PA Dominates at Ocean Breeze

This weekend undoubtedly had some of the most impressive performances of the season, with a lot of those marks coming from the Ocean Breeze Invitational 2023 in Staten Island, New York. The elite PA athletes certainly stole the show.

Boys

Sprints

Jaylen Foster (Wissahickon) ran a new PA No.1 time of 6.44 in the 55m dash. Foster finished second in the varsity red finals. Not far off in the same race was Calvin Jordan (Conestoga), who finished 7th in 6.61, and Julian Ward (Roman Catholic), who finished 8th in 6.62.

In the 55m hurdles, Trevon Foster (Pottsgrove) was victorious with a new PA No.3 time of 7.65. 

In the 200m dash, Conor McFadden (Central Bucks West) won the varsity red finals in 21.69. This is after McFadden set a new PA No.1 time of 21.50 in the prelim. Also in the final, Colin Kravitz (North Pocono) was 2nd in 22.03, Daunte Bell (Norristown) was 3rd in 22.05, and Zachary Willen (Methacton) was 5th in 22.47. Notable performances that didn't make the finals were Logan Maloney (Cardinal O'Hara), who ran 22.37, Graham Greene (Germantown Friends School), who ran 22.42, Robert Turner (Coatesville), who ran 22.42, Mason Scott (Spring Ford) who ran 22.46, DeRon Adams (Pennsbury) who ran 22.50, Preston Lubeski (West Chester Henderson) who ran 22.53, Abaas Hunter (Episcopal Academy) who ran 22.55, Dylan Simon (Parkland) who ran 22.55, Asir Moore (Imhotep Institute Charter HS) who ran 22.58, Shomari Richardson (George Washington HS) who ran 22.61, and Eddie Moore (Downingtown West) who ran 22.69. All of these times are PA Top 25 performances.

Tyler Abraham (Abington) took the crown in the varsity red 400m running a new PA No.1 time of 48.88. PA runners managed to sweep the top-8 with Asad Reese (Imhotep Institute Charter HS) running 49.02 for 2nd place, Kelly Bell (Downingtown West) running 49.67 for 3rd place, Luke Coleman (Abington) running 49.73 for 4th place, Abaas Hunter (Episcopal Academy) running 49.81 for 5th-place, Graham Greene (Germantown Friends School) running 50.02 for 6th-place, Peyton Engle (Harry S Truman) running 50.11 for 7th-place, and Colin Kravitz (North Pocono) running 50.14 for 8th-place.

Distance 

In the 800m, Michael Woolery (Episcopal Academy) won in a blistering new PA No.1 mark of 1:53.28. Finishing not far off was Gabriel Ciffey (Archbishop Carroll), who ran 1:56.05, Dakin Ebmeyer (Episcopal Academy), who ran 1:56.08, and Brian DiCola (Hatboro Horsham), who ran 1:56.26. Other runners who ran PA Top-25 times were Eli Engelman (Episcopal Academy), who ran 1:57.22, Kadin Salaria (Penncrest), who ran 1:58.00, Nathan Hayes (Owen J Roberts), who ran 1:58.56, Jameson Todd (Bishop Shanahan) who ran 1:59.30, and Sarem Khan (Lower Marion) who ran 1:59.49.

In the 1 mile, seven PA runners broke the 4:20. Brian DiCola (Hatboro Horsham) led the way running 4:11.25. Finishing behind DiCola in 2nd place was Matthew O'Brien (Susquehannock), who ran 4:14.27. The other sub-4:20 runners were Ryan McGinley (LaSalle College High School), who ran 4:17.61, Drew Brill (LaSalle College High School), who ran 4:17.77, Liam Davis (East Stroudsburg Area South), who ran 4:18.20, Jack Czarnecki (Council Rock North) who ran 4:19,04, and Thomas Smigo (Palisades) who ran 4:19.95.

