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SCRANTON — It is not a stretch to say that boys track and field is among both Meyers and Coughlin’s most successful athletics programs in recent memory.

So, of course, there was an extra pressure to add a few more gold medals to their respective programs’ histories.

Meyers and Coughlin combined for five first-place finishes at the District 2 Class 3A Boys and Track Championships at Scranton Memorial Stadium. Competing at a highest level of competition for the first time in decades, the Mohawks finished fifth place with 52 points, just ahead of their downtown neighbors in sixth place.

For Coughlin, the end goal was to continue its streak of 400 relay championships. With alumni from the past three winning teams in the stands, the Blue and Red’s quartet of Antwan Dates-Gray, Jude Bourdeau, Damon Jones and Rafael McCoy put a bookmark on a four-year run of gold medal relays with a first place finish.

“That was pretty much everything,” McCoy said. “I didn’t want to leave Coughlin track on a bad note. So I wanted something good for us. If it’s our last year and we won three years in a row, we can’t end it on a loss.”

McCoy had the challenge put out for him. Hazleton Area and Wallenpaupack led McCoy by 15 meters when he grabbed the baton with 100 meters left. He raced to catch up to the Cougar and Buckhorn anchors just before the line. McCoy dove forward at the finish; he tumbled along the track and cut himself in the process.

A literal photo finish showed McCoy’s head leaning forward by the slightest of margins. He narrowly edged out the Wallenpaupack runner by 38-hundredths of a second and the Hazleton Area runner by a tenth of a second.

For his part, McCoy was the lone Wyoming Valley Conference athlete to win multiple individual events. He edged state qualifiers Hazleton Area’s Henry Polanco and Berwick’s Shawn Sheptock with a 10.8-second win in the 100 dash. McCoy followed that with a 22.23-second run in the 200 dash to beat out Sheptock.

“I had been working all year for this,” McCoy added. “I was just happy to run all three races and be seeded in the 100. It was no joke. There were three kids that qualified in the 100. They pushed me hard.”

Meyers capped its last district finals with two district champions and three state berths.

Nazir Dunell, who won the 2018 Class 2A state championship, actually faced two No. 2 seeds in both of the hurdles events. Dunnell looked to be in top form to everyone but himself in the 110 hurdles as he breezed past Abington Heights’ Antonio Maletta in 14.39 seconds.

“Going through the race, it felt like I wasn’t even going that fast,” Dunnell said. “So to see at the end of the race that I ran a 14.3, it felt amazing. I knew I had it in me; I just wasn’t expecting to run it that race.

Dunell followed that with a state qualifying performance in the 300 hurdles. This time, Maletta got the best of Dunell but the senior Meyers hurdler booked his trip with a second-place finish of 39.8 seconds.

“It’s going to be emotional week,” Dunell said.

“I want to bring home a state gold medal before Meyers shuts down for sports.”

Najese Hood also brought a gold medal back to South Wilkes-Barre with the farther distance in the triple jump. Hood edged Hazleton Area’s Ignacio Diaz by 2 inches, measuring in at 43 feet, 3 ¾ inches.

Family ties for Tigers

Tunkhannock had a pair of first-place finishes in the field events.

Junior Dalton Yeust increased last year’s district-winning height by a full foot to return to Shippensburg. Yeust’s father, a carpenter, built a pit in his backyard, complete with a runway, pole, bungees, bars, and ropes. With the help his father-coach, Yeust cleared 14 feet for first place.

“Some people have treehouses; I have a pole vault runway in my backyard,” Yeust said. “I plan to have all the pole vaulters over to a barbeque in the summer. Then we’ll come jump, have a fire or whatever for the pole vault community.”

“My blood is definitely fueling more than in a dual meet. I have my grandparents, my grandmom, my aunt, my uncle, third-cousins here watching me. You have to treat it like any other meet.”

Freshman Matt Prebola accomplished what his brother Bill, now a freshman competing at Lafayette, could not do and win a district crown in the javelin. Taught by his father and brother, Prebola stretched the measuring tape to 192 feet, 10 inches for the win.

Bradley, Anderson take first

Hazleton Area finished as districts runners-up.

Michael Bradley earned the Cougars’ only gold medal with a 400 dash time of 50.52 seconds. He held off Delaware Valley’s Darryn Ouk, whose footsteps he could he approaching down the stretch.

“I was ranked No. 1 until last week,” Bradley said. “So I knew I had come out hard but I usually die at the end. So I said, I’m just going to take it easy and then go hard for the last 100 meters.”

Dallas senior Matt Anderson won the shot put after joining the field for the first time in his last semester of high school. Anderson took to be a natural in the event with a winning throw of 52 feet, 3 ¼ inches.

“The past few years I’ve been doing baseball,” Anderson said. “I figured this is my senior year, why not do something fun in the spring. Last shot.”

