HAZLE TWP. — Dallas earned gold medals and, with them, the points that helped the Mountaineers win the girls team title at the second annual Wyoming Valley Conference Track and Field Championships on Monday.
The Mountaineers had three of the top four individual performers at the meet and also won one of the three relays.
Julia Natitus, Madison Hedglin and Morgan Langdon each won two individual events, and Natitus was part of the 1600-meter relay win. The Mountaineers claimed victory in seven events, which was more than any other two teams combined.
The unbeaten Division 1 regular-season champions outscored host Hazleton Area 160-111½ to claim the team title.
Hedglin, Langdon, and Natitus were the leaders in winning the title, with Hedglin excelling in distance, Langdon improving as a thrower, and Natitus emerging as the top hurdler in the conference.
“We all did really well,” said Hedglin, the winner of the 1600 and 3200 events. “It was great.”
The meet marked a shift from the regular season to the May 13-14 District 2 Championships. There, Dallas, last year’s runner-up and the 2021 champion, will aim to beat defending champion Abington Heights, which recently completed its 17th straight unbeaten season and extended its dual meet winning streak to 101.
“I think I’m pretty close to where I need to be,” Natitus said. “It kind of helped today with a lot of schools here and being able to experience the big environment.
“I’m pretty good for districts. I’m going to practice a lot this week and see how it goes.”
Natitus, along with Holy Redeemer sprinter Isabella Granteed, were the only girls to win three gold medals, with each earning one in a relay.
In the first event of the day, Natitus finished the 100 hurdles in 15.96, winning by 1.44 seconds. She also won the 300 hurdles in 46.68, a 2.92-second lead.
Natitus, who set the school record of 15.63 while winning the 100 hurdles in the Blue Jay Classic at Central Columbia, was undefeated in all 12 of her hurdles races in the WVC after also going unbeaten in the events for the junior high team last season.
“I honestly didn’t know that I was going to be this successful in my freshman year,” she said.
Natitus also ran the third leg of the team’s win in the closing 1600 relay.
Granteed achieved the same feat by winning the 400 relay and 200 dash again, and adding a title in the 100.
“I would say my 200 is my best event, but I’ve really been working on my 100 and my block starts,” Granteed said.
During the 200, Granteed managed to win despite being behind for most of the race, catching 400-meter gold medalist Gabriella Bredbenner of Hazleton Area and winning by two-hundredths of a second in 26.06.
“I was behind most of it,” Granteed said. “I was not certain I was going to win that.”
Hedglin and Langdon were the only others with two individual golds. Wyoming Area’s Ella McKernan won individual and relay golds, repeating in the 800 run and 3200 relay.
“I didn’t focus on times today; it was just about the place,” Hedglin said. “It was a good starter for next week.”
Hedglin ran the 1600 in 5:19.70 and won the 3200 by more than 16 seconds in 11:22.74. She helped Dallas take three of the initial five spots in each. Sarah Williams was third and Julianna Sobocinski fifth in the 3200. Erika Doran and Alexa Gauntlett were fourth and fifth in the 1600.
Langdon had a difficult start in the shot put, then did better on each of her last three attempts, moving into first place on her second-to-last try and breaking a 15-year-old school record with a 37-5½ in her final effort. The discus concluded the day and Langdon hit her winning throw of 103-7 earlier and was joined by teammates Jasmin Nguyen and Jada Mason in the top five.
Second-place Hazleton Area was led by a 1-2 finish from Sophia Shults and Sophia Benyo in the triple jump.
The title was a repeat for Shults. Bredbenner and pole vaulter Alexis Reimold added the team’s other gold medals.
Aria Messner repeated as long jump champion while leading Pittston Area to third place in the team standings. She also had two second-place and one fifth-place finish.
Madi Geiger, in the javelin, had the only win for fourth-place Crestwood.
Jane Gillespie joined Granteed as the holdovers for Holy Redeemer in the 400 relay repeat. The Royals finished fifth in the team standings.
Wyoming Area was sixth with McKernan and three-fourths of the relay team repeating their golds from last year. Stoss, who was third behind McKernan’s win in the 800, and Nina Angeli were also part of the title effort last season.
