The powerful Wildcats of the Greenwood track and field program again had another fruitful season and continued their ardor on both the track and in the field. Last year, Greenwood won county gold when the girls’ team won with 87.1 points compared to Susquenita’s 75 points and West Perry’s 26.9 points. The boys’ team won similarly, having 88 points themselves, and out-scoring West Perry’s 62 points and Susquenita’s 39 points. Additionally, they took Tri-Valley League gold with the girls scoring 198.7 points and the boys racking up 208 points.
Further accommodating these accolades, they were titled the Tri-Valley League Dual Meet champions, with both boys and girls teams having 7-0 records.
As Greenwood’s team continued its prevalence into last year’s postseason championships, many of them medaled.
Returning juniors include Bryson Swancer, who placed 8th in the 100m dash and 7th in the 200m dash, and Julianna Wise, who placed 3rd in the 100m with a state-qualifying time and 4th in the 200m at the PIAA District III Championships.
The extensive list of returning seniors with strong prior postseasons certainly looks good for this upcoming season. At the PIAA District III Championships, Ben Brinser placed 3rd in the high jump, Nathanael Stuck placed 6th in the javelin throw, Matthew Tubioli placed 6th in the 800m run, and Brodie Woodard placed 6th in the 300m hurdles. Sophie Myers placed 7th in the triple jump, and Bekah Brinser won 1st in the 300m hurdles, which sent her to the state championships, where she placed 7th. Earlier last season, Brinser broke the school record in the 400m; it now sits at 1:00.81.
The team’s size took a large loss this year with the removal of the Halifax athletes for the creation of their program and a large graduating class of around 30 athletes at the closure of the past season. Regardless, the team keeps the same goals from last year, such as achieving all of the titles they claimed previously. They also look to take the same, and even more, athletes into the district and state championships this year.
The first meet for the Wildcats was a home tri-meet against East Juniata and Saint Joseph’s Catholic on Apr. 2. That meet was rained out. As lousy weather parted for a day, the Greenwood track and field team finally had the chance to open their season against a strong Susquenita program on Apr. 9. With their original home opener against East Juniata and Saint Joseph’s Catholic being postponed twice, resulting in the date being set to Apr. 29, Greenwood could finally gauge how their competitions would be this season.
In the 100m dash, junior Julianna Wise rebroke her set school record of 12.58 with a sprint of 12.35 here to place first. “This season is personal,” Wise added. Additionally, junior Bryson Swancer ran the 100m dash with a time of 11.6 and captured second place.
The girls’ 200m dash was just as rewarding. Wise posted a time of 27.08 for first place, and senior Rebekah Brinser placed third with a sprint of 27.77. Junior Dylan Womer took first place in the boys’ 200m dash with a time of 24.32.
Adding some distance now, freshman Macey Hoffamn placed third in the girls’ 400m with a time of 1:10. Also, junior Bradyn Diaz placed second in the boys’ 400m with a time of 56.29
Working up into the middle distances, Matthew Tubioli placed 1st in the 800m run with a time of 2:01.52. The girls’ 1600m run was a Greenwood sweep. Sophomore Abigail Brightbill took first at 6:34, senior Mikayla Deiter shortly after with a 6:37.41, and freshman Molly Guarente with a time of 6:38.20 to clear out the leaderboard. For the boys’ 1600m run, junior Evan Gates took second with a time of 5:08.93, and senior Tyler Gardner ran 5:35.14 for third place.
Long distance was equally as strong for both teams. Brightbill again took first place in the 3200m run with a time of 14:14.64, and Deiter backed her up with a second-place run of 14:31.42. The Wildcat boys’ long-distance group swept the leaderboard in timely fashion. Junior Aaron Duffy ran 11:37.11 for first, senior Jonathan Benner ran 11:37.45 for second, and senior Gabriel Bailor ran 12:07.33 for third.
The girls’ 4x100m relay team of Wise, Zaring, Rickard, and R. Brinser placed second with a time of 52.32, the girls’ 4x400m relay team of Zaring, Anstine, Roush, and Wagner placed second with a time of 4:57.11, and the girls’ 4x800m relay team of Peters, Roush, Nygren, and Brightbill placed first with a time of 11:59.56.
The boys’ 4x100m relay team of Swancer, Devlin, Davis, and Womer placed second with a time of 47.04, the boys’ 4x400m relay team of Womer, Diaz, D. Shipp, and Tubioli placed second with a time of 3:58.50, and the boys’ 4x800m team of D. Shipp, Barlup, Gardner, and Tubioli placed first with a run of 9:28.
