ECC junior high track teams post runner-up finishes

The Elk County Catholic girls’ and boys’ junior high track and field squads both finished as the runnerup in team scoring at the 32nd Annual Johnsonburg Junior High Track Invitational over the weekend.

DuBois Area Middle School won the girls’ meet with a score of 106 points. ECC was second with 76.5, and Johnsonburg was third with 66.5. Fretz Middle School won the boys’ meet with 112 points. ECC was second with 74, and Punxsutawney Area was third with 70.

In addition to the team success, individual athletes for both ECC squads had successful weekends as well. Maddie Lanzel was named the girls’ track Co-MVP, and Frankie Smith was named the boys’ track Co-MVP. Smith also set another new school record in the 400 meter dash, as well as meet records in the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, and 400 meter dash.

Lanzel won both the girls’ 100 meter dash and 200 meter dash and tied for first place in the 400 meter dash. In the 100 meter dash, Lanzel had a winning time of 13.7 seconds. In the 200 meter dash, her winning time was 29.5 seconds. In the 400 meter dash, Lanzel and DuBois Area’s Addison Love tied with a time of 1:05.1.

Lanzel was not the only runner for the Lady Crusaders to tie in the competition. In the 200 meter dash, Rachel VanSlander tied for second with DuBois Area’s Ava Marshall. Both had times of 30.3 seconds. VanSlander also placed second in long jump with a jump of 12’10.5”.

Katie Straub placed second in high jump with a jump of 4’6”

The Lady Crusader 4x400 meter relay team placed third in a time of 4:57.9.

Two members of the Lady Crusaders advanced to the finals for the girls’ 100 meter hurdles. Peyton Newton placed fourth in 19.3 seconds, and Amelia Meyer placed sixth in 20.0 seconds. Newton also tied for fifth in the high jump with a jump of 4’2”.

Martina Mawn placed fourth for the Lady Crusaders in the girls’ 300 meter hurdles in a time of 57.5 seconds. Also earning a fourth place finish was Lena Polaski, who was fourth in the triple jump with a jump of 26’8.5”.

Jolene Rippey placed fifth in the 400 meter dash in 1:11.0, and Abby Gregory placed fifth in shot put with a throw of 26’1”.

Smith swept all three sprints for the Crusaders, winning the boys’ 100 meter dash in 11.7 seconds, the 200 meter dash in 23.8 seconds, and the 400 meter dash in 53.8 seconds.

The Crusaders edged North Clarion in the boys’ 4x800 meter relay. ECC had a winning time of 10:22.0, and North Clarion was second in 10:22.3.

Andrew Mawn came close to getting the victory for ECC in the boys’ 3200 meter run but ended up placing second. Oswayo Valley’s Travis Coriaty won the event in 12:19.5, and Mawn was second in 12:19.8. Mawn also placed sixth in pole vault with a jump of 6’.

Khaleo Reed placed second in high jump with a jump of 5’4”.

Aaron Bennett placed third in the 1600 meter run in a time of 5:33.7.

The Crusader 4x400 meter relay team placed fourth in a time of 4:37.7.

Jordan Wasko placed fifth in the 800 meter run in 2:35.6, Christian Schmidt placed fifth in the 3200 meter run in 12:51.5, and Rixen Auman placed fifth in shot put with a throw of 32’1”. Auman also placed sixth in discus with a throw of 86’5”.