JIM THORPE — Jim Thorpe’s Rayan Green entered this track and field campaign as the top returning high jumper in the Schuylkill League.
It is still early, but so far this season Green is developing into one of the top athletes in the league.
Green, a junior, won a pair of individual events and finished second in two others to help the Olympians win the boys’ team championship at the 7th annual Olympian Invitational on Friday at Olympian Stadium.
Green won the high jump with a final height of 6 feet, 2 inches, and added a victory in the triple jump at 41-11½. Green was also second in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, finishing second in both events to Southern Lehigh’s Daniel Fulmer.
“I am really satisfied,” Green said. “I am really happy that I placed first in the high jump and everything. I feel like I did well in all my events.
“I definitely knew it was going to be a big challenge for me. I was watching YouTube videos of all the events that I do and I just got really focused.”
Jim Thorpe finished the night with 93 points, easily getting past runner-up Southern Lehigh (71) and third-place Palmerton (69).
In addition to Green’s performance, the Olympians also turned in a strong
night in the mid-distance and distance events. Jim Thorpe, which won its first Olympian Invite title since 2010, had five runners place in the top six in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 combined.
Jim Thorpe was also third in the 1,600 relay and turned in a meet-record time of 8:28.03 in the 3,200 relay. Jim Thorpe’s Dylan Bucior, Ben Saxon, Jacob Saxon and Johnathan Condly broke the old meet record of 8:36.03 set by Pleasant Valley last year.
“It is crazy,” Bucior said. “Palmerton’s been winning it the past four years. And our coach (Frank Miller), he’s been telling us, he is sick and tired of Palmerton winning it. We came out here tonight and showed what we could do. It is really exciting and it is a cool experience because it really hasn’t happened in a long time.”
Green’s reputation in the high jump is well known. He entered this season looking to win his third consecutive league title in the event. He had also qualified for states in the event the past two seasons in Class AAA.
Green broke his personal record and school record in the event during a dual meet against Nativity on April 1, clearing 6-4. The old record was 6-3.
Green reached 6-2 in the high jump Friday, as did Palmerton’s Spence Hay. But Green won the event by hitting 6-2 on his first attempt. He then missed on all three of his tries at 6-4.
“High jump is getting better and better every day,” Green said.
But now he making strides in other events, too.
One of those is the triple jump. Green has competed in the event the past couple of years and now feels he is starting to understand it more.
It’s showing in his performances. Green hit his winning distance in the event on his second try to outlast Palmerton’s Sean Doherty (41-2).
“I definitely have to work on hitting my mark more,” Green said. “If I hit my mark, then I should be fine.”
Green finished the 110 hurdles in 16.28 seconds and 42.19 in the 300. Fulmer ran a 16.19 in the 110 hurdles and 41.03 in the 300.
“The hurdles aren’t my favorite, but I can tolerate it,” Green said. “I guess I have the height for it, everyone says. I just try to perform my best.”
Bucior is also off to a strong start this spring. The junior was a runner-up in both the 800 and 1,600 on Friday and also ran a leg of the third-place 1,600 relay team. Bucior was a sprinter his first two years of track and field, but now is running in the mid-distance and distance events. He went out for cross country halfway through the season last fall and he said that is making a big difference to his start this year.
“All I wanted coming into this meet tonight is that I wanted to get a medal,” Bucior said. “I never got a track medal before. I’m really excited about that.
“I think cross country really helped me and switching over to distance helped, too. I think I am a lot better in the distance events than I was in the sprints.”
Other boys’ winners from the Schuylkill League included Lehighton’s Tom Ruzicka (154-4) in the javelin and Tyler Crum (11.77) in the 100; North Schuylkill’s Bobby Wagner (20-0.5) in the long jump; Schuylkill Haven’s Noah Fritz (47-4.5) in the shot put and Blue Mountain’s Cameron Greenawalt (52.15) in the 400.
Hazleton won the girls’ team title with 87.5 points, followed by Southern Lehigh (72) and Berwick (60).
Schuylkill League girls’ winners included Blue Mountain’s Caroline Rickard, Emily Leymeister, Aubrey Abel and Katie Thompson in the 3,200 relay in 10:21.55; North Schuylkill’s Carly Gregas (5-3) in the high jump; Brooke Cope (132-4) in the javelin and Tamaqua’s Monika Shimko (2:25.41) in the 800.
