"Marian has the best small-school team I've seen in the last 10 years." - Blue Mountain boys' track and field coach Al Yackenchick
In 2009, the Schuylkill League started a separate team championship meet in track and field, similar to other sports in the league. Blue Mountain smacked Marian 122-28 for the boys' championship and North Schuylkill downed Schuylkill Haven 105-45.
The final Schuylkill League team championship meet in track and field was held the following year, with Blue Mountain's boys beating Marian again 122-28, while Tamaqua's girls rolled past Marian 115-34.
The idea for a separate team championship for track and field was laudable, it just didn't work for the sport.
While the athletes who competed in the meet - especially those on the title teams - enjoyed them, a separate meet to crown a league team champion wasn't very popular with a majority of the league's coaches. They didn't like the potential extra meet so close to the start of the postseason. It also meant that there was less time to complete the regular season in order to get the team championship meets in. That fact that the meets weren't all that competitive didn't help matters.
If the team championships were still around this season, the weather from this past spring would have no doubt made for a very difficult time getting everything completed. But from a competitive standpoint, a case could be made why holding a separate team-championship meet wouldn't have been such a bad thing this season.
This is especially on the boys' side.
The quote I opened with from Yackenchick came following the Eagles' 95-55 win over Jim Thorpe on April 14. Yackenchick was complimenting not only the Olympians, but also Marian, which beat Jim Thorpe 76-74 in a non-league meet March 27.
Last week, the Colts (7-0, 6-0) completed their second straight undefeated season and third straight Division II championship with a 75-66 win over Schuylkill Haven. Pottsville (6-0, 5-0) wrapped up a perfect season and clinched the Division I title with a 80-70 win over Jim Thorpe on April 28.
From a depth standpoint, this might be the deepest team Marian has had during its recent division championship run. It came in handy, especially after junior Nico Agosti pulled a hamsting at the Pan Ram Invitational on April 12 and hasn't competed since. It would have also served well against the Crimson Tide and meant that Marian might have been able to score at least some points in almost every event, a big key in a dual meet.
In the end, however, it's likely Pottsville would have been able to beat the Colts, even if they were at full strength. Still, this would have been the right season to see how the small-school Division II champ matched up against the bigger Division I champ.
It happened again
For the second straight season - and the third in the past four years - teams ended up sharing a division title. This time, it happened in Division II girls as Marian (5-2, 5-1), Pine Grove (5-2, 5-1) and Schuylkill Haven (5-2, 5-1) finished in a three-way deadlock. Pine Grove beat Schuylkill Haven 71-70 on April 10, Marian beat Pine Grove 87-54 on April 17 and Schuylkill Haven knocked off Marian 84-57 last Thursday.
Blue Mountain and Pottsville ended up sharing the Division I girls' championship last year after their head-to-head meeting ended in a 75-all tie. Blue Mountain, North Schuylkill and Pottsville tied for the Division I boys' crown in 2011 after Blue Mountain beat Pottsville, Pottsville beat North Schuylkill and North Schuylkill beat Blue Mountain.
Ties aren't usually very popular, but since the league doesn't have any procedure to break these type of ties, they stand. The only way to really break them is to have a run-off meet. A run-off certainly would have broken the tie in the three-way situations but there is no guarantee that Blue Mountain and Pottsville wouldn't have finished tied again if they met a second time last year.
The ties might not necessarily be a bad thing. I think it says a lot about the quality of the teams that finished deadlocked.
That brings me to my final point: While the weather this spring seemed to be on everybody's mind, it turned out to be a one of the more exciting dual-meet seasons that I can remember. There were plenty of close meets and at least five off the top of my head - Marian at Jim Thorpe boys on March 27, Schuylkill Haven at Pine Grove boys and girls April 10, Blue Mountain at Pottsville boys and girls April 22 - that weren't decided until the final few events, or even the last event. That was the case with the Hurricanes-Cardinals as both the boys' and girls' meets came down the 1,600 relay. As mentioned early, Pine Grove won the girls' meet. Schuylkill Haven took the boys' side 72-68.
On the postseason
With the regular season over, it is time to move to the postseason. It begins Wednesday with the Schuylkill League meet at the Tamaqua's All Sports Complex. It is the second time Tamaqua has hosted the meet since its all weather track was installed in 2010. The first was in 2011.
Wednesday's meet begins at 3 p.m. for the field events and 4 for the track events.
The District 11 Championships are Wednesday-Thursday, May 14-15, at East Stroudsburg South High School, starting at 3 p.m. both days. The PIAA Championships are Friday-Saturday, May 23-24, at Shippensburg University.
Look for a full preview on the league meet in Wednesday's edition and complete coverage Thursday.
(Carnahan is the track and field beat writer for The Republican-Herald. Read his blog at blogs.republicanherald.com/ac/) Schuylkill League Track and Field Honor Roll
April 28-May 2
Boys
100 - Chris Bruno (Marian) 11.44
200 - Khaaliq Lynch (Jim Thorpe) 23.22
400 - Kevin Hampford (Pottsville) 53.69
800 - Johnathan Condly (Jim Thorpe) 2:01.24
1,600 - Humza Hnesh (Pottsville) 4:37.05
3,200 - Jake Saxon (Jim Thorpe) 10:21.5
110 HH - Chris Karlonis (North Schuykill) 16.34
300 IH - Jason Wilson (Schuylkill Haven) 41.14
400 relay - Pottsville (Aaron Kuperavage, AJ Stevens, Jed Dunkel, James Close) 44.70
1,600 relay - Pottsville (Christian Witman, Jed Dunkel, Kevin Hampford, Humza Hnesh) 3:23.43
3,200 relay - Blue Mountain (Cameron Greenawalt, Noah Rhody, Derek Mosteller, Tristan Dickey) 8:13.24
High jump - Larry McNeil (Mahanoy Area) 6-0
Long jump - Khaaliq Lynch (Jim Thorpe) 20-11
Triple jump - AJ Stevens (Pottsville) 45-11
Shot put - Tyler Cavenas (Mahanoy Area) 48-6
Discus - Tyler Cavenas (Mahanoy Area) 131-5
Javelin - Tyler Hope (Tamaqua) 178-0
Pole vault - Colton Cryts (Blue Mountain) 13-6
Girls
100 - Jade Wilson (Schuylkill Haven) 13.14
200 - Alyssa Kondrack (Pottsville) 27.58
400 - Emily Pulaski (Marian) 1:03.54
800 - Chelsea Frantz (Tamaqua) 2:30.24
1,600 - Paige Stoner (Pottsville) 5:23.31
3,200 - Paige Stoner (Pottsville) 11:38.00
100 H - Devon Matz (Jim Thorpe) 16.03
300 IH - Devon Matz (Jim Thorpe) 47.41
400 relay - Pottsville (Nikki Brantley, Alyssa Kondrack, Madison Sherakas, Brianna Lotz) 51.24
1,600 relay - Pine Grove (Jess Fath, Maddie Frew, McKayla Lally, Kelli Readinger) 4:15.84
3,200 relay - Pottsville (Gabrielle DiRenzo, Lauren Howell, Gabrielle Evans, Paige Stoner) 9:50.14
High jump - Carly Gregas (North Schuylkill) 5-2
Long jump - Jade Wilson (Schuylkill Haven) 16-4.5
Triple jump - Jade Wilson (Schuylkill Haven) 33-3.75
Shot put - Carter Green (North Schuylkill) 36-1
Discus - Carter Green (North Schuylkill) 122-2
Javelin - Emily Field (Nativity) 111-1
Pole vault - Rebecca Minehan (Tamaqua) 10-0
NOTE: All times have been adjusted to FAT.