WRIGHT, BRONSONS NARROWLY MISS OUT ON TRIP TO STATES — SARA BRONSON, EMMA BRONSON EACH BREAK SCHOOL RECORD

WRIGHT, BRONSONS NARROWLY MISS OUT ON TRIP TO STATES — SARA BRONSON, EMMA BRONSON EACH BREAK SCHOOL RECORD

May 21, 2022 Tim Birney

WILLIAMSPORT — Athens saw several athletes come up just short of making States at the District IV Track and Field Championships here Saturday.

It’s the first time in recent memory, dating back more than 15 years that no Athens track & field athlete advanced to the State meet.

For the boys, junior Jaden Wright (11.38 second) was sixth in the 100, less than 0.1 second away from the state standard. He also took sixth in the 200 in 23.30 seconds.

For the girls, freshman Sara Bronson (3,200 meters) and junior Emma Bronson (1,600 meters) both set new schools records.

Sara Bronson’s time of 11:29.32 was good enough for second. She hung with winner, Selinsgrove’s Shaela Kruskie (11:21.58) for seven laps, but Kruskie pulled away at the end.

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ATHENS TEAMS EARN FOUR MEDALS AT DAY 1 OF DISTRICT MEET

ATHENS TEAMS EARN FOUR MEDALS AT DAY 1 OF DISTRICT MEET

May 19, 2022 Tim Birney

WILLIAMSPORT — The Lady Wildcats, competing in Class 3A, brought home a trio of medals from Day 1 of the District 4 Track & Field Championships, while the Class AA Athens boys earned one medal.

GIRLS — CLASS AAA
The foursome of junior Emma Bronson, sophomores Thea Bentley and Mya Thompson, and freshman Sara Bronson had the best finish of the day for the Wildcats. They placed fourth in the 3,200-meter relay in a time of 10:10.79.

Seniors Olivia Bartlow and Taylor Walker earned the only individual medals of the day for the Athens teams.

Bartlow placed sixth in the shot put with a heave of 30-feet, 8 1/2-inches, and sophomore Emma Pernaselli was 12th at 27-feet, 6 1/2-inches.

Taylor Walker finished sixth in the triple jump with a mark of 31-feet, 7 3/4-inches, and sophomore Mya Thompson was seventh at 31-feet, 7-inches.

Senior Hannah Walker qualified for the finals of the 100-meter hurdles, running the seventh-fastest time — 17.16 seconds — in the preliminaries.

Freshman Hannah Earls was 10th in the high jump at 4-feet, 5-inches, and Pernaselli finished 12th in the javelin with a throw of 91-feet, 3-inches,

Junior Jenny Ryan was 14th in the 100-meter dash in 14.23 seconds, and freshman Addy Wheeler was 15th in 14.54 seconds.

BOYS — CLASS AA
The foursome of seniors Kyle Anthony, Sander Bertsch, and Ryan Thompson, and junior Ethan Denlinger scored the only team point of the day for the Athens boys. They teamed to finish eighth in the 3,200-meter relay in a time of 8:37.19.

Junior Jaden Wright qualified for the finals of the 100-meter dash. He ran the fifth-faster time in the prelims at 11.57 seconds, and the fourth-fastest time in the semifinals at 11.5 seconds.

Senior Levi Kuhns ran the 13th-fastest time in the prelims of the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 17.3 seconds. Kuhns finished 16th in the semifinals in a time of 18.76 seconds.

Freshman Kolsen Keathley finished 19th in the 100-meter dash in 12.08 seconds, while sophomore Josh Martin was 21st in the javelin with a throw of 130-feet, and freshman Ronel Ankam was 23rd in the 110-meter hurdles in 22.34 seconds.

Day 2 of the District 4 Championships is Saturday at Williamsport High School. The action begins at 9 a.m.

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LADY WILDCATS WIN LEAGUE MEET; ATHENS BOYS FINISH THIRD

LADY WILDCATS WIN LEAGUE MEET; ATHENS BOYS FINISH THIRD

May 13, 2022 Tim Birney

ATHENS — The Athens girls track and field team continued their dominance at the NTL Championships, pulling away late to claim the title with 159 points.

