Sammy Dyson placed 9th out of 17 in the Shot Put with a throw of 38-6.5. She was only 3.25 inches off of the 8th place medal. Sammy came into the meet seeded as the #2 thrower on paper, but was stacked against some strong competition. She was a bit disappointed that she wasn’t able to reach her goal of earning a medal, but she is throwing farther and more consistent than she did a year ago. Only two of the 8 girls to place ahead of her are in AA and will be competing against her at the Outdoor State meet.
Antonio Stello placed 8th out of 24 in the 60m with a time of 7.08 in the finals. Antonio advanced through the preliminaries with a time of 7.07 and through the semifinals with a time of 7.03. He improved his seeding coming into the meet by 5 spots. Antonio really did a fantastic job of bringing his best to each round. He took it one race at a time and stayed focused on doing what it took to advance through each race. All three of his rounds today would rank in the top 4 of his best all-time performances in the 60m. It’s great to see the hard work he has put in pay off with a medal performance. He finished off the season very strong with all of his best performances coming within the past two meets. 60 Finals
Antonio placed 17th out of 20 with a time of 23.00 in the 200m. I would have to say the rounds of the 60m really took a toll on his 200 but he still stayed competitive and gave it his best. He came away with a solid time only .25 of a second off of his personal best and his second best all-time.
Matthew Wehrle placed 15th out of 22 in the 800 with a time of 1:59.88. Matthew put himself into good positioning after the first 400 and was able maneuver through some jostling of position during the final 200 meters to finish strong. He improved his seeding by 9 positions and came away with an indoor personal best.
-Each of the athletes came away with a very good experience at a big meet. As I have said before it is quite an accomplishment for each of them to earn the opportunity to compete against the best athletes in the state in their events. They brought their best to their events as they do everyday in their practices and have proven to be leaders on their team through example. Coach Martin, Coach Curtis, Coach Koppenhaver and myself are extremely proud of their accomplishments and look forward to seeing what the outdoor season has in store for each of them.
0 Comments
Indoor Track Results from TSTCA Championship Meet at Edinboro University on Saturday, February 17th2/18/2018 -Individuals competing from a total of 68 teams competing from various western Pennsylvania and Ohio schools.
-Boys team placed 11th overall, while girls team place 19th overall -Anywhere from 18 to 25 individuals/relays competed in each event vying for medals that were awarded to the top 8 performances in each event. -Last year Punxsutawney had one medal winning performance (Sammy Dyson in Shot Put) -Today Punxsutawney brought home a total of 16 medals from the 13 events that they competed in. -Triple Medal Winners: Antonio Stello (60, 200, 4x200) -Double Medal Winners: Matthew Wehrle (800, DMR), Sammy Dyson (Shot Put, Triple Jump), Bayden Lyle (Long Jump, 4x200), Owen Bartlebaugh (3000, DMR) -Single Medal Winners: Midori Bridges (HJ), Evan States (DMR), Ethan May (DMR), Alex Gianvito (4x200), Jake Pearce (4x200) -This group really rose to the occasion and was driven to reach the performances needed to reach the podium. I am really pleased with how well we did as a team as well as the impressive individual performances that we had. On the track: 4x200 (Bayden Lyle, Jake Pearce, Alex Gianvito, Antonio Stello) Our handoffs were much better than last week and I feel everyone really ran great splits. 4x200 (Alyse Whitman, Kaitlin Doverspike, Madison Stonbraker, Taegan Ludwig) Alyse ran a personal best split. DMR (Matthew Wehrle, Evan States, Ethan May, Owen Bartlebaugh) Each of the boys did a tremendous job of staying within range of the top 8 throughout their leg of the race. Matthew and Ethan again bettered their relay splits in the 1200 and 800. 60 Hurdles: Bayden Lyle-Bayden had a stutter step early in his race that kept him from making the finals but he still had a time good enough for 10th overall. 60/200: Antonio Stello-He had a break out day. Last year he missed out on medaling in the 200 by one place, and this year he came away with three medals and the opportunity to compete against the best in the state next weekend. Every race he ran he made huge improvements in. In the 60 he lowered his previous best by .15 seconds to qualify for the state meet. In the 200 he improved his best by .44 seconds. 800: Matthew Wehrle and Alyse Whitman-Matthew did a great job of racing competitively with the strong, crowded field of runners. It will be a great experience for him to compete next weekend on a fast track. Alyse came away with an indoor personal best. 3000: Owen Bartlebaugh-He ran an exceptionally tough 3000 and came back on short rest to help secure a medal in the Distance Medley. For a sophomore he raced well against some of the best distance runners of western PA, improving his personal best by 3 seconds in the 3000. 