St. Hill upholds family legacy

WHITEHALL — There was a point to prove.

Redemption to find.

And maybe even a little bit of revenge to dish out.

Regardless of the reason, there was no shortage of motivation when the District 11 Track and Field Championships kicked off on Wednesday.

And when all was said and done, several area athletes had checked off all the boxes on their to-do lists.

Jim Thorpe’s Justin St. Hill, Palmerton’s Chris Fredericks and the Tamaqua 3200 relay team left Whitehall’s Zephyr Sports Complex as district champions.

For St. Hill, his triumph in the Class 3A triple jump helped him add to an already storied legacy — and further establish himself as one of his family’s most accomplished athletes.

“It is absolutely amazing to me,” said St. Hill. “My brother went to states last in my family, Carl St. Hill, and I just was always following in his footsteps. I was like, ‘Man, I gotta make it, so I can say I’m the better brother, finally.’

“I got my other brother (Deonte) in football, because I ran for more yards than him. I just had to show that I was the better one. The fact that I’m going to states, and I got the gold medal around my neck feels really good.”

St. Hill had to work for it, getting his winning mark of 44-7.75 on his last attempt, just edging East Stroudsburg North’s Justin Miller (44-7.25).

“I didn’t even break 44-(feet) until my last jump,” said St. Hill. “I felt it was good because I just got a couple of my guys to start a clap-up and get me in a rhythm, and it gave me the confidence boost and adrenaline boost that I needed.”

After placing second at last week’s Colonial League meet, Fredericks defended his district crown, winning the 2A javelin with a throw of 171-10, well ahead of runner-up Zack Link (151-11) of Shenandoah Valley.

“I’m pretty happy with it,” said Fredericks. “It’s not too far off what I threw last week (178-5), and in this type of weather, I couldn’t … I mean, obviously, I could have expected something a little bit better, but I’m not upset with it at all.

“In this weather, I’ll take that any day. And it’s still a gold, no matter what.”

Now, Fredericks is locked in on a return to Shippensburg. And his goal is clear.

“I’m starting to get my confidence back up. I know what to expect out there, and I’m hoping to get a good, nice throw, and pull one and get a medal. Nothing less. If I don’t get a medal, there’s something wrong.”

A year ago, the Tamaqua 3200 relay team entered the event as the top seed, only to watch Notre Dame (Green Pond) snatch the title out of its hands.

The Blue Raiders returned the favor this season.

Christopher Osenbach, Derian Stianche, Dair Miller and Brad Clemson won the 2A event in 8:22.31, comfortably outpacing the top-seeded and runner-up Crusaders (8:32.65).

“We knew we had a good bunch of guys coming into this,” said Clemson. “We knew we had a shot at going out to states, and winning districts. We ran our hardest today, and it definitely pays off.

“I feel like a lot of people didn’t count on us winning; they were counting us out. But we knew in our heads, if we run tough, we’re gonna come out on top.”

Maybe having the No. 2 seed gave Tamaqua that extra boost it needed this season.

“Last year was rough, coming in being the No. 1 seed and then having them get us, that was tough to take,” said Stianche. “So this year, when we saw that, we were like, ‘All right, here we go. It’s our turn to do it to them.’

“So we just came out here, and ran as hard as we could, and it turned out well.”

Last season, Jim Thorpe’s Jonathon Fikentscher placed third in the Class 3A shot put, and expressed a desire for the program’s underclassmen to continue a strong tradition in the throwing events.

William Munson made it happen for the Olympians on Wednesday.

Munson’s 49-6.0 in the 3A shot put was good enough for second place and a spot in Shippensburg next week.

“I’m extremely happy,” said Munson. “All my throws, I was sitting in like third or fourth the entire time. My very last throw I popped out the throw to take second place.”

Tamaqua’s Tyler Disbrow was second in the 2A discus with a throw of 127-1 to qualify for states.

“I’m happy,” said Disbrow. “Definitely content and happy with second.”

Northern Lehigh’s Zach Moyer and Lehighton’s Shae Blasiak tied for second in the 2A high jump at 5-10. They both qualified for states.

“It’s gonna be a blast. It’s my last year. It’s my last time to jump, so I’m looking forward to it,” said Blasiak.

“I had a set goal that I wanted to break, and I ended up short, but I still have another chance to break it (at states),” added Moyer.

