D-11 Track Preview: Schuylkill League seek district gold, trip to states

Runners take their marks in the first heat of the boys' 300 hurdles at the Schuylkill League Track and Field Championships held May 6 at Blue Mountain (Photo by Paul McArdle).
Two-day District 11 Championships begin today at Whitehall
WHITEHALL — The goal is to qualify for states.
It’s an attainable goal for several Schuylkill League track and field athletes as they look to garner district hardware.
The District 11 Track and Field Championships begin this afternoon at Whitehall’s Zephyr Complex. The competition is split into two days, with most of the track finals slated for Wednesday (see schedule below).
The top two placewinners in each event automatically qualify for the PIAA Track and Field Championships to be held Friday-Saturday, May 22-23, at Shippensburg University. Additional athletes outside the top two can advance to states if they meet the state qualifying standards in their respective events.
Among local schools, Blue Mountain, North Schuylkill, Panther Valley, Pottsville and Tamaqua will compete in Class 3A, while Mahanoy Area, Marian, Minersville, Nativity, Pine Grove, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah Valley and Weatherly will compete in Class AA.
Here’s a few tidbits as our local athletes venture to the Lehigh Valley over the next two days:
If you go …
Whitehall High School is located at 3800 Mechanicsville Road, Whitehall, 18052.
Easy directions are Interstate 78 to the Lehigh Valley, then taking Route 22 toward Allentown/Bethlehem. Take the MacArthur Road (Lehigh Valley Mall) exit and follow Route 145 roughly 4-5 miles to Mechanicsville Road. Travel time is roughly an hour from Pottsville area.
Apple Maps and Google Maps will often offer alternate routes that may be quicker through rural roads.
Tickets are available online for $10 per day through the Hometown Ticketing link on the District 11 website (https://events.hometownticketing.com/boxoffice/districtxi/L2VtYmVkL2FsbA%3D%3D) if purchased by 2 p.m. that day. Tickets can be purchased at the gate for $12 each day.
Live results
The meet will be scored by Lexicon Timing. If you don’t go and want to follow live results, visit here: https://lexicontiming.com/meets/73235
Schedule
Action gets underway both days at 3 p.m. The track events follow a time schedule, with a break from 4:50-5:45 p.m.
The field events are split into two sessions, one beginning at 3 p.m., the second one starting at 5 p.m. The event will be held rain or shine.
Here’s a breakdown of which events will be held on which days:
TODAY
Track events (both boys and girls) — 100 prelims, 4×800 relay finals, 100/110 hurdles prelims, 200 prelims, 300 hurdles finals, 3200 finals
Field events (Session 1) — AA boys long jump, 3A boys triple jump, AA girls discus, AA boys javelin, AA girls high jump, 3A girls pole vault, 3A girls shot put
Field events (Session 2) — AA girls javelin, AA boys discus, AA boys high jump, 3A boys pole vault, AA girls long jump, 3A girls triple jump, 3A boys shot put
*** Note: Due to inclement weather forecasted for Wednesday, there were two schedule changes made Monday:
-
3A boys’ javelin and AA girls’ pole vault will take place at 11 a.m. Tuesday
-
3A girls’ javelin and AA boys’ pole vault will take place at 1 p.m. Tuesday
WEDNESDAY
Track events (both boys and girls, all finals, AA first, then 3A) — 100/110 hurdles, 100, 1600, 4×100 relay, 400, 800, 200, 4×400 relay
Field events (Session 1) — 3A boys long jump, AA boys triple jump, 3A girls discus, 3A girls high jump, AA girls shot put
Field events (Session 2) — 3A boys discus, 3A boys high jump, 3A girls long jump, AA girls triple jump, AA boys shot put
Record Holders
The Schuylkill League had a strong showing last year at districts, with local athletes setting six District 11 records. Etching their names in the District 11 Track and Field record book were the Blue Mountain boys’ 4×100 relay, Nativity boys’ 4×400 relay, Blue Mountain’s Makayla Keck in the javelin, Pine Grove’s Viktorya Luckenbach in the 100 and 200 and the Pine Grove girls’ 4×100 relay. Luckenbach had a monster day with three golds and would go on to win two golds at the state meet.
