Boyertown’s Yacovone, Michaels, Moccia win events; Methacton girls, OJR boys take team titles
ROYERSFORD » A green wave crashed through the Pioneer Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships Saturday.
It came fast and it came in numbers, absurdly abundant numbers.
The apex of the wave was undoubtedly Amy Domenick, who was the breakout star of the two-day meet and headed the Methacton girls’ dominance of the sprint events on the way to winning the team championship at Pope John Paul II High School.
Domenick, a senior, was outstanding while going 4-for-4 in her events, winning the 300 hurdles Friday before sweeping the 100 and 200 Saturday and running the second leg of the meet-concluding 4x400 relay that served as a punctuation mark on the Warrior girls regaining their status as the league’s elite program. Methacton scored 162 team points, followed by Perkiomen Valley (141.5), Spring-Ford (88.5) and Owen J. Roberts (82).
Domenick was joined as a multievent winner Saturday by Owen J. Roberts’ Mary Bernotas (800, 1,600) and Perkiomen Valley’s Christina Warren (100 hurdles, long jump). Other individual event winners were: Upper Merion’s Emily Adams (400), Methacton’s Camaryn Rodriguez (pole vault), Pottsgrove’s Anna Myers (javelin), Pottsgrove’s Miazziah Rose (high jump) and Boyertown’s Kayla Yacovone (discus). In the relays, Spring-Ford won the 4x800 while Methacton won the 4x100 and 4x400.
Not coincidentally, Methacton’s rise concurs with the return of head coach Rob Ronzano, who returned from a two-year hiatus after he led the Warriors to a string of Suburban One League championships before seven straight PAC championships in his run from 2004-15.
“This year, our coach (Ronzano) really brought the team back together like how it used to be,” Domenick said amid the Warriors’ celebration and victory lap. “That made all the difference, just having everyone supporting each other. He really showed us that we need to be a team to be successful. Once we had some success we realized that’s exactly what we need to do.”
Domenick opened the day by winning the 100 in 12.32, edging PV’s Warren (12.63) to lead an aforementioned green wave of Methacton finishers that went 1-3-4-6 (Katelyn Evans 3rd, Lauren Prusacki 4th, Olivia Hoover 6th) in the dash.
It was a similar turn in the 200 with the Warriors going 1-3-4-5 through Domenick (25.72), Evans (23.64), Prusacki (26.99) and Juliana Keenan (27.15) with only Norristown runner-up Teliyah James (26.31) breaking the string.
Methacton’s final touch came in the 4x400 relay with Keenan, Domenick, Prusacki and Julie Byrne sealing the meet-ending win in 4:07.26.
FIELD DAY » Pottsgrove’s Myers and Boyertown’s Yacovone made the most of their last PACs with the seniors winning the javelin and discus, respectively.
Yacovone finished second to Pottstown’s Gigi Mitchell a year prior but had the goods this year, hitting a personal record on her second throw with a 113-2. She was followed by Boyertown’s Mary Sherpinsky (105-11) and Spring-Ford’s Brigitte Smith (103-11).
“I’m still kind of in shock, but I feel awesome,” Yacovone said. “I hit 111 in the beginning (of the season) but I hadn’t got back up there. So this 113 is a PR and it kind of caught me off guard.”
The left-hander who recently committed to Shippensburg let her technique take over on the way to the title.
“Discus gives you such a free feeling,” she said. “I feel like even though I may not be the biggest or tallest, with my skill and the work I put in I can still get the results I want and be a part of the competition.”
ON THE DOUBLE » OJR senior Bernotas had her sights set on winning the 800 and 1,600 just as former teammate Ally Brunton did as a junior at the 2016 PAC finals.
“The year before last, Ally Brunton was able to do the same double so I was chasing after the same goal as her,” Bernotas said. “I think it’s pretty cool I was able to get to where she was because she’s my role model.”
Brunton, who recently completed her freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh, was on hand Saturday to witness Bernotas’ mid-distance double.
The upbeat Bernotas was full of praise for her teammates Autumn Sands, Mackenzie Kurtz and Hannah Kopec and OJR head coach Tim Marcoe for helping her make a significant jump in her senior year.
In the 800, her 2:18.45 edged fellow district qualifiers Julia Dorley of Perkiomen Valley (2:20.14) and Emily Smith of Spring-Ford (2:21.46). In the 1,600, Bernotas went sub-5:00 with a 4:59.72 to lead a field of five district qualifiers, PV’s Teagan Schein-Becker (5:06.05), Upper Merion’s Veronica Sanchez (5:07.65), OJR’s Sands (5:13.34) and Boyertown’s Madalyn Hunsberger (5:16.03).
Boys
UPPER PROVIDENCE » The answer was quite obvious.
Things were about as good as they could be for the Owen J. Roberts boys track team this weekend. The Wildcats took numerous big individual performances and parlayed them into a much-coveted team title at the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s championship meet at Pope John Paul II.
There was no discounting the impact Liam Conway made by winning his own “Triple Crown” of the 3,200, 1,600 and 800 — the latter in an incredible come-from-the-middle-of-the-pack victory on the final lap — or Aidan Hayward, who uncorked a long-distance first-place throw in the shot put. But as demonstrated by another comeback run by the 4x400 relay team, OJR’s team championship very much emphasized the “team” concept.
“This was the culmination of everything,” Conway said after he and the team took a victory lap around the PJP gridiron. “We came so close in the past – this is the fruition ... the happiest sporting experience. There’s no better way to see it pay off like this.”
Owen J. ended up with 128 team points, effectively outdistancing second-place Methacton (97) and thirdplace Perkiomen Valley (91). That spread owed much to the quantity of other-color medals won by Wildcats — particularly in the 1,600.
Conway remained the race’s champ with a 4:21.65 clocking ahead of teammate Kyle Malmstrom (4:22.02). Linus Blatz added a fifth, and Andrew Malmstrom a seventh, to give Roberts 24 of the 39 points available in the event.
“One of the things I love about this weekend is, everyone has his role,” OJR head coach Tim Marcoe said. “It’s a total team event. You may have your ups and downs, but you just go out and do your best.”
Conway and Kyle Malmstrom produced another 1-2 finish in the 800 — that after Conway ended up in the middle of the pack at the start, then worked his way into the lead with about 100 yards left. Conway finished with a 1:56.66, edging out Malmstrom’s 1:56.81.
Hayward added a second in the discus, and Scott Honicker produced a similar result in the 110 high hurdles, for Owen J’s nexthighest finishes.
Jacob Howard just missed winning three gold medals in the jumping events. But the Pottstown senior continued his birthday celebration — he turned a year older Friday — by heading the long jump and coming in a close second in the high jump.
Howard went 20-8 in the long, ahead of Upper Perkiomen’s Tyrese Reid (204) and Pottstown teammate Anthony Brown (200½). His 5-10 high jump equalled Boyertown’s Ethan Michaels, but Michaels won out by virtue of making fewer attempts to clear the mark.
“I was just hoping to place for districts,” Howard, winner of the triple jump Friday, said of his expectations for the PAC meet. “I figured somebody else would win.”
Michaels, who hit 5-10 on his first try, will be making a first-ever trip to the District 1 meet.
“If I can place in the top eight, I’ll be happy,” the Boyertown sophomore said.
Boyertown’s Jamison Moccia distinguished himself by dominating the sprint races. The Bear sophomore won the 100 with a time of 10.95, and he headed the 200 by going 22.42, nipping Norristown’s Austin Montgomery (22.43).