TAMAQUA — The Jim Thorpe boys turned in a dominating performance at Friday’s Tamaqua Blue Raider Invitational.
Pine Grove Maddie Frew and Pottsville Sarah Lombel weren’t far behind in that department.
The Olympian boys won nine events, including four from junior Rayan Green, as Jim Thorpe finished the night with 149 points, rolling to the team championship at the fifth annual invite at the Tamaqua Sports Stadium.
As is the case every year, the Tamaqua Invite is somewhat of a mini Schuylkill League meet, with 12 of the league’s 14 teams taking part Friday. Jim Thorpe, which currently leads the Division I standings, certainly made a statement.
As he did at the Olympian Invitational last Friday, Green won the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles, high jump and triple jump Friday.
Dylan Bucior (800, 1,600) grabbed a pair of individual victories, while Samuel Gilkes (400) and Johnathan Condly (3,200) added wins as Jim Thorpe swept the individual mid-distance and distance events.
The Olympians also won the 3,200 relay, breaking a meet and school record. Ben Saxon, Jacob Saxon, Bucior and Condly ran a 8:20.31, smashing the old meet record of 8:29 set by Shamokin in 2013. The old school record was 8:27.25 set last year.
It was the second invite title for Jim Thorpe this season as the Olympians won their own invitational last Friday.
Jim Thorpe had such a good night, even its tanker relay team of Mike Jefferson, Bailey Becker, Derek Scott and Hunter Gibson won their exhibition race at the end of the night.
“It is huge for us because we are coming in, really low in numbers,” Condly said. “This year we only have about 23 kids on the team. Everybody kind of counted us out in the league standings and invites. I think we are built to win invites. We have a lot fast kids who can get those first-place finishes and really score us a lot of points. It means a lot for us to compete with such a small team.”
Palmerton (97) finished second, while Lehighton (83) took third.
Frew (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 1,600 relay) and Lombel (100, 200, 400 relay) each won three events, but it was the Tamaqua that ended up winning the girls’ team championships.
Led by a pair of victories from sophomore Monika Shimko (800, 1,600), the Raiders finished with 82.5 points. Pottsville (76) came in second, with Pine Grove (74) taking third.
“We had a lot of placers in the top three, top four,” Tamaqua coach Tom Kanger said. “Monika had an outstanding day. She is really starting to come into own with everything.
“The team is starting to work around her. It’s our home invite, so like everybody does say you have the home advantage when you are at home, but this is a surprise. We’ve been struggling a little bit lately and this will get us out of it I am sure.”
Shimko, last year’s Schuylkill League and District 11 Class AA champ in the 800, ran the event Friday in 2:24.65, beating Blue Mountain’s Emily Leymeister (2:26.63). Shimko had a 5:32.22 in the 1,600, four seconds ahead of the Eagles’ Caroline Rickard (5:36.10).
Jim Thorpe set the tone early with its record-setting performance in the 3,200 relay.
Last week the four broke the Olympian Invite meet record with an 8:23.03, but just missed the school record by a second.
Friday, the Olympians got both.
“We were pushing for it,” Condly said. “Last week set the tone.
“When I crossed the line, I just saw the clock clicking and I was pushing it as hard as I could. I was just doing it for the guys on my team. We’ve worked really hard for it.”
Green won the 110 hurdles in 16 seconds and 300 hurdles in 41.24. He finished the high jump at 6 feet, and the triple jump at 44 feet, 5 inches.
Bucior had a 2:02.08 in the 800 and 4:38.54 in the 1,600, while Gilkes finished with a 51.93 in the 400 and Condly a 10:22.73 in the 3,200. In addition, Ben Saxon was fifth in the 800; Jake Saxon second and Jian Gentile fifth in the 1,600 and Jake Saxon and Gentile were second and third behind Condly in the 3,200.
Frew and Lombel also looked in championship form Friday, winning both their individual races rather handily.
Frew, last year’s league and District 11 Class AA champ in the 100 hurdles, was perfect in her races, getting through both without hitting a hurdle. She finished with a 16.28 in the 100 hurdles, beating Pottsville’s Madison Sherakas (16.94). Frew then ran a 48.29 in the 300 hurdles, as Palmerton’s Jaclyn Wood (49.16) came in second.