The following are Schuylkill League athletes who currently hold District 11 Track and Field meet records:
Boys 3A
800 — Collin Ebling, Pottsville, 1:53.84 (2018)
4×100 relay — Blue Mountain, 41.48 (2025)
Boys AA
100 — Noel Powell, Tamaqua, 10.84 (2000)
800 — Mike Cadau, Mahanoy Area, 1:55.74 (2006)
3200 — Brendan Shearn, North Schuylkill, 9:17.31 (2013)
4×400 relay — Nativity, 3:22.36 (2025)
Girls 3A
Javelin — Makayla Keck, Blue Mountain, 162-8 (2025)
Girls AA
100 — Viktorya Luckenbach, Pine Grove, 11.77 (2025)
200 — Viktorya Luckenbach, Pine Grove, 24.05 (2025)
800 — Makayla Lally, Pine Grove, 2:17.16 (2017)
4×100 relay — Pine Grove, 49.27 (2025)
Shot put — Kaylene Anderson, Pine Grove, 40-6.5 (2010)
Discus — Carter Green, North Schuylkill, 152-7 (2013)
Javelin — Allison Updike, Tamaqua, 157-11 (2010)

Seedings
As they were at the Schuylkill League Track and Field Championships last week, superstar sprinters Luke Miller of North Schuylkill, Chase Guers of Blue Mountain and Paiten LaPoint of Minersville will be three athletes to watch over the next two days.
Miller is seeded No. 1 in both the Class 3A 100 meters and Class 3A 200 meters, with Guers third in both events. LaPoint is fifth in the Class AA 100 and fourth in the 200.
Pottsville’s two standouts, Donovann Durham and Alexa Giuffre, each garnered two top seeds. Durham is No. 1 in both 3A boys’ hurdle events while Giuffre is the top seed in the 3A girls’ long jump and triple jump.
Also keep an eye on the Minersville girls in the field events as the Miners claimed the top seed in five of the seven AA field events. Maggie Hoffman-Long is the top seed in the long jump and triple jump, Avery Miller is No. 1 in the javelin, Arianna John is tops in the shot put and Alyssa Cook is the top seed in the pole vault.
Overall, the Schuylkill League garnered 18 top seeds.
Other No. 1 seeds include Nativity’s Kyle McCormick in the boys’ AA 400, the Nativity boys’ 4×800 relay, Minersville’s Aidan Ryan in the AA high jump, Schuylkill Haven’s Ethan Kline in the AA shot put, Haven’s Niko Carestia in the AA javelin, the Schuylkill Haven girls’ 4×400 relay and the Blue Mountain boys’ 4×400 relay.
Here’s a complete listing of the top four seeds, plus key Schuylkill League qualifiers for all 18 events, boys and girls, in both Class AA and Class 3A.
District 11 Track and Field Championships
Tuesday-Wednesday, at Whitehall Zephyr Complex
Class AA Seedings
(Top 4 each event, plus Schuylkill League in Top 8)
BOYS AA
100 — 1. Alex Clark (NDGP) 10.57, 2. Hamaad Jenkins (Cat) 10.94, 3. Lincoln Cook (Pal) 10.94, 4. Jamanni Cruz (Sal) 11.04 … 5. Paiten LaPoint (Min) 11.07, 7. Niko Carestia (SH) 11.30, 8. Parker Zaharis (Min) 11.32
200 — 1. Alex Clark (NDGP) 21.57, 2. Hamaad Jenkins (Cat) 21.95, 3. Lincoln Cook (Pal) 22.26, 4. Paiten LaPoint (Min) 22.43 … 6. Tanner Kolb (PG) 22.91, 7. Connor Felty (Nat) 23.14, 8. Robert McDonald (Nat) 23.14
