NTL TRACK & FIELD: BRONSON, BURGESS LEAD ATHENS TO 10TH STRAIGHT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP (24 PHOTOS) (2025-05-09)

Valley Sports Report
ATHENS — Senior Sara Bronson and junior Abby Burgess each had two first-place and two second-place finishes to lead Athens to its 10th straight NTL Championship here Friday afternoon at the league meet at Alumni Stadium.

The Wildcats claimed the team title with 133 points, while Wellsboro was second with 102.5 points, Towanda was third with 100.5, Williamson was fourth at 96 points, and Troy was fifth with 75.

"I couldn't be more happy with how the girls performed tonight," said Athens coach Mike Bronson. "They, without a doubt, exceeded my expectations.

"I knew that this was going to be a tough meet," noted Bronson. "The depth on the girls side is just unreal this year,  when you look at how close the top four teams were, it was a battle.

"The weather wasn't great again, but that has been the whole season," said Bronson. "This week before the meet, we didn't really talk about points or team place; we talked about not worrying about things we can't control like the weather and for each of the girls to focus on performing the best that they can in each of their events and the final results would take care of themselves.

"This win for them, like the last few years is due to a total team effort, we had girls win some events, but it's the girls picking up 5th-place or 7th place that really made the difference for us tonight," Bronson added.

Bronson reiterated his thoughts on the winning being a "total team effort."

"There are so many girls who just had  a great night for us," he said. "Our 4-by-800 relay girls starting off the meet with a win got us going and they just kept the pressure on.  

"As they have all season, Sara Bronson, Abby Burgess, and Lizzie Gorsline put in a lot of work for us and all came through with big points for us," noted Bronson. "We asked a lot of our distance girls and they came through for us — Sara anchoring the 4-by-800, winning the 800, and then picking up two seconds. Ava Hughes had a great night, leading off the 4-by-8 and then getting points in the 3200 and 800 ... Alissa Vough, who's battling an injury, ran a solid leg in the relay and then came back and ran tough in the 1600.

"Our sprinters and hurdlers had a great night," said Bronson. "Abby won the 400, two close seconds in the 100 and 200, and anchored the winning 4-by-4. Gretchen Schmieg placing seventh in both the 100 and the 200 was a nice surprise ... and Marlene Roelle getting sixth in the 400 was great for a newcomer  to track.

"Lizzie ran really well in both the 100 and 300 hurdles and ran a great lead off in the 4-by-4," Bronson added.

Bronson also touted the performances from the field event athletes.

"Our field event girls really did great picking up points for us," he said. "Elizabeth Denlinger had a great night, PRing in the pole vault, then placing in both the high and long jumps. ... Emma Renninger got some good points for us in the pole vault and ran a strong second leg on the 4-by-4 ... Kaitlyn Leonard had a good night long jumping and just missed placing in triple jump. ... Annika Lezak threw really well to get third as just a freshman in the javelin, and Hannah Earls finished off her last NTL meet with good throws in the discus."

Bronson believes his team showed its grit Friday.

"Overall, it was just a really strong meet for the girls, they are really tenacious competitors and it showed tonight," he said.

"I am really proud of them, and they should be proud of themselves for what they accomplished.

"We are going to enjoy this tonight, but then back to work to get ready for Districts," Bronson added.

Bronson won the 800-meter run in a time of 2:28.03, while junior Ava Hughes was seventh in 2:41.77, and junior Karolin Roelle was 11th in 2:50.16.

Junior Abby Burgess won the 400-meter dash in a time of 1:00.27, while freshman Marlene Roelle was sixth in 1:07.65, and senior Emma Renninger was 11th in 1:09.58.

The foursome of Burgess, Renninger, senior Addy Wheeler, and junior Lizzie Gorsline teamed to win the 1,600-meter relay in a time of 4:24.01.

The foursome of Bronson, Hughes, Karolin Roelle, and freshman Alissa Vough teamed to win the 3,200-meter relay in a time of 10:53.97.

Bronson finished second in the 1,600-meter run in a time of 5:15.14, while Vough was seventh in a time of 5:44.74, and Hughes was ninth in 5:55.98.

Bronson also finished second in the 3,200-meter run in a time of 12:32.35, and Hughes was fourth in 12:39.46.

Burgess placed second in the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.37 seconds, while senior Gretchen Schmieg was seventh in 13.75 seconds, and senior Annalise Geisinger was 12th in 14.05 seconds.

Burgess also finished second in the 200-meter dash in 25.83 seconds, while Schmieg was seventh in 28.74 seconds, and sophomore Kaitlyn Leonard was 14th in 30.92 seconds.

Junior Lizzie Gorsline finished second in the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 48.95 seconds, while senior Addy Wheeler was 11th in 55.72 seconds, and sophomore Hannah Parrish was 13th in 57.55 seconds.

Gorsline finished third in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 17.11 seconds, while Wheeler was 13th in 19.36 seconds, and Parrish was 14th in 19.97 seconds.

Freshman Annika Lezak finished third in the javelin with a throw of 97-feet, while sophomore Mya Smith as 11th at 78-feet, 8-inches, and sophomore Ella Yeager was 14th at 73-feet, 8-inches.

Junior Elizabeth Denlinger finished third in the pole vault at 8-feet, 6-inches, and senior Emma Renninger was fifth at 7-feet.

Denlinger finished sixth in the high jump at 4-feet, 4-inches, and junior Evelyn Panek was ninth at 4-feet, 2-inches.

The foursome of Schmieg, Geisinger, Wheeler, and freshman Ella Marhefka teamed to finish fourth in the 400-meter relay in a time of 54.49 seconds.

Leonard finished sixth in the long jump with a leap of 14-feet, 10 1/2-inches, while Denlinger was seventh in 14-feet, 10-inches, and Panek was 23rd at 11-feet, 11 3/4-inches.

Senior Hanna Earls finished seventh in the discus with a throw of 83-feet, 1 1/2-inches, while sophomore Abby Wagner was 11th at 77-feet, 4-inches, and junior Leah Nason was 22nd at 63-feet, 3-inches.

Leonard was ninth in the triple jump with a mark of 30-feet, 11 3/4-inches, while freshman Brooke Lyon was 16th in 26-feet, 9 3/4-inches.

Wagner was 11th in the shot put with a heave of 25-feet, 6 3/4-inches, while freshman Maleah Hadlock was ninth at 25-feet, 2 3/4-inches, and Smith was 25th at 20-feet, 9 1/2-inches.

NOTE: Prior to the meet, Athens was also awarded the first annual Bob Houser Memorial Award (Houser was a 40 year PIAA official and founder of the Northern Tier Officials Chapter). Awarded to a team based on "sportsmanship, love of track and field, a do-or-die competitive spirit and the extent to which a team promotes track and field as a sport through positive actions, camaraderie, and strong performances."

Athens returns to action Thursday for Day 1 of the District 4, Class 3A Championships at Williamsport High School.

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IN PHOTO 1: Athens junior Abby Burgess. IN TOP PHOTO: Athens senior Sara Bronson leads the pack. ... PHOTOS BY LANCE LARCOM and CHRIS MANNING.

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