Julia Natitus earned victories in the 100 hurdles, the 400 and with Dallas’ 1600 relay team to cap off a championship day for the Mountaineers on Tuesday at the District 2 track and field championships.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Julia Natitus of Dallas won the 400 in Class 3A in 56.56 seconds as part of her memorable performance.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Ali Butcher and Dallas’ Gracie Coyne close in on the finish line shoulder-to-shoulder in the 100-meter dash final in Class 3A. Butcher won the race by four-hundredths of a second to take gold.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area’s Ella McKernan, left, finished second in the 800 to qualify for the state championships.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Standout distance runner Madison Hedglin added to her accomplishments with a gold medal in the 1600. She also ran on the winning 1600 relay team for the district champion Mountaineers.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
SCRANTON — With a massive medal haul and a second straight district team title already well in hand, it was going to be hard for the Dallas girls to top themselves Tuesday night.
In the championship finale 1600 relay, the Mountaineers did just that — smashing a district record and wrapping up their title with a statement.
Dallas clocked in with a time of 3:57.56 to win the relay and break a North Pocono record set back in 2014, and the Mountaineers repeated as champs in the District 2 Class 3A Girls Track and Field Championships as the two-day event wrapped up at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
The Class 2A team championship was also a repeat performance, with Lakeland hoisting the title. Lake-Lehman was the Wyoming Valley Conference’s best team finisher, placing third.
The WVC had a great day in the Class 3A competition with eight gold medals — four for Dallas as the Mountaineers stomped their way to the championship.
Julia Natitus was the star of the show for Dallas, after winning her first gold medal in the 300 hurdles on Monday.
Natitus, a sophomore, cruised to wins in the 100 hurdles and 400 dash before anchoring the Mountaineers as they broke the District 2 Class 3A girls record in the 1600 relay to end the night.
After a strong push from Wyoming Area on the third leg made it a close battle, Natitus promptly slammed the door shut with her anchor leg, leading Dallas to a win by nearly seven seconds over the Warriors.
“I was definitely scared because I didn’t know if Wyoming Area was going to catch me,” Natitus said. “We’ve been striving to break the district record, I knew I had to run a really strong last leg to achieve that.”
Natitus was joined by teammates Kaitlyn Keller, Gracie Coyne and Madison Hedglin on the relay team.
Coyne had already punched her ticket to states earlier in the day in the 400 dash, posting a fast-enough time despite a fourth-place finish, and Hedglin had won the 1600 run earlier in the afternoon.
The win marked a sweep of the 1600 and 3200 runs for Hedglin, who held off stiff competition from Abington Heights runner Anna Pucilowski to win the 1600.
Four other WVC schools were represented in Tuesday’s gold medal total, with Pittston Area’s Ali Butcher the first to strike gold with a win in the 100 dash — holding off Coyne for the second straight week after the WVC Championships.
Nanticoke Area’s Nevaeh Baran won her second gold of the championships, matching Monday’s long jump victory with a win in the triple jump on Tuesday.
Crestwood’s Madi Geiger won the javelin, and Wilkes-Barre Area’s Jaida Underwood won the high jump.
Just a freshman, Underwood cleared five feet, three inches to hold off the rest of the competition.
“I set myself a goal and I exceeded it, I’m proud of myself,” Underwood said. “My confidence has skyrocketed.”
Abington Heights took second place in the team standings behind Dallas, and Wyoming Area came in third.
Though the Warriors didn’t have any winners in the girls competition, Ella McKernan punched her ticket to states in the 800 run with a time of 2:15.01.
She finished in second place behind Carbondale Area’s Kate Korty, who set a new meet record (breaking McKernan’s, set last year) with a time of 2:13.19.
Holy Redeemer girls win two golds in Class 2A
It wasn’t nearly as strong a showing in the Class 2A competition for the WVC girls, but Holy Redeemer put the conference on the board Tuesday with two victories.
First, the Royals defended their championship in the 400 relay, with anchor Aleese Stair overtaking Montrose down the final stretch to beat the Meteors by less than a tenth of a second.
Stair was joined on the relay team by McKenzie Chimock, Lily Nguyen and Jane Gillespie.