7th annual Olympian Invitational
At Olympian Stadium, Jim Thorpe High School
Friday’s results
Teams Participating: Berwick (B), Blue Mountain (BM), Hazleton (H), Jim Thorpe (JT), Lansdale Catholic (LC), Lehighton (Leh), Mahanoy Area (Mah), Minersville (Min), Northern Lehigh (NL), North Schuylkill (NS), Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg (NDES), Palmerton (P), Pine Grove (PG), Salisbury (Sal), Southern Lehigh (SL), Shenandoah Valley (SV), Schuylkill Haven (SH), Tamaqua (T), Weatherly (Wea)
BOYS
100 — 1. Crum (Leh) 11.77, T2. Sanon (JT), Clark (NS) and Roper (T) 11.86, 5. Serfass (Leh) 12.12, 6. Kuchka (B) 12.21
200 — 1. Kobylarz (LC) 23.59, 2. Lindsay (SL) 23.93, 3. Fenstermacher (LC) 24.04, 4. Crum (Leh) 24.23, 5. Gilkes (JT) 24.32, 6. Rex (NL) 24.43
400 — 1. Greenawalt (BM) 52.15, 2. Rubio (NL) 52.57, 3. Yutko (Min) 53.02, 4. Dooley (NL) 53.42, 5. Roberts (BM) 53.43, 6. Gilkes (JT) 53.98
800 — 1. Deluna (SL) 2:02.51, 2. Bucior (JT) 2:05.42, 3. Greenawalt (BM) 2:05.43, 4. Sheptuk (NDES) 2:06.16, 5. Blass (B) 2:06.58, 6. Noti (LC) 2:06.78
1,600 — 1. Gearinger (B) 4:29.64, 2. Bucior (JT) 4:39.79, 3. J. Saxon (JT) 4:42. 09, 4. Sheptuk (NDES) 4:51.45, 5. White (SL) 4:52.56, 6. S. Brennan (SH) 4:52.85
3,200 — 1. Gearinger (B) 9:56.17, 2. Kemery (NL) 10:19.84, 3. Condly (JT) 10:21.59, 4. J. Saxon (JT) 10:39.41, 5. McCormick (NS) 10:54.45, 6. Kimbell (B) 10:59.25
110 HH — 1. Fulmer (SL) 16.19, 2. Green (JT) 16.28, 3. Troxell (NL) 16.33, 4. Strubinger (Leh) 16.56, 5. Wagner (NS) 16.84, 6. Fabian (Leh) 17.02
300 IH — 1. Fulmer (SL) 41.03, 2. Green (JT) 42.19, 3. Doherty (P) 42.21, 4. Troxell (NL) 42.51, 5. Fabian (Leh) 43.83, 6. Pristash (NL) 44.12
400 relay — 1. Palmerton (Appelbaum, Shivone, Doherty, Stasko) 46.29, 2. Lehighton 46.71, 3. North Schuylkill 46.83, 4. Northern Lehigh 47.11, 5. Berwick 47.65, 6. Tamaqua 48.43
1,600 relay — 1. Southern Lehigh (Schuler, E. Fulmer, Botelho, D. Fulmer) 3:37.93, 2. Blue Mountain 3:40.11, 3. Jim Thorpe 3:40.74, 4. Palmerton 3:40.91, 5. Northern Lehigh 3:41.38. 6. Lansdale Catholic 3:43.37
3,200 relay — 1. Jim Thorpe (Bucior, B. Saxon, J. Saxon, Condly) 8:23.03, 2. Northern Lehigh 8:44.00, 3. Berwick 8:47.90, 4. Schuylkill Haven 8:59.08, 5. Lehighton 9:00.38, 6. Blue Mountain 9:01.72
High jump — 1. Green (JT) 6-2, 2. Hay (P) 6-2, 3. Wagner (NS) 5-10, 4. Reigel (B) 5-10, 5. Myers (P) 5-6, 6. Joseph (Mah) 5-4
Long jump — 1. Wagner (NS) 20-0½, 2. Crum (Leh) 19-9½, 3. Hay (P) 19-7½, 4. Fenstermacher (LC) 19-3, 5. Roberts (BM) 19-1, 6. Schatz (Min) 18-10
Triple jump — 1. Green (JT) 41-11½, 2. Doherty (P) 41-2, 3. Reigel (B) 40-9½, 4. Hay (P) 40-8, 5. Snyder (NL) 39-9, 6. Brown (PG) 39-3
Shot put — 1. Fritz (SH) 47-4 ½, 2. Rochon (SL) 44-5, 3. Skripko (T) 41-7½, 4. Briel (NS) 41-6, 5. Umbenhaur (BM) 40-8, 6. Martz (SL) 40-2½
Discus — 1. Anthony (P) 139-5½, 2. Rochon (SL) 138-1, 3. Blauch (Leh) 134-0½, 4. Umbenhaur (BM) 129-5½, 5. Cunningham (Tam) 118-1, 6. Silfies (P) 113-4
Javelin — 1. Ruzicka (Leh) 154-4, 2. Debski (P) 153-6, 3. Schilling (T) 142-10, 4. Antalosky (NS) 133-4, 5. Steigerwalt (Leh) 131-0, 6. Miller (NL) 129-1
Pole vault — 1. Harter (B) 12-6, 2. Ad. Dohmann (BM) 12-0, 3. Smarr (T) 11-6, 4. Colasurdo (SL) 11-0, 5. Blasiak (P) 10-6, 6. Laubach (B) 10-6
