Teamwork does the trick
ADAMS TWP - What started out as a good day for the Seneca Valley girls track and field team kept getting better.
The Raiders used three first-place finishes by Erin Lopresti in the 1,600-meter run, Elexa Baron in the 300 hurdles and Caitlyn Fennello in the pole vault to help the squad claim first place in the girls team standings at Friday's Mars Invitational.
SV's total of 57 points was nine better than DuBois Area's 48. Knoch's girls placed sixth with 31 points.
"I think it would be good for us if we were able to win as a team," said Baron soon after she received her first-place medal in the 300 hurdles (46.98 seconds). "There are so many teams here from all over the place. It's really good competition."
Those were the junior's thoughts roughly 90 minutes before she watched four of her teammates seal the team win by placing second in the 1,600 relay with a time of 4:06.49.
Lopresti was SV's first champion of the day, finishing the 1,600 run in a personal-record time of 5:16.76.
"I didn't run (the 1,600) for varsity until last year," she said. "My previous best was 5:23. I'm more focused on the 800, but was really impressed with my time in the 1,600 today."
The effort also pleased Raiders coach Ray Peaco.
"We use Erin in a lot of events and usually that's not conducive to having a kid run the 1,600," he said. "I'm not sure what she was expecting today, but it was an excellent time."
Fennello topped the field in the pole vault with a height of 9 feet.
"She's capable of going 9-6, but she is consistently getting 9 feet for us," Peaco said.
Seneca Valley's boys also had a good meet, tying DuBois Area for third place with 50 points. North Hills was first with 87.
SV's Zach Francis (triple jump), Cam Stauffer (3,200 run) and the 1,600 relay team all won their respective events.
The last of those three, a squad made up of Hunter Williams, Oliver Philogene, Matt Marchese and Andy Skaggs, received a stiff test from Knoch.
Both teams were included in the event's final heat and when Skaggs, SV's anchor, took the baton from Marchese, the Raiders had about a 15-yard lead on the Knights.
But Knoch junior Paul Kletzli closed the gap and pulled almost even with Skaggs on the back straightaway.
As both runners neared the home stretch, Skaggs gained a bit of breathing room and held off Kletzli.
The final times were 3:28.46 for SV and 3:28.51 for Knoch.
"I felt him right behind me the whole time," Skaggs said of Kletzli, who was teamed with Steve Snow, Andrew Rumburg-Goodlin and Phil Kletzli. "But I knew I could hold him off around that final turn."
"It was stupid of me to try and pass (Skaggs) there," said Paul Kletzli, pointing to the end of the backstretch. "I was just trying to do what I could for the team, but I came up a bit short."
Francis took the triple jump with a leap of 43 feet and Stauffer won the 3,200 in 9:42.36.
• Also bringing home a first-place medal was Karns City's Amber Saunders, who managed a 5-2 in the girls high jump."My best is 5-3 and I got that (Wednesday) against Moniteau," she said. "When it's warm like it is today, it's a lot easier to stay loose."Saunders will attempt to defend her Pine-Richland Invitational high jump title next Friday.• Though the Freeport boys did not earn first place in any event Friday, they had a strong showing just a few days after clinching their section's title for the first time since 2006.Nick Gentile was second in the 800 run (1:58.66) and John Douglas took runner-up in the shot put (50-4½)."Everybody knew we could do it," Mitch Shaw, who competed in the 200 dash Friday, said of his team's section crown. "Everyone just stepped up and we came together as a team."• Summit Academy's John Jenkins won the Boys Field MVP Award after earning 14 points with a second-place finish in the long jump (22-2) and a third-place effort in the high jump (6-0).