CHANGE OF PLANS … Inclement weather forced the postponement of the boys and girls Class 3A pole vault Wednesday. Both will now be contested Friday indoors at East Stroudsburg University. There will be an attempt to contest the boys and girls 2A pole vault today at Whitehall, but if they are unable to do so, both will be moved to ESU on Friday with the 3A events.

READY, SET … On track action is set to resume today at 3 p.m. with the finals in the 2A and 3A girls 100 hurdles. The 2A and 3A boys 110 hurdle finals will follow. Several field events will also begin at the same time.

RESULTS

CLASS 2A

BOYS

PRELIMINARIES

(Top qualifier; other locals)

100 – 1. Scott Grigas (No. Schuylkill) 11.44*, 2. Tahmir Spencer (Lehighton) 11.46*, 5. Gabriel Bauer (Marian Catholic) 11.68*, 7. Aaron Stasko (Palmerton) 11.70*, 11. Matt Kistler (Tamaqua) 12.08, 15. John Franko (Tamaqua) 12.22, 16. Cody Waterhouse (Palmerton) 12.22, 18. Mason Gerhart (Weatherly) 12.31, 21. Seth Fronheiser (No. Lehigh) 12.39, 25. Jake Barron (Tamaqua) 12.73.

200 – 1. Scott Grigas (No. Schuylkill) 23.15*, 3. Tahmir Spencer (Lehighton) 23.30*, 8. Gabriel Bauer (Marian Catholic) 24.29*, 10. Matt Kistler (Tamaqua) 24.39, 11. Aaron Stasko (Palmerton) 24.53, 13. Mason Gerhart (Weatherly) 24.54, 14. Seth Fronheiser (No. Lehigh) 24.70, 18. Cody Waterhouse (Palmerton) 24.94, 20. Ean Chelak (Marian Catholic) 25.14.

110H – 1. Chase Mazalusky (Mahanoy Area) 16.43*, 2. Jordan Nelson (Palmerton) 16.76*, 4. Jonathan Perloni (Palmerton) 17.08*, 5. Jevon Nelson (Palmerton) 18.01*, 6. Nicholas DiMarco (Tamaqua) 18.26*, 7. Joseph Jordan (Marian Catholic) 18.58*, 9. Caleb Hankee (No. Lehigh) 18.69*, 11. Zach Moyer (No. Lehigh) 18.82, 13. Zeno Zukovich (Tamaqua) 19.19, 15. Xavier Cuadrado (Tamaqua) 19.82.

* ­— Qualified for Finals

FINALS

(Top 3; other locals)

3200 Relay – 1. Tamaqua (Christopher Osenbach, Dair Miller, Derian Stianche, Brad Clemson) 8:22.31, 2. Notre Dame GP 8:32.65, 3. Lehighton 8:36.32, 7. Northern Lehigh 9:47.93.

300H – 1. Eric Lobb (Pen Argyl) 40.66, 2. Mike Santos (Notre Dame GP) 42.26, 3. Joey Zaladonis (Notre Dame GP) 43.05, 6. Chase Ohlson (No. Lehigh) 44.56, 8. Jevon Nelson (Palmerton) 46.11, 9. Ryan Chapman (Marian Catholic) 46.16, 10. Nicholas DiMarco (Tamaqua) 46.28, 13. Jonathan Perloni (Palmerton) 47.14, 14. Joseph Jordan (Marian Catholic) 47.36, 20. Zach Moyer (No. Lehigh) 48.79, 22. Xavier Cuadrado (Tamaqua) 48.93, 23. Zeno Zukovich (Tamaqua) 51.53.

3200 – 1. Dylan McNichol (Palisades) 10:09.37, 2. John Koons (Notre Dame GP) 10:16.81, 3. Travis Anderson (Pine Grove) 10:25.50, 7. Scott Zoscin (Weatherly) 10:45.40, 10. Evan Beers (Lehighton) 11:10.66, 13. Eddie Pulaski (Marian Catholic) 11:35.04, 14. Anthony Maguschak (Weatherly) 11:35.17, 16. Isaac Miller (Tamaqua) 12:08.92.

Long Jump – 1. John Reichenbach (Salisbury) 22-0 ¼, 2. Josh Volak (Palisades) 20-10 ½, 3. Jordan Nelson (Palmerton) 20-9 ¼, 4. Caine Carpenter (Lehighton) 19-11, 7. Barron Stauffenberg (Tamaqua) 19-3 ½, 8. Michael Eckhart (Palmerton) 19-2 ½, 9. Robert Shoff (No. Lehigh) 19-1, 10. Cody Sherer (Lehighton) 18-10 ½, 11. John Franko (Tamaqua) 18-9, 12. Isaiah Wetzel (Lehighton) 18-8 ¼.

