CB West Relays: Bucks’ Sprint Medley Relay in rare form

DOYLESTOWN >> Add Luke Benson to an already strong sprint medley group that includes Roman Katona, Alan Zlotin and Blake Ewaskey, and the result is something special.
On Saturday afternoon at the Central Bucks West Relays, the Bucks foursome blazed to a winning time of 3 minutes, 31.70 seconds, currently the top time in the state this spring and 12th best in the nation.
“That’s pretty cool. It’s a good feeling,” Benson said. “That was awesome. That’s the first time I’ve been a part of that relay. We did really well together.
“Everybody’s improving,” Benson said of the team. “We had some time trials during the week and everybody’s improving. Everybody’s feeling good, healthy. We’re doing very well and I’m excited to see what our guys can do going towards the future.”
West’s fortunes in the sprint medley were part of a strong showing overall, as area squads ran through rain in the morning and under sunny skies in the afternoon to begin their final push towards the postseason.”
“This is always cool,” Benson said of the home event. “Last year was my first year running track so it was my first CB West Relays. It’s always a cool event. We get a lot of good schools here and a lot of good competition.
“It’s all relays so it’s teamwork. You get a chance to get hyped with your relay team and really get after it.”
Katona, Zlotin, Benson and Ewaskey bested a top five that included Abington Friends (3:36.50), La Salle (3:38.65), Quakertown (3:47.41) and Central Bucks East (3:48.26).
“We were looking for the meet record (3:30.84) but we fell short. That’s fine — Blake had to run by himself for a while and that just happens,” Benson said. “But we did really well together and the handoffs were okay. I was excited about it.”
The North Penn girls won comfortably in the distance medley, a foursome of Rachel Ahlmark, Alayna Faison, Anahita Eshragi and Jaime Diedel putting together a winning time of 13 minutes, .61 seconds.
“I wanted to get a good 800 split and then finish with whatever I had left,” said Ahlmark, who put the Knights in the lead with her leadoff 1,200. “We don’t really run the DMR as much but it was fun to get one in.
“For the 400 leg, you get a sprinter (Faison) in there, which makes it really fun, to mix the distance and sprinter girls. We’re excited to keep building.”
Abington Friends continues to build, notching a nationals-qualifying time (3:36.50) along with CB West in the sprint medley.
Seniors Taalib Holloman, Sam Shally, Chase Balik and Jack Balik surged to a second-place finish.
“For a year and a half, they’ve been talking about when they’re seniors, what they might be able to do,” coach Kyle Rankin said. “They’ve bought in, worked hard, and they’ve come to recognize that it’s not a one-season sport, that it’s a three- or four-season sport.
“And the dividends are paying off.”
Double winners in the field included CB West’s Kevin Guevara, who threw 139-7 in the discus and 49-11.25 in the shot put, and Souderton Area’s Maria Deaviz, who threw 117-8 in the discus and 43-4.25 in the shot.