Christopher Dock boys, girls win AA titles at District 1 Championships
CALN >> Members of the Christopher Dock boys track and field team calmly got into formation, posing for a group shot with the District One Class AA trophy.
Austin Kratz, however, came racing over, going right down onto the turf as if he were sliding into home plate. A big smile on his face, sprawled out in the front row, he happily held up the prize.
“It’s one of the greatest feelings ever, considering we’ve only won it once before,” Kratz said moments earlier, speaking of the Pioneers capturing the district crown, the second one in the program’s history and first since 2012. “And just having so many people out with the team this year — I think we had more boys than girls for the first time in five years, it feels so great that we were able to do this and take it home to our school.”
Umbrellas, rain coats and ponchos dotted the stands and infield of rainy Coatesville Area High on Saturday, but all Dock was needed was a broom, its resounding sweep of Class AA on the boys and girls side both impressive and quite balanced.
The Dock boys, led by Kratz’s victories in the 100 and 200 dashes as well as the long jump, helped the Pioneers rack up 146 points, pushing them past second-place Church Farm (97.5) for top honors.
“I only had one P.R. but I really felt like I ran really good today,” Kratz said. “It just feels good going into next week, hoping I can do even better at states.”
Tim Kennel got things started for the Pioneers on Saturday by racing to a victory in the 3,200, and then Josh Wolfe soon took over, bolting to a pair of wins in the 110 and 300 hurdles.
The 4×400 relay provided the capper, as Wolfe, Colin Bernd, Ian Anderson and Kratz teamed up for a gold-medal time of 3:29.99.
“What iced this meet was the 4×4 running the way they did,” Pioneer coach Tim Eger said. “That was very cool — I was very excited for both of them.”
The Dock girls foursome of Niki Clements, Abigail Woods, Maddison Landis and Haley Anderson raced home to victory, providing the finishing touches on the Pioneers’ third consecutive Class AA team title.
The Dock girls overcame a solid effort by New Hope-Solebury, 157-123.
“This is probably the hardest district championship we’ve worked for here,” Eger said. “New Hope gave us a heck of a run. They had the numbers, and that’s what had won it for us in years past. This year, just kept putting kids in the right place. And that was the plan.”
Anderson triple jumped to a gold out in the field. leaping 35-6.75, and on the track, Clements was able to put an earlier-season quad injury behind her, gutting out a victory in the 300 hurdles.
“She’s a gamer,” Eger said. “She had some nagging injuries all season and even some that were left over from a great soccer season. But Niki, she was ready for today. She’s ready for meets like this. That’s where she shines.”
“We needed the points,” Clements said of the 300’s. “Since I was in it, I figured I might as well go all out.”
The Pioneers have built quite a legacy at districts. Said Clements: “We were looking to keep the reputation.”
And the Dock boys have now built one themselves, as both look to make a run at states next week.
“We also have a chance to win that right now,” Kratz said, “because we have four events that we could win. I would have the biggest smile ever if we won states — that would be the greatest thing.”
Several gold-medal efforts from the area sweetened things in Class AAA, with the Cheltenham girls running away to their fourth straight crown.
The Pennridge boys, keyed by their first-place 4×800 relay team (Solomon Araneta, Matt Eissler, Jeff Espinal, Tucker Desko) earned runner-up honors in Class AAA, behind champion Downingtown West.
Souderton Area’s Stephen Scott raced to gold in the 300 hurdles and teammate Shamar Jenkins was a champion in the field, leaping 21-11 in the long jump.
The North Penn girls 4×800 relay foursome of Phoebe Clowser, Jenna Webb, Ariana Gardizy and Mikaela Vlasic earned the gold medal in the morning, with Uche Nwogwugwu following that up in the afternoon with a gold medal in the 400 dash.
Pennridge’s Kouri Peace is on her way to quite a career, as the freshman raced to gold-medal honors in the 200 dash, while Central Bucks West’s Maddie Villalba enjoyed her final districts as a Buck, racing to her third straight 800 title.
“It was very nerve-racking (coming down the final stretch). I kind of felt like my legs were shot,” Villalba said, smiling aferwards. “I just finished as best I could. Whenever you have that situation, both competitors (along with Penn Wood’s Agnes Mansaray) are gonna run fast.
“The good thing about that it, you have two girls working really hard.”