4x800 (Corbin Heitzenrater, Aiden McLaughlin, Kevin Ingros, Ethan May) Corbin ran a personal best split and the team was just short of their previous best. 4x400 (Matthew Wehrle, Evan States, Alex Gianvito, Jake Pearce) Matthew and Evan both did well after coming back from the DMR and Jake had a personal best split. In the Field: Long Jump: Bayden Lyle-Bayden bounced back well from his hurdles race and jumped over 9 inches better than his previous best in the long jump. Shot Put: Sammy Dyson and Taegan Ludwig-Sammy and Taegan had some nice consistent throws against a strong field of girls in the Shot Put. Sammy has had some great throws in the past few weeks, showing great consistency, and is looking well prepared to match up against the best in the state next weekend. High Jump/Triple Jump: Midori Bridges, Sammy Dyson and Evan States-Midori, Sammy and Evan had some very nice jumps today. Midori improved her all time best in the high jump by a ½ inch and narrowly missed her best in the triple jump. Sammy did great to come back from her preliminaries and finals in the shot put to post a really nice mark at the triple jump. Evan has made a lot of improvements in the past year and looks to be making great progress in the high jump. Punxsutawney will be sending Sammy Dyson (Shot Put), Matthew Wehrle (800) and Antonio Stello (60 and 200) to compete at the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association Indoor Track and Field State Championship Meet to be held Saturday February 25th at Penn State University. It is quite an accomplishment to be accepted into the indoor state track and field meet. There is no separation of classes, so only the top 12 to 24 athletes from all Pennsylvania schools are accepted into meet. Several other Punxsutawney athletes were close to acceptance in the state meet as well; Owen Bartlebaugh in the 3000, Bayden Lyle in the 60 Hurdles and the 4x200 relay team. Even though the others aren’t getting their chance to compete at the state meet their performances during the season were definitely big accomplishments. There were individuals representing a total of 67 teams competing from various western Pennsylvania and Ohio schools. The meet provided some more great competition and gave some of our athletes another opportunity to qualify for next weekends Tri-State Championships or improve their times or marks. Overall there were 7 individuals and 2 relays that placed in the top 10 overall.
On the track: Boys 4 x 200 relay (Bayden Lyle, Jake Pearce, Alex Gianvito, Antonio Stello) The team ran quite competitive even though they had trouble with two of the handoffs. With their speed they have the capabilities to be even more competitive next weekend with some improvements in their handoffs. Boys Distance Medley Relay (Matthew Wehrle, Evan States, Ethan May, Owen Bartlebaugh) Matthew ran a good leadoff leg in the 1200 putting the team in good position to secure their 3rd place. Ethan ran his fastest 800 split. Matthew Wehrle showed off his speed running a personal best in the 400, while also meeting the Tri-State qualifying standard. Bayden Lyle ran a personal best in the finals of his 60 meter hurdles. That was the first time this season that he came back from the preliminaries race and ran a faster finals race. Owen Bartlebaugh did a great job in the mile and ran a tough second half of his race to improve his time by over 6 seconds. Ty Knarr (60 Hurdles), Corbin Heitzenrater (3,000), Aiden McLaughlin (3,000), and Ethan May (Mile and 800/DMR) each achieved personal bests in their races, while Ty met the Tri-State qualifying standard in the hurdles race. In the Field: Sammy Dyson threw over 40 feet for the third time this indoor season, competing against a strong field, where 6 of the girls were ranked in the top 12 in Pennsylvania. Her consistency and calmness in her throws has been great. Bayden Lyle looked extremely quick on the runway and achieved a personal best by 3 ½ inches. Evan States again had some consistent jumps only having misses at his final height. Punxsutawney travels Saturday to Edinboro for one final time to compete in the Tri-State Track Coaches Association Championships where individuals and relays will be vying for one of eight medals awarded for each event. We have a total of 10 individuals and 5 relays that met the Tri-State Standards. Once all of the individuals and relay teams are accepted on Monday we will have a better idea on each of their rankings, but it definitely looks as if several individuals and relays have a good chance at coming home with some medals. It is definitely exciting to see several individuals and relays that should have the potential to earn a medal next weekend, as well as some of those who are attempting to qualify for the PA State Championships at the end of the month. Everyone seems well prepared and ready to give their best. Overall there were individuals representing a total of 84 teams competing from various western Pennsylvania and Ohio schools in a meet that hosted some of the top athletes from the two states. The meet provided great competition and allowed for many of our athletes to achieve personal bests. Considering all the excitement and activities that these kids were a part of the past couple days with Groundhog’s Day, everyone came and performed at their best. We had several athletes hit marks or times that put them fairly high in the rankings in Pennsylvania. Sammy Dyson’s throw in the Shot Put now moves her into 2nd overall in the state, while Matthew Wehrle’s time in the 800 places him at 27th overall and the boys 4 x 200 relay now ranks in at 30th overall. Both Matthew and the boys 4 x 200 relay are within a half second the the 24th spot that it takes to qualify for the PA state meet in their events.
