Judge boys, O'Hara girls win Catholic titles

In the end, third place was good enough for first.

With Father Judge holding a five-point advantage over La Salle in the team standings entering the final event, the Crusaders' 4x400-meter relay team of Matt Forsythe, Mike Hagan, Sean Fitzgerald, and Alex Zimmerman didn't need to win. They didn't even have to beat La Salle.

Third place would clinch a second straight Catholic League boys' track and field championship.

The four surely knew what was on the line, as they took to the track and the public-address announcer blared, "This race will decide the 2012 boys' Catholic League championship!"

As tense as it was leading to the race, it was hardly so during it. The Judge quartet held in front of the pack, and the Explorers, throughout en route to a third-place finish in 3 minutes, 29.08 seconds. La Salle placed fourth in the race, as the Crusaders defended their title with 137 points Saturday at Upper Darby.

In girls' action, Cardinal O'Hara continued its near-decade-long dominance, claiming its eighth PCL title in the last nine years, conquering the field with 157 points.

Judge was spurred by four individual championships, with senior sprinter Matt Smalley defending his titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, Riley McKee winning the javelin, and Vontez Hilliard, Samir Bullock, Vontae Hilliard, and Marquis Seamon winning the 4x100.

The O'Hara girls, who graduated 19 seniors from last year's team, also had four individual titles: Kayla Keir in the 300 hurdles, Allison Sharkey in the 400 dash, and wins in the 4x400 (Kiersten Martin, Caroline Keech, Alex Patrick, Taylor Godsey) and 4x800 (Amy Kelly, Michelle Daly, Grace Sheller, Erin Dolan).

"After losing a great senior class from last year, it was hard to get everyone together and get to practice and really work hard and actually commit to trying to keep this title," said Keir, a junior cocaptain.

". . . It took a lot to get the girls to keep coming to practice, and it was a lot on our shoulders. It obviously paid off. It was a team effort."

After Judge clinched the title, the team swarmed the relay runners on the infield before dousing first-year coach Phil Reilly with a bath of cooler water.

"It's scary, knowing that I can't do anything about it, but it's exciting," Smalley said of the feeling he had as a spectator for the final race. "That's where your teammates come in, where you trust in your teammates."

Individually, O'Hara's Chazz Wilks made PCL history. The senior, who will throw at Rider next year, won both the boys' shot put and discus for the fourth straight year, becoming the first PCL field athlete to sweep the events in a career.

Wilks won this year with a shot put of 54-01.5 and a discus throw of 167-02, hitting those marks and clinching the titles on his final throws of the day.

Wilks, who said he entered the meet on four hours' sleep after attending the senior prom Friday night, wrapped up his PCL career having never lost a league meet.

"I wanted to go out with a bang, and that's what I did," he said.

"He came in as a freshman and was dominant. By the time he was a senior, a lot of the throwers caught up to him," O'Hara boys' coach Tom Kennedy said. "It came down to his last two throws today in both events. That didn't help my blood pressure at all, but he's been clutch his whole career. His dedication to his craft is incredible, and that's why he is who he is."

It wasn't enough to garner boys' field MVP honors. Archbishop Ryan's Tyreke Edwards earned that plaque by winning both the triple and long jump. Ryan's Brianna Wojciechowski took home girls' field MVP honors by winning the javelin and placing second in the discus and shot put.

West Catholic's Todd Townsend was the boys' track MVP, winning the 110 and 300 hurdles and anchoring the Burrs' winning 4x400 relay. Archbishop Carroll's Rachel Flynn was the girls' track MVP, claiming the 800 and 1,600 titles.

BOYS' EVENTS

Team scoring: Father Judge 137, La Salle 130, Cardinal O'Hara 82, West Catholic 67, AR, 51, Roman Catholic, 32, St. Joseph's Prep 26, Bishop McDevitt 18, Monsignor Bonner 11, Lansdale Catholic 1, Archbishop Carroll 1, Neumann-Goretti 1, Archbishop Wood 1.

100 meters: 1, Matt Smalley, FJ, 10.86. 2, John Landis, FJ, 11.01. 3, Eric Jones, WC, 11.19.

200: 1, Matt Smalley, FJ, 22.19. 2, John Landis, FJ, 22.34. 3, Eric Jones, WC, 23.15.

400: 1, Gabriell Johnson, RC, 50.84. 2, Louie Simone, AR, 51.02. 3, Bobby Stone, WC, 51.73.

800: 1, Andrew Stone, LS, 1:58.19. 2, Jim Belfatto, CO, 1:59.35. 3, Jack Magee, LS, 2:00.24.

Mile: 1, Tom Coyle, LS, 4:22.38. 2, Andrew Stone, LS, 4:25.04. 3, Mike Bilotta, CO, 4:26.22.

3,200: 1, Tom Coyle, LS, 9:39.45. 2, Ernie Pitone, CO, 9:42.53. 3, Paul Gennaro, SJP, 9:45.15.

110 hurdles: 1, Todd Townsend, WC, 14.62. 2, Levi Hardy, LS, 15.28, 3, John Reed, CO, 15.48.