“You have to put to a lot of hard work in practice to get out at meets and just give it your all,” Frew said. “I think always the nerves and adrenalin give you that kick, too. If you have a bad start, it is always hard to catch back up.”
Frew also teamed with Nilitza Malave, Chole Readinger and McKayla Lally to finish the night with a win in the 1,600 relay in 4:19.21.
Lally set a meet record in the 400 in 1:01.59. The old record was 1:01.84 set by Mount Carmel’s Ali Varano in 2013.
Lombel, who will going for a fourth league title in the 100 next month, had a 12.75 in the event Friday, pulling away from Malave (13.14). Lombel also turned the jets on late in the 200, finishing in 26.23, beating Salisbury’s Lindsay Bauer (26.78).
Lombel teamed with Marille Przywara, Alyssa Kondrack and Sherakas to win the 400 relay in 52.47.
“I am very satisfied,” Lombel said. “I was hoping to get out there and run my race and I am just very happy with what I did. My hard work is definitely paying off.”
There were two other meet records broken Friday, including Schuylkill Haven’s Noah Fritz in the shot put with a 49-11. The old record was 47-1 set by Mahanoy Area Tyler Cavenas in 2013.
Jim Thorpe’s Colleen Hoffman also tied meet record in girls’ pole vault at 10-0.
5th annual Tamaqua Invitational
At Tamaqua Sports Stadium
Friday’s results
Teams participating: Blue Mountain (BM), Jim Thorpe (JT), Kutztown (Kutz), Lehighton (Leh), Mahanoy Area (Mah), Minersville (Min), Nativity (Nat), Palmerton (Palm), Panther Valley (PV), Pottsville (Pot), Pine Grove (PG), Salisbury (Sal), Schuylkill Haven (SH), Shenandoah Valley (SV), Tamaqua (Tam)
BOYS
100 — 1. Roper (Tam) 11.63, 2. Crum (Leh) 11.66, 3. C. Witman (Pot) 11.76, 4. Sanon (JT) 11.84, 5. Appelbaum (Palm) 11.89, 6. Zehner (Leh) 11.91
200 — 1. C. Witman (Pot) 23.56, 2. Gilkes (JT) 23.71, 3. Appelbaum (Palm) 24.41, 4. Strubinger (Leh) 24.42, 5. Pritiskutch (Min) 24.58, 6. Shivone (Palm) 24.94
400 — 1. Gilkes (JT) 51.93, 2. Hampford (Pot) 52.90, 3. Yutko (Min) 53.11, 4. Roberts (BM) 53.48, 5. Shivone (Palm) 53.55, 6. Wolfe (PG) 54.63
800 — 1. Bucior (JT) 2:02.08, 2. Greenawalt (BM) 2:02.53, 3. Hinkel (Min) 2:04.95, 4. Steigerwalt (Leh) 2:07.67, 5. Pothering (SH) 2:08.63, 6. B. Saxon (JT) 2:0958
1,600 — 1. Bucior (JT) 4:38.54, 2. J. Saxon (JT) 4:39.92, 3. S. Brennan (SH) 4:43.98, 4. Fox (Min) 4:49.65, 5. Gentile (JT) 4:55.12, 6. Blacketter (Leh) 4:56.66
3,200 — 1. Condly (JT) 10:22.73, 2. J. Saxon (JT) 10:30.75, 3. Gentile (JT) 10:41.31, 4. Blacketter (Leh) 10:49.67, 5. Bahrey (Mah) 10:52.63, 6. Firing (BM) 11:05.24