Gillespie would have her individual moment to shine in the 400 dash, and she nailed it: Gillespie ran a 59.99 to beat out Lakeland’s Bria Hill to the finish.
She was neck-and-neck with Hill coming down the straightaway to the finish, but Gillespie found an extra gear at the exact right moment to pull away for the win.
“I was calm, I knew I could kick it the last 100 meters because that’s how I run my races,” Gillespie said. “Honestly, this is the best moment of my career.”
Lake-Lehman was the best WVC finisher in the overall team standings, with two gold medals already in hand entering Tuesday’s action.
The Black Knights weren’t able to add to their gold medal tally, but had athletes finish in the points in every single event on Tuesday.
Sophia Lenza was the top finisher for Lake-Lehman on Tuesday, taking second place in the triple jump. Lenza had previously won the long jump on Monday.
Ava Jones and Kinley Purdy added third-place finishes in the 400 dash and 800 run, respectively, for Lake-Lehman.
District 2 Girls Track and Field Championships
Class 3A
Team Standings — 1. Dallas (DAL) 129, 2. Abington Heights (AH) 87.3, 3. Wyoming Area (WA) 71, 4. Crestwood (CRE) 58.3, 5. North Pocono (NP) 51, 6. Delaware Valley (DV) 50, 7. Hazleton Area (HAZ) 45.3, 8. Wallenpaupack (WAL) 39, 9. Nanticoke Area (NAN) 34, 10. Pittston Area (PA) 33.5, 11. Scranton (SCR) 27, T12. Honesdale (HON) 17, 14. Valley View (VV) 11, 15. Tunkhannock (TUN) 10.5, T16. Scranton Prep (SP) 10, T16. Carbondale Area (CAR) 10, 18. Berwick (BER) 1.
100 Hurdles — 1. Julia Natitus (DAL) 14.45, 2. Eyinah Smith (SCR) 15.45, 3. Ella Smith (WAL) 15.53, 4. Emma Simmons (DV) 15.67, 5. Jenesa Sancho (WA) 15.79, 6. Emmy Savakinas (PA) 16.51, 7. Julia Schuster (AH) 16.95, 8.Elizabeth Henkels (AH) 16.95.
100 Dash — 1. Ali Butcher (PA) 12.52, 2. Gracie Coyne (DAL) 12.56, 3. Kaitlyn Kravitz (NP) 12.73, 4. Pia Zangardi (NP) 12.73, 5. Frannie Russo (DV) 13.00, 6. Soleil Wright (WAL) 13.08, 7. Claire Goldstein (HON) 13.41, 8. Teizu Jones (DV) 13.47.
1600 Run — 1. Madison Hedglin (DAL) 5:01.17, 2. Anna Pucilowski (AH) 5:03.86*, 3. Sarah Williams (DAL) 5:10.47, 4. Katie Kozich (CRE) 5:15.00, 5. Sadie Loftus (VV) 5:16.78, 6. Kaelyn Barker (CRE) 5:18.06, 7. Marley Gilboy (AH) 5:22.29, 8. Milana Daiute (HAZ) 5:24.66.
400 Relay — 1. Delaware Valley (Liliana Coe, Frannie Russo, Teizu Jones, Emma Simmons) 49.82, 2. North Pocono 50.27, 3. Wallenpaupack 50.45, 4. Pittston Area 50.71, 5. Crestwood 51.07, 6. Scranton 51.42, 7. Hazleton Area 51.75, 8. Wyoming Area 52.10
400 Run — 1. Julia Natitus (DAL) 56.56, 2. Marguerite Coleman (AH) 57.84*, 3. Kaitlyn Kravitz (NP) 58.30*, 4. Gracie Coyne (DAL) 58.34*, 5. Kaitlyn Keller (DAL) 59.19, 6. Catherine Hill (SCR) 1:00.80, 7. Alyssa Czekai (HON) 1:01.05, 8. Gabriella Bredbenner (HAZ) 1:01.36.
800 Run — 1. Kate Korty (CARB) 2:13.19, 2. Ella McKernan (WA) 2:15.01*, 3. Reese Morgan (AH) 2:17.84*, 4. Hannah Stoss (WA) 2:19.69, 5. June Brown (WAL) 2:22.86, 6. Madison Hedglin (DAL) 2:24.76, 7. Kelcie Fillebrown (WAL) 2:25.50, 8. Ella Novelli (CRE) 2:25.62.