400 — 1. Kyle McCormick (Nat) 51.12, 2. Alexander Pirog (NDGP) 51.15, 3. Cadeo Estronza (Cat) 51.42, 4. Robert McDonald (Nat) 51.82 … 6. Yaviel Vega (Mah) 52.66, 8. Connor Felty (Nat) 53.25
800 — 1. Zaid Smith (NL) 2:00.19, 2. Grady McGovern (Min) 2:01.85, 3. Dante Azzolina (NDGP) 2:03.15, 4. Shane Meyer (Nat) 2:03.68 … 8. Nash Stehr (Nat) 2:05.73
1600 — 1. Zaid Smith (NL) 4:27.99, 2. Will Haring (ACC) 4:32.77, 3. Shane Meyer (Nat) 4:36.80, 4. Aidan Corcoran (Pal) 4:37.01 … 6. Nash Stehr (Nat) 4:44.04, 7. Johnny Burgess (Min) 4:48.00, 8. Wyatt Hylka (Nat) 4:51.89
3200 — 1. Will Haring (ACC) 9:50.66, 2. Wade Eroh (Mar) 10:16.40, 3. Shane Meyer (Nat) 10:24.54, 4. Emmett Rieland (NDGP) 10:27.94 … 5. Johnny Burgess (Min) 10:39.21, 6. Dru Herber (PG) 10:46.84, 7. Wyatt Hylka (Nat) 10:46.85, 8. Grayson Zaremba (Mah) 10:52.04
110 hurdles — 1. Josiah Lafond (Cat) 15.26, 2. Brody Walchak (SH) 15.70, 3. Riley Andrew (Pal) 16.49, 4. Blake Oglialoro (Pal) 16.56 … 6. Sonny Seritti (Mah) 17.22
300 hurdles — 1. Josiah Lafond (Cat) 39.50, 2. Cayden Anglin (NL) 41.72, 3. Chase Zimerofsky (Min) 41.92, 4. Ashton Fitzgerald (Pal) 42.36 … 5. Sonny Seritti (Mah) 42.42
4×100 relay — 1. Palisades 42.57, 2. Notre Dame-Green Pond 42.84, 3. Bethlehem Catholic 43.31, 4. Catasauqua 43.42 … 5. Schuylkill Haven 44.15, 6. Nativity 44.33, 7. Minersville 44.43
4×400 relay — 1. Bethlehem Catholic 3:28.15, 2. Catasauqua 3:28.60, 3. Notre Dame-Green Pond 3:29.46, 4. Palisades 3:30.91 … 5. Nativity 3:33.04, 6. Mahanoy Area 3:38.05, 8. Schuylkill Haven 3:40.66
4×800 relay — 1. Nativity 8:14.84, 2. Minersville 8:30.52, 3. Bethlehem Catholic 8:42.79, 4. Notre Dame-Green Pond 8:47.10
High Jump — 1. Aidan Ryan (Min) 6-2, 2. Kellen Bauer (NL) 6-2, 3. Aaron Gordon (NDGP) 6-1, 4. Jared Ford (ACC) 6-1, 5. Connor Bowman (Mah) 6-0
Long Jump — 1. Emmanuel Bolmer (Cat) 22-11.5, 2. Steven Lozada (Sal) 22-0.25, 3. Dane Hannevig (PG) 21-10.5, 4. Jacob Tom (Mar) 21-9.25, 5. Chase Zimerofsky (Min) 20-10.25
Triple Jump — 1. Steven Lozada (Sal) 46-1, 2. Chase Zimerofsky (Min) 44-0, 3. Jacob Tom (Mar) 43-8, 4. Michael Elchisak (Shen) 42-0
Shot Put — 1. Ethan Kline (SH) 55-0, 2. Joshua Scherer (NDGP) 52-11, 3. Silas Day (Pals) 50-1.25, 4. Colson Ruzicka (Palm) 45-8, 5. Connor Palerino (Nat) 45-2.5
Discus — 1. Silas Day (Pal) 160-9, 2. Landen Klimek (NL) 158-1, 3. Ethan Kline (SH) 153-5, 4. Bryan Chagolla (Shen) 143-03 … 8. George Shimko (Nat) 128-10
Javelin — 1. Niko Carestia (SH) 169-0, 2. Trexler Moore (Pen) 165-0, 3. Zack Papcsy (Beca) 157-0, 4. Aiden Becker (Nat) 147-8 … 7. Dom Yourey (Min) 135-1
Pole Vault — 1. Steven Lozada (Sal) 15-6, 2. Dylan Ferrari (Pal) 12-6, 3. Wyatt Summerer (Pal) 12-6, 4. Jacob Walkowiak (Palm) 12-0
GIRLS AA
100 — 1. Hailey Jenkins (Cat) 12.00, 2. Gianna Martini (Pen) 12.68, 3. Bella Kassab (PG) 12.90, 4. Grace Baker (ACC) 13.01 … 6. Ayla Allvord (Min) 13.07, 7. Venna Hewes (PG) 13.11
200 — 1. Hailey Jenkins (Cat) 25.00, 2. Bella Kassab (PG) 26.29, 3. Isabella Nimeh (Sal) 27.57, 4. Audrey Hutchinson (SH) 27.65 … 7. Venna Hewes (PG) 27.94