300 hurdles: 1, Todd Townsend, WC, 38.97. 2, Levi Hardy, LS, 40.19. 3, James Lassiter, BM, 40.52.

High jump: 1, Mike DeCandido, LS, 6-6. 2, Mike Koller, LS, 6-6. 3, Marquis Seamon, FJ, 6-4.

Long jump: 1, Tyrek Edwards, AR, 23-7. 2, Richard Gatewood, RC, 22-91/2. 3, John Landis, FJ, 22-81/2.

Triple jump: 1, Tyrek Edwards, AR, 47-1. 2, John Landis, FJ, 46-4. 3, Matt Smalley, FJ, 44-51/2.

Shot put: 1, Chazz Wilks, CO, 54-11/2. 2, Luke Persichetti, LS, 53-4. 3, Ian McGinnis, FJ, 51-81/2.

Discus: 1, Chazz Wilks, CO, 167-2. 2, Ian McGinnis, FJ, 160-11. 3, Darren Wright, BM, 148-1.

Javelin: 1, Riley McKee, FJ, 169-1. 2, Tristen Freeman, WC, 164-3. 3, Frank Connor, FJ, 156-6.

Pole vault: 1, Joe Breen, AR, 13-6. 2, Brian Shaeffer, SJP, 13-0. 3, Eddie Eason, LS, 12-0.

4x100 relay: 1, Judge, 43.52. 2, Roman, 43.96. 3, O'Hara, 44.39.

4x400 relay: 1, West Catholic (Eric Jones, Blaise Sheiler, Todd Townsend, Bobby Stone), 3:26.34. 2, O'Hara, 3:27.07. 3, Judge, 3:29.08.

4x800 relay: 1, La Salle (Evan Quain, Mark DeSantis, Nolan McElwee, Brian Smart), 8:17.70. 2, SJ Prep, 8:22.13. 3, Bonner, 8:26.71.

GIRLS' EVENTS

Team scoring: Cardinal O'Hara 152, St. Hubert 94, Archbishop Prendergast 72.5, Archbishop Ryan 72.5, Conwell-Egan 42, Archbishop Wood 29, Archbishop Carroll 26, West Catholic 24, Hallahan 20, Lansdale Catholic 14, Bishop McDevitt 8, Neumann-Goretti 4.

100 meters: 1, Jada Steward, WC, 12.11. 2, Evan Dangerfield, AP, 12.48. 3, Allison Sharkey, CO, 12.52.

200: 1, Jada Steward, WC, 24.75. 2, Evan Dangerfield, AP, 25.74. 3, Allison Sharkey, CO, 26.84.

400: 1, Allison Sharkey, CO, 57.78. 2, Sara Dever, AP, 58.11. 3, Taylor Godsey, CO, 59.47.

800: 1, Rachel Flynn, AC, 2:17.22. 2, Marissa Cicione, CO, 2:21.98. 3, Kate Conville, AW, 2:23.94.

Mile: 1, Rachel Flynn, AC, 5:09.78. 2, Teresa Ortiz, SH, 5:14.33. 3, Lauren Lamoureux, AP, 5:16.71.

3,200: 1, Teresa Ortiz, SH, 11:40.19. 2, Amy Kelly, CO, 11:45.80. 3, Katie Connell, AW, 12:32.56.

100 hurdles: 1, Erin Wible, AR, 16.92. 2, Kaitlyn Ianovale, AP, 16.93. 3, Jessica May, SH, 17.08.

300 hurdles: 1, Kayla Keir, CO, 45.89. 2, Allison Sharkey, CO, 46.09. 3, Erin Brady, AR, 47.43.

High jump: 1, Mary McClure, AW, 5-0. 2, Shelby Samuels, CE, 5-0. 3, Amanda Simone, AR, 4-10.

Long jump: 1, Kelly Hooven, SH, 17-71/2. 2, Logan Brenker, CE, 17-2. 3, Elizabeth Reid, LC, 17-1/2.

Triple jump: 1, Logan Brenker, CE, 36-31/2. 2, Kelly Hooven, SH, 34-11. 3, Elizabeth Reid, LC, 33-81/2.

Shot put: 1, Kim Whelan, CO, 33-113/4. 2, Brianna Wojciechowski, AR, 32-11/2. 3, Carlee McClease, CE, 30-111/2.

Discus: 1, Michelle Laurenzi, CO, 86-2. 2, Brianna Wojciechowski, AR, 85-5. 3, Amber Connally, Hall, 84-8.

Javelin: 1, Brianna Wojciechowski, AR, 91-6. 2, Katie MacFeeters, SH, 91-0. 3, Rachel Fluck, CO, 88-7.

Pole vault: 1, Deirdre O'Leary, AR, 9-6. 2, Annie McFadden, CO, 9-0. 3, Dana Pfeffinger, CO, 8-0.

4x100 relay: 1, St. Hubert, 50.14. 2, Hallahan, 50.25. 3, O'Hara, 50.67.

4x400 relay: 1, Prendergast, 4:05.58. 2, O'Hara, 4:13.49. 3, Carroll, 4:15.36.

4x800 relay: 1, O'Hara, 10:06.34. 2, St. Hubert, 10:20.19. 3, Prendergast, 10:29.06.