Northwest’s Jordin Bowman won the high jump and took third in the 100 hurdles.
The top three in each event received medals and the top eight scored points for their teams.
WVC TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
GIRLS
Team scoring – 1, Dallas, 160; 2, Hazleton Area, 111½; 3, Pittston Area, 84; 4, Crestwood, 68; 5, Holy Redeemer, 67; 6, Wyoming Area, 50; 7, Northwest 37; 7, Tunkhannock, 37; 9, Nanticoke, 30; 10, Lake-Lehman, 23; 11, Wyoming Valley West 22; 12, Wilkes-Barre, 6; 13, Hanover Area, 4½; 14, Berwick 2.
100 hurdles – 1, Julia Natitus, DAL, 15.96; 2, Maddie Jackubowski, PA, 17.40; 3, Jordin Bowman, NW, 17.64. 100 – 1, Isabella Granteed, HR, 12.49; 2, Aria Messner, PA, 12.53; 3, Jenna Greico, PA, 13.01. 3200 relay – 1, Wyoming Area (Hannah Stoss, Ella McKernan, Shannon Kearns, Nina Angeli) 9:48.48; 2, Dallas 9:51.51; 3, Crestwood, 10:05.79. 1600 – 1, Madison Hedglin, DAL, 5:19.70; 2, Milana Daiute, HAZ, 5:23.76; 3, Katie Kozich, CRE, 5:24.29. 400 – Gabriella Bredbenner, HAZ, 58.52; 2, Gracie Coyne, DAL, 58.60; Nevaeh Baran, NAN, 59.29. 400 relay – 1, Holy Redeemer (Emily Krevey, Aleese Stair, Jane Gillespie, Isabella Granteed) 49.98; 2, Pittston Area, 50.65; 3, Dallas, 51.98. 300 hurdles – Julia Natitus, DAL, 46.68; 2, Shannon Kearns, WA, 49.60; 3, Jaiden Jones, PA, 50.32. 800 – 1, Ella McKernan, WA, 2:17.07; 2, Avery Kozerski, HR, 2:20.03; 3, Hannah Stoss, WA, 2:22.14. 200 – 1, Isabella Granteed, HR, 26.06; 2, Gabriella Bredbenner, HAZ, 26.08; 3, Nevaeh Baran, NAN, 26.98. 3200 – 1, Madison Hedglin, DAL, 11:22.74; 2, Ellie Kozich, CRE, 11:39.07; 3, Sarah Williams, DAL, 11:52.81. 1600 relay – 1, Dallas (Gracie Coyne, Kaitlyn Keller, Julia Natitus, Trinity Basara) 4:06.15; 2, Wyoming Area, 4:09.13; 3, Holy Redeemer, 4:09.71.
Pole vault – 1, Alexis Reimold, HAZ, 8-6; 2, Evelyn Kruczek, CRE, 8-6; 3, Elinor Schardien, PA, 8-6; 3, Lindsay Franchella, NW, 8-6. Long jump – 1, Aria Messner, PA, 18-5; 2, Nevaeh Baran, NAN, 17-3½; 3, Sophia Lenza, L-L, 16-9; Javelin – 1, Madi Geiger, CRE, 111-8; 2, Reese Kaschak, HAZ, 101-9; 3, Kate Reed, NAN, 95-5. Discus – 1, Morgan Langdon, DAL, 103-7; 2, Kelsey Porasky, TUNK, 101-3; 3, Hope Kline, CRE, 99-1. Triple jump – 1, Sophia Shults, HAZ, 34-11½; 2, Sophia Benzo, HAZ, 33-9¾; 3, Taylor Gashi, WA, 33-2¼. High jump – 1, Jordin Bowman, NW, 5-5; 2, Gabriela DaSilva, DAL, 5-2; 3, Paige Bittmann, PA, 5-0; 3, Kassandra Gaizick, HAZ, 5-0. Shot put – 1, Morgan Langdon, DAL, 37-5 ½; 2, Lourianna Alston, TUNK, 34-9; 3, Juleisy Tejada, HAZ, 32-9½.
