earned three Meet of Champion-qualifying performances, three medals, six top ten finishes and eight new personal records.
Lehigh 12/15 - TFCAofGP Meet #1: The Patriots kicked off their 2018-19 Winter Track season with the first Track and Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia meet at Lehigh University on Saturday, December 15th and came away with plenty to be excited about; including 12 personal records, eight top ten finishes, and one bronze medal.
The highlight of the day was the Distance Medley Relay, which secured a third-place finish with a time of 11:19.85. Getting it all started was junior Andrew Conte with a 3:33.4 in the 1200. Next up was junior Gavin Pettigrew, who set a personal best in the 400 with a time of 56.0. Sophomore Holden Emery then powered his way to a personal best of 2:10.68 in the 800 (13 seconds faster than his PR last year!). Now an experienced distance runner, junior Jack McManus knew how to finish the job and knocked off a few opponents while completing a personal best of 4:39.8 in the mile.
Rising stars also showed their promise in the field events. Senior David Moyer, who has looked more determined than ever to succeed in the early season workouts, earned a personal best in the shot put with a toss of 42’7.5”; finishing sixth in the process. Junior Alex Da Cruz took a major step forward in the pole vault by clearing two heights more than he did all of last season with a personal best of 11”0’. Meanwhile, junior Ethan Korb finished ninth in the long jump with a leap of 18’1.75” and sophomore Luke Blackwell finished ninth in the triple jump with a leap of 39’3.5”.
The track also featured some other notable performances in the 60-meter hurdles, the 4x800-meter relay, the 4x200-meter relay, the 800 and the mile. Junior Jared Farrior set a personal best in the hurdles with a time of 9.41 seconds and finished eighth overall. The senior-laden 4x800-meter relay of Matt Miller, Cole Sands, Kevin McGovern, and Cade Sands finished sixth with three athletes coming within seconds of a personal best and Cole earning his best time with a 2:10.2 while running the second leg. The 4x200-meter relay allowed freshman Evan Clark (24.50) and senior Ryan Testa (26.31) to run in their first ever races as a Patriot and senior Eric Granitski set a personal record of 25.96 as the second leg. Using their foundation from cross country, junior Carter Moore clocked a personal best of 2:21.81 in the 800 and junior Matt Curry ran a 5:19.67 in his first ever indoor mile.
The Patriots certainly have an exciting season in front of them as illustrated by the success in the season opener.