200 Dash — 1. Kaitlyn Kravitz (NP) 25.41, 2. Gracie Coyne (DAL) 25.78, 3. Ali Butcher (PA) 26.01, 4. Marguerite Coleman (AH) 26.23, 5. Anijha Turner (SCR) 26.31, 6. Melina Gregory (HAZ) 26.38, 7. Marianna Tubolino (WAL) 26.71, 8. Kaitlyn Keller (DAL) 26.76.
1600 Relay — 1. Dallas (Gracie Coyne, Kaitlyn Keller, Madison Hedglin, Julia Natitus) 3:57.56, 2. Wyoming Area 4:04.15, 3. Hazleton Area 4:07.81, 4. Honesdale 4:08.95, 5. Wallenpaupack 4:09.07, 6. Scranton 4:11.09, 7. Abington Heights 4:17.61, 8. Crestwood 4:19.96.
Discus — 1. Peyton Fox (SCR) 125-6, 2. Taylor Gashi (WA) 111-2, 3. Morgan Langdon (DAL) 106-11, 4. Hope Kline (CRE) 106-10, 5. Jada Mason (DAL) 106-3, 6. Lourianna Alston (TUN) 102-9, 7. Olivia Wood (HON) 100-1, 8. Jasmin Nguyen (DAL) 97-8.
High Jump — 1. Jaida Underwood (WBA) 5-3, 2. Grayce Grazio (CRE) 5-1, T3. Matilda Serrano (NAN) 4-9, T3. Paige Bittmann (PA) 4-9, 5. Kassandra Gaizick (HAZ) 4-9, 5. Karli Laurel (HAZ) 4-9, 7. Lillian Williams (WAL) 4-9, 8. Alli Kimelewski (TUN) 4-9, T8. Julie Park (NAN) 4-9.
Javelin — 1. Madi Geiger (CRE) 115-10, 2. Kate Reed (NAN) 111-5, 3. Emily Dennis (AH) 106-9, 4. Anna Vitali (WBA) 104-0, 5. Gwendoline Lowry (WA) 102-10, 6. Alexis Staffin (HAZ) 102-7, 7. Angelena Mendola (WBA) 100-11, 8. Sarah Mizenko (WA) 97-10.
Long Jump — 1. Nevaeh Baran (NAN) 18-6.25, 2. Tomara Seid (AH) 17-10*, 3. Taylor Gashi (WA) 17-7.5, 4. Soyer Delucy (NP) 17-1.75, 5. Sophia Shults (HAZ) 17-1, 6. Giada Costa (VV) 17-0.5, 7. Liliana Coe (DV) 16-10, 8. Layla Mynes (TUN) 16-9.75.
Class 2A
Team Standings — 1. Lakeland (LAK) 136.5, 2. Western Wayne (WW) 102.5, 3. Lake-Lehman (LL) 89.5, 4. Montrose (MON) 85.5, T5. Elk Lake (ELK) 57, T5. Holy Redeemer (HR) 57, 7. Mid Valley (MV) 54, 8. Riverside (RIV) 33, T9. Holy Cross (HC) 19.5, T9. Dunmore (DUN) 19.5, 11. Mountain View (MV) 14, T12. Blue Ridge (BR) 12, T12. Susquehanna (SUS) 12, 14. Wyoming Seminary (SEM) 7, 15. Lackawanna Trail (LT) 2.
100 Hurdles — 1. Kaylyn Davis (LAK) 15.14, 2. Natalie Talluto (MV) 15.29*, 3. Gabriella Martini (LAK) 16.50, 4. Kyra Chepolis (HR) 17.02, 5. Trista Schroeder (MV) 17.25, 6. Hailey Bond (LL) 17.76, 7. Addison Welch (BR) 17.87, 8. Sophia Corrandino (RIV) 18.04.
100 Dash — Olivia Haines (WW) 12.72, 2. Brooke Hill (LAK) 12.82, 3. Natalie Talluto (MV) 12.84, 4. Braelyn Reed (RIV) 12.85, 5. Aleese Stair (HR) 12.96, 6. Rhys Evans (MV) 13.04, 7. Sophia Lenza (LL) 13.23, 8. McKenzie Chimock (HR) 13.24.
