SCH boys run past Patriots in opener

Posted 3/23/15

Completing the third leg of the 4 x 400 meter relay, SCH sophomore Noah Chandler (right) has just passed the baton to senior Alex Mollick, who is headed out on what is literally a victory lap. (Photo …

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SCH boys run past Patriots in opener

Posted

Completing the third leg of the 4 x 400 meter relay, SCH sophomore Noah Chandler (right) has just passed the baton to senior Alex Mollick, who is headed out on what is literally a victory lap. (Photo by Tom Utescher) Completing the third leg of the 4 x 400 meter relay, SCH sophomore Noah Chandler (right) has just passed the baton to senior Alex Mollick, who is headed out on what is literally a victory lap. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

The temperature was in 40’s, and despite bright sunshine, a steady wind made it feel significantly colder than that when the boys of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy took on their track and field rivals at Germantown Academy last Wednesday.

The visiting Blue Devils gained a 20-11 advantage over the GA Patriots in the four field events (it was too windy for pole vault competition), and SCH overwhelmed its host out on the track, winning eight of the nine races to build up a 53-24 advantage. This resulted in a 73-35 overall victory for Springside Chestnut Hill in an early Inter-Ac League opener for both teams.

SCH seniors took first place in the three shortest footraces, with Alex Mollick getting to the line in 11.9 seconds in the 100 meters and 23.1 in the 200, while Phil Giovinazzo won the 400 in 54.6 seconds. At the longer distances, underclassmen took over. Sophomore Noah Chandler finished first in both the 800 (2:10) and the 1600 (5:03), and junior Will Concannon won the 3200 (11:25) near the end of the meet after placing second in 1600.

GA certainly would’ve picked up more points on the track if it were not resting distance ace Sam Ritz. The senior deserved the break; the previous weekend he placed third in the one mile run at the New Balance Indoor Nationals, and before that he’d established a Pennsylvania indoor record when he won the same event at the state championships on March 1.

His younger brother Owen, a sophomore, came in second in the 800 last Wednesday, two seconds behind SCH’s Chandler.

The Patriots avoided a first-place sweep by the Blue Devils out on the track thanks to junior Devon Goodman, who won the 300 meter intermediate hurdles in 40.9 seconds. The runner-up there, SCH senior Jim Klauder, won the 110 meter high hurdles in 20.3 seconds.

Germantown kept things a little closer in the field events, thanks in part to a talented freshman, Kyle Garland. Winning the high jump at 5’4”, he landed in first in the long jump, as well, travelling 18’10”. The ninth grader also placed second in the 400 meters and third in the 200.

SCH, meanwhile, got a lot of mileage out of its junior class. Bruce Howard hit the measuring tape at 33’ 6.75” to win the triple jump, and he was runner-up in both the shot put and the long jump. Classmate Darian Bryant tossed the shot 43’6” to place first there.

As always in the Inter-Ac, the day’s proceedings wrapped up with the 4 x 400 meter relay. Klauder and Giovinazzo ran the first two legs, and when number three Chandler was able to hand the baton to anchorman Mollick with a few meters’ lead, it was a done deal for the Devils. They clocked in at 3:48, and GA finished in 3:59.

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