Spring-Ford boys shore up PAC Liberty title
Spring-Ford’s senior boys claimed yet another distinction for their careers — a win over Owen J. Roberts to complete an unbeaten run through the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s Liberty Division.
ROYERSFORD >> It was a sizeable group of seniors honored by Spring-Ford Wednesday afternoon.
Approximately 45-50 members of the school’s Class of 2017 were recognized, along with parents and other family members, prior to the track meet with Owen J. Roberts. It made for quite a congregation on the stadium’s turf field prior to the Rams’ final home dual meet of the season.
“We have more seniors than were on the field,” head coach Danielle Stauffer noted. “We have a lot of senior kids.”
On the boys’ side, SpringFord’s seniors claimed another distinction for their careers. A 93.5-56.5 win over the Wildcats completed an unbeaten run through the Pioneer Ath- letic Conference’s Liberty Division for the Rams (5-0), making them a first-time regular-season champion under the new twodivision alignment.
On the girls’ side, Owen J. Roberts moved a step closer to its own divisional title with an 88-62 victory. The Wildcats (4-0) will need to win a meet with Methacton, rescheduled to May 8 (Monday), to complete their own perfect divisional run.
“I thought we performed well on the track,” OJR head coach Tim Marcoe said of his girls, whose 63-24 point advantage in running events was headed by Teneisha Myers’ three-win showing. “We performed well. We’re getting stronger and more confident.”
Myers was the girls’ dominant sprinter with her firsts in the 100 (12.49), 200 (25.59) and 400 (59.09). Ally Brunton gave OJR additional spark in the 800 (2:27.40) and 1,600 (5;12.25) to help offset SpringFord’s 38-25 point advantage in the field.
“Myers is great,” Marcoe said. “She’s the anchor of the team, She’s healthy, and whatever we ask of her, she does. She’s definitely our team leader.”
A number of Spring-Ford’s senior boys were key to their squad’s success. Zak Musetti took the 100 (11.61) while Chad Smiley won the pole vault (12-0), and Brett Aldinger produced nine points in the throwing events, headed by his first in the javelin (144-3).
But its ranks of underclassmen also figured prominently in the final outcome. Jake McKenna came up big in the distance events, the junior winning the 1,600 (4:36.93) and 3,200 (10:23.36).
“McKenna is a monster in the distance events,” Stauffer said. “He runs to win, and with a lot of heart.”
It was a similar story for the Spring-Ford girls (3-2). Among their seniors, Aleigha Johnson scored firsts in the triple jump (34-6 ½) and high jump (4-10); at the same time, junior Brigitte Smith led the way in the shot put (32-9) and discus (100-8) and Jordan Sigler added five points in the 100 hurdles (17.24).
“The interesting thing is, every year we wonder how we’re going to replace the seniors who’ve graduated,” Stauffer said. “But we always have the next group ‘man up’.”
The Wildcat girls got other wins from Katelyn Bernotas in the 300 hurdles (49.14) and Alex Glasier in the 3,200 (11:49.09). In the field, Rae Rae Taylor (long jump, 16-11½) and Mady Alvaro (javelin, 105-0) also combined for another 10 points in the field.
But the OJR boys were unable to counter Spring-Ford’s 56-31 scoring edge on the track. They got a sweep of the hurdles from Scott Honicker, who ran a 44.23 in the 300 intermediates and a 16.38 in the 110 highs, along with firsts from Shyheed May in the 400 (50.72), Liam Conway in the 800 (2:03.10) and the 4x100 relay (45.06).
May emerged as the bright spot by adding firsts in the long jump (20-5¾) and triple jump (41-1½). Aidan Hayward had another multiple-win outing in the shot put (44-5) and discus (141-1).
“It was disappointing,” Marcoe said. “I think we were closer in spots. We put some guys in different events.”
Other winners for the Spring-Ford boys were Grant Smith in the 200 (23.68) and Jayden Gant and Eric Page, who shared top honors in the high jump at 5-2. The Rams took the 4x800 and 4x400 relays in respective times of 8:10.89 and 3:31.52, Patrick Power and Milan Sharma running legs of both races.
For the Ram girls, Melissa Israel won the pole vault by clearing the 10-6 mark. Their 4x100 relay quartet of Nia Muhammad, Lily Nowakowski, Ally O’Connor and Sigler finished first in 51.13.
The OJR girls got firsts from their 4x800 (9:41.62) and 4x400 relays (4:10.66). NOTES >> Both teams will be competing in the West Chester Henderson Relays this weekend. A change in the meet’s schedule was made, it being moved from Friday to Saturday due to weather considerations, with a start time Saturday of 12:30 p.m . ... The change will create some tight scheduling for Owen J. Roberts, which has testing in the morning and its prom that evening. “That’s going to be an issue,” Marcoe said . ... The Perk Valley girls finished their PAC dual-meet schedule with a 10446 win over Methacton. Their final divisional record is 4-1, which means the worst the Owen J. girls can have happen is to finish in a tie with the Vikings for first place in the Liberty Division.