All-Delco Boys Track & Field: Abeeb stood alone among county jumpers
In addition to Athlete of the Year Elias Lindgren of Episcopal Academy, the All-Delco team includes:
Dayo Abeeb, Strath Haven: Simply put, Abeeb was the best triple jumper in the county over the last two seasons. The two-time All-Delco won the District 1 Class 3A title and capped his senior season with a silver medal performance at the PIAA championships with a personal best leap of 47 feet, 8 inches. In the last 15 years that’s second only to Wellington Zaza’s winning jump at the 2012 PIAA championships (50-0½). Abeeb finished ninth in the triple jump at the Penn Relays and won both the long and triple jumps at the Central League championships, taking the long jump title with a career best 22-11¼.
Jarnail Dhillon, Upper Darby: Dhillon came into his own as an 800-meter runner as a senior. He opened the season with a win at the Jim Kelly Invitational and improved as the season progressed. He placed third in the event at the Delco Championships, seventh at the District 1 Class 3A championships and capped his season with an eighth place at the PIAA Class 3A championships with a personal best time of 1:55.68. He led off Upper Darby’s 4 x 400-meter relay team (Sydney Turner, Richard Moore and Gbarwho Flahn) that won the Central League title and took third at the district championships to earn a trip to Shippensburg for the state meet.
Cooper Driscoll, Strath Haven: For a guy who plans to play basketball at MIT, the 6-5 Driscoll was pretty good in the throwing events. He finished first in the county in the javelin (161-8), second in the discus (139-0) and fifth in the shot put (46-9½). That was enough to earn him All-Delco honors for the second year in a row. He won the Delco title in the javelin, was second in the shot put and third in the javelin. Driscoll medaled in all three events at the Central League championships, taking second in the shot and third in the discus and javelin.
Gbarwho Flahn, Upper Darby: Not many athletes can master the 200- and 400-meter dashes. Flahn did. He won both events at the Delco Championships and was ranked second in the 400 and third in the 200 by the end of the season. The junior won the Delco title in the 400 with a personal best time of 49.29 seconds and also ran the anchor leg of Upper Darby’s 4 x 400-meter relay team that captured the Central League championship and was third at the District 1 Class 3A championships.
Zach Forney, Ridley: Three straight wins in the 1,600-meter run to start the season at the Rustin Invitational, a tri-meet with Lower Merion and Penncrest and the Haverford Invitational set the tone for a solid senior season. Forney saved his best for the District 1 championships when he ran a personal best 4:21.38 to take third in the Class 3A 1,600-meter run to earn his first trip to the state meet where he was 14th in the preliminary round. Forney also won the Central League title in the metric mile and was second in the event at Delcos.
Christian Gallagher, Penncrest: Longtime Penncrest coach George Munro has a history of producing good pole vaulters and Gallagher is the latest success story. The senior saved his best for last with a vault of 12-0 to win the title at the Central League championships. Gallagher also took fourth in the event to help the Lions to their first county title since the 1980s.
Owen Galligan, Springfield: If the District 1 Class 3A championships truly where the last meet of his career, Galligan went out with a bang. He finished sixth in the discus with a personal best throw of 148-4. That was more than three feet better than his previous best. The discus, though, wasn’t his only event. Galligan also threw the shot put and javelin for the Cougars. He will attend Villanova under the school’s Marine Corps Reserve Officers Training Program (ROTC), where he hopes to be involved in ground intelligence.
Tony Graham, Ridley: Graham picked up quite a bit of bling in his junior season, capped by a sixth-place medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the PIAA Class 3A championships with a personal best time of 14.79 seconds. Along the way Graham was the Delco and Central League champ in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles. He followed that up with a third-place finish in the 300 hurdles and a fifth-place finish in the 110s at the District 1 championships to earn a trip to the state meet in both events.
Daiyaah Hawkins, Haverford School: The sophomore was the top sprinter in the county. He ranked first in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes and, winning both events at the Inter-Ac League championships. Hawkins saved his best for last. He ran a personal best and meet record time of 10.85 seconds in the 100 to win his first Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association title. He followed that up with a PR in the 200 (21.87) to take home a silver medal. He also helped the Fords win the PAISAA 4 x 100 championship for the second year in a row.
Petey Lemmon, Haverford School: Improvement was the story of Lemmon’s junior season in the shot put. He got a little better each week and capped the campaign with a personal best heave of 52-1¼ to take second at the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association championships. That broke the 49-10 he threw the week earlier to take third at the Inter-Ac League championships. Lemmon will be part of a strong core with the Fords next season along with Hawkins and Dan Whaley.
Alton McKenley, Bonner & Prendergast: McKenley came oh-so-close to breaking Dick Hazzard’s 70-year-old county record in the long jump (23 feet, 11½ inches) when he leaped 23-11 to win the event at the inaugural Panther Open at Strat Haven. He showed off his versatility by winning the 400-meter run that day. McKenley went on to win the long jump title at Delcos, take third in the event at the Catholic League championships and fifth at the District 12 Class 3A championship meet.
Derrick Patrick, Cardinal O’Hara: Until the end of April, Patrick was primarily a hurdler and relay runner for the Lions until head coach James Williams decided to have Patrick try the long jump. It was a good move. The junior leaped 20 feet, 2 inches to win the event at the fifth Catholic League meet of the season. He went on to capture the Catholic League title with a personal best jump of 22-7 and finished third at the District 12 Class 3A championships (22-1 ½) to punch his ticket to the state meet. Patrick, Mac Mandeh, Obinna Iherjirka,and Quasir Cottman made up O’Hara’s 4 x 100-meter relay team that qualified for the PIAA Class 3A championships with a second-place finish at the District 12 championships.
Aiden Tomov, Haverford High: Only Lindgren had a better time in the 1,600 than Tomov, and only by 2.58 seconds. The junior took third at the Delco championships, sixth at the District 1 Class 3A championships and 11th at the PIAA championships. He ran a personal best time 4:20.92 in the preliminary round at the state meet to advance to the final. Tomov teamed with Brendan Campbell, Erik McCallion and Josh Fingerhut to take third in the 4 x 800 at the District 1 Class 3A championships and 11th at the state meet.
Dan Whaley, Haverford School: It was a year for records at The Haverford School and Whaley established the school mark in the 400 (48.90) to win his first Inter-Ac League crown. It was his third victory of the season. He also was first at the Haverford Invitational and the 34th annual Pennsylvania Track Classic. The junior closed out his season with a second-place finish in the 400 at the PAISAA championships.
Ethan Zeh, Radnor: The breakthrough for Zeh came early in the season when he ran his first sub-two minute 800 (1:56.51) to win the event at the 48th annual Track & Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia Spring Invitational. He would cap his season with a sixth-place finish in the 800 at the PIAA Class 3A championships with a personal best time of 1:54.88, eighth-best in the county over the last 15 years and just .24 seconds off the school mark. The junior also was sixth at the District 1 championships, first at the Central League meet and second at Delcos.
