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NTL TRACK & FIELD: WYALUSING HAS PLENTY TO BE EXCITED ABOUT FOR THIS SPRING (2022-04-05)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
Wyalusing will return two state qualifiers from a year ago, and boast a versatile cornucopia of athletes, which has coach Jim Schools excited to see what they can do.

“I think we’ll be in there fighting,” said Schools. “I wouldn’t necessarily call ourselves one of the leading contenders, but I think we’ll be in there fighting, putting all out that we can.”


Ne notes that Williamson and Athens are two teams to watch, but knows his kids have the potential to be up there, too.


“I think we can get in a fight, and be competitive with those things,” said Schools.


On the boys’ side they return the school record holder in the 100 and long jump in Kashawn Cameron. Cameron was the District IV champion in the long jump at 21-feet, 11-inches, making him a clear contender for the state title in the event.


Their other state qualifier, Grady Cobb, reached states in high jump, hitting 5-feet, 11-inches at district to move on.


“We’re looking for contributions from both of them,” said Schools. 


Cameron’s had some early season injuries he’s had to heal from, but Cobb’s been working hard from the beginning, trying to do even better in his second year of track and field.


“I’m trying to meet those expectations,” he said. “I’m just trying to do better than what I did last year - that’s the goal.”


While it’s been chilly as of late, the warmth a few weeks ago allowed Cobb to get outside, and work on his steps.


“I’m just getting back the muscle memory of where to start my run up, and kind of getting used to bending over the bar again,” he said.


His goal is to get past 6-foot, with the state standard at 6-feet, 3-inches.


“That’s just kind of like the marker,” Cobb remarked. “I think if I hit that mark early, than make a higher goal, and go for that. It helps having some idea of what to expect this year.”


He’ll also be looking to do other jumps, and getting on the track now and then.


“I feel like doing a multitude of events kind of build overall athleticism,” Cobb said. “Last year, I think I was high jumping too much, I was high jumping every day during practice, and that kind of led to shin splints, and tight legs, and stuff like that. So I’m trying to mix in different stuff this year.”


Schools has a list of other athletes he believes they’ll get contributions from.


“I think Jake Palfreyman in the throws is going to be a big step up,” said Schools. “He’s going to really help us out, he threw one time indoors, and had some really good throws. Abram Bennett is another one who is going to help up in the throws - in the discus and the javelin.”


Others include Nolan Oswald, Ethan Lewis, Clayton Petlock, Landon Kaufman, and Trennon Tewksbury.


“Grady and Kashawn are like the superstars out there, but we’ve got a lot of very good athletes to help round this out,” Schools remarked.


They also have quite a bit of talent on the girls’ side, beginning with Kayla Beebe and Madison Patton in the distance events, with Mia Wilcox in the sprints.


“We’ve got Leila Botts, who’s just an all-around athlete that we can put in almost any event,” said Schools. “Priscilla Newton in the jump, Emily Otis in the throws, and the jumps. Hannah Ely in the high jump. We’ve got some young, new kids that are just starting out, they’re showing some promise.”


In the sprints he expects Olivia Haley to be their standout. Haley was a district qualifier a year ago, and finished top 10 in the 100 and 200.


“I’m really looking forward to my events, especially my relay teams,” said Haley. “For the 100, I’m trying to get my PR into the 12’s this year, I was at 13-flat last year. The 200, I’m trying to break 27, I want to get into the 26’s. My best time last year was 27.09.”


She’ll be running in the 4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay, both of which made districts a year ago.


“We’re working on our handoffs a lot more, getting them better,” said Haley. “We’re working on starts, like speed agility. We’re working on endurance things, like running longer distance in practice.”


District IV has some of the best sprinters in the state, so Haley knows what type of competition she’ll be going up again.


“In the offseason I’ve been working out in the weight rom trying to get my strength and endurance,” Haley said. “In practice, we’re working on a lot of agility stuff, so I can try and get quicker.”


Schools things going to invites will help them a lot this year.


“There’s definitely a learning curve at competing at the invitational level,” he said. “I think that’s something that both Brady and Keshawn kind of suffered with a little bit letdown at states, because they weren’t really familiar with that. I think that’s definitely going to help us out as far as getting the kids comfortable in that kind of situation, and learning to compete in a big field. That can be very intimidating, so I think it’ll definitely help us out.”


ROSTER

Boys

Brian Arnold

Hunter Bailey

Dereck Baldwin

Abram Bennett

Kashawn Cameron

Jake Caplan

Grady Cobb

Logan Crowl

Ezra Elchak

Liam Franklin

Brody Fuhrey

Joey Gonsauls

Jacob Horner

Alex Hunsinger

Ayden Hunsinger

Evan Johnson

Laden Kaufmann

Ethan Lewis

Lucas McGroarty

Thomas Oliver

Nolan Oswald

Jacob Palfreyman

Clayton Petlock

Andrew Pisula

James Rogan

Rieley Slocum

Josh Stoddard

Trennan Tewksbury

Zibiah Walton

Andrew Watkins

Isaiah Way

Connor Wickheiser

Girls

Kira Allen

Sophia Alvarez

Hayley Anaya

Cherokee Barber

Kayla Beebe

Laina Beebe

Chloe Bennett

Layla Botts

Karley Chamberlain

Hannah Ely

Elaina Goodwin

Savanna Gromley

Olivia Haley

Kassandra Kerin

Anna Kipp

Madysyn Lockburner

Savannah McCracken

Brooklyn Milne

Priscilla Newton

Emilee Otis

Gabrielle Palfreyman

Madison Patton

Celia Rohan

Taylor Spencer

Alyssa Sterling

Adeline Sutton

Abigail Trowbridge

Trinity Watkins

Ruth Weaver

Mia Wilcox

Rayne Wood


SCHEDULE

April 4 at Troy, 4 p.m.

April 9 at Don Wilhour Invitational (Selinsgrove), 9 a.m.

April 14 at Northwest Invitational

April 19 vs Athens, Sayre, 4 p.m.

April 26 at Wellsboro, vs Williamson, 4 p.m.

April 29 host Lasagna Invitational, 3 p.m.

May 3 at Wellsboro, vs Canton, 4 p.m.

May 6 at Purple and White Relays (Shamokin)

May 9 vs Towanda, Canton, NEB, 4 p.m.

May 13 at NTL Championships (Athens)

May 19 at District IV Championships (Williamsport)

May 21 at District IV Championships (Williamsport)




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