NTL TRACK & FIELD: CANTON HAS SEVERAL TOP ATHLETES TO WATCH THIS SPRING (2022-04-05)
BY CHRIS MANNINGNorthern Tier Sports ReportCanton’s track and field teams may be small, but they have some athletes to watch, especially on the boys’ side this season.
“They’re coming out, they’re working hard,” said Canton assistant coach Brandy McRoberts. “We’ve got a good group of kids that are working hard every day, not giving us any trouble.”
One big time returning athlete is Caiden Williams, who qualified for districts in four events a year ago: triple jump, high jump, shot put, and discus.
“He decided he wanted to take triple jump out because he’s going to be playing (football) at Lycoming, so he wants to save his knees a little bit,” said McRoberts. “So he’s going to focus really hard on high jump, because he was close (to states). And he wants to break 45 (feet) in the shot put this year.”
Williams was fifth in the high jump at 5-feet, 9-inches, with the top four from the district going to states.
“I want to do a little bit better than I did in all of them,” Williams remarked. “Definitely for high jump, I want to try and redeem myself.”
His goal this year is to break 6-feet, which should put him in contention for a state spot. The state standard is 6-feet, 3-inches.
And, along with breaking 45-feet in the shot put, he would like to get over 135-feet in the discus.
As for the long jump, he’s keeping an open mind fo now.
“I haven’t done it for a little while now, so I’m just kind of going into it to see how I do,” Williams said.
While doing four events is nothing new, the mixture of jumps and throws is unusually, especially since he could be having a few events going on at the same time. And not to mention splitting up practice time between the two.
“I take it one day at a time,” Williams said. “One day I’ll focus on my throws. The next day I’ll go over, and I’ll work on my jumping, go with the sprinters to do some of their workouts to work on my speed.”
Another one to watch is Isaiah Niemczyk, who also made districts in four events a year ago.
“I look to him and Caiden to have a good year,” said McRoberts. “They’ll be really good seniors for us, and Isaiah was really excited to start track, so that’s a good sign.”
On the girls’ side they return Camille McRoberts, who qualified for districts in two individual events (800 and 1600), and in two relays (4x400 relay and 4x800 relay).
“I think the focus is just to push them to their limits every day,” McRoberts said about the girls. “Beat personal records, it’s all about PRs.”
McRoberts was on pace to be a state qualifier during the cross-country season, but an injury kept her out of the district meet, so she has some motivation to show was she can do on the track.
“I’m focused on just recovering from my soccer injury, and trying to get better than I was last year,” she explained. “I’m kind of trying to work on my stride, I really don’t drive my knees when I run. And I’m just trying to get my form better.”
She would like to go sub-2:30 in the half mile, but the event closest to her heart is the 1600.
“I love the mile,” said Camille. “It’s not my best event, but I really am trying to work on my mile time.”
She would like to go under her PR of 5:44.
Not only do they have a smaller team, but they also have a younger team, which means the goal is to improve each day.
“Some of them haven’t been out for track, or any sports for that matter,” said McRoberts. “And so they’re very novice, so just getting that progression, and making them better every meet.”
ROSTER
Girls
Aubrey Skwarlo
Kylie Landon
Megan Eagleberger
Morgan May
Tessa Bobb
Zaia Huffman
Camille McRoberts
Kaley Williams
Kali Wesneski
Laci Niemczyk
Laney Gleckner
Rayleen Nthuthu
Sammy Brackman
Natalie Kapichok
Adrianna Yellenic
Kendall Kitchen
Boys
Ashton Rockwell
Caiden Williams
Isaiah Niemczyk
Mason Shultz
Mason Stonier
Michael Skipper
Will Gowin
Hunter Brackman
Kyle Kapichok
Rylan Huffman
Tony Asbury
Tyson Bedford
Will Colton
Brayden Vroman
Hunter Huffman
Wyatt Karpinski
Ben Fitch
Daniel Brown
Drake Bedford
Joshua Hess
Quincy Wesneski
Talin Williams
Thomas Guindon
Tyler Engel
SCHEDULE
April 5 vs NP-Mansfield, 4:30 p.m.
April 19 at Wellsboro vs NEB, Troy, 4:30 p.m.
April 26 vs Athens, Troy, 4:30 p.m.
May 3 at Wellsboro vs Wyalusing, 4:30 p.m.
May 9 at Wyalusing vs NEB, Towanda, 4:30 p.m.
May 13 at NTL Championships (Athens), 2 p.m.
May 19 at District IV Championships (Williamsport)
May 21 at District IV Championships (Williamsport)