Andrew McGonigle (Owen J. Roberts) got things done in the 2 mile running a new PA No.2 time of 9:21.63. Finishing just behind him was Gavin Mogck (Penncrest), who ran 9:26.49. Owen Donaher (Central Bucks West) was also in the 2 mile and ran 9:42.83.

Jumps

Drew Domurat (Coatesville) won the high jump, clearing 6'-3". Finishing in 2nd was Jayden Ekoko (Easton Area), who cleared 6'-2". Colin Graham (Upper Moreland) was 3rd, and Joachim Johnson (Episcopal Academy) was 5th, both also clearing 6'-2". Nathan Hoffman (Cheltenham), Albert Morton (Coatesville), Connor Salmon (Central Bucks West), Chase Pensyl (Shamokin Area), and Kian Mehler (Central Bucks West) all cleared 6'-0".

In the long jump, Rodrigo Davis (Archbishop Carroll) won, covering 22'-5" for a new PA No.3 mark. Finishing in 2nd was Shomari Richards (George Washington HS), who covered 22'-0" for a new PA No. 6 mark.

Vault

Andrew Brinker (Stroudsburg) won the vault competition, clearing 14'-0" for a new PR. Taylor LaBarre (Pen Argyl Area) also cleared 14'-0", finishing in 2nd.

Throws

Alphonso Koukou (Episcopal Academy) came out on top after throwing 50'-11.25". While Kyree Butler (Upper Dublin) was 2nd, throwing 49'-11.50", and Odin Ferency (Easton Area) was 3rd, throwing 49'-2".

Relays

The Roman Catholic 4x200m squad ran a new PA No.1 time of 1:28.29, defeating the 1:28.95 Coatesville team at the line. In the same race, Norristown ran 1:31.12, just beating the Downingtown West team, which ran 1:31.56, and the Spring Ford team, which ran 1:31.64.

The 4x400m relay came down to an even closer finish with Central Bucks West running a new PA No.1 time of 3:23.93, edging out the Abington team that ran 3:23.97 for the win. Upper Dublin was 3rd, running 3:26.00, with the Harry S Truman squad coming 4th, running 3:26.70, and the Penncrest squad coming in 5th, running 3:27.52.

Twin Valley won the 4x800m relay with a 7:57.23 PA No.2 performance.

Girls

Sprints

Saige Forbes (Episcopal Academy) won the 55m dash running a new PA No.2 and a PR time of 7.12. Forbes was the only PA athlete to make the varsity red finals. 

In the 55m hurdles, Damira Allen (Chester) won, setting a new PA No.2 time of 8.29. While Maggie Scalzo (Easton Area) was 2nd running 8.54, Avery Elliott (Episcopal Academy) was 4th running 8.56, Olivia Smiarowska (Archbishop Ryan) was 5th running 8.58, Keerthana Sujesh (Downingtown East) was 6th running 8.68, Michelle Korsah (Cheltenham) was 7th running 8.71, and Mariah Winfield (Cheltenham) was 8th running 9.65. 

Faith Fuqua (Downingtown East) finished 2nd in the 200m finals running a new PA No.3 time of 25.14. Behind her was Mimi Duffy (Central Bucks West), who finished 5th, running 25.32. Notable performances that didn't make the finals were Simone Kelly (Springside Chestnut Hill Academy), who ran 25.57, Milan Ramey (Harriton), who ran 25.62, Keturah Darwon (West Chester Rustin), who ran 25.62, Ryleigh Hearn (Downingtown West) who ran 25.65, Amirah Nesmith (Archbishop Ryan) who ran 25.92, Saige Forbes (Episcopal Academy) who ran 25.97, Eliza Hildreth (Norristown) who ran 25.98, Ava Alexander (West Chester Rustin) who ran 26.08, and Mariam Koita (Chester Charter Academy) who ran 26.17. These are all PA Top-25 efforts in the 200m dash.

