TRACK AND FIELD: Tri-meet brings out best in county competitors
The real winner, sadly, was Mother Nature and the wickedly cold and damp weather she produced.
But the hearty track and field athletes from Cedar Crest, Lebanon and Annville-Cleona didn't go down without a fight.
Despite far from ideal conditions, the three county programs each had various reasons to be pleased with their efforts during their annual non-league triangular meet get-together on Thursday at Lebanon High School.
Cedar Crest had the most reason to smile, sweeping the mini-county meet behind standouts Damon Edwards and Shanna Sweigart.
Edwards, a senior sprinter won the 100 and 200 meter dashes and the long jump, and also ran a leg on the victorious 400 meter relay team to propel the Falcon boys to 107 points, compared to 62.7 for Lebanon and 19.3 for A-C.
Meanwhile, senior thrower Sweigart grabbed two of the Falcon girls' 12 first-place finishes by taking the shot put and discus competitions. Her efforts helped Cedar Crest produce 99 team points. Annville-Cleona was second with 51 points, and Lebanon checked in with 36.
"I wish there would have been a little bit better weather," Cedar Crest boys coach Rob Bare said with a smile. "But considering the poor weather conditions, I thought the performances were really impressive. Big-time performances today."
And not just from the Falcons. Led by the reigning Most Outstanding Female Athlete at the county meet, Reagan Hess, A-C was a strong second in the girls meet. Hess's wins in the 100 meters and long jump helped make that happen, as did seven runner-up finishes from head coach Jerome Simon's club.
And on the boys' side, resurgent Lebanon, currently enjoying a share of first place in Section Two, gave a good account of itself as well with the help of speedy Jeronimo Rodriguez's win in the 400 dash and subsequent blistering anchor leg that gave the Cedars the 1600 relay.
"I think we did pretty well," said Lebanon coach Nick Watt, whose squad heads to Quarryville for a first place showdown with Solanco on Monday. "It's a cold day and we're kinda trying to gear up for some more section stuff. We're watching our legs and trying to make sure kids are where they need to be. We didn't expect a whole lot today, but we thought the kids came out and battled the way we needed them to."
But if a meet MVP award had been handed out it would surely have gone to Edwards, who thrilled Bare with a gritty performance highlighted by outfighting Rodriguez for a narrow win in the 200.
"He brings it day in and day out in practice," Bare said of Edwards. "He's a likeable kid, he's a coachable kid. For him to come out and do what he did today is impressive. He's a hot runner right now. He's gonna be happy, but not satisfied."
Edwards wasn't the only athlete to produce highlights on Thursday, though.
Fellow Falcon Jesse Cruise (4:47) held off Lebanon's Derin Klick (4:48) by a second to win the 1600, and Cedar Maddy Hartman used a strong finishing kick on the anchor leg to give the Lebanon girls the 1600 relay triumph.
"We're still working a little bit on that toughness," Watt said. "I'm not sure some of our kids know how good they are. We have some experience and we know where we want to be, but we still have a lot to do."
And yet a lot was accomplished on Thursday, by the Cedars and their county brethren, bad weather notwithstanding.
"The great thing about track and field is, your team might not be super strong," Bare said, "but you have 18 events to find a couple that your team's gonna be really good at. It's pretty neat when your kids get behind you in those certain events and cheer you on."