Both teams were awarded in the throwing field disciplines. For the girls, senior Josalyn Cook placed second in the discus with a throw of 73’2’’, Sophomore Gabrielle Gantt placed first in javelin with a throw of 102’11’’, freshman Eliza Benner threw 82’8’’ in javelin as well for second place, and senior Ava Swann placed second in shotput with a throw of 27’8.5’’.
In the boys’ throws, junior Kaj Miller placed second in discus with a throw of 112’9’’, senior Nathanael Stuck won the javelin event with a launch of 166’5’’, junior Dylan Vadasz took second place in shotput with a throw of 40’6’’, and senior Ethan Grove threw 39’6.75’’ in shotput for third place.
In pole vault, for the girls, sophomore Aliya Dusharm took third place with a vault of 7’. In boys’ pole vault, junior Bennet Knisely vaulted 9’6’’ for second place and junior Keegan Ross vaulted 8’6’’ for third place.
The girls’ jumping crew brought their strengths to Duncannon. In the high jump, senior Isabel Amey jumped 4’8’’ and sophomore Sylvia Gantt jumped 4’6’’ for second and third place, respectively. Senior Sophie Myers long jumped 14’10’’ for second place. Myers continued her power in the triple jump event, where she took first with a distance of 33’11’’.
The boys’ jumping group proved to be just as determined to win as the girls’ team. Senior Benett Brinser high jumped 5’6’’ for first, with his two underclassmen, sophomore Mason Morgan and Grant Davis, both jumping 5’4’’ for second and third place in that order, regardless of the height tie. B. Brinser also won the boys’ long jump at 18’6’’, and Davis was behind in third place with a jump of 17’5’’. The triple jump event was yet another Greenwood sweep. Here, B. Brinser jumped 38’3.5’’ for first, senior Brodie Woodard jumped 36’6’’ for second, and Morgan jumped 35’1.5’’ for third.
All of these marks taken into account, the boys’ team came out with an 86-64 win, whereas the girls’ team left with a close 72-78 loss.
After the Wednesday meet, the Wildcats took their talent to the Don Wilhour Classic Invite at Selinsgrove Area High School. The weather was not prime for the sport, with chilly weather, gusts, and rain consistently throughout the day. Nonetheless, these athletes brushed it off and continued working. With all of the competition taken into consideration, three athletes left with medals. Myers took first place in the girls’ triple jump and third place in the long jump with distances of 34’9’’ and 15’4.25’’, R. Brinser took 3rd place in girls’ 100m hurdles with a time of 16.62 and fifth place in the 300m hurdles event with a time of 47.81, and Tubioli placed fifth in the boys’ 800m run with a time of 2:01.89. No team scores were available for this invitational.
Bad weather again cracked down on how much competition the Greenwood track and field team could get. The away dual meet at Juniata had been postponed twice, resulting in the settling date of Apr. 22. On the original date, Apr. 15, as soon as Greenwood was getting ready to leave, hail, wind, and rain suddenly began simultaneously.
Finally, something on schedule for the Wildcats was the Pine Grove Area Invite on Apr. 17. Here, many were awarded medals and ribbons.
In the boys’ 100m dash, junior Bryson Swancer placed fifth with a time of 11.62, the girls’ 4x100m team placed second with a time of 54.13, the girls’ 4x400m team placed second with a time of 4:32.36, the boys’ 4x800m team placed third with a time of 8:56.99, and the girls’ 4×8–m team placed fourth with a time of 11:36.28.
For the throwers, the only one to place was senior Dominic Reisinger at fourth in boys’ javelin with a launch of 118’11’’.
The jumpers proved strong at this invite. Senior Benett Brinser and sophomore Mason Morgan tied at 5’6’’ in boys’ high jump for fourth place, Brinser placed fourth in long jump with a leap of 18’9’’, and he also won the triple jump event at 40’7.5’’. Sophomore Sylvia Gantt placed third in the girls’ high jump event with a height of 4’10’’, senior Sophie Myers took sixth in the girls’ long jump with a leap of 14’4.75’’ and second in the girls’ triple jump with a leap of 32.’8.75’’, and junior Caroline Hartley placed sixth in the girls’ triple jump with a distance of 31’2.5’’.
No team scores were available for the Pine Grove Area Invite.
Further, on Apr. 19, a few select athletes attended the 98th Annual Jack Roddick Invite at Shippensburg University; however, none of the Greenwood attendees placed.
After a few meets that wrapped up the regular season, the boys’ team was awarded the Tri-Valley League Dual Meet Champion title as they went undefeated in dual meets. They went on to place fourth at the Tri-Valley League Championships, and the girls placed second.
The PIAA District III Class AA Track and Field Championships followed on Friday, May 16, and Saturday, May 17, at Shippensburg University.
