Cusatis
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
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Wilkes-Barre Area’s Esabella Mendola clears the final hurdle during preliminaries at the District 2 Track and Field Championships on Tuesday in Scranton.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Sophia Filali competes in the 100 meter hurdles preliminaries for Dallas on the first day of the District 2 meet.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Blaise Sokach-Minnick competes in the discus on Tuesday, finishing in second place.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Holy Redeemer’s Tom Brady runs the anchor leg of the 3200 meter relay heading to the finish line in second place on Tuesday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Crestwood pole vaulter Julia Lazo cleared 12 feet to capture the gold in the event on Tuesday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
SCRANTON — Like any self-respecting member of Gen Z, Matthew Cusatis took to Google to do a background search on who stood in his way.
Sidelined for months to injury, it was all that the Hazleton Area junior could do until he could get back onto the track. Cusatis’ search showed the record belonged to a former Penn State and NFL standout, making the prospect of taking down the mark more zealous.
A pair of Wyoming Valley Conference juniors set new boys records on the first day of the District 2 Track & Field Championships Tuesday at Scranton High School. Cusatis erased a long-standing mark in the Class 3A triple jump, and Wyoming Area’s Drew Mruk crushed the Class 2A javelin record.
Cusatis beat out a 42-year-old record previously set by Nanticoke Area graduate Harry Hamilton. Hamilton went on to play football at Penn State, and he was a safety for eight seasons with the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“That made me really excited because he’s such a highly regarded athlete, and I beat his record,” Cusatis said. “If it lasted 42 years, who knows how long I’ll have it.
“Maybe someone could beat it next year, anything’s possible, but I have a feeling that I’ll have this for a little bit.”
Cusatis repeated his district title with a record-breaking jump of 47 feet, 11 ½ inches. He beat out Hamilton’s 1980 triple jump on his first attempt by a half inch. Unaware of his accomplishment, Cusatis was politely pulled aside by an official that told him he was the current record bearer.
“I was just so shocked,” he said. “I didn’t know what to say. I was so surprised.”
Cusatis’ success came as a surprise to even himself. A joint fracture in his foot kept him away from competition for the majority of the season. It was only the third time he had competed in the triple jump all season.
The Cougars’ jumper had never surpassed 47 feet in his career with a personal record of 46 feet, 5 ½ inches. Cusatis cleared 47 feet on all four of his jumps.
“It was frustrating that I had to miss most of the meets,” Cusatis said. “I had to watch my teammates perform very well. I was just wishing I was out there. It was a positive mindset. If I had a positive mindset, I could go out here and perform.”
On his record-setting jump, Cusatis stumbled on his approach and beat his previous mark by 10 inches. He jumped 47 feet, 7 inches on his next attempt and added another 3 ½ inches on his penultimate leap for the new district benchmark.
Cusatis will compete in the 100 dash, long jump and high jump in Wednesday’s competition.
WA throwers head to Ship
Mruk beat the district javelin record by nearly 8 feet to punch his ticket to the PIAA Championships.
Mruk admitted that it was a “big relief” that he upended the mark on his first attempt of the day. Stretching the measuring tape to 210 feet, 6 inches, Mruk broke a school record that he had been hunting all season long. He also took down Dunmore’s Gavin Darcy’s five-year district mark of 202 feet, 9 inches.
“Drew is really committed to the javelin – he loves it,” teammate and runner-up Blaise Sokach-Minnick said. “It’s awesome to watch him do what he does and follow in his footsteps. It’s that type of camaraderie where you love to see each other succeed.”
Mruk was glad to achieve the mark in his first throw so as not to overexert a shoulder injury in preparation for states next week.
“I didn’t want to take any more chances,” Mruk said. “I’m just going to take care of my body for the next 10 days by icing, heating and stretching.”
He will be joined in Shippensburg by teammate Sokach-Minnick. The Wyoming Area senior finished in second place in both the javelin and shot put.
Sokach-Minnick qualified during his final district meet after an elbow injury stymied his chances last season. In the javelin, he threw 181 feet, 2 inches on his first attempt to distance himself from the competition. His javelin throw was an improvement of 12 feet from last year’s championship meet.
He admittedly surprised himself with a second place in the discus. Sokach-Minnick hurdles the discus 138 feet, 9 inches to beat out Lackawanna Trail freshman Cole Schirg by 11 feet for the automatic qualification. His throw was a new personal record.
“It’s a great way to end senior year,” Sokach-Minnick said. “This year, I caught a groove and ran with it. The discus is a lot of technique. If you look at it, some guys aren’t the biggest, some guys aren’t the strongest but they launch it out there. Form has a lot to do with it, and nailing down the fine points.”
The final day of competition resumes at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at Memorial Stadium.