RESULTS

Team Standings – 1. Wallenpaupack (WAL) 114, 2. Hazleton Area (HAZ) 81.5; 3. Abington Heights (AH) 67; 4. Tunkhannock (TUN) 58; 5. Meyers (MEY) 52; 6. Coughlin (COU) 46.5; 7. Dallas (DAL) 46; 8. Scranton (SCR) 38; 9. Delaware Valley (DV) 34; 10. North Pocono (NP) 30; 11. Crestwood (CRE) 23; 12T. Berwick (BER) 30; 14. Wyoming Valley West (WVW) 14; 15T. Honesdale (HON) 11; 15T. Valley View (VV) 11; 17T. Pittston Area (PA) 10; 17T. Wyoming Area (WA) 10; 19. Nanticoke (NAN) 9

3200 Relay – 1. Wallenpaupack 8:27.25; 2. Abington Heights (Conor Kryeski, Tyler Petty, Noah Bolus, Ethan Maddox) 8:29.84; 3. Meyers 8:31.05; 4. Crestwood 8:34.01; 5. Delaware Valley 8:34.8; 6. Pittston Area 8:40.94; 7. Hazleton Area 8:46.91; 8. Valley View 9:03.14

High Jump – 1. Gabe Springer (WAL) 6-1; 2. Trejon Turner (TUN) 5-11; 3. Spencer Duffield (VV) 5-11; 4T. Angel Cruz (HAZ) 5-11; 4T. Tyler LeCompte (CRE) 5-11; 6. Noah Sorrell (DV) 5-9; 7. Jake Schultz (MEY) 5-9; 8. David Behm (PA) 5-9

110 Hurdles – 1. Nazir Dunnell (MEY) 14.39; *2. Antonio Maletta (AH) 14.54; 3. Jean Porte (HAZ) 15.58; 4. Sam Jones (SCR) 15.7; 5. Will Gianesses (DV) 15.79; 6. Payton Glynn (CRE) 16.15; 7. Spencer Duffield (VV) 16.26; 8. John Sidari (HAZ) 16.55

Long Jump – 1. Zakeem Vassell (WS) 22-2.75; 2. Najese Hood (MEY) 21-11; 3. Erik Bennett (TUN) 21-4; 4. Alex Sharkuski (BER) 21-0.5; 5. Joe Fox (NAN) 21-11.75; 6. JT Tirjan (WAL) 20-8.5; 7. Noah Sorrell (DV) 20-5.75; 8. Caedan Messner (PA) 20-5.5

100 – 1. Rafael McCoy (COU) 10.8; *2. Henry Polanco (HAZ) 10.98; *3. Shawn Sheptock (BER) 11.1; 4. Jeremiah Williams (WVW) 11.14; 5. Matt Horak (WAL) 11.28; 6. Jude Bourdeau (COU) 11.36; 7. Jevani Sancho (WA) 11.36; 8. Juwan Wainwright (SCR) 11.66

Discus – 1. Chris Kryeski (NP) 147-10; 2. Ryan Flynn (AH) 146-8; 3. Chance Smith (WAL) 144-4; 4. Michael Anderson (DAL) 134-10; 5. Mike McDonough (WAL) 130-1; 6. Ricky Kryeski (NP) 129-6; 7. Jevone Young (COU) 128-1; 8. Cole Gorham (WVW) 127-9

Javelin – 1. Matt Prebola (TUN) 192-10; *2. Joey Scarfalloto (HON) 188-1; *3. Scott Campbell (HAZ) 180-3; 4. Dominic Deluca (WA) 167-10; 5. Noah Meckes (CRE) 159-5; 6. Matt Maransky (DAL) 158-2; 7. Jonathan DeBellis (HAZ) 157-0; 8. Jack Chilson (TUN) 156-4

1600 – 1. Tyler Wirth (WAL) 4:16.84; 2. Josh Christianson (SCR) 4:32.69; 3. Stephen Haggerty (AH) 4:33.2; 4. Caleb Kenyon (NP) 4:40.81; 5. Nathan Myers (TUN) 4:42.51; 6. Dieter Burckes (WAL) 4:47.51; 7. Michael McCann (WVW) 4:47.81; 8. Dominick Angradi (PA) 4:47.81

Pole Vault – 1. Dalton Yeust (TUN) 14-0; 2. Matt Maransky (DAL) 13-6; 3. Connor Barnes (TUN) 12-6; 4. Trevor Grohowski (NAN) 12-0; 5T. Trenton Zavada (COU) 11-6; 5T. Matt Shipton (CRE) 11-6; 7. Nick Klapatch (AH) 11-6; 8. Dylan Price (CRE) 11-0

Triple Jump – 1. Najese Hood (MEY) 43-3.75; 2. Ignacio Diaz (HAZ) 43-1.75; 3. George Ellis (SCR) 43-0.75; 4. Erik Bennett (TUN) 42-4.25; 5. Zakeen Vassell (WS) 41-4.5; 6. Zach O’Brien (NP) 40-.3.75; 7. Angel Cruz (HAZ) 39-10.5; 8. Infinite Campbell (DV) 39-7