Javelin – 1. Chris Fredericks (Palmerton) 171-10, 2. Zach Link (Shenandoah Vy.) 151-11, 3. Mason Geary (No. Schuylkill) 147-4, 4. Carson Schoener (Tamaqua) 142-0, 6. Eric Keck (Palmerton) 136-10, 8. Jackson Schaeffer (Lehighton) 134-1, 11. Jacob Kamp (Tamaqua) 123-11, 13. Trevor Hoffman (No. Lehigh) 121-11, 14. Ben Schatz (Lehighton) 115-11.

Discus – 1. Allan Milkovitz (Notre Dame GP) 128-10, 2. Tyler Disbrow (Tamaqua) 127-1, 3. Joshua Gurzynski (Schuylkill Haven) 119-11, 4. Josh Mooney (Palmerton) 119-11, 5. Nathaniel Noftz (Tamaqua) 119-2, 8. Dane Frantz (Lehighton) 112-4, 9. Brett Gasker (Lehighton) 110-11, 12. Matthew Amodea (Tamaqua) 104-1, 13. Matt Lalik (Palmerton) 100-6, 14. Seth Berk (Panther Vy.) 95-9.

High Jump – 1. John Reichenbach (Salisbury) 6-0, 2. Zach Moyer (No. Lehigh) 5-10, 3. Shae Blasiak (Lehighton) 5-10, 4. Robert Shoff (No. Lehigh) 5-10, 5. Bryce Beahm (Palmerton) 5-8, 7. Adam Depew (Panther Vy.) 5-6, 8. (tie) Ryan Chapman (Marian Catholic) and Billy Shilko (Tamaqua) 5-6.

Top 2 plus others who meet PIAA standard qualify for states

CLASS 3A

PRELIMINARIES

(Top qualifier; other locals)

100 – 1. Jarrin Geisinger (Jim Thorpe) 11.2*, 2. Joe Kurtz (Bethlehem Catholic) 11.42*, 3. Nasai Moon (Pleasant Valley) 11.74*, 24. Malichai Jones (Pleasant Valley) 12.11.

110H – 1. Powell Posten (ES South) 15.77*, 3. Xavier Garmony (Pleasant Valley) 16.80*, 12. Thomas Layden (Jim Thorpe) 17.07.

200 – 1. Alstan Wolfe (Saucon Vy.) 22.73*, 5. Nujai Walcott (Jim Thorpe) 23.34*, 8. Jeffrey Gorman (Jim Thorpe) 23.49*, 14. Nasai Moon (Pleasant Vy.) 24.10, 17. Jarrin Geisinger (Jim Thorpe) 24.18.

* — Qualified for Finals

FINALS

(Top 3; other locals)

3200 Relay – 1. Parkland (Sam Morgan, Jacob Ringer, Nathan Reimer, Mustapha Salau) 8:08.67, 2. Stroudsburg 8:10.05, 3. Nazareth 8:14.59, 4. Pleasant Valley 8:20.18, 9. Jim Thorpe 8:47.71.

300H – 1. Bowell Posten (ES South) 39.40, 2. Christian Tackett (Liberty) 40.35, 3. Katrell Thompson (Easton) 40.55, 22. Jerel Thomas (Pleasant Vy.) 44.52, 23. Xavier Garmony (Pleasant Vy.) 44.57.

3200 – 1. Ethan Bernstein (Saucon Vy.) 9:34.50, 2. Colin Cramer (So. Lehigh) 9:35.17, 3. Joseph Ozgar (Easton) 9:36.42.

Triple Jump – 1. Justin St. Hill (Jim Thorpe) 44-7 ¾, 2. Justin Miller (ES South) 44-7 ¼, 3. Michael Gombos (Parkland) 44-2.

Shot Put – 1. Zachery Liggitt (Northampton) 50-3 ½, 2. William Munson (Jim Thorpe) 49-6, 3. Elek Ferrency (Easton) 48-5 ¾, 8. Jason Scott (Jim Thorpe) 42-7, 14. Dulani Smith (Pleasant Vy.) 39-7 1/2.

Top 2 plus others who meet PIAA standard qualify for states