Click here to subscribe today or Login.
A winning streak that stretches through a couple of years can turn into a couple different meaningful forms of motivation.
The first, of course, is built around pride from perfection.
The second centers on erasing the past and worrying about the present.
And both points of view can be found in the Wyoming Valley Conference Division II.
That’s where the Holy Redeemer girls track and field team hasn’t lost a league game in six years, and the Northwest boys are coming off two unbeaten regular seasons.
But their viewpoints vary when they talk about the possibility of continuing such dominance.
“Every year’s different,” said Northwest coach Todd Culver, whose boys have gone 7-0 while winning the WVC Division II during each of the last two track seasons. “We just go meet-by-meet, year-by-year.”
The Redeemer girls have gone years without losing a league meet, since dropping from Class 3A to Class 2A in 2009. That stretch of superiority has filled the program with pride, and continues through the years as a rallying cry for Redeemer.
“As a coach, it’s almost like a carrot you can place in front of them – let’s not be the one that gets beat,” Holy Redeemer coach Kevin Walters said. “It’s a good goal to have, especially for these young kids who haven’t tasted defeat yet.
“It’s a good feeling.”
It’s great, when you can re-load like Redeemer.
The Royals may have graduated some valuable point-winners, but they also bring back Olivia Gregorio, a state qualifier in the 800 run, along with speedy Autumn Kaminski and versatile senior Greta Ell.
With solid experience and good depth, they should have little trouble defending their division crown, despite some big names returning to the league.
Meyers sprinter Nalaysia Johnson won fifth-place state medal in the 100 dash as a freshman and could contend for a state championship this season. Lake-Lehman is overpowering in field events, where sophomore Emily Johns won a district championship and narrowly missed a state medal in the discus as a freshman and senior Cayle Spencer already holds the school record in the javelin throw. Wyoming Area has enough depth to make things interesting, but lacks the star power it may need to overtake Redeemer.
“Our goal is to go for another district title,” said Walters, whose Royals won three straight District 2 crowns before finishing third last season.
Northwest’s boys would love to keep pushing past every opponent it encounters with a third straight unbeaten season at the top. It’s just that the goal seems a little more difficult this season.
“We had some big losses to graduation last year,” Culver said.
But the Rangers have some big guns coming back, led by senior Tyler Burger – who has six District 2 Class 2A gold medals in three different events. He comes off a state bronze medal in the 300 hurdles and a sixth-place PIAA finish in the long jump last year, despite being disqualified from the finals of his signature event, the 110 hurdles, for the second time in three trips to states.
“I believe I could have a chance of winning it (this year),” Burger said. “Our team isn’t necessarily that strong, but I believe we have a decent team.”
And that could give Northwest another chance in a boys division rife with individual talent, but short on overall depth.
Lake-Lehman’s Dominic Hockenbury has a chance to generate some dominance of his own.
The state’s premier distance runner won the Class 2A state title in the 3,200as a sophomore last spring, then won the cross country state championship in the fall. While he’s going long, GAR’s Anthony Maurent is in it for the short term. He ran right through a pulled hamstring to win an eighth-place state medal in the 100 dash, then came back less than an hour later to take seventh in the 200 dash during the PIAA Finals. Burger’s biggest obstacle in the hurdles could turn out to be Raheem Twyman of Meyers, who finished sixth in the 300 hurdles at states last season.
“I just feel I have to run my own times and think about myself more than anyone else,” Burger said.
That near-sighted approach could take the Northwest boys pretty far once again.
“Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses,” Culver said. “Lake-Lehman’s good in the distances, and Hockenbury won the state championship last year. Meyers and GAR are good in the sprints. Maurent, he’s a big-time runner. Burger’s main competition is the kid from Meyers, Raheem Twyman. Wyoming Area’s real good in throwing events. We have a group of five or six guys who have been here since seventh grade. Every year, they’ve been challenged for the league title. Every year.”
Looks like more of the same this season.
“I think they show pride,” Culver said of his Rangers. “It’s just a matter of us trying to do the best we can.”