ATHENS - Southern Columbia's boys expected to do pretty well at Saturday's District 4-AA track and field championships. It's doubtful any of them expected to do as well as they did.
The Tigers won five events, qualified for the state meet in two others and blew away the field to win the first team title in school history at Athens High School.
The Tigers scored 89 points. Mount Carmel was second with 69.5 points.
Overall, the two area teams are sending 17 athletes to the state meet in 13 events.
Matt Moore defended both of his 2011 titles in the 110-meter high and 300-meter intermediate hurdles, Tom Schetroma won the shot put, and the Tigers got a couple of surprise firsts - from freshman Luke Rarig in the long jump and from Brian Gedman in the discus.
In addition, the 400-meter relay team finished second to qualify, and the 3200-meter relay team, although it was only fifth, was one of five teams to qualify in that event.
For Mount Carmel, Meyrick Lamb finished second in both the 200 and 400, Jacob Kleman was second in the high hurdles to automatically qualify for the state meet, and Rob Varano did 13-6 to finish second in the pole vault. The 1600-meter relay team also finished second. In addition, 1600-meter runners Mikael Hause and Justin Skavery benefitted from an extremely fast pace and both qualified, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively.
Moore won the high hurdles in 14.62 seconds and ran a career best 39.46 in winning the 300 intermediates, the event in which he finished second in the state last year. Moore basically took last week's Heartland Coaches Invitational meet off because of Southern's prom, and said he felt better because of it.
"We've been working extremely hard all season on our new track and I felt like I needed a break," Moore said. "I definitely felt good in both races."
Moore was also part of Southern's advancing 400-meter relay team, along with Bryce Parry, Tyler Levan and Joe Kleman. They finished second to Towanda in 43.93 seconds. Towanda had a time of 43.64.
"I'm really happy," Moore said. "I'm going to states in all three events."
Schetroma was the favorite in the shot put, and although his winning throw of 51-5¼ was nowhere near his best of 55 feet, he was pleased. He also finished third in the discus.
Rarig won an incredibly solid long jump competition with a career-best leap of 21 feet, 2½ inches. His was the best of an incredible 14 jumpers who topped 20 feet in the event. Rarig was also fourth in the high hurdles and eighth in the intermediate hurdles.
"He's an incredible athlete," Moore said.
"I got in on my third jump in the finals," said Rarig, whose previous best was 20-6. He won by just a half-inch over Athens' Ray McDougan, and Athens' Austin Depew was only a half-inch behind his teammate.
"Coach (Jim) Roth and Coach Red (Bob Weinhofer) have really worked with me," Rarig said.
Gedman's discus throw of 147-3 beat his previous best by 14 feet.
"I think I was third going into my last throw and I just let if fly," Gedman said.
"We came up here thinking we might be second or third," said Southern head coach Lanny Conner. "We came out of the chute pretty good this year but we weren't sharp lately. We had things like field trips and the prom really kick us around a little.
"But when you have guys like Luke Rarig and Brian Gedman winning, it really says something. You expect guys like Matt Moore and Tom Schetroma to do well, but we really got some great things from other guys."
Conner also credited Southern's new all-weather track.
"It had to make a difference," he said. "We had some really good workouts, and our trainer told me that we also had about 75 percent fewer leg injuries this year."
The Tigers' 3200-meter relay team's time of 8:15.40 beat the qualifying standard of 8:15.55 by .55 second. Team members are Dylan Swank, Tony Chiavaroli, Jensen Ring and Andrew Steely.
"Our seniors really did a heck of a job today," said Mount Carmel coach Mike Farronato. "Jacob Kleman had a great day, and Meyrick. The seniors really showed a lot of leadership."
Lamb was second in the 200 (22.63) and 400 (50.50), and was part of the runnerup 1600 relay team along with Hause, Kleman and Cody Haupt. Their time was 3:25.32, with Towanda first in 3:25.18.
"This track is a little different because the turns are at a different angle and the straightaways are really long, and you have to adjust," Lamb said. "I'm glad I'm going in all three events and I'm really glad the relay team is going."
Jacob Kleman ran a time of 40.46 to finish second to Moore in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.
"I'm a little surprised, to be honest with you," Kleman said. "It helped to have Moore in the lane next to me. I kept him in my peripheral vision the whole time."
"Jacob doesn't know how fast he is," Farronato said. "I got into his head a little this year with some of those speed workouts."
Hause and Skavery ran in the tailwind of 1600 winner Curt Jewett of Northeast Bradford, who ran a scintillating 4:16.03. Hause was fourth in 4:24.73 and Skavery sixth (4:29.78).
Other area medalists:
Third - Schetroma, discus; Joe Kleman, Southern Columbia, 100.
Fourth - Keith Day, Southern Columbia, triple jump; Josh Tomedi, Mount Carmel, javelin.
Fifth - Elijah Duran, Mount Carmel, long jump; Eric Joraskie, Mount Carmel, shot put.
Sixth - Nick Troutman, Mount Carmel, 100; Joraskie, discus; Duran, triple jump;l Ray Heromin, Mount Carmel, javelin.
Seventh - Austin Zielinski, Southern Columbia, high jump.
