North Penn fast out of the blocks in win over Pennridge

EAST ROCKHILL >> Cold temperatures and blustery winds are typical for Opening Day on the track, but several of the times and marks posted by the North Penn and Pennridge boys track and field teams on Wednesday are not.

The Knights and Rams looked ahead of schedule in many areas, each pushing the other to some outstanding performances in the Suburban One League Colonial Division opener for both squads.

Defending Champion North Penn showed why it wears the crown, pulling away to a 97-53 win at chilly Helman Field.

“You look and you see a bunch of district-qualifying marks, which is always good on a day like today,” Knights coach Jay Jones said. “I was really pleased with how they competed.”

North Penn swept the relays and won 10 of the 11 events on the track. Pennridge’s Joey Gant continued to dazzle in the 100-meter dash.

The Knights’ Devin Nugent surged to a first place in the 400 and also showed his versatility with a victory in the 300 hurdles.

Points came from several different sources.

“It was a good meet collectively,” Jones said. “The field events kids held serve in a lot of cases and did very well.”

Xavier Boothe-Bryan hurdled to victory in the 110’s and also placed third in the high jump for NP.

Colin Fisher won the 800, Gavin Zanck took the 16, and sophomore Sacchith Miryalkar braved the windy turns for a victory in the 32.

“With about 1,200 to go, I knew I had to wind it up,” Miryalkar said. “At the 800 mark, I really started kicking it. They were on me, and then with four minutes to go, I really started moving it. I had a good gap on them.”

Miryalkar, also a contributor on the winning 4×8, held off Pennridge’s Ryan Martin for the top spot in the two mile.

“Really excited to get it going,” Miryalkar said.

The Rams displayed their strength in the field, primarily the shot put, where Roberto Wallace threw 46-4.5 to get the win.

“When you go against North Penn, in a dual meet especially, they’re just loaded across the board,” Rams coach Craig Stephens said. “We just tried to hold our own and I think we did so, especially in the field. We had a lot of good points. There were some events here today that were state-final quality.

“To hang with them, it’s a snapshot of where we are right now. We have some room for improvement, some areas of weakness and a lot of areas of strength.”

Both squads will compete at the North Penn Invite on Saturday.