One more relay team (Girls 4 x 200 relay-Sammy Dyson, Alyse Whitman, Kaitlin Doverspike, Midori Bridges) was able to meet the qualifying standard for the upcoming Tri-State Championships meet. On the track: Boys 4 x 200 relay (Bayden Lyle, Jake Pearce, Alex Gianvito, Antonio Stello) Bayden and Alex ran exceptionally well, Jake had a great split and despite not being 100% Antonio ran well. Boys 4 x 400 relay (Alex Gianvito, Evan States, Jake Pearce, Matthew Wehrle) Alex and Jake did a nice job of improving their times since their last time in the relay. Evan and Matthew both ran personal bests. Matthew Wehrle ran a very smart race, getting out quickly with the pack in the first 400, then finishing with a strong last lap to just narrowly miss the PA state qualifying mark in the 800 with an indoor personal best. Bayden Lyle looked fantastic over the hurdles achieving a personal best in his preliminaries race. Owen Bartlebaugh is really maturing with his racing this season and is learning how to pace himself to some nice times. He started out near the back of the pack but was able to gradually move himself up into a good position by the final stages of his race. Jacob Bellerillo (400), Alyse Whitman (800), Kevin Ingros (800) Madison Stonbraker (3200), Corbin Heitzenrater (3200), Aiden McLaughlin (3200) and Ethan May (3200) each achieved personal bests, with Alyse just missing the tri-state standard in the 800 by less than one second. In the Field: Sammy Dyson produced two throws over 40 feet, had a personal best in the triple jump, and led of the 4 x 200 relay. The positive energy she created from her great throws just continued on to her other events. She just had a tremendous overall day. Kaitlin Doverspike (Triple Jump), Midori Bridges (Triple Jump) and Bayden Lyle (Long Jump) each achieved personal bests, with Midori just narrowly missing the tri-state standard in the triple jump. Punxsutawney will be back in action next Saturday in Edinboro at the final Tri-State Track Coaches Association Meet to be held before qualifiers are announced for the Championships which will take place on the 17th. Only six days after putting up some impressive performances, several members of the Indoor Track and Field team were back in action looking to improve their marks and times. Overall there were a total of 64 teams competing from various western Pennsylvania and Ohio schools in a rescheduled meet from earlier this month. Punxsutawney saw its own Sammy Dyson improve her PA state qualifying mark by 13.5 inches in the Shot Put and Antonio Stello coming within .06 seconds of the 200-meter PA state qualifying standard.
One more relay team (Distance Medley Relay-Ethan May, Evan States, Kevin Ingros, Owen Bartlebaugh) was able to meet the qualifying standard for the upcoming Tri-State Championships meet. The boys team has now met the qualifying standard for all four of the relay races that will be held at the championship meet. On the track: Distance Medley Relay (Ethan May, Evan States, Kevin Ingros, Owen Bartlebaugh) Ethan and Owen ran two great splits to help their team to win their heat. Antonio Stello had another consistent 60-meter dash race narrowly missing the finals by less than .01 seconds. He came back in his 200 and raced impressively to his fastest time indoors. He ran the last 60 meters of his race the best I have seen from him, improving his personal best by .23 seconds. Owen Bartlebaugh moved down in distance quite well running a personal best in the 800 just missing the qualifying standard by 1.5 seconds and came back to run close to his best in the 1600 of the Distance Medley Relay. Sammy Dyson (60m Dash), Kevin Ingros (400) Madison Stonbraker (Mile and 800), Corbin Heitzenrater (3000), Aiden McLaughlin (Mile), Ethan May (1200-DMR and Mile) each achieved personal bests. In the Field: Evan States continued his consistent jumps at the High Jump and had a personal best in the Triple Jump. Sammy Dyson did a fantastic job in the finals, throwing indoor personal bests on two of the three throws. With her best throw, she now moves up in the PA state ranking to 11th. Ashaunti Damore threw her best throw of the season by just shy of 2 feet. Punxsutawney’s full squad will be back in action next in Geneva, Ohio at the SPIRE Institute in the Ohio Preview Meet on Saturday. Boys Shot Put
