TOP THROWS
Wyomissing’s Jven Williams puts on record showing at Stephan meet
Wyomissing junior Jven Williams broke meet records in the discus and shot put to lead Wyomissing boys track and field team to a second-place finish at the Leonard Stephan Meet Saturday at Wilson. Wyomissing’s 87 total team points were only two points shy of Coatesville.
Williams threw a 60-10.5 in the shot put and a 177-5 in the discus to take home two golds.
“You just saw something you might never see again,” a jubilant Wyomissing throws coach Ty Smith said after watching Williams in the discus. “This is not a tiddlywinks type of sport and people get on me for being loud but that’s what I want. When I see 177, yeah, I’m going to be a lot more hype and I wish for everyone to feel that.”
Williams, a two-sport athlete who has committed to playing football at Penn State, is the defending District 3 Class 2A champion in shot put and the defending Berks champ in the discus.
On one of his discus throws, Williams threw close to 200 feet, according to Smith, but the throw was disqualified on account of Williams stepping out of the thrower’s circle following his release.
“After I threw it, the second hardest part of the throw comes where you keep it in balance with your feet in the circle,” Williams said. “My feet were a little bit tight so it made it harder for me to keep them inside a circle and they let loose. I work a lot on that throughout training so I’m a little disappointed that happened, but it is what it is.”
Despite the fault, Williams was able to maintain his focus to rebound for recordbreaking throw on his third attempt.
Williams is no stranger to being spectacular as the 6-4, 310 pound junior drew one of the larger crowds of the day. However, Williams said he believes he performs best when he removes the expectations placed on him by others.
“It’s a little nerve wracking (throwing in front of larger crowds),” Williams said. “Keeping up with the expectations of the crowd makes it a little harder to deal with, but when I go off to the side on my own and just think to myself or step away and work on drills, I end up doing better.”
With two records to his name, Williams has no intentions of resting on his accomplishments and is focused on breaking more records.
“My goal is still to break the county record; that’s really my biggest goal,” Williams said. “It’s a personal challenge for me to break those records and I also want to bring home some hardware for my team. My expectation for the season is really just to win it all.”
In addition to Williams, Schuylkill Valley’s Luke Seymour also had a standout performance in winning the 800 and 1600. Seymour ran the 800 in 1:55.91 and the 1,600 in 4:22.02 in what the senior said was just his third big race since breaking his leg during the cross country season.
“I was out for three-and-ahalf months,” Seymour said. “So I’m definitely looking to get structurally stronger in my legs to drop my times down. The goal today was to go sub 4:20 and it was close but for the 800 my legs were feeling weak after the mile and I just wanted to go out there and win, so I’m okay with the 1:55.”
Seymour also expressed that the victory was sweeter after seeing the progress he’s made since breaking the leg.
“Yeah for sure,” Seymour said when asked if these victories felt more special. “Just knowing that my fitness is good enough to be able to run close to a 4:20 and then come back and do a 1:55 is pretty cool.”
Other notable performances from Berks athletes included Gov. Mifflin’s Jacob Engle winning the pole vault in 13-0 and Wilson’s Jonathon Tamayo taking the 300 hurdles in 39.35. Wilson also won the 1600 relay in 3:24.96 and 3200 relay in 8:14.38.
Girls
The Wilson girls track and field team had a strong showing in their home invitational meet on Saturday.
With 34 schools participating, the Bulldogs finished as the highest-ranked Berks team and second overall with 85 points in the Leonard Stephan Invitational at West Lawn.
“I’m so happy and proud of everyone,” Wilson senior Katie Dallas said. “Everyone is crushing it.”
Dallas was one of the bright spots for the Bulldogs, winning the 800 at 2.17.29. The result was more than a one-second improvement from her time at the 2021 Stephan Invitational.
“Winning at the home meet in the event that I usually run a lot, it means a lot,” Dallas said. “Being able to come back out here and show how I grew, it’s really great.”
Dallas’ teammate, senior Caryn Rippey, finished third in the 800 at 2:19.76. She also won the 1600 at 4.58.80, a career-best in outdoor track.
“It means a lot, just because it’s my home track,” Rippey said. “Getting a win for my school is a good thing.”
Bulldogs senior Kara Brown took first in the 100 hurdles at 16.06, a career best. She also competed in the high jump, finishing second at 5-1.
“It meant pretty much to me,” Brown said. “I’ve been working pretty hard recently.”
Wilson performed well in the relays, winning the 1600 in 4:07.56. The Bulldogs also finished second in the 400 relay in 49.59 and second in the 3200 relay in 9:42.81.
Wilson trailed only McCaskey, who won the girls team title with 100 points. Gov. Mifflin placed third with 63.5 points.
Aside from Wilson, Schuylkill Valley senior Madison Ziska competed in four events, finishing in the top seven in each of them. She won the long jump at 16-8.5.
“The first jump was actually not the best for me,” Ziska said. “I knew I had to get high 16s to be able to place, and that’s what I did my second time.”
Ziska finished second in the 200 in 26.65, fourth in the 400 in 59.89 and served as the anchor on the Panthers’ 400 relay team, which took seventh at 52.34.
“She definitely has improved her 100 speed,” Schuylkill Valley co-coach Terry McKechnie said. “She ran really well in that 200.”
Ziska helped earn 25 of the Panthers’ 51 team points. Schuylkill Valley finished in fourth place, just behind Conestoga and its 61 points.
“I did pretty well,” Ziska said. “I’m okay with how I did.”