DISTRICT 2 TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Class 3A Boys
Team scoring: Scranton (Scr) 33, Crestwood (Cr) 32, North Pocono (NP) 32, Hazleton Area (Haz) 28, Valley View (VV) 26, Abington Heights (AH) 23 1/3, Honesdale (H) 12 2/3, Dallas (Dal) 12, Wallenpaupack (Wal) 11, Wilkes-Barre Area (WBA) 10, Pittston Area (PA) 6, Berwick (B) 5, West Scranton (WS) 2.
3200 relay: North Pocono (Mason Natalini, Aiden Horne, Stephen Tellez, Caleb Kenyon) 8:17.28; Abington Heights 8:28.80; Wallenpaupack 8:31.48; Crestwood 8:37.68; Hazleton Area 8:53.63; Pittston Area 8:59.11.
Triple jump: Matthew Cusatis (Haz) 47-11½; Jacob Nielsen (VV) 44-03 ½; Nyquan Hollman (WBA) 43-8; Antonio Hairston (Scr) 43-5¾; Andrew Heid (VV) 42-11; Logan Slusser (Haz) 42-9¾.
Shot put: Ethan Shudak (Cr) 50-3½; Russell Blew (Haz) 45-7½; Tom Fiorelli (VV) 44-9¼; Kareem Jefferson (Scr) 43-9½; Christian Lezinski (AH) 43-0½; Jonanthony Sencion (Haz) 42-1½.
300 hurdles: Antonio Hairston (Scr) 41:17; Jake Silva (NP) 41.74; Peter Federici (Dal) 41.85; Brendan Hinkle (B) 42.62; Andrew Cerciello (Wal) 43.07; David Girman (PA) 43.16.
Pole vault: Isaac Mertz (Cr) 12-6; tie Robert Quinn (Hon), James Reese (AH), Ryan Gross (Hon) 11-0; Michael Carter (WBA) 11-0; Thomas Esgro (NP) 10-6.
3200: Caleb Kenyon (NP) 9:56.12; Brian McCormack (Scr) 10:04.97; Aiden Cotter (Dal) 10:09.51; Ethan Williams (VV) 10:14.60; Nash Greene (Cr) 10:20.19; Alex Duffy (AH) 10:31.67.
Class 3A Girls
Team scoring: Crestwood (Cr) 39; Wallenpaupack (Wal) 38½; Dallas (Dal) 26; Abington Heights (AH) 22½; Scranton (Scr) 21; Wyoming Valley West (WVW) 14; North Pocono (NP) 13; Hazleton Area (Haz) 12; Delaware Valley (DV) 10; Pittston Area (PA) 9; Honesdale (Hon) 8; Wilkes-Barre Area (WBA) 5; Valley View (VV) 5; Berwick (B) 4; Scranton Prep (SP) 3; Nanticoke (Nan) 2; Tunkhannock 1.
3200 relay: Abington Heights (Marygrace Sabatini, Emma Horsley, Reese Morgan, Gigi Sabatini) 10:01.63; Wallenpaupack 10:06.09; Crestwood 10:06.96; Dallas 10:19.50; Valley View 10:36.38; Scranton 10:54.88.
Pole vault: Julia Lazo (Cr) 11-6; Isabella Allen (AH) 10-6; Calli Ogurkis (Dal) 10-0; Sarah Shipton (Cr) 10-0; Olivia Bassi (NP) 9-0; Rozalyn Mikulak (Hon) 9-0.
Shot put: Felicity Martin (Scr) 35-0; Brady Varner (WVW) 34-8¼; Grace Steffen (Wal) 34-4¾; Ashley Bueso (Haz) 34-2¾; Cecilia Isenberg (B) 33-5; Maddie Gecik (DV) 32-10¾.
Triple jump: Anastasia Ioppolo (Wal) 38-9 ¾; Aria Messner (PA) 36-1; Trinity Johnson (WVW) 36-8; Sophia Shults (Haz) 35-5; Tomara Seid (AH) 35-2 ½; Fiona Ring (DV) 35-1.
300 hurdles: Anastasia Ioppolo (Wal) 45.62; Calli Ogurkis (Dal) 45.83; Sophia Filali (Dal) 46.12; Esabella Mendola (WBA) 46.44; Abby Kimler (Wal) 48.71; Norah Wolff (NP) 50.16.
3200: Molly DeMarzo (Cr) 11:33.10; Bella Noreika (Scr) 11:39.89; Emily Franklin (NP) 11:45.58; Ella Novelli (Cr) 11:48.14; Brenna Dahlgren (Hon) 11:59.09; Jenna Hillebrand (SP) 12:01.48.
