The Crestwood girls track and field team captured the Wyoming Valley Conference championship on Monday night at Wilkes-Barre Area Memorial Stadium.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
PLAINS TWP. — Crestwood held the lead in Monday’s Wyoming Valley Conference Girls Track and Field Championships essentially from start to finish, but stiff competition left the Comets looking for a way to slam the door shut on the title.
Then came one of the Comets’ signature events this season, the 3200 run, and a red-and-white sweep of the medals did just the trick.
Katie Kozich, Mollie Kozich and Adrienne Shebelock took the top three spots and all the points that came with it in the 3200 and Crestwood put plenty of distance between them and the field on their way to the WVC girls championship.
“It means a lot, it’s like the final hurrah,” Katie Kozich said. “It feels good to know that the hard work paid off.”
It wasn’t the first time Monday that the Kozich sisters took the top two spots in a race; Katie Kozich had already won the 1600 run earlier in the day with Mollie finishing behind her in silver.
Shebelock, who had won gold in the 3200 relay to start the finals, joined them in the medal ceremony with a bronze.
“I loved to see it, we all work so hard at practice, we’re all working together every day,” Katie Kozich said. “It’s nice to see the results of that.”
The Comets finished with 140.50 points as a team, giving them plenty of cushion over Hazleton Area in second place with 94 and Wyoming Area in third with 86.
It’s the second WVC title in the four-year history of the conference championship meet for Crestwood, who won the inaugural meet in 2023 before watching Dallas capture the next two.
Though they couldn’t make a run for the team title, Hazleton Area may have had the top individual performance of the day from one of their rising stars.
Freshman Sonia Diaz competed in four events and came away with four golds in her first taste of postseason track, winning the 100 and 200 on her own and the 400 and 1600 relays with her Hazleton Area teammates.
Diaz proved she was ready right from the beginning, taking on the preliminary heats of the 100 dash to start her day and outracing the field with a time of 12.68.
She dropped that time down to 12.50 in the finals, beating out Dallas’s Mia DelGaudio by about two-tenths of a second for the win. In the 200, it was about the same margin of victory for her over Nanticoke Area senior Nevaeh Baran.
“I always have my teammates to push me and to tell me to breathe and take a deep breath,” Diaz said. “And then I just go.”
Jayla Eberts won the 400 dash for Hazleton Area and then put together another mad dash on the final leg of the 1600 relay to land the final gold of the day for the Cougars.
Wyoming Area had three golds: one from Taylor Gashi in the discus and a sweep of the hurdles events from sophomore Jenesa Sancho.
A year ago in her WVC meet debut, Sancho won silver in both the 100 and 300 hurdles. This year, there was no stopping her from turning two silvers into two golds.
She held off Northwest’s Julia Hasinus in the 100 hurdles and then dominated the field in the 300, winning by over three seconds.
“I thought last year I wasn’t as ready but this year I knew what to expect,” Sancho said. “I know at the end [of the 300] I kind of get tired so I know I have to push myself.”
Pittston Area, Lake-Lehman and Nanticoke Area rounded out the winners with two golds each. Pittston Area’s both came in the field, with a win in the pole vault from Elinor Schardien and the high jump from Paige Bittmann.
Ava Jones won the 800 run and Delcia Biscotto held off strong competition from Crestwood to win the javelin.
For Nanticoke Area, both wins came in repeat performances from Nevaeh Baran, defending her championships in both the long jump and the triple jump while setting a new personal best and school record with a 19 foot, three inch long jump.
Not content to stick to the jumping pits, Baran also medaled in both the 100 and 200 dashes.