400 – 1. Michael Bradley (HAZ) 50.52; 2. Darryn Ouk (DV) 50.69; 3. James Carrubba (WAL) 52.08; 4. Kyle Franek (HAZ) 53.34; 5. Peter McDermott (WAL) 53.58; 6. Isaac Clark (TUN) 54.21; 7. Issac Cavill (PA) 54.52; 8. Warren Seigendall (HAZ) 54.59

400 Relay – 1. Coughlin (Antwan Dates-Gray, Jude Bourdeau, Damon Jones, Rafael McCoy) 43.464; 2. Wallenpaupack 43.47; 3. Hazleton Area 43.48; 4. Scranton 44.55; 5. Dallas 44.72; 6. Berwick 44.85; 7. Valley View 44.91; 8. Wyoming Valley West 44.94

300 Hurdles – 1. Antonio Maletta (AH) 39.34; *2. Nazir Dunell (MEY) 39.8; 3. Shervin Mokhtari (AH) 40.75; 4. Gabriel Springer (WAL) 41.35; 5. Ben Fife (DAL) 41.67; 6. Jean Porte (HAZ) 41.89; 7. Avery McAuliffe (WS) 42.13; 8. Will Gianesses (DV) 42.56

Shot Put – 1. Michael Anderson (DAL) 52-3.25; 2. Jevone Young (COU) 48-6.25; 3. Bailey Loureiro (WS) 44-7.5; 4. Giovanni Caparo (NP) 44-7; 5. Dallas Soloman (HAZ) 44-1.75; 6. Joey Scarafallato (HON) 42-11; 7. Jetli Tang (SCR) 42-3.75; 8. Dustin Moss (NP) 42-0

200 – 1. Rafael McCoy (COU) 22.23; 2. Shawn Sheptock (BER) 22.61; 3. Darryn Ouk (DV) 22.92; 4. Henry Polanco (HAZ) 23.17; 5. Alex Solano (DAL) 23.18; 6. Vinzenzo Scotto (WA) 23.75

800 Run – 1. Tyler Wirth (WAL) 1:58.67; 2. Jack Monte (WAL) 1:59.89; 3. Peter Sayre (TUN) 2:01.91; 4. Ethan Mattox (AH) 2:02.79; 5. Angel Rodriguez (MEY) 2:03.59; 6. Nick Lancaster (WAL) 2:03.61; 7. Nick Brown (CRE) 2:04.1; 8. Gabe McKittick (HAZ) 2:07.37

3200 – 1. Josh Christianson (SCR) 9:50.05; 2. Mitchell Rome (DAL) 9:50.19; 3. Stephen Haggerty (AH) 10:10.31; 4. Tavian McKenna (WVW) 10:12.34; 5. Kyle Kellstrom (WAL) 10:15.56; 6. Caleb Kenyon (COU) 10:21.65; 7. Adam Kanterman (DV) 10:22.55; 8. Bobby Earley (HAZ) 10:25.55

1600 Relay – 1. Wallenpaupack 3:27.22; 2. Abington Heights 3:30.24; 3. Hazleton Area 3:30.89; 4. Tunkhannock 3:35.15; 5. Meyers 3:41.8; 6. Delaware Valley 3:41.82; 7. Pittston Area 3:42.55; 8. Scranton 3:43.3

* — PIAA State Qualifying Standard

PIAA SCRATCHES – 800: Wirth (WAL), replaced by Monte (WAL)

Coughlin’s Rafael McCoy, right, beats out second-place finisher Henry Polanco of Hazleton Area to win the boys 100-meter dash in the District 2 Class 3A track and field championships on Thursday at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL051719D2Track3Aboys_2.jpg.optimal.jpgCoughlin’s Rafael McCoy, right, beats out second-place finisher Henry Polanco of Hazleton Area to win the boys 100-meter dash in the District 2 Class 3A track and field championships on Thursday at Scranton Memorial Stadium. Billl Tarutis | For Times Leader

Photo of Wil-Time Event Management’s video of Coughlin’s Rafael McCoy, center, leaning across the finish line ahead of runners from Wallenpaupack, top, and Hazleton Area in the Crusaders’ win in the boys 400 relay at the District 2 Class 3A track and field championships on Thursday at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL051719D2Track3Aboys_3.jpg.optimal.jpgPhoto of Wil-Time Event Management’s video of Coughlin’s Rafael McCoy, center, leaning across the finish line ahead of runners from Wallenpaupack, top, and Hazleton Area in the Crusaders’ win in the boys 400 relay at the District 2 Class 3A track and field championships on Thursday at Scranton Memorial Stadium. Billl Tarutis | For Times Leader

Meyers’ Nazir Dunell, left, beats out Abington Heights’ Antonio Maletta to win the boys 110-meter hurdles in the District 2 Class 3A track and field championships on Thursday at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL051719D2Track3Aboys_1.jpg.optimal.jpgMeyers’ Nazir Dunell, left, beats out Abington Heights’ Antonio Maletta to win the boys 110-meter hurdles in the District 2 Class 3A track and field championships on Thursday at Scranton Memorial Stadium. Billl Tarutis | For Times Leader

By Jay Monahan

For Times Leader