NTL TRACK & FIELD: ATHENS’ BURGESS WINS TWICE AS GIRLS PLACE 4TH AT NORTHWEST RANGERS INVITATIONAL; WILDCAT BOYS FINISH 8TH (April 11, 2026)

Valley Sports Report
SHICKSHINNY, Pa. — Abby Burgess won two events to lead the Athens girls to a fourth-place finish at the Northwest Rangers Track & Field Invitational here Friday. Meanwhile, Graham Wanck, Chase Ingram and the 4x800-meter relay highlighted the boys’ 8th-place showing with thirds.

“Both the girls and boys teams had very good meets,” said girls coach Mike Bronson. “Coach (Mike) Panek’s boys had a good night too. Overall, on both sides we had a lot of really great performances last night.”

GIRLS
Burgess crossed the finish line first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.7 seconds and in the 200, clocking 26.9. She added a fourth in the 400 in 1:01.82, and teamed with Kaitlyn Leonard, Ella Marhefka and Bilikula Wennie to take sixth in the 4x100 relay in 51.97 seconds.

The Wildcats’ Evelyn Panek recorded a top three effort in the high jump, clearing 4-10.

Placing fourth were Elizabeth Denlinger in the pole vault at 8-6 and the 4x800 relay of Ava Hughes, Stella Unger, Marlene Roelle and Alissa Vough with a time of 10:42.84.

Vough was also fifth in the 1600 at 5:48.11 and ninth in the 800 with a 2:34.02.

Taking eighth were Lizzie Gorsline in the 200 with a time of 51.62 seconds and Annika Lezak in the javelin with a throw of 97-2.

Leonard placed 13th in the long jump and 14th in the triple jump, leaping 14-4 ½ and 30-0 ¾, respectively.

Maleah Hadlock heaved the shot put 29-2 to take 13th while Savannah Boyles leapt 13-4 ½ to claim 20th in long jump.

Athens scored 50 team points, just six behind third-place Greater Nanticoke. Crestwood won the team title with 134 points, followed by Hazleton with 105.

“I’m pretty happy for the girls to finish fourth as a team,” Bronson said. “All of the girls performed really well, we had a lot of girls run personal bests or season bests tonight. Our seniors really led the team tonight, Abby Burgess had a terrific night with two wins, a strong 400, and anchoring the 4x1 to a seasonal best, Evey Panek and Elizabeth Denlinger had good nights jumping, and Lizzie Gorsline ran a good lead off for our 4x800 and then had a solid 300 hurdles race.

“All three of our girls in the shot PR’d last night, Kaitlin Leonard jumped season bests in both the long and triple jumps,” said Bronson. “Our distance girls all had good nights starting off with a solid run by the 4x800. Alissa Vough ran a great leg in the relay and had a good run in the 1600, Stella Unger ran PRs in both the 8 and the 16.

“I’m pretty happy with where we are as a team at this point in the season, with four weeks until the NTL meet. We still have some areas we need to improve in, but I think a lot of the girls are seeing that their hard work is paying off.”

BOYS
Graham Wanck ran to third place in the 1600 in 4:38.03 and eighth in the 800 with a time of 2:06.09. He was also part of the third-place quartet in the 4x800 relay which included Matt Rossettie, Lucas Persun and Alex Thompson, and registered a time of 8:35.1.

Also placing third was Chase Ingram in the pole vault with a height of 11-6. He also finished ninth in the 110 hurdles in 19.26.

Patrick Umber crossed the line fourth in the 400 in 52.31 seconds and sixth in the 200 at 23.94 seconds. He was also 20th in the 100 with a time of 12.01 seconds.

Gavin Ross had a height of 5-8 in the high jump, good for fifth. He was 12th in the 110 hurdles in 20.04 seconds and 18th in the pole vault at eight feet even.

Brenden Comstock placed sixth in the shot put with a heave of 45-3 and eighth in the discus with a toss of 121-7 while Thompson was seventh in the 400 in 53.17 seconds.

The 4x100 relay of Brayden Westbrook, Ryan Cook, Jacob Gorsline and Ryder Morley took 10th with a time of 46.53 seconds.

Cook was also 10th in the 200, clocking 24.44 seconds.

Holden McKeever and Peter Wanck contributed 11th-place efforts in the pole vault and 1600, respectively. McKeever cleared 9-6 and Wanck clocked 4:55.42.

Rossettie was 13th in the 400 with a time of 2:09.19.

Shayan Ankam came in 14th in the 110 hurdles in 20.18 seconds and 15th in the 300 hurdles in 49.29.

Jacob Gorsline took 14th in the 300 hurdles in 48.98 seconds, Morley placed 15th in the 200 with a time of 24.19 seconds and Avery Gorsline was 15th in the 400 in 54.44 seconds.

Zach Fisher threw the javelin 121-4 to place 16th, Alex Arcesi ran 5:01.53 to come in 18th in the 1600, Persunwas 19th in the 800 at 2:11.53 and Westbrook was 20th in the high jump at five feet.

Patrick Umber really ran well, running PR’s in both the 200 and 400. Chase Ingram had a nice 3rd place in the vault. The distance boys had a good night starting off with a 3rd place and season best by the 4x8. Graham, Matthew, and Lucas all ran PR’s in the 800. In the 1600 Graham ran a solid race to get 3rd, and Parker and Alex both PR’d. Brenden Comstock placed in both the shot and disc and PR’d in the shot.

The Wildcats were eighth in the team standings with 37 points, just two behind District 4 rival Central Columbia. Stroudsburg won the team title by 36 points, scoring 119.

——————

IN PHOTO: Abby Burgess. … VSR STOCK PHOTO.

Print Friendly Version