Penn Charter track tunes up with tri-meets

Posted 3/19/18

Quakers sophomore Sophia Solomon was able to hold off her Nazareth Panda opponent to win the 800 meters. (Photo by Tom Utescher) by Tom Utescher The boys' and girls' track teams at Penn Charter saw …

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Penn Charter track tunes up with tri-meets

Posted

Quakers sophomore Sophia Solomon was able to hold off her Nazareth Panda opponent to win the 800 meters. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

The boys' and girls' track teams at Penn Charter saw interscholastic competition last Friday for the first time in the 2018 outdoor season, with the Quakers hosting four other schools in an informal double tri-meet. Not all of PC's top performers participated, but it was a good opportunity for the coaches to see their younger prospects in action.

Last spring the Charter boys put on a convincing performance at the Inter-Ac championship meet to walk away with the league title. The Quakers graduated some strong sprinters, but they have others back, such as junior Edward Saydee. He was runner-up in the 100 meters and third in the 200 a year ago, and PC Director of Track Steve Bonnie says that Saydee will extend his range this year by racing in the open 400 meters and the mile relay. He made the state semifinals in the 60 meter sprint at the recent indoor championships.

Football standout John Washington, a senior, should also be strong in the 100 and 200, and Marcellus Poland is back after winning the league title in the 400 last spring as a freshman. He will also be tested in the shorter sprints this season.

Sophomore Akeel Blake was the 2017 runner-up in the Inter-Ac triple jump and a place-winner in the long jump, and in this year's indoor season he went 6'4" in the high jump and came close to 45 feet in the triple and 22 feet in the long jump. Other returning scorers in the jumps include senior Tzion Jones and junior Pat Gabor.

Bonnie said that Blake is also developing his skills in the hurdles, which is already the province of senior Matt Barkann.

In addition to athletes who show their talent at an early age, PC usually comes up with a few late bloomers who contribute points. Bonnie feels that senior Casey Nicastro could be on track to throw in the mid-40's in the shot put, and he says that fellow 12th-grader Evan Wilson is a new pole vaulter who shows promise.

Bryan Skelly, PC's varsity head coach and also the Quakers' cross country mentor, noted that a number of PC's longstanding distance runners graduated last spring. Currently, the top prospects are two freshmen; Drew Gillespie was Charter's top harrier in cross country last fall, and Finn Glew turned in a 4:47 mile during the indoor season.

Skelly also sees potential in 9th-grader Nico Kreuger, who was a varsity soccer starter in the fall, and in wrestlers Dante DiStefano (a senior) and Jess Anderson (a sophomore).

Alex Turner, a Penn Charter junior, heads into the second lap of the 800 meter race. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

For the Penn Charter girls, the 2017 campaign was something of a roller coaster ride, with the team going undefeated in league dual meets but then struggling somewhat at the league championships and finishing fourth.

Like the boys, the PC ladies have a youthful group of distance runners, and there is some outstanding talent in the mix. Freshman Emma Zwall, a new student at Penn Charter this year, won both the Inter-Ac League and Pa. Independent Schools championships in cross country last fall.

Zwall was joined by her 11th-grade sister Abby, fellow junior Mary McDavid and sophomore Sara Shipon in some impressive indoors performances this winter. In the 4 x 800 meter relay they placed 10th at the state championships and eighth in the Emerging Elites division at the national indoor meet.

In the distance medley relay, McDavid, Shipon and Emma Zwall teamed up with anchor Jalynn Johnson, a talented sophomore sprinter, to place 17th at Nationals in the Championship division. Both groups established new Penn Charter records in the two events.

McDavid ran a 2:19 800-meter split at Nationals, and Shipon will also be running the 800 this spring, as well as the mile. PC head coach Khayla Atte noted that there is another up-and-coming freshman in Milan Poland, who raced cross country for the Quakers in the fall.

Yet another ninth-grader, Kaitlyn Hnatkowski, has already made an impact on the soccer field and the basketball court this year, and will be performing in the 200 meters and the intermediate hurdles on the track.

In the throws, Coach Atte describes junior Bianca Bryant as an athlete poised for a "break-out" year in the shot put, with the potential for tosses in the mid-30's.