“The girls did a really great job tonight,” said coach Mike Bronson. “We asked a lot of them in the heat. We really loaded a lot of them up, and they came through. I couldn’t be happier with them, they’re a great group of girls here.”

Wyalusing was second with 117 points, while Towanda (111.5) also finished in the top three.

“They’ve worked so hard for this this off-season,” Bronson continued. “We came here, and kind of did what we talked about just coming here and doing what we’ve done all season at the podium.”

Distance runners Sara and Emma Bronson combined for 44 points between the 800-,1,600–, and 3,200-meter runs, while also helping the 4x800 to a win in 10:55.62, for another 10 points.

“We talked about trying to maximize what we could get points wise, and they came through,” Bronson said.

Sara won the 1600 in 5:35.60, with Emma (5:39.37) second. Sara (2:29.06) was second in the 800, while Emma (2:34.91) took fifth.

In the 2-mile Sara (12:51.27) was second, with Emma (12:59.68) third.

Hannah Walker was also strong in the hurdles, winning the 100 high hurdles in 16.65 seconds, and also winning the 300 hurdles in 48.59 seconds. She helped the 4x400 relay team to a second-place finish in 4:29.50.

“We knew she was a really good 300 hurdler, and she just a few weeks ago asked about doing the 100 hurdles,” explained Bronson. “She took to it pretty quick, then won the 300 hurdles, and, you know, then came back with a solid 200, and a really nice anchor on the 4x4. She’s just a great hard-working kid for us.”

Walker was fourth in the 200 in 27.61 seconds.

Other scorers on the track include Cassy Friend taking fifth in the 400 in 1:04.68, Thea Bentley finishing seventh in the 800 in 2:42.13, and Emily Henderson finishing fifth in the 100 hurdles in 17.64.

In the field, Mya Thompson (16-feet, 8 1/2-inches) won the long jump, while Friend (14-feet, 5 1/2-inches) was seventh, and Taylor Walker (14-feet, 4-inches) took eighth.

Thompson returned to win the triple jump at 33-feet, 6 1/4-inches, with Taylor Walker (31-feet, 5 1/4-inches) seventh.

Olivia Bartlow (96-feet, 1-inch) won the discus, while Emma Pernaselli (79-feet, 2-inches) was fourth, and Rachel Jelliff (77-feet) came in seventh.

Pernaselli (96-feet, 9-inches) won the javelin, with Bartlow (88-feet, 2 1/2-inches) sixth. Bartlow (29-feet, 1/2-inch) was third in the shot put, and Pernaselli (27-feet, 2 1/2-inches) came in eighth.

On the boys’ side, Jaden Wright had himself a day with wins in the 100 (11.24 seconds) and the 200 (23.50).

“I feel it was pretty amazing,” said Wright. “I PRed in pretty much every event today, and I ran a state qualifying time for the 100, so if I can do that at districts, I’ll be in good shape.”

Wright’s hoping the added competition at districts next week will push him to go even faster.

“I’m focusing on block starts, because my block starts right now are kind of bad,” Wright said. “My topping speed is just kind of carrying me through the 100.”

Athens was third as a team with 100 points.

Kolsen Keathley (11.58) was fourth in the 100, while running 24.0 to take fifth in the 200.

Kyle Anthony medaled in the 800 (2:07.87) with a fourth-place finish, and the 1,600 (4:42.62) in fifth. Ryan Thompson (2:09.38) was sixth in the 800, while Ethan Hicks (5:00.67) came in sixth in the mile.

Hicks (11:19.04) was fifth in the 2-mile.

Levi Kuhns (16.03) was second in the 110 hurdles, with Ronel Ankham (17.66) sixth. Ankham (44.13) was third in the 300 hurdles.

Their 4x800 relay (8:48.35) won, their 4x400 relay (3:40.66) was second, and their 4x100 relay (45.99) came in third.

In the field, Ethan Denlinger (5-feet, 6-inches) was fourth in the high jump, with Josh Martin (139-feet, 6-inches) third in the javelin.

“This is the best tracking we’ve had all season, so it feel good to run good times in this weather,” said Wright.