110 HH — 1. Green (JT) 16.00, 2. Fabian (Leh) 16.31, 3. Strubinger (Leh) 16.55, 4. Tahaney (BM) 16.76, 5. Doherty (Palm) 16.97, 6. Tritt (PG) 17.46
300 IH — 1. Green (JT) 41.54, 2. Doherty (Palm) 41.85, 3. Fabian (Leh) 42.95, 4. Dolbin (BM) 44.58, 5. Hunt (Pot) 44.89, 6. J. Witman (Pot) 45.34
400 relay — 1. Lehighton (Crum, Oritz, Ruzicka, Schaeffer) 45.52, 2. Palmerton 46.09, 3. Jim Thorpe 46.62, 4. Pine Grove 46.70, 5. Blue Mountain 47.65, 6. Nativity 51.31
1,600 relay — 1. Blue Mountain (Rhody, Charters, Roberts, Greenawalt) 3:35.51, 2. Jim Thorpe 3:36.71, 3. Minersville 3:41.50, 4. Palmerton 3:42.07, 5. Pine Grove 3:50.35, 6. Lehighton 3:53.47
3,200 relay — 1. Jim Thorpe (Bucior, B. Saxon, J. Saxon, Condly) 8:20.31#, 2. Minersville 8:31.34, 3. Blue Mountain 8:48.97, 4. Tamaqua 9:09.67, 5. Lehighton 9:16.00, 6. Mahanoy Area 9:34.25
High jump — 1. Green (JT) 6-0, 2. Hay (Palm) 5-10, 3. Roberts (BM) 5-8, 4. Yaindl (Palm) 5-8, 5. Joseph (Mah) 5-6, 6. Blasiak (Leh) 5-6
Long jump — 1. Crum (Leh) 20-11½, 2. Gilkes (JT) 19-5, 3. Hay (Palm) 19-3, 4. Roberts (BM) 19-2½, 5. Ruzicka (Leh) 19-2½, 6. Stasko (Palm) 18-11¾
Triple jump — 1. Green (JT) 44-5, 2. Hay (Palm) 40-6½, 3. Thomas (Pot) 40-5½, 4. Brown (PG) 40-3½, 5. Dunkel (Pot) 37-6½, 6. Suto (Palm) 37-6
Shot put — 1. Fritz (SH) 49-11#, 2. Skripko (Tam) 44-11½, 3. Yeastead (Pot) 44-5½, 4. Reber (BM) 43-4, 5. Anthony (Palm) 41-10¾, 6. Umbenhaur (BM) 40-10
Discus — 1. Anthony (Palm) 140-3, 2. Umbenhaur (BM) 121-1, 3. Silfies (Palm) 117-6, 4. Cunningham (Tam) 116-3, 5. Skripko (Tam) 112-3, 6. Werner (PG) 107-6
Javelin — 1. Ruzicka (Leh) 154-8, 2. Keating (Pot) 151-6, 3. Debski (Palm) 144-6, 4. Hancock (BM) 137-10, 5. Pereira (Palm) 134-4, 6. Stoudt (BM) 132-1
Pole vault — 1. Dohmann (BM) 12-6, 2. Blasiak (Palm) 12-6, 3. Smarr (Tam) 12-0, 4. Bowman (Leh) 10-6, 5. Debski (Palm) 10-6, 6. Gornick (Leh) 10-6
Team scores: 1. Jim Thorpe 149, 2. Palmerton 97, 3. Lehighton 83, 4. Blue Mountain 77, 5. Pottsville 49, 6. Tamaqua 34, 7. Minersville 32, 8. Schuylkill Haven 18, 9. Pine Grove 13, 10. Mahanoy Area 5, 11. Nativity 1
GIRLS
100 — 1. Lombel (Pot) 12.75, 2. Malave (PG) 13.14, 3. Kondrack (Pot) 13.52, 4. McDermott (PV) 13.62, 5. Green (Leh) 13.70, 6. Quinones (Leh) 13.70
200 — 1. Lombel (Pot) 26.23, 2. Bauer (Sal) 26.78, 3. Malave (PG) 28.12, 4. Kondrack (Pot) 28.31, 5. Earnest (BM) 28.32, 6. Brinkworth (Tam) 28.55
400 — 1. Lally (PG) 1:00.59#, 2. Centano (Pot) 1:01.66, 3. Malave (PG) 1:02.93, 4. Frantz (Tam) 1:03.07, 5. K. Thompson (BM) 1:03.38, 6. Beers (Leh) 1:04.24