Eighth - Joe Kleman, Southern Columbia, 200; Cody Pavlick, Southern Columbia, shot put; Alec Zsido, Mount Carmel, pole vault.
ATHENS - Mount Carmel's Megan Van Doren admitted to feeling some pressure as defending district champion in the high jump.
But as befits a champ, Van Doren successfully defended her title by jumping 5 feet, 2 inches to win a jumpoff at Saturday's District 4-AA track and field championships.
Van Doren and teammates Gabby Engelke and Heather Bolick were the only AA girls to advance to next week's PIAA state championship meet. Engelke finished second in the javelin with a throw of 125 feet, 7 inches and Bolick was second in the discus.
"I did 5-2 on the first series, but then I had a jumpoff with the girl from Milton (Joselyn Pasqual) at 5-4. We both missed and went back to 5-2, and I made it even easier," Van Doren said.
"It feels great to repeat but I felt a lot of pressure. But I feel like I have a lot of momentum now to go to states."
Van Doren finished in a tie for third at the state meet last year, also with a jump of 5-2.
Engelke finished second to Northeast Bradford's Kelsey Carlsen, who threw 135-7, in the javelin.
"I'm so excited. This is my senior year and I really wanted to do well this year," Engelke said. "I didn't do as well as I wanted in the pole vault so I really wanted to make up for it in the javelin. Coach (Ana) Ditchey has really worked with me this year."
Engelke finished fifth in the pole vault. Bolick, last year's district champ in the javelin, wasn't as fortunate this year, finishing ninth, but made up for it by qualifying in her other event, the discus. She threw 105 feet, 1 inch, finishing behind Montgomery's Sarah Wigg, who threw 111-9.
"I was disappointed with the javelin, and I kind of just relaxed and tried to have fun with the discus," Bolick said, adding she wasn't quite sure what to make of being in that event at states. "I guess it worked out."
Other AA girls placewinners were:
Third - Samantha Bressi, Southern Columbia, 100; Teanna Shutt, Southern Columbia, 1600.
Fourth - Olivia Potter, Southern Columbia, high jump; Brooke Adamski, Southern Columbia, pole vault.
Fifth - Ali Varano, Mount Carmel, 400; Mount Carmel's 3200-meter relay.
Sixth - Varano, 200; Bailey Bzdak, Southern Columbia, long jump and triple jump.
Seventh - Bressi, 200; Southern Columbia's 400-meter relay.
Eighth - Varano, long jump; Mount Carmel's 1600-meter relay. ATHENS - Shamokin's day at the District 4-AAA track and field championships couldn't have started much worse.
It finished pretty well, though.
The Indians boys 3200-meter relay team had a lead of about 80 meters on the last lap, thanks to blazing legs by Matt Gass, Brandon Nash and Brandon Mendoza, but anchor runner Zach Santey tied up on the final straightaway, and Williamsport passed the Indians to win the race and earn the only state qualifying berth in the event.
But Gass later won the 400 and 800, and he, Nash, David Williams and Santey came back to win the 1600-meter relay in 3:24.78, breaking the school record they set last week and just missing a district record.
Gass was the favorite in the 400, and he and Nash finished one-two in 50.50 and 50.83, respectively. Gass then upset Williamsport's Herb Stelly with a ferocious kick in the 800, taking that race in 2:00.27 to Stelly's 2:01.22.
"That surprised me a little," said Gass. "I thought if I just hung with him I might be able to run him down, but I also thought he might be able to run a 1:58 or something like that."
Santey ran the opening leg of the 1600 relay, and although he trailed Williamsport's lead runner, Gass made up the difference and then some on the next leg and Shamokin went on to win fairly easily.
"This (the relay) was all about winning for the guys who are graduating and Zach. He had some time to recover from this morning and he did fine," Gass said.
Santey said he was doing fine in the 3200 relay until the final turn.
"Coming off the final turn, my feet just kind of shut off," the junior said. "I kept running but then I fell on the ground. I saw the Williamsport guy pass me and I just said, 'I have to finish', and I started to crawl.
"I felt bad for the other guys but they were all real supportive. Coach (Mike) Rogers had me drink lots of water and get out of the sun, and gave me some good stuff to rub on my legs which made them feel better. It was all about getting mentally ready for the second race."
Gass will scratch out of the 400 for the state meet, which will allow Nash to go in that event as runnerup.
Dave Williams was runnerup in both the 100 and 200 to Williamsport's Devon Fisher, although he didn't qualify for the state meet in either event.
On the girls side, Renea Broscious was second in the discus, and later tacked on a fourth in the shot put.
Other placewinners for the Indians' teams:
Third - Ken Anderson, pole vault; Molly McDevitt, 800; boys 400-meter relay; Josh Scheuren, 3200.
Fourth - Anna Summers, 1600; Scott Bradley, 1600.
Fifth - Girls 400-meter relay; girls 1600-meter relay.
Sixth - Draven Miller, shot put; Alek Bonshock, javelin.
Seventh - Shane Williams, long jump; Samantha Zielinski, shot put; Summers, 800; Josh Dunn, 100; Cheyenne Popewczak, 200.
Eighth - Dante Picarelli, high jump; Ally Delbaugh, 100 hurdles.