Josh Bellerillo 16th overall in 33’ 9” Alex Martin 22nd overall 27’ 2” Girls Shot Put Sammy Dyson 6th overall in 35’ 8” Taegan Ludwig 13th overall in 29’ 2” Ashaunti Damore 16th overall 24’ 8.5”- personal best Second opportunity to travel to Hempfield High School to compete in one of their three meets for the throwers/pole vaulters. The group is beginning to see some consistency in their throws. It was a nice chance for these boys and girls to have an extra chance to work on some areas that need improvement. Due to the weather the team has missed out on meets the past two weekends and hasn’t seen competition since the Hagerstown Invitational on December 29th, however everyone has been getting some good training opportunities in and their performances today showed. Overall there were a total of 65 teams competing from various western Pennsylvania schools. The competition was strong with almost a dozen top 8 PA performances and 2 US top performances being reached. Punxsutawney saw its own Sammy Dyson reach a PA top 12 mark in the Shot Put with her state qualifying throw. Two more individual (Matthew Wehrle-1600; Owen Bartlebaugh-3000) and two relays (4x800-Kevin Ingros, Ethan May, Aiden McLaughlin, Corbin Heitzenrater; 4x400-Bayden Lyle, Antonio Stello, Evan States and Matthew Wehrle) met the qualifying standards for the Tri State Championship meet to raise the team total to 8 individuals and three relays that have qualified after three meets. On the track: 4x400 relay (Antonio Stello, Bayden Lyle, Evan States, Matthew Wehrle) Everyone ran very strong splits. Antonio and Bayden both ran personal bests, while Matthew raced aggressively to pass two teams. Antonio Stello has impressed me with how much more explosive he has become in the 60 dash. Bayden Lyle looked the fastest I have seen him between the hurdles. Both Bayden and Antonio are very driven to get themselves to the state qualifying marks in their events. Owen Bartlebaugh had a tough double with the mile and 3000 but was able to come away with personal bests in both. I was most impressed with how Owen handled his pacing in the 3000. It isn’t easy to run an even split race but it worked out perfectly for him. Matthew Wehrle did a fantastic job in his first indoor mile. He raced very smart and competitively against the field, finishing right with the outdoor defending District 9 1600 Champion Logan Caruso from Bradford. Ty Knarr (400) Madison Stonbraker (3000), Corbin Heitzenrater (3000), Aiden McLaughlin (1600-DMR), Ethan May (1200-DMR) each achieved personal bests. In the Field: Evan States matched his personal best and is getting some nice clearance on his jumps. Sammy Dyson threw a personal best for indoors in the Shot Put and hit the state qualifying mark. Her competition is tough in the state and she is going to have to continue working hard to move up in the rankings. Bayden Lyle had some nice jumps at the long jump and achieved his personal best indoor mark. Punxsutawney will be competing next at Edinboro University in the second Tri-State Track Coaches Association meet on Friday, a rescheduled meet from January 6th. **Full Results on Band App and under 2018 Results on Website After three weeks since the whole team competed at the Mercersburg Invite, many of the boys and girls saw improvements from the work they have been doing. The setup of the meet was unique in the fact that it didn’t have all of the typical events that we will see once we begin traveling to Edinboro; however I feel that everyone came away with a good experience and some knowledge of the things they need to work on. Two more individuals (Matthew Wehrle-800 and Owen Bartlebaugh-1600) met the qualifying standards for the Tri State Championship meet to raise the team total to 8 individuals and one relay that have qualified after two meets. On the track: 4x200(Antonio, Bayden, Alex Gianvito, Jake Pearce) The team ran a respectable time considering a poor start due to a misfiring and some issues with one of the the handoffs. Antonio (55) and Bayden (55 Hurdles) looked good and had very nice starts in their individual events. They both made drastic improvements from last year’s meet. Owen ran a good tactical race in the 1600 with a strong finish to earn his 3rd place. Matthew improved his 800 over 2 seconds from the Mercersburg Invite and ran a very even split race. Madison ran a personal best in the 1600. In the Field: Evan made some nice jumps in the High Jump and is approaching the event with more confidence. Sam made some improvements in her technique in the Shot Put. Alex Martin improved in his third straight meet this season with an all-time best throw in the Shot Put. Makena had her best vault of the season and matched her best from last year’s outdoor season. The meet was a good learning experience for everyone. As we move into January there is a meet scheduled each week where there will be opportunities to continue improvements. Punxsutawney will be competing next at Edinboro University in the first Tri-State Track Coaches Association meet of the new year on Saturday, where they will be competing against various teams from District 7, 8, 9 and 10. Boys Shot Put