1600 Run — 1. Kendyl Weisgold (ELK) 5:16.79, 2. Emily Black (LAK) 5:17.47*, 3. Avery Kerr (MON) 5:18.49, 4. Grace Rushmer (SEM) 5:27.54, 5. Alana Palmaioli (LL) 5:30.28, 6. Annika Von Ahnen (MV) 5:35.15, 7. Kiera Burke (SUS) 5:37.92, 8. Audrey Anderson (MV) 5:45.43.
400 Relay — 1. Holy Redeemer (McKenzie Chimock, Lily Nguyen, Jane Gillespie, Aleese Stair) 50.85, 2. Montrose 50.93, 3. Lakeland 51.24, 4. Lake-Lehman 51.73, 5. Mountain View 52.22, 6. Riverside 52.55, 7. Western Wayne 53.16, 8. Mid Valley 53.32
400 Run — 1. Jane Gillespie (HR) 59.99, 2. Bria Hill (LAK) 1:00.84, 3. Ava Jones (LL) 1:01.67, 4. Carly Frey (MON) 1:02.86, 5. Addison Daniels (WW) 1:04.70, 6. Emily Gorham (BR) 1:05.68, 7. Madison Kerr (ELK) 1:07.36, 8. Alicia Davis (DUN) 1:07.55
800 Run — 1. Faith Wormuth (LAK) 2:21.41, 2. Selah Combs (WW) 2:23.99, 3. Kinley Purdy (LL) 2:27.05, 4. Avery Kerr (MON) 2:27.82, 5. Avery Kozerski (HR) 2:28.22, 6. Kiera Burke (SUS) 2:28.94, 7. Grace Rushmer (SEM) 2:30.49, 8. Kylee Pond (ELK) 2:35.07.
200 Dash — 1. Olivia Haines (WW) 26.09, 2. Sadie Jones (MON) 26.37, 3. Brooke Hill (LAK) 26.42, 4. Braelyn Reed (RIV) 27.08, 5. McKenzie Chimock (HR) 27.27, 6. Katie Skirpan (WW) 27.33, 7. Gracie Dalton (MON) 28.04, 8. Mandolay Velez (SUS) 28.05
1600 Relay — 1. Lakeland (Kaylyn Davis, Faith Wormuth, Deanna Wormuth, Bria Hill) 4:07.72, 2. Montrose 4:11.74, 3. Holy Redeemer 4:13.11, 4. Western Wayne 4:20.03, 5. Lake-Lehman 4:21.05, 6. Susquehanna 4:27.88, 7. Mountain View 4:27.99, 8. Dunmore 4:32.96.
Pole Vault — 1. Katie Skirpan (WW) 10-0, 2. Juleighanna Eldred (WW) 10-0, 3. Abby Washine (WW) 9-0, 4. Emily Gorham (BR) 8-6, 5. Trinity Deprez (MV) 8-0, 6. Gabby Braunstein (LL) 7-6, 7. Julie Grier (LAK) 7-6.
Shot Put — 1. Katie McGlynn (ELK) 34-7, 2. Gianna Tewksbury (ELK) 34-6.5, 3. Anna Tillotson (MON) 31-9.5, 4. Sophia Talutto (DUN) 30-8.5, 5. Sloane Dougherty (LL) 29-0.25, 6. Sadie Booths (WW) 28-11.5, 7. June McGee (MON) 28-2.75, 8. Alaina Scassellati (HC) 27-4.75.
Triple Jump — 1. Sadie Jones (MON) 37-1, 2. Sophia Lenza (LL) 32-10.5, 3. Grace Barbuti (RIV) 35-5.75, 4. Shelby Hartland (HC) 32-4.25, 5. Demetra Messner (MV) 32-4, 6. Grace Martin (LL) 31-8, 7. Annelise Pepson (LAK) 31-7.25, 8. Skyla McGuire (WW) 31-1.
Local journalism matters, and your support makes it possible. You can help sustain this work by making a donation or choosing one of our subscription options. Subscribers enjoy valuable benefits, including full access to our e-edition, a reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more.
Your support helps ensure independent, high-quality local news remains available today and for future generations. Thank you for standing with local journalism.