Boys Track and field
Non-League
Cedar Crest 107, Lebanon 62.7, Annville-Cleona 19.3 at Lebanon High
3,200 relay — 1. Cedar Crest, 8:59 ; 110 hurdles — 1. Bosworth (AC) 16.6, 2. Calvert (CC), 3. Keller (AC), 4. Allwein (AC) ; 100 — 1. Edwards (CC) 11.3, 2. Bolanos (CC), 3. Rothgaber (L), 4. Hunter (L) ; 1,600 — 1. Jesse Cruise (CC) 4:47, 2. Klick (L), 3. Royer (CC), 4. Redcay (CC) ; 400 relay — 1. Cedar Crest 45.2 ; 400 — 1. Rodriguez (L) 51.3, 2. Glosser (CC), 3. Rios (CC), 4. Rothgaber (L) ; 300 hurdles — 1. Zechman (AC) 43.2, 2. Calvert (CC), 3. Bernard (CC), 4. Beckly (L) ; 800 — 1. Jordan Cruise (CC) 2:02, 2. Klick (L), 3. Vukovich (CC), 4. Blandy (CC) ; 200 — 1. Edwards (CC) 23.1, 2. Rodriguez (L), 3. Bolanos (CC), 4. Maldonado (L) ; 3,200 — 1. Burkholder (CC) 10:34, 2. Deysher (CC), 3. Varela (CC), 4. Werni (L) ; 1,600 relay — 1. Lebanon 3:33 ; Shot put — 1. Kelly (CC) 41-9, 2. Cummins (L), 3. Bybee (CC), 4. Santos (CC) ; Discus — 1. Kelly (CC) 133-6, 2. Imm (L), 3. Cummins (L), 4. Morey (L) ; Triple jump — 1. A. Maldonado (L) 38-1, 2. S. Maldonado (L), 3. Buchan (CC), 4. Bosworth (AC) ; Long jump — 1. Edwards (CC) 20-5, 2. Rodriguez (L), 3. Cruz (CC), 4. Maldonado (L) ; High jump — 1. Horn (CC) 5-6, 2. Ulrich (AC), 3. Bernard (CC) ; Pole vault — 1. Luu (L) 12-6, 2. Brownsstein (L), 3. Diehm (CC), 4. Peiffer (L) ; Javelin — 1. Horn (CC) 165-8, 2. Fureman (L), 3. Bucher (CC), 4. Munnion (CC)
Girls Track and field
Non-League
Cedar Crest 99, Annville-Cleona 51, Lebanon 36 at Lebanon High
3,200 — 1. Cedar Crest 11:02, 110 hurdles — 1. Menser (CC) 17.3, 2. Ruong (AC), 3. Kauffman (CC), 4. Francis (L) ; 100 — 1. Hess (AC) 12.5, 2. Wolfe (CC), 3. Davis (CC), 4. Clark (AC) ; 1,600 — 1. Foster (L) 6:09, 2. Fiorentino (CC), 3. Casciotti (AC), 4. Liberty (CC) ; 400 relay — 1. Cedar Crest 54.6 ; 400 — 1. Peters (CC) 1:04, 2. Conners (AC). 3. Hartman (L), 4. Long (L) ; 300 hurdles — 1. Laliberte (CC) 52.8, 2. Kreamer (AC), 3. Hitz (AC), 4. Kauffman (CC) ; 800 — 1. Smith (CC) 2:32.6, 2. Nazeera (CC), 3. Foster (L), 4. Rooney (AC) ; 200 — 1. Davis (CC) 28.6, 2. Clark (AC), 3. Maderness (L), 4. Wolf (CC) ; 3,200 — 1. Stalnecker (CC) 13:24, 2. Cruz (CC), 3. Casciotti (AC), 4. Domencic (AC) ; 1,600 relay — 1. Lebanon 4:48 ; Shot put — 1. Sweigart (CC) 37-9 1/2, 2. Dreibelbis (AC) 30-9, 3. Hower (CC), 4. Weddle (CC) ; Discus — 1. Sweigart (CC) 93-9, 2. Gonzalez (CC), 3. Dreibelbis (AC), 4. Staff (AC) ; Triple jump — 1. Hartman (L) 32-11, 2. Merone (AC), 3. Weddle (CC), 4. Montalvo (L) ; Long jump — 1. Hess (AC) 15-11 1/2, 2. Wolf (CC), 3. Menser (CC), 4. Doeing (AC) ; High jump — 1. Reedy (CC) 4-6, 2. Eisenhauer (L), 3. Gingrich (AC), 4. Gelgot (CC) ; Pole vault — 1. Showers (L) 9-6, 2. Wolf (CC), 3. Quinones (AC), 4. Deck (L) ; Javelin — 1. Hower (CC) 2. Reedy (CC), 3. Conlin (AC), 4. Staff (AC)