District 1 Championships: Team titles for Dock boys and girls, Cheltenham girls

CALN >> From rebuild to repeat…

“I had 28 rookies come out for this team, between the guys and the girls,” Dock coach Tim Eger said Saturday afternoon. “We were kind of starting over in a lot of ways.”

But it is still finishing up in much the same fashion. The Dock boys and girls track squads — with several new faces populating the lineup — still produced double trophies this weekend out at Coatesville Area High, as the Pioneers pulled off a District 1-2A sweep for the second consecutive season.

“I was just really impressed when I started to see the kids notch district qualifiers, and at that point, it’s like ‘where are we? What can we do?’” said Eger, who has guided the Pioneer girls to five titles in the past six years and the boys to four district crowns in the past eight seasons. “My girls came out and they battled. I was very, very proud of them today.

“The boys got that 4×1 team through (to states), and Austin Nice, he’s just a monster.”

Nice dashed to a gold medal in the 100 meters, crossing in 11.52 seconds, long jumped to another gold with a leap of 21 feet, 7 inches, and anchored home the first-place 4×1, joining Thomas Schreiber, Roman Kuhn and Bryce Kauffman to go 44.81, out-kicking second-place Girard College (44.88).

“Our 4×1 making it to states is crazy. We didn’t expect that at all,” Nice said. “I was coming in not expecting too much because I had been dealing with an injury for the past couple weeks.

“But to be able to come out with three wins and a bronze (in the 4×4) is really nice.”

Xander Duerksen threw to a second-place finish in the javelin (151-2) and a third-place finish in the shot put (40-10.5). Adam Berry was second in the discus (113-3). The points began to pile up for Dock, which outscored runner-up Church Farm 120.5-101.

“It feels pretty good, being able to repeat and win three times in the past four years,” said Nice, a senior. “We didn’t have Austin (Kratz, who is now at Arizona State) but we were still able to pull it off so that was great.

“We had a lot of freshmen come out and a lot of them knew what we did last year and how successful we were. So they really wanted to continue that success and they were really helpful for us in this district meet and the whole season.”

The Dock girls combined their efforts to overcome a balanced St. Basil squad, 143-137, for the top spot.

“It is so awesome, being part of this team and being able to go out and run a good race,” said Dock’s Elle Bergey, who surged to third in the 800 with her career-best time and led off the silver-medal 4×8 team, joining Olivia Mercure, Isabela Rodriguez and Lauren Birch.

Out in the field, Kate Landis threw 105 in the javelin to capture the title for Dock and Audrey Schweizerhof threw to a silver in the shot put with a mark of 32-10.25. Dock racked up the points in the 100 hurdles, as Clara Benner, Kate Landis and Laura Frederick went two, three and four.

“It’s been a pretty special time,” Eger said of Dock’s run at districts.

Panther Pride

The Cheltenham girls made it seven titles in a row in Class 3A, outscoring second-place Coatesville 65-50.

“I really love Cheltenham and my team. Ever since I came here, we’ve really been a team,” said Bria Barnes, who won the 400 in 54.40 and the 200 in 24.46. “We’re all close. So I feel that really helps us to be close. I’m glad to be a part of this team, making history like this.”

Barnes was at her best on Saturday.

“It’s a blessing. This year, I was really focused on my goal and helping my team out,” she said. “To come here and finally be a district champion, it’s such a blessing. I’m so happy and excited and looking forward to next weekend (at states).

“I knew I wanted it and I knew I had to do what I’ve been training to do all year. I was using my workouts and my family and friends helped me.”

Also instrumental for the Panthers was Brianna Smith, who was second in both the 100 and 300 hurdles.

This Buck Doesn’t Stop

It was quite a day for Central Bucks West’s Blake Ewaskey, who teamed up with Owen Shields, Christian Crabtree and Luke Fehrman for a gold medal in the 4×8 (7:47.22), along with winning the 800 (1:54.78), holding off Council Rock South’s Collin Ochs (1:54.88) at the finish.

“I felt him coming,” Ewaskey said. “Ochs is a great runner and I was just happy to beat him today, because on any other given day, he could get me at any point. It being my first year, it means a lot, because even though it’s my first year, I put a lot of hard work into the season and it was just a fun way to finish for the district and get a good start on states for next week.

“The 4×8 was a fun one. I knew I just had to trust my guys to get me in a good position and we were able to pull it off. And it was just a fun race. We’re excited for states, this being the first year we’re all really running together, being very close with each other, and it’s gonna make it a lot of fun when we’re up there.”

Ewaskey also went on to anchor the 4×4 team to a silver, with a time of 3:18.22.

Holding Their Own

Remarkably, Jenkintown took the top three spots in the 2A boys 3,200, paced by gold medalist Jack Miller (9:35.68). Pat Wagner (10:16.73) and Carter Geer (10:27.80) raced to second and third.

Meanwhile, Faith Christian’s Joshua Forker earned multiple golds in 2A boys, getting over 6-6 in the high jump and crossing in 15.30 seconds in the 110 hurdles.

Cheltenham’s Mason Jones was first in the 3A event, finishing in 14.93. North Penn’s Samir Razi was a bronze medalist in the 3A 3,200, crossing in 9:29.48.

In the sprints, Central Bucks West’s Luke Benson gave defending champion Savion Hebron of Neshaminy a challenge in the 100 dash, claiming the silver with a time of 10.83, and Norristown’s Taliyah James was second in the girls event with a 12.30.

In the 3A girls triple jump, Upper Dublin’s Peyton Kullman (37-10) and North Penn’s Anais Williams (37-8.5) leaped to second and third.

Pennridge’s Ashley Gordon surged to second place in the 1,600, running a 5:04.45.

Miller won his second gold for Jenkintown, crossing first in the 800 with a time of 1:59.79. Luke Miller won the 16 for the Drakes, crossing in 4:35.67.

Freshman Alina LaForest was outstanding for Basil, winning the 2A 400 in 57.07 and the 800 in 2:19.01.

Hatboro-Horsham’s Caleb Ryu is a district champion, thanks to his time of 48.87 in the 3A 400, and North Penn’s Anais Williams hurdled to the gold in the 300’s, pushing to 44.28.