Pennridge gives balanced effort in win over rival Souderton
FRANCONIA >> Pennridge depth showed up in many places on the track and in the field on Tuesday, as the Rams earned points in several different ways in pulling away to a 89-61 victory over rival Souderton.
“In this league, any time you get a win, it’s a nice thing,” said Rams coach Craig Stephens of the tough Suburban One League Colonial Division. “We have a good, solid team – no real weaknesses. I like how we filled some holes but there are still some gaps we need to fill.”
Pennridge was outstanding in the long jump, as the Rams swept the event and had three competitors jump 20 feet or more. Carter Arnaiz (21-5), Jared Hess (21-2) and Nick Rosica (20-0) went one, two, three.
Matt Shuck threw 140-9 to win the discus and the Rams swept the 100 dash even without standout Joey Gant, who was at Princeton, where he’s headed to next season.
“They ran well on the track and had some real good jumps. The jumps were solid, the throws were solid,” said Stephens. “The hurdlers are coming along and the pole vaulters are coming along, and that’s an area where we had nothing in the beginning of the season.
“We gotta get a little tougher in the 400, and the fours and eights as a whole – the meet of the lineup.”
Pennridge wrapped up the meet with a tremendous performance in the triple, as Michael Muireuri (37-11), Jhoa Hernandez (36-10) and Joe Curran (36-8) captured first, second and third. Overall, the Rams won 10 of the 18 events and piled up the seconds and thirds.
“They’re young guys too. I knew coming in, we had a whole lot of quality seniors. But it’s the young guys that have surprised me,” said Stephens.
Standing out for host Big Red was the versatile Dekai Averett, who hurdled to victories in the 110’s (15.22) and 300’s (42.66) and also bolted to a win in the 200 dash (23.09). He was also on the winning 4×4 (3:41.96) to cap things off.
“Overall, it was a really good day,” Averett said. “The 300 hurdles – we’ve been working a lot on that. It’s not a great event for me so we’re constantly trying to improve in that. The 110’s felt like a really messy race but I’ve just become so much quicker as an athlete. My coach and I have just been working on speed stuff, after working on tons of fitness in the fall and in the winter. Now, it’s just speed, speed, speed.
“Even though I’m having some of these races that are hard technical-wise, I’m having some of my best times just because I’m so much quicker to the hurdle and between the hurdles and off the hurdle so it’s having a massive effect.”
Averett shined this past weekend at the Pirate Invite (Palisades), where he posted the fourth-best time in the state this spring with a stellar 14.79 in the 110’s.
“That’s what happens when the race is quick and smooth,” he said. “If I can continue to tap into the smoothness and hit that first hurdle right, I’m gonna continue to run sub-15’s.”
“I think we’re really gonna see some special stuff from him,” coach Jim Stevenson said. “Our fitness is coming to fruition, and we’re seeing that across the board.”
Pennridge 89, Souderton 61
100: Chase Marshall (P) 11.39; 110 hurdles: Dekai Averett (S) 15.22; 200: Averett (S) 23.09; 300 hurdles: Averett (S) 42.66; 400: Mateo Barrera (S) 53.40; 800: Luke Bailey (P) 2:06.84; 1,600: Ryan Martin (P) 4:44.96; 3,200: Immanuel Rota-Talarico (S) 10:41.57; 4×100: Pennridge, 44.76; 4×400: Souderton, 3:41.96; 4×800: Pennridge, 8:38.07; Discus: Matt Shuck (P) 140-9; High Jump: Carter Arnaiz (P) 5-8; Javelin: Jared Zimmerman (S) 129-2; Long Jump: Arnaiz (P) 21-5; Pole Vault: Will Stover (S) 11-0; Shot Put: Jack Price (P) 41-1; Triple Jump: Michael Muireuri (P) 37-11.