Team scores — 1. Jim Thorpe 93, 2. Southern Lehigh 71, 3. Palmerton 69, 4. Lehighton 59, 5. Berwick 53, 6. Northern Lehigh 49, 7. Blue Mountain 43, 8. North Schuylkill 40, 9. Tamaqua 27, 10. Lansdale Catholic 22, 11. Schuylkill Haven 15, 12. Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg 8, 13. Minersville 7, 14. (tie) Mahanoy Area and Pine Grove 1
GIRLS
100 — 1. Malone (H) 12.80, 2. Reid (LC) 12.86, 3. Doherty (P) 13.29, 4. Schroy (SL) 13.45, 5. Malave (PG) 13.65, 6. Edge (PG) 13.73
200 — 1. Malone (H) 25.77, 2. Reid (LC) 25.86, 3. Malave (PG) 27.48, 4. Edge (PG) 27.81, 5. Doherty (P) 28.13, 6. Quinones (Leh) 28.70
400 — 1. Bauer (Sal) 1:01.04, 2. Lally (PG) 1:01.35, 3. Reed (H) 1:03.18, 4. Noti (LC) 1:03.74, 5. Frantz (T) 1:04.44, 6. Beers (Leh) 1:05.26
800 — 1. Shimko (T) 2:25.41, 2. DeLuna (SL) 2:26.95, 3. Yanega (SL) 2:29.55, 4. Leymeister (BM) 2:32.60, 5. Abel (BM) 2:34.24, 6. Principle (JT) 2:34.36
1,600 — 1. Yanega (SL) 5:23.31, 2. Geis (SL) 5:26.20, 3. Connelly (LC) 5:27.50, 4. Buehrle (H) 5:31.95, 5. Rickard (BM) 5:44.75, 6. Everdale (H) 5:46.00
3,200 — 1. Hart (SL) 11:26.17, 2. Connelly (LC) 12:03.22, 3. VandeBunte (SL) 12:13.99, 4. Everdale (H) 12:37.07, 5. Mckay (NL) 12:52.09, 6. Wasserleben (T) 12:52.91
100 H — 1. Steeber (B) 16.95, 2. Kotarsky (B) 16.97, 3. Wood (P) 17.31, 4. Billings (SL) 17.54, 5. Barndt (Leh) 17.67, 6. Shanton (Leh) 17.77
300 IH — 1. Bauer (Sal) 48.17, 2. Wood (P) 49.28, 3. Lally (PG) 49.45, 4. Kotarsky (B) 49.612, 5. Shanton (Leh) 50.44, 6. Barndt (Leh) 51.79
400 relay — 1. Hazleton (Wech, McCann, Jennings, Malone) 53.16, 2. Lansdale Catholic 53.33, 3. Lehighton 53.64, 4. Tamaqua 54.78, 5. Schuylkill Haven 54.85, 6. Northern Lehigh 54.94
1,600 relay — Results not available
3,200 relay — 1. Blue Mountain (Rickard, Leymeister, Abel, Thompson) 10:21.55, 2. Tamaqua 10:27.63, 3. Minersville 10:52.62, 4. Hazleton 10:53.53, 5. Jim Thorpe 11:05.72, 6. Lansdale Catholic 11:06.13
High jump — 1. Gregas (NS) 5-3, 2. Pfeil (H) 4-8, 3. Durishen (Leh) 4-8, 4. Llewellyn (H) 4-6, 5. Matsko (P) 4-6, 6. T. Montana (B) 4-4
Long jump — 1. Bauer (Sal) 17-8, 2. Olewine (NL) 15-8¼, 3. Edge (PG) 15-6½, 4. Steeber (B) 15-6¼, 5. Doherty (P) 15-4½, 6. Belles (B) 15-0
Triple jump — 1. Bauer (S) 34-9, 2. Olewine (NL) 33-2, 3. Wood (P) 33-1, 4. Steeber (B) 32-7, 5. Maberry (BM) 31-2, 6. Durishen (Leh) 30-1
Shot put — 1. P. Montana (B) 38-7#, 2. T Montana (B) 35-0, 3. Strohl (Leh) 30-3, 4. Forrester (SL) 30-0, 5. B. Cope (JT) 29-7½, 6. Green (P) 29-7
Discus — 1. P. Montana (B) 88-3½, 2. Perez (H) 87-11½, 3. Sanders (BM) 87-4½, 4. Green (P) 85-9, 5. Holland (T) 83-10, 6. Crawford (H) 82-10
Javelin — 1. B. Cope (JT) 132-4, 2. Demetriades (T) 127-4, 3. Merkel (H) 126-9, 4. Boyle (T) 115-10, 5. A. Cope (JT) 114-5, 6. McCullion (Leh) 111-8
Pole vault — 1. Malone (H) 10-0, 2. Hoffman (JT) 9-6, 3. Demetriades (T) 9-6, 4. Glore (Min) 9-0, 5. Forrester (SL) 8-6, 6. Olewine (NL) 8-0
Team scores — 1. Hazleton 87.5, 2. Southern Lehigh 72, 3. Berwick 60, 4. Lansdale Catholic 49, 5. Tamaqua 45, 6. Pine Grove 41, 7. Salisbury 40, 8. Palmerton 37, 9. Lehighton 32, 10. Blue Mountain 28, 11. Jim Thorpe 25, 12. Northern Lehigh 19.5, 13. (tie) Minersville and North Schuylkill 10, 15. Schuylkill Haven 2
# Meet record