Schuylkill Valley, Wyomissing boys finished tied for second

Both teams found themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with some all too familiar faces on the championship podium on Saturday afternoon at Shippensburg University.

That’s because Berks Conference members Schuylkill Valley and Wyomissing saw their boys track and field teams finish tied for second in the Class AA overall team standings at the conclusion of the two-day PIAA Championships.

Hickory finished first overall with 56 team points while Schuylkill Valley and Wyomissing were tied even at 27.

Brendan Sparr starred for SV by capturing gold in the long jump with a 22-6¼.

Schuylkill Valley’s 4x400 relay finished second right behind Wyomissing with a 3:23.46.

The Panthers’ Joe Jardine cleared 14-0 — behind only Western Wayne’s Ryan Atcavage (15-0) for second place in the pole vault. Tulpehocken’s Sam Boyer came in 10th (13-0).

Dustin Brown also medalled for the Panthers, posting a 43-6¾ in the triple jump for eighth place.

Joe Cullen was the individual standout for Wyomissing. He posted a 4:13.67 in the 1,600 meter run, right on the heels of Winchester Thurston’s Tristan Forsythe (4:12.46). Austin Keim picked up an eighth place medal for the Spartans in the 400 where he ran a 1:09.54.

The Spartans also had a solid showing in relays, picking up a gold-medal finish in the 4x400 (3:21.49), nearly two seconds ahead of the field, along with a silver finish in the 4x800 (8:01.43).

Oley Valley’s Jacob Gieringer took fourth place in the shot put with a 53-0¼.

In Class AAA action, Wilson’s Alex Cluff took fourth place in the 300 hurdles with a 38.70. Muhlenberg’s Najee Smith finished seventh in the 100 with a 10.90.

Girls

In Class AAA action, Twin Valley’s Kayla Gillen took fourth place in the high jump with a 5-5. Central Bucks South’s Valerie Przekop won the event with a 5-7. Wyomissing’s Tori Stembridge took seventh with a 5-04.

Exeter’s Faith Kehinde took eighth in the 400 dash with a 57.75.

Fleetwood’s Sarah Crissman placed 10th in the 800 meters in 2:15.05.

WIlson had two top 5 finishers in the 3,200 meters with Reagan Underwood finishing third (10:33.05) and Alison Willingmyre taking fifth (10:37.79).

In Class AA, Oley Valley’s Rebecca Snyder was a dual medalist. Snyder took bronze in the 3,200 run with a time of 10:54.21. She finished right behind Pine Grove’s Christina Difalco (10:47.61) and Vincentian’s Marianna Abdalah (10:53.12).

Snyder also finished seventh in the 1,600 run with a time of 5:05.95. Oley finished 26th overall in team standings.