“It’s a lot, but honestly I like being busy,” Baran said. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
WVC Girls Track and Field Championships
Team Standings — 1. Crestwood (CRE) 140.50, 2. Hazleton Area (HAZ) 94, 3. Wyoming Area (WA) 86, 4. Lake-Lehman (LL) 61, 5. Nanticoke Area (NAN) 59.5, 6. Pittston Area (PA) 46, 7. Northwest Area (NW) 40, 8. Wyoming Valley West (WVW) 36.33, 9. Dallas (DAL) 34.5, 10. Tunkhannock (TUNK) 34.33, 11. Holy Redeemer (HR) 27, 2. Wilkes-Barre Area (WBA) 21.33, 13. Berwick (BER) 11, 14. Hanover Area (HAN) 10.50.
3200 Relay — 1. Crestwood (Adrienne Shebelock, Alyssa Leicht, Sophia Kwarcinski, Riley Ruch) 9:47.68 2. Lake-Lehman 9:57.99, 3. Pittston Area 10:39.25.
100 Hurdles — 1. Jenesa Sancho (WA) 15.63, 2. Julia Hasinus (NW) 15.89, 3. Lucia Campenni (WA) 16.37.
100 Dash — 1. Sonia Diaz (HAZ) 12.50, Mia DelGaudio (DAL) 12.72, 3. Nevaeh Baran (NAN) 12.78.
1600 Run — 1. Katie Kozich (CRE) 5:18.37, 2. Mollie Kozich (CRE) 5:23.50, 3. Kayana Krall (NW) 5:26.75.
400 Relay — 1. Hazleton Area (Adrianna Flintosh, Alexandra Santiago, Allison Young, Sonia Diaz) 50.84, 2. Crestwood 51.23, 3. Wyoming Area 51.25.
400 Dash — 1. Jayla Eberts (HAZ) 1:00.23, 2. Isabella Costa (WA) 1:01.03, 3. Lila Ruch (CRE) 1:01.50.
300 Hurdles — 1. Jenesa Sancho (WA) 45.13, 2. Kyra Chepolis (HR) 48.58, 3. Lucia Campenni (WA) 48.84.
800 Run — 1. Ava Jones (LL) 2:25.16, 2. Faith Cadwalader (LL) 2:25.17, 3. Riley Ruch (CRE) 2:27.59.
200 Dash — 1. Sonia Diaz (HAZ) 26.08, 2. Nevaeh Baran (NAN) 26.28, 3. Chasiddy Myers (WVW) 26.39.
3200 Run — 1. Katie Kozich (CRE) 11:22.45, 2. Mollie Kozich (CRE) 11:48.40, 3. Adrienne Shebelock (CRE) 12:05.24.
1600 Relay — 1. Hazleton Area (Alexandra Santiago, Zoe Pollock, Sonia Diaz, Jayla Eberts) 4:11.20, 2. Crestwood 4:11.20, 3. Wyoming Area 4:13.63.
Long Jump — 1. Nevaeh Baran (NAN) 19-3, 2. Harley Shreve (TUNK) 17-4, 3. Taylor Gashi (WA) 17-3.
High Jump — 1. Paige Bittmann (PA) 5-0, T2. Jaida Underwood (WBA) 4-10, T2. Harley Shreve (TUNK) 4-10, T2. Aniyah Bolling (WVW) 4-10.
Triple Jump — 1. Nevaeh Baran (NAN) 38-7, 2. Jaida Underwood (WBA) 34-5, 3. Abigail Lovallo (NAN) 33-4.
Pole Vault — 1. Elinor Schardien (PA) 10-0, 2. Auria Daniels (NW) 9-6, T3. Taylor Lucas (DAL) 9-0, T3. Darienne Ondeck (CRE) 9-0.
Shot Put — 1. Sarah Pasternick (CRE) 32-11, 2. Juleisy Tejeda (HAZ) 32-9, 3. Symone Mims (HAN) 32-6.5.
Discus — 1. Taylor Gashi (WA) 104-3, 2. Sofia Pasternick (CRE) 94-11, 3. Karissa Legaspi (WVW) 89-9.25.
Javelin — 1. Delcia Biscotto (LL) 116-7, 2. Isla Centak (CRE) 113-9, 3. Madi Geiger (CRE) 112-5.
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