400 — 1. Natalie Moffitt (NL) 1:01.08, 2. Grace Baker (ACC) 1:01.29, 3. Audrey Hutchinson (SH) 1:02.23, 4. Juliana Wonsock (Mah) 1:02.50, 5. Ava Terefencko (SH) 1:02.95, 6. Ivy Sankus (Min) 1:03.13
800 — 1. Rio Stoudt (Beca) 2:27.41, 2. Marley Zimmerman (Min) 2:29.95, 3. Madison Dietz (Pen) 2:29.92, 4. Faith Krammes (SH) 2:30.95 … 8. Anna Cook (Min) 2:34.64
1600 — 1. Emma Heil (NL) 5:26.85, 2. Rio Stoudt (Beca) 5:33.50, 3. Marley Zimmerman (Min) 5:41.00, 4. Lily Markopoulos (Pen) 5:44.67 … 6. Catherine Marinchak (Nat) 5:55.80, 7. Allura Lutz (PG) 5:58.23, 8. Felicia Bro (Mah) 5:58.90
3200 — 1. Emma Heil (NL) 11:54.85, 2. Madison Dietz (Pen) 12:13.34, 3. Anna Tripoli (ACC) 12:55.02, 4. Felicia Bro (Mah) 12:59.23, 5. Catherine Marinchak (Nat) 13:09.50, 6. Calista Wessner (Nat) 13:11.83
100 hurdles — 1. Emma Yakaitis (Sal) 17.27, 2. Hailey Mroczka (Mah) 17.33, 3. Julia Harth (Cat) 17.35, 4. Isabella Whitman (Pen) 17.86 … 6. Lily Baran (Nat) 17.98, 8. Renee Eisenhauer (PG) 19.06
300 hurdles — 1. Emma Yakaitis (Sal) 49.25, 2. Isyss Williams (Pal) 50.16, 3. Ava Terefencko (SH) 50.57, 4. Malia Hyman (NL) 51.10, 5. Hailey Mroczka (Mah) 51.13 … 8. Allie Pennypacker (Min) 52.31
4×100 relay — 1. Catasauqua 50.47, 2. Palisades 51.54, 3. Minersville 51.86, 4. Pine Grove 52.11 … 7. Mahanoy Area 52.68, 8. Schuylkill Haven 53.18
4×400 relay — 1. Schuylkill Haven 4:20.08, 2. Pen Argyl 4:20.89, 3. Northern Lehigh 4:22.28, 4. Palisades 4:22.60 … 6. Minersville 4:26.83, 7. Mahanoy Area 4:28.07, 8. Pine Grove 4:38.78
4×800 relay — 1. Pen Argyl 10:16.21, 2. Minersville 10:18.00, 3. Schuylkill Haven 10:26.06, 4. Allentown Central Catholic 10:52.64, 5. Nativity 10:57.50 … 7. Marian 11:13.48, 8. Shenandoah Valley 11:30.30
High Jump — 1. Emerson Springs (ACC) 4-11, 2. Madison O’Brien (ACC) 4-11, 3. Natalie Moffitt (NL) 4-10, 4. Kathryn Kloiber (ACC) 4-9 … 8. Brinley Aungst (PG) 4-8
Long Jump — 1. Maggie Hoffman-Long (Min) 18-4, 2. Annalise Shelly (Sal) 17-10, 3. Gianna Martini (Pen) 17-7.5, 4. Emerson Springs (ACC) 17-4.25, 5. Bella Murphy (SH) 16-1.5, 6. Audrey Hutchinson (SH) 15-9.5 … 8. Ayla Allvord (Min) 15-7
Triple Jump — 1. Maggie Hoffman-Long (Min) 37-9.5, 2. Emerson Springs (ACC) 35-10, 3. Bella Murphy (SH) 34-0.5, 4. Bridgett Kloiber (ACC) 33-2
Shot Put — 1. Arianna John (Min) 35-6, 2. Avery Miller (Min) 35-2, 3. Rieleigh Purcell (PG) 34-8, 4. Nora Marsh (Pen) 31-9, 5. Emmalee Pinkey (Nat) 30-9, 6. Finley McNamara (Nat) 29-7
Discus — 1. Anna Trelease (NL) 122-7, 2. Avery Miller (Min) 104-4, 3. McKenna Kirk (NL) 99-2, 4. Lydia Fogel (Sal) 92-4, 5. Emmalee Pinkey (Nat) 92-3, 6. Rieleigh Purcell (PG) 85-4, 8. Madison Purcell (Nat) 84-9
Javelin — 1. Avery Miller (Min) 122-0, 2. Kelly Reiner (Wea) 108-8, 3. Allison Barto (ACC) 105-9, 4. Sam Mack (NL) 99-10 … 7. Emmalee Pinkey (Nat) 95-1, 8. Addy Marek (Mar) 94-2
Pole Vault — 1. Alyssa Cook (Min) 10-6, 2. Sade Davis (Pen) 9-0, 3. Anna Cook (Min) 7-7, 4. Kacie Kaough (Sal) 7-3, 5. Madelyn Bowman (Min) 7-1