800 — 1. Shimko (Tam) 2:24.65, 2. Leymeister (BM) 2:26.63, 3. Principe (JT) 2:30.23, 4. Rickard (BM) 2:34.22, 5. Beers (Leh) 2:35.94, 6. Purcell (Min) 2:36.97
1,600 — 1. Shimko (Tam) 5:32.22, 2. Rickard (BM) 5:36.10, 3. Wasserleben (Tam) 5:48.35, 4. Dukmen (BM) 5:48.85, 5. Kovac (JT) 5:58.02, 6. Teaschenko (SV) 5:59.66
3,200 — 1. Raczka (Min) 12:32.30, 2. Kovac (JT) 12: 35.44, 3. Dukmen (BM) 12:36.21, 4. Nalesnik (JT) 12:41.59, 5. Gaston (Leh) 12:59.59, 6. Henninger (BM) 13:00.76
110 HH — 1. Frew (PG) 16.28, 2. Sherakas (Pot) 16.94, 3. Lord (Nat) 16.95, 4. Wood (Palm) 17.03, 5. Shanton (Leh) 17.18, 6. Mabry (BM) 17.20
300 IH — 1. Frew (PG) 48.29, 2. Wood (Palm) 49.16, 3. Lally (PG) 49.19, 4. Shanton (Leh) 50.06, 5. Matz (JT) 50.23, 6. Barndt (Leh) 51.83
400 relay — 1. Pottsville (Przywara, Kondrack, Sherakas, Lombel) 52.47, 2. Lehighton 52.58, 3. Tamaqua 53.49, 4. Blue Mountain 53.62, 4. Schuylkill Haven 54.38, 6. Jim Thorpe 55.42
1,600 relay — 1. Pine Grove (Malave, Readinger, Frew, Lally) 4:19.21, 2. Lehighton 4:19.80, 3. Blue Mountain 4:21.94, 4. Palmerton 4:26.83, 5. Jim Thorpe 4:30.45, 6. Minersville 4:33.64
3,200 relay — 1. Blue Mountain (Rickard, Leymeister, Abel, Thompson) 10:01.39, 2. Tamaqua 10:15.71, 3. Minersville 10:37.48, 4. Pottsville 10:39.56, 5. Jim Thorpe 11:00.48, 6. Pine Grove 11:20.59
High jump — 1. Fital (Leh) 5-0, 2. Hahner (Pot) 4-10, 3. Durishen (Leh) 4-10, 4. Matski (Palm) 4-8, 5. Stempa (PV) 4-6, 6. (tie) Bowers (Min) and Mace (Tam) 4-6
Long jump — 1. Bauer (Sal) 17-11½#, 2. Sisko (SH) 15-5, 3. Gnall (Mah) 15-1, 4. Durishen (Leh) 14-10½, 5. Baddick (Tam) 14-5½, 6. Brinkworth (Tam) 14-5½
Triple jump — 1. Bauer (Sal) 36-2½, 2. Wood (Palm) 33-4½, 3. Frew (PG) 33-3½, 4. Baddick (Tam) 31-11½, 5. Gnall (Mah) 31-0½, 6. Maberry (BM) 30-3½
Shot put — 1. Ruth (Kutz) 40-1, 2. Jones (Pot) 31-9¾, 3. B. Cope (JT) 30-6, 4. Pedersen (Tam) 30-3, 5. Green (Palm) 29-9¾, 6. Bollinger (Leh) 29-4½
Discus — 1. Ruth (Kutz) 132-4, 2. Holland (Tam) 91-4, 3. Shigo (JT) 85-4, 4. Pedersen (Tam) 83-11, 5. Sanders (BM) 83-9, 6. Lowin (JT) 82-11
Javelin — 1. Ruth (Kutz) 146-2, 2. B. Cope (JT) 139-2, 3. A. Cope (JT) 121-11, 4. Boyle (Tam) 118-8, 5. Sanders (BM) 109-9, 6. Tennis (PG) 109-8
Pole vault — 1. Hoffman (JT) 10-0, 2. Glore (Min) 9-6, 3. Demetriades (Tam) 9-6, 4. Boyle (Tam) 8-6, 5. M. Thompson (BM), 6. Dorward (Leh) 7-0
Team scores: 1. Tamaqua 82.5, 2. Pottsville 76, 3. Pine Grove 74, 4. Jim Thorpe 64, 5. Blue Mountain 63, 6. Lehighton 53, T7. Kutztown and Palmerton 30, 9. Salisbury 28, 10. Minersville 26.5, 11. Schuylkill Haven 10, 12. Mahanoy Area 8, 13. (tie) Panther Valley and Nativity 6, 15. Shenandoah Valley 1
# Meet record