Class 2A Boys
Team scoring: Wyoming Area (WA) 56; Mid Valley (MV) 42; Holy Redeemer (HR) 36; Lake-Lehman (LL) 21; Dunmore (Dun) 20; Lakeland (L) 17; Riverside (Riv) 14; Nanticoke (N) 13; Montrose (M) 9; Hanover Area (Han) 8; Lackawanna Trail (LT) 8, Holy Cross (HC) 8; Wyoming Seminary (Sem) 6; Elk Lake (EL) ; Mountain View (MtV) 4; Blue Ridge (BR) 3; Scranton Prep (SP) 2.
3200 relay: Mid Valley (Zachary Popko, Josh Florence, Vincenzo Iacavazzi, Gabe Pacyna) 8:31.53; Holy Redeemer 8:39.22; Dunmore 8:42.60; Lake-Lehman 8:44.59; Montrose 8:50.93; Holy Cross 8:52.06.
Long jump: Justice Shoats (HR) 22-4 ½; Usamah Alansari (WA) 21-2 ½; Payton Kepp (N) 20-10; Kyle Marcinkevich (MV) 20-7; Jacob Hunter (HR) 20-4 ½; Gerald Welsted (BR) 20-3.
Javelin: Drew Mruk (WA) 210-6; Blaise Sokach-Minnick (WA) 181-2; Lacota Dippre (L) 154-1; Todd Snyder (EL) 146-11; J.J. Kus (N) 142-1; Drew Smith (HC) 134-8; Jeffrey Walsh (D) 128-3.
High jump: Justice Shoats (HR) 6-6; David Popson (HA) 5-8; Usama Alansari (WA) 5-8; tie Vincenzo Iacavazzi (MV), Skyler Pierce (WA), Shawn Rowell (Dun) 5-6.
300 hurdles: Nico Sciandra (WA) 41.08; Nate Zarnowski (MV) 41.21; Cody Michaels (MV) 41.76; Jesse Rogers (M) 42.27; Cael Krushnowski (Riv) 43.45; Aidan Jaskulski (N) 43.55.
Discus: Lacota Dippre (L) 147-9; Blaise Sokach-Minnick (WA) 138-9; Cole Schirg (LT) 127-8; Jack Munley (Riv) 126-4; Jacob Simoson (LL) 126-1; Josh Angelo (MV) 124-9.
3200: Nick Hockenbury (LL) 9:54.43; Joseph Cardillo (Dun); 9:54.81; Jack Novelli (Sem) 10:06.83; Daniel Danilovitz (Riv) 10:21.20; Cohen Anderson (Mtv) 10:25.93; Michael Novak (MV) 10:26.52.
Class 2A girls
Team scoring: Wyoming Area (WA) 41, Lake-Lehman (LL) 38, Montrose (M) 36 2/3; Riverside (Riv) 31; Western Wayne (WW) 28 1/3; Lakeland (L) 23; Holy Redeemer (HR) 17; Holy Cross (HC) 15; Carbondale (CA) 12; Mid Valley (MV) 9; Blue Ridge (BR) 6; Mountain View (MtV) 5; Elk Lake (EL) 4; Lackawanna Trail (LT) 4.
3200 relay: Wyoming Area (Samara Campenni, Ella McKernan, Nina Angeli, Madelyn Keating) 9:54.12; Lake-Lehman 9:56.11; Holy Redeemer 10:08.05; Montrose 10:22.10; Lakeland 10:23.83; Elk Lake 10:24.60.
High jump: Ella Dougher (WW) 4-10; tie Chloe Diaz (M), Katie Diaz (M), Paige Bell (WW) 4-8; Lydia Vivian (LL) 4-8, Kylie Lavelle (Riv) 4-6.
Discus: Alexis Hawley (M) 111-5; Olivia Warholic (L) 110-3; Avery Rebar (MV) 109-9; Gabby Case (L) 106-3; Anna Liuzzo (L) 104-3; Mia Snyder (M) 98-3.
Long jump: Madelynn Perfillo (Riv) 17-6; Kalie Quaglia (HR) 17-1 ½; Emma Button (BR) 16-3; Rosalind Tart (WA) 15-7 ½; Braelyn Reed (Riv) 15-7; Autumn Palka (LL) 15-5.
Javelin: Toni Minichello (WA) 120-10; Aleena Sandy (HC) 118-7; Skylar Long (WW) 109-9; Bianca Pizano (WA) 102-7; Megan Cosklo (CA) 102-7; Faye Post (LL) 101-8.
300 hurdles: Kalee Raczkowski (LL) 47.78; Avery Meredick (Riv) 47.80; Chloe Diaz (M) 49.78; Molly White (HC) 50.12; Sophia Kazmierczak (LT) 50.64; Kyra Hayden (HR) 50.71.
3200: Madelyn Keating (WA) 11:12.23; Kate Korty (CA) 11:13.70; Lacey Danilovitz (Riv) 11:14.69; Carissa Flynn (MtV) 11:46.90; Hannah Sayre (LL) 11:57.73; Madison Kammer (WW) 12:02.43.