Josh Bellerillo 16th overall in 31’ 9” Alex Martin 19th overall 28’ 2”-personal best in indoor, really making nice improvements Girls Shot Put Sammy Dyson 2nd overall in 37’ 2”-already throwing almost two feet farther than a year ago Taegan Ludwig 9th overall in 30’ 1”-another consistent mark near her best Shawnelle Miller th overall in 25’ 2.5” Girls Pole Vault Makena Nesbitt 13th overall in 7’ 4”-nearing her best from outdoor, motivated to make improvements Hempfield High School hosts three meets for the throwers/pole vaulters throughout the indoor season that gives the local athletes a great opportunity to gain some extra practice and experience without needing to travel a great distance. It’s great to give these athletes an extra opportunity to learn and work on some areas in preparation for some of the invitationals coming up. It can be difficult to work specifics sometimes in the field events during the winter months but with the setup that Hempfield has it allows for a nice experience. Punxsutawney’s full squad will travel next Friday the 29th to compete in the Mountain Express Holiday Indoor Invitational at Hagerstown Community College in Maryland. With this being our first meet it turned out to be a good opportunity to see what shape everyone is in with regards to their respective events and where they need to be in order to be more competitive once we reach January and February. The setup of the meet was nice and gave it somewhat of a scrimmage feel with 7 boys teams and 5 girls teams competing. Having the opportunity to travel to such a nice facility and compete against some schools we wouldn’t typically compete against was a good way to start off the season. Overall the boys as a team won the meet with a score of 146 points, with Mercersburg Academy was a close 2nd with a total of 144 points, followed by McConnellsburg, Bermudian Springs, Shippensburg, Tussey Mountain and Saint James School. On the girls side the girl’s team took second overall with 144 points behind Mercersburg Academy’s 168 points. Rounding out the girl’s teams was Bermudian Springs, Shippensburg and McConnellsburg.
Six individuals and one relay (Bayden Lyle-55Hurdles; Antonio Stello-55 dash/200; Taegan Ludwig-Shot Put; Sam Dyson-Shot Put/Triple Jump; Evan States-High Jump; Midori Bridges-High Jump; 4x200 Relay of Alex Gianvito, Jake Pearce, Bayden Lyle and Antonio Stello) meet the standard for the tri state championship meet. Once we have some more practice time behind us I really feel confident that the list of qualifiers is going to grow. On the track: 4x200(Antonio, Bayden, Alex Gianvito, Jake Pearce) These boys ran some very nice splits for this early in the season. With some more conditioning and work on handoffs they definitely have the ability to lower their time to the state qualifying standard. Antonio and Bayden both looked explosive in their individual events. They both made huge improvements from a year ago. Antonio’s 55 race was only .08 seconds off of the state qualifying standard, while Bayden’s 55 hurdle race was within .20 seconds of the state qualifying mark. Antonio did a great job after his 2 55 races (prelims and finals) and the 4x200 relay to race another great 200. Owen really pushed the pace in the mile and came back to run an even split in the 3200. He narrowly missed tri state qualifying standard in the mile by .11 seconds. Matthew and Alyse both did a nice job moving down to work on speed in the 55 and produced some good times for 800 runners. They both had good 800 races and look capable of making bigger improvements as the season goes on. Makena had a good second half of her 55 hurdles race, missing tri state standards by less than 2 tenths of a second. Madison and Corbin both ran personal bests in the mile and 3200. Sam ran a personal best in the 55. Jacob ran a personal best in the 400. In the Field: Evan and Midori both had strong jumps at the High Jump, with Evan’s being his best by 4 inches. Sam had a nice throw in her first opportunity, outdistancing her competition by over 2 feet. Taegan, Josh and Alex Martin each had all-time best throws in the Shot Put. Bayden had a personal best in the Long Jump. We have a lot of conditioning still to do and strength to build; however, seeing how successful everyone was in our first meet I think that it proved to be a great motivator. It gave everyone a learning experience, especially in the technical events, where we can go back and work on some of the things we were doing wrong to make some improvements for the next meet. Punxsutawney’s throwers and pole vaulters will be competing next at Hempfield High School in a mini-meet next Tuesday, December 19th, while the rest of the squad will have a few weeks to prepare for their next meet at Hagerstown Community College on Friday, December 29th. |