North Penn boys and girls capture SOL Colonial team titles

BUCKINGHAM — North Penn athletes reached the medal stand throughout Saturday morning and afternoon by running, sprinting, hurdling, jumping, throwing and vaulting.

They all returned to the medal stand at the end of the day, huddled around as division champions.

“They’ve had a great season all along and they were just grinding through. They had some ups, some downs, a little adversity here and there, but they’re great kids and they did a good job today. I’m very proud of them,” said NP boys coach Jay Jones.

“Our kids competed really well,” North Penn girls coach Brandon Turner said. “Just all around, we really showed up.”

The NP boys scored 200 points over the two-day event at Central Bucks East High, pushing past second-place CB West, which was powered in part by Connor Salmon’s sweep of the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.

The North Penn girls, meanwhile, scored an almost identical 206 points, staying ahead of second-place CB East (156), which had Devon Sutton racing to a victory in the 3,200.

The NP boys scored in every event and even took second, third and fourth in the 110 hurdles, as Ahmed Abdalla, Morgen Brown and Trip Campbell all ran personal-best times.

“Across the board, it was a true team championship,” Jones said.

Justin Landis helped lead a strong distance group for the Knights, winning the 1,600 in 4:22.07. In one of the finest races of the day, a tremendous kick by Landis shot him past CB East’s Joe Sims (4:22.53) for the gold.

“My goal was to not lead but stay right on ’em,” Landis said of the race. “I did that and I was able to kick right at the end.”

Added the freshman: “I really wanted it so I came ready.”

The North Penn boys pulled off a division-title three-peat while the girls notched their seventh title in eight seasons.

“It definitely feels really good to be out here and compete with such a great team. It’s a lot of fun,” said Landis, who is soaking in the atmosphere in his first season of varsity track.  “This is definitely a confidence booster for us. But we like to stay humble. I think we’re gonna do really well at districts. A couple more guys qualified today so we have a lot of guys going.”

Taylor Forbes had quite a day for the NP girls, winning the 110 hurdles (15.24) and triple jump (38-3.75) and also teaming up with Maya Adams, Madeline Lewis and Jael Sykes for a victory in the 4×1.

Sykes dashed to a gold in the 100 for the Knights, who proved to be battle-tested.

“This league is so good. You look at districts and states and every year it’s four or five teams from our division are in the final of almost everything,” Turner said. “So it really prepares us for going forward.”

Suburban One League

Colonial Division Championships

Boys Team Scores: North Penn (NP) 200; Central Bucks West (CBW) 144; Souderton Area (S) 112; Central Bucks South (CBS) 85; Central Bucks East (CBE) 83; Pennridge (P) 51.

3,200: James Kuduk (S) 9:39.07; 110 hurdles: Connor Salmon (CBW) 15.35; 100: Chase Marshall (P) 11.15; 1,600: Justin Landis (NP) 4:22.07; 4×100: Pennridge (Dominic Galante, Dominic Santos, Jared Hess, Chase Marshall), 42.56; 400: Noah Gartenberg (CBW) 49.65; 300 hurdles: Salmon (CBW) 40.49; 800: Nate Fehrman (CBW) 1:56.02; 200: Felix Suliveres (S) 22.44; 4×400 relay: CB South (Dean Bullock, Ethan Kennedy, Ryan Dierfield, Evan Morrow), 3:27.73; Triple Jump: Jared Hess (P) 44-11.5; Pole Vault: Zach Mancini (CBE) 14-0; Discus: Jacob Tannenbaum (CBE) 153-2.

Girls Team Scores: North Penn (NP) 206; Central Bucks East (CBE) 156; Central Bucks West (CBW) 120; Pennridge (P) 95; Central Bucks South (CBS) 54; Souderton Area (S) 44.

3,200: Devon Sutton (CBE) 11:45.47; 110 hurdles: Taylor Forbes (NP) 15.24; 100: Jael Sykes (NP) 12.05; 1,600: Riley Rooney (CBS) 5:01.19; 4×100 relay: North Penn (Taylor Forbes, Maya Adams, Madeline Lewis, Jael Sykes), 47.62; 400: Mimi Duffy (CBW) 57.69; 300 hurdles: Victoria Angelo (P) 45.35; 800: Ashley Landis (P) 2:10.44; 200: Duffy (CBW) 25.31; 4×400 relay: CB West (Claire Dalsass, Abigail Kolbe, Maile McFadden, Mimi Duffy), 3:54.04; High Jump: Lindsey Balmer (P) 5-6; Javelin: Anita Joseph (S) 123-7; Shot Put: Ava Morgan (CBW) 35-3.5; Triple Jump: Taylor Forbes (NP) 38-3.75.