In the 400m dash, Payton Drumwright (Engineering and Science) finished 3rd, running 57.58. Not far off was Kelly Simone (Springside Chestnut Hill Academy), who ran 57.64, and Alli DeLisi (Penn Charter), who ran 57.99. Other solid PA performances were by Janaisa Dearry (Chester), who ran 58.12, Ashley Landis (Pennridge), who ran 58.84, Jade Sanders (Abington Friends), who ran 59.07, Ella Woehlcke (Mount Saint Joseph Academy), who ran 59.34, Ava Alexander (West Chester Rustin) who ran 59.42, Maggie Scalzo (Easton Area) who ran 59.64, and Christen Moore (Engineering and Science) who ran 59.78.

Distance

Alli DeLisi (Penn Charter) won the 800m with a time of 2:14.15. Other place winners from PA were Ashley Landis (Pennridge), who finished 3rd in 2:15.31, Maddie Miller (West Chester Rustin), who finished 4th in 2:16.11, Erin Vincent (Easton Area), who finished 5th in 2:16.13, Quin Stovall (Friends' Central) who finished 6th in 2:16.75, Ella Woehlcke (Mount Saint Joseph Academy) who finished 7th in 2:17.47, and Sarah Ann Miller (Twin Valley) who finished 8th in 2:18.52. Notably, Meghan Willis (Bishop Shanahan) also broke 2:20, running 2:19.19.

In the 1 mile, PA's Claire Zubey (Owen J. Roberts) was 2nd, running a PA No.3 time of 4:58.83. Zubey is one of three PA girls to break 5:00 in the mile this year. Not far off from the 5-minute-barrier herself was Emily Smiko (Hatboro Horsham), who ran 5:04.39. Other solid performances come from Addie Cohen (Wyomissing Area), who ran 5:11.10, Anna Carruthers (Phoenixville Area), who ran 5:12.01, Erin Vincent (Easton Area), who ran 5:13.22, Nora Ritting (Pennridge) who ran 5:13.53, Hannah Prokup (Strath Haven) who ran 5:13.85, Mimi Pastore (Upper Dublin) who ran 5:15.01, and Meghan Willis (Bishop Shanahan) who ran 5:15.48.

Ellie Keefer (West Chester Rustin) finished 2nd in the 2 mile and ran a new PA No.2 time of 10.50.27. Just behind her was Alexandra Gobran (Episcopal Academy), running 10:53.82. Other solid times were by Carolyn Tarply (Downingtown West), who ran 10:55.27, Lillian DiCola (Hatboro Horsham), who ran 10:56.73, and Ruby Schwelm (Penncrest), who ran 10:57.72.

Jumps

Grace Patterson (Council Rock South) tied the current PA No.2 height of 5'-4" to take 2nd place in the high jump.

Keturah Darwon (West Chester Rustin) finished 2nd in the long jump after covering a new PA No.3 distance of 18'-3.5". Madison Gee (North Penn) was 3rd jumping 17'-7" while her teammate, Taylor Forbes, was 4th jumping 17'-1".

Charly Schlauch (Bloomsburg) jumped 36'-0.5" to take 2nd place, while Brooke Lobban (Upper Moreland) was 3rd, jumping 35'-10.75".

Throws

Alexa Brown (Strath Haven) won the crown in the shot put after throwing 42'-1.75".

Relay

Great Valley won the 4x200m relay with an impressive new PA No.1 time 1:44.06. Upper Moreland finished second 1:44.20. The Chester squad wasn't far off, running 1:44.32 for 3rd place. Downingtown West was 4th, running 1:46.00, and Norristown was 5th, running 1:46.39.

In the 4x400m relay, West Chester Rustin took 1st running a PA No.2 time of 4:01.36. 

Emmaus won the 4x800m relay running 9:51.51, just beating the North Penn team that ran 9:52.21.

PA dominated the Ocean Breeze Invitational. Stay tuned to see what madness unfolds this week!