Local athletes shine at Breslin Invitational

Mar. 28—MOUNT CARMEL — The temperature may have been chilly at the Silver Bowl, but the competition amongst track and field athletes was heating up at the Breslin Invitational.

During the annual meet at Mount Carmel on Thursday, Valley competitors found plenty of success despite going up against tough opponents.

Plenty of Shikellamy athletes ended up donning medals. The Braves, who are coming off a second-place finish at the District 4 girls meet last season, ran away with the Breslin title with 98.50 points. Second-place Southern Columbia earned 64 points.

The Shikellamy boys took home second place with Shamokin owning the top spot in the team standings after collecting 85 points.

The Braves' girls 4x100 squad, which consisted of Jilly Deivert, Emma Koontz, Lily Persing and Elli Ronk, claimed gold with a time of 49.57 seconds. Ronk, who served as the anchor, crossed the finish line more than a second earlier than second-place Harrisburg.

The Braves also won the 4x400 relay and claimed second in the 4x800.

"Coming off our meet on Monday, we broke our school record for the first meet, and so I know we were really excited coming in," Ronk said. "We were all positive, cool-headed, and we were like, 'We just have to run the way we know how to run and get our passes off the way we know how.' Just focus on our own lane, not the teams around us, and just keep powering through, running through the exchange zone, making sure we have clean passes and cheering each other on."

Ronk and Deivert claimed individual golds, as well.

Ronk was first in the 400 meters, finishing in 59.85 seconds. A reigning state-qualifier in the event, Ronk was the only runner to finish in under a minute. Ronk's teammate, freshman Lauryn Ross, also made the medal podium after she recorded a time of 1:02.13, good enough for sixth place.

"I think I definitely ran correctly," Ronk said. "I came out of my starting stance fast, powering through, and then I ran my float good, and then pumped my arms towards the end and just powered through the finish line. Just visualizing the race beforehand got me through it."

Deivert, a sophomore, set a personal-record in the 100, clocking in a time of 12.70 seconds. Shamokin's Sierra Klinger (13.35) and Greenwood's Julianna Wise (13.36) followed Deivert. Lily Persing, another Shikellamy sophomore, ended up in fifth after finishing in 13.49 seconds. Deivert was first in the 200 with a time of 26.70 seconds.

Some notable field results for the Braves include Koontz's fourth-place finish in the triple jump and Aly Bingaman being a runner-up in the pole vault. Koontz's mark of 31 feet, 7 3/4 inches set a new PR.

The Shikellamy boys saw Sam Hennett take the 3,200 with a time of 9:58.54. In addition, Ryan Williams (800), Hennett (1,600) and Jayden Packer (long jump) all pocketed silver medals. The Braves also claimed the top two spots at javelin with Packer (15-3) and Andy Hallman (12-0) finishing first and second, respectively. Packer also collected a medal in the triple jump after finishing in fourth place.

Selinsgrove also found plenty of success.

On the girls' side, Abby Parise took home two golds with wins in the 100-meter high hurdles and the long jump. Parise also earned the silver in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles after Central Columbia's Ava Rebuck was first. Shaela Kruskie also claimed a gold medal for the Seals girls after she finished the 3,200 in 12:07.89.

For the boys, state-qualifier Colin Melhorn won both the discus and shot put with marks of 150-6 and 56-7, respectively. Shamokin's Blake Hockenbroch got close to Melhorn in the discus with a distance of 149-2.

"Obviously, I put a lot into this sport in the offseason year-round," Melhorn said. "I threw here last year, took sixth (in the discus), so it's nice to move up to first."

Also for the Seals, Derrick Blair had a pair of top three finishes after earning second the 3,200 and third in the 1,600.

First-place Shamokin took the top spot in the team standings with 85 points. Benny Delbaugh (400) and Logan Steele (long jump) won individual events for the Indians. Steele hit a PR in the long jump with a mark of 20-2 1/2. Chase Pensyl also took home a silver in the the high jump.

Delbaugh was also a part of the gold-medal winning 4x800 relay team that also included Landen Brown, Noah Kerstetter and Tyler Kerstetter. The quartet finished with a time of 8:15.48. The Indians also won the 4x400.

Danville's Bronson Krainak was first in the javelin, claiming the gold medal with a personal-record throw of 211-8. Central Columbia's Lincoln Huber also secured a PR with a distance of 211-1. Selinsgrove's Chase Carter (third) and Carter Young (fourth) and Danville's Collin Geise (sixth) also appeared on the medal stand.

"It's not a great day — it's pretty cold out," Krainak said. "Just great competition all around us. I got Lincoln, beat him by a few inches. He's gonna have a great season, too. I'm just excited for the competition."

Southern Columbia, which took its 4x100 relay squad to states last season, earned gold in the event. The quartet of Kyle Christman, Jaymen Golden, Louden Murphy and Carter Madden clocked a time of 44.14 seconds. Shamokin was the runner-up.

For the Tigers' girls team, Katie Moncavage won both the 800 and 1,600. Moncavage is the reigning state champion in the 800. The Tigers also went 1-2 in the pole vault with Quinn Johnston (119-6) and Brooke Charnosky (109-1).

Event host Mount Carmel also saw plenty of success with both of their teams. Xavier Diaz won both the 100 (11.08) and 200 (22.48). For the girls, Liv Kopitsky (shot put) and Hannah Fourspring (high jump) were winners.