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 WALKER, FRIEND LEAD ATHENS TO WINS OVER NEB, NP-M IN FINAL DUALS OF SEASON; BRONSON BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD IN 1,600

WALKER, FRIEND LEAD ATHENS TO WINS OVER NEB, NP-M IN FINAL DUALS OF SEASON; BRONSON BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD IN 1,600

May 3, 2022 Tim Birney

ATHENS — Senior Hannah Walker won four events, and junior Cassy Friend was a triple-winner to lead Athens to regular-season closing wins over Northeast Bradford and North Penn-Mansfield here Tuesday afternoon in NTL track & field action.

On Friday, freshman Sara Bronson established a new school record in the 3,200-meter run. On Tuesday,  junior Emma Bronson broke a long-standing school-record in the 1,600-meter run.

Emma Bronson finished second in the 1,600-meter run in a school-record time of 5:24.94, breaking the record of 5:27.2 set by Julie Young in 1986. Sara Bronson finished third in 5:25.4, which also broke the record.

“The 1600 was a tremendous race tonight,” said Athens coach Mike Bronson. “(NEB’s) Gracelynn Laudermilch, Emma, and Sara all ran really well, working together to all set PRs and a school record for Emma.”

Overall, Bronson was pleased with his team’s performance.

"The girls had a very solid meet tonight,” said Athens coach Mike Bronson. “We had a lot of girls set PRs, so we are definitely headed in the right direction leading up to NTLs and Districts.  

“Cassy Friend had a great meet,” he noted. “The throwers came through once again — Olivia Bartlow had a nice PR in the shot … and Hannah Walker had a great day.

“Now, we have 10 days until the NTL meet,” he added. “We will get back to work to sharpen up for the league meet and then districts.”

Athens amassed 106 points, while North Penn-Mansfield tallied 33 points, and NEB had 31 points.

Senior Olivia Bartlow, junior Emma Bronson, sophomores Mya Thompson and Thea Bentley, and freshman Sara Bronson were double-winners for the Lady Wildcats.

Hannah Walker won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 17.44 seconds, and sophomore Emily Henderson was second in 18.21 seconds. Walker also won the 300-meter hurdles in 49.73 seconds, and Henderson was second in 1:08.29.

Hannah Walker teamed with Henderson, junior Jenny Ryan, and freshman Addy Wheeler to win the 400-meter relay in 56.49 seconds.

Hannah Walker also won the 200-meter dash in 28.26 seconds, while Friend was second in 29.09 seconds, and Ryan was fourth in 30.6 seconds.

Friend won the 400-meter dash in 1:04.84, and Thompson was second in 1:07.45.

Friend led a sweep in the long jump with a leap of 14-feet, 2-inches, while senior Taylor Walker was second at 13-feet, 11 1/2-inches, Ryan was third at 13-feet, 9 1/2-inches, and Thompson was fourth at 13-feet, 8-inches.

Emma Bronson won the 3,200-meter run in a time of 13:13.59, and Sara Bronson was second in 13:13.64.

The Bronsons teamed with Friend, and Bentley to win the 1,600-meter relay in a time of 4:52.08.

Bartlow won the shot put with a heave of 31-feet, 6-inches, while sophomore Emma Pernaselli was second at 30-feet, 4 1/2-inches.

Bartlow also won the discus with a toss of 94-feet, 9-inches, and Pernaselli was third at 78-feet, 7-inches.

Thompson won the triple jump with a mark of 31-feet, 4-inches, and Taylor Walker was third at 28-feet, 11-inches.

Bentley, sophomore Abby Prickitt, Thompson, and junior Audrey Clare teamed to win the 3,200-meter relay in a time of 12:43.23.

Hannah Earls was second in the high jump at 4-feet, 2-inches, and Taylor Walker was third at 3-feet, 10-inches.

Ryan finished third in the 100-meter dash in 14.32 seconds, and Henderson was fourth in 14.37 seconds.

Bentley finished third in the 800-meter run in 2:45.43, and Pernaselli finished third in the javelin with a throw of 81-feet, 4-inches.

Athens returns to action May 13 at the NTL Championships.

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