HS TRACK AND FIELD NOTES: LTC athletes shattered school records at Spagna meet

A combination of glorious spring weather and intense competition brought out the best in athletes from the Lackawanna Track Conference.

There were 28 school records set among the performances in the 36 girls and boys events at the Robert Spagna Championship meet at Scranton Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday.

Montrose senior Chloe Diaz and North Pocono junior Kaitlyn Kravitz each set two individual event marks to highlight the girls meet that had 19 school records broken.

West Scranton senior Colin Manley, who helped his team to its first conference meet championship since 1962, beat a long-standing school mark in the 300-meter hurdles. His gold-medal time of 40.20 eclipsed the time of 40.64 set in 1993 by Chris Evans, giving the Invaders even more to celebrate on their historic night.

Diaz made an impressive individual effort. Her school record in the 100-meter hurdles of 14.92 beat her best time from last year and the school record of 15.25 from 2022. It is also the No. 1 time in the state among Class 2A athletes as the track and field season heads into district championship week.

Her win in the 100 hurdles stood out in a race where two competitors also broke their school’s records. Mid Valley’s Natalie Talluto had a time of 15.70 to beat her own mark of 15.84 set earlier this spring, and Eyinah Smith had a time of 16.19 to beat the Scranton school record of 16.24 set in 2005 by Maria Baker.

In addition, Diaz won the 300 hurdles with a school-record time of 46.96, beating her time of 47.20 she ran at the Lasagna Invitational this season.

“I am really excited,” Diaz said. “I wasn’t sure that I had it in me to go 14 in the 100 hurdles or to break the school records, but I am glad that I pushed myself.”

Kravitz is now the most decorated sprinter in North Pocono history.

She broke the school record with her gold medal-winning time of 12.65 in the 100. That beat the previous mark of 12.74 set in 1998 by Maurella Walls.

Earlier this season, Kravitz beat Walls’ record in the 200 and beat her school record with a time of 25.65 to claim another gold medal.

Then, she ran a leg of the North Pocono 400 relay team that set a school record with a time of 50.77, which beat the mark of 50.84 set in 1995.

Two other athletes set school records in the 200 with Kravitz. Mid Valley’s Mae Kaufman beat her record of 26.68 with a time of 26.59, and Mountain View’s Rhys Evans beat her time of 27.74 with a record of 27.41.

Mid Valley’s Victor Holt, who helped lead the Spartans to the boys Class 2A team championship, set a school record in his win in the 200. He had a time of 22.58, which beat the previous mark of 22.74 set in 2013 by Quinn Tomcho.

Power performers

Valley View’s Emma Miller and Wallenpaupack’s Erika Badner finished first and second in the girls javelin, respectively, and both broke school records.

Miller launched a gold-medal-winning throw of 126 feet, 9 inches. That outdistanced her school record of 122-11, which she set this spring in a dual meet against Scranton.

“I went into the meeting set on getting a throw out there,” Miller said. “I’ve been working hard on Sundays with my coach Barry Krammes as well as during the school week with my coach Willie Rebar, who have been keeping in contact with each other to better support me as an athlete.

“I had really good competition, and it’s really fun to throw in meets with girls who I’ve been friends with throughout the years across multiple sports.”

Badner had a throw of 125-4 that earned a silver medal and broke the school record of 119-5 set in 2021 by Catherine Mancino.

Miller’s record throw came as part of a big night for Valley View in the javelin.

Robbie Nolan won the boys javelin with a career-best mark of 184-10. The javelin was the only event where athletes from the same school won both the boys and girls individual gold medals.

“It was a beautiful day, and I wanted to take full advantage of the weather we had because we don’t usually get days like this,” Nolan said. “I saw that Emma had a monster of a throw, and I had to follow up.”

Speed racers

In the 400 that Kravitz won gold in with a time of 58.12, three athletes broke school records.

Carbondale Area’s Kate Korty beat a record that has stood since 1984. Korty challenged Kravitz to the finish and ran a time of 58.45 to break the school record of 59.64 held by Lisa Delfino.

Lakeland’s Kirsten Navich closed fast, too, and ran a 59.63 that beat the record of 59.94 held by Madison Harding since 2014.

Kaufman, who has all the Mid Valley school records in the sprints, beat the record of 1:01.03 she set in 2023.

Dunmore junior Cory Domiano broke the school record in his win in the boys 400 with a time of 49.78. He broke the record of 49.84 set in 2003 by Jim Ross.

Distance stars

In a tight battle for first place between Honesdale’s Brenna Dahlgren and Abington Heights’ Anna Pucilowski, who set a fast pace, two runners broke their school records.

Mountain View’s Carissa Flynn ran a time of 5:20.82 to beat her best time of 5:22.05 set in 2023. Mid Valley’s Annika Von Ahnen ran a time of 5:27.21, which improved her record of 5:29.84 from earlier this spring.

Lackawanna Trail’s Avery Ronchi broke the school record for boys at 3,200. He ran a time of 10:17.22 to beat the mark of 10:28.24 set by Brayden Clarke in the final regular-season meet this spring.

Mountain View’s Michael Beach ran a record time of 10:19.94 to beat the school record of 10:31.24 set in 2017 by Jeff Virbitsky.

Crusaders star

Holy Cross boys had a pair of conference champions and saw two school records broken.

Matt Lyons broke his record in the high jump with a winning effort of 6-4, which edged his teammate Kevin Vincent, who cleared 6-2. Both beat Lyons’ mark of 6-1 in the regular season.

“It’s great, and I never thought that I would be here at the beginning of the season,” Lyons said. “We don’t get to practice that much not having a track at Holy Cross. I think it is a huge accomplishment — not just me winning, but Kevin coming in second.”

Leland Wudarski finished third in the discus but broke his record with a distance of 138-10. He beat his mark of 135-3 from earlier this season.

Vincent also won a gold medal in the triple jump for the Crusaders, with a leap of 42-8.25.

Relays records

There were five relay teams that set school records at the Spagna meet.

In the 3,200 relay, Lakeland had a time of 10:01.21 to beat the school record of 10:09.21 set in 2019; West Scranton had a time of 11:03.36 to beat the record of 11:14.44 set in 2013.

Mid Valley set a record in the girls 1,600 relay with a time of 4:14.21, which beat the mark of 4:15.88 set at the Jordan Relays, and Mountain View broke its girls school record in the 1,600 relay with a time of 4:21.69.

Susquehanna had a school-record time of 3:34.69 in the 1,600 relay that broke a mark of 3:36.24 set in 1982 and 1989.