North East trio become titlists during PIAA track and field meet

SHIPPENSBURG -- Ted Miller Stadium is in the midst of a renovation projet.

That means North East's main sports facility will look different this fall.

The same can be said, to a lesser extent, about the school's trophy that honors its great athletes.

Room will be needed in it to honor not one, not two, but three current Grapepickers who forever became PIAA track and field champions over the weekend.

Less than 24 hours after Noah Crozier won the meet's Class 2A boys high jump competition, fellow senior Jamari Curlett (100 meters) and freshman Abby Malesiewski (100 hurdles) also received state gold medals during Saturday's action at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium.

"This is just a blessing for all of us and our community," Curlett said. "When we get back home, I know we're going to have little party."

'Picker picks up pace

Curlett's contribution was first place in track's glamour race. The Mercyhurst University football recruit, who was seeded third in the 100, sprinted to first in 10.82 seconds.

Curlett, like the fans in the stands, wasn't sure who won the photo finish.

It wasn't until the results were posted on the stadium's scoreboard that the 'Pickers' swiftest runner learned of his fortunate fate.Curlett finished .03 faster than Mount Carmel's Xaiver Diaz and .04 ahead of Meyersdale's Tristin Ohler.

There was incentive beyond becoming North East's third meet titist, according to Curlett.

"Last year, I didn't even make the (2A 100) final," he said. "This year, I really showed up and came out with a win. I'm really excited about that."

'This amazing experience'

Curlett conquered the 2A boys 100 final roughly 30 minutes after Malesiewski concluded her first varsity season atop the meet's medal podium. She lived up to her status as the meet's favorite for the 100 hurdles.

Barely.

The online results listed Malesiewski and Montrose senior Chloe Diaz with identical times of 14.85. However, race officials declared the first-year 'Picker the victor after they checked the video.

"I'm so grateful and thankful for the support I've been given throughout my entire season," Malesiewski said. "When I thought I couldn't do it, my friends and family knew I could."

"I want to thank God for giving me this amazing experience."

Malesiewski's support even extended to two of her competitors in Saturday's final. She was more than familiar with them, though, as they were seniors Ella Corritore of Fort LeBoeuf and Morgan Wilhelm of Seneca.

Corritore was the race's sixth-place medalist at 15.35 and Wilhelm at 15.72.

"Abby is phenomenal," Corritore said. "She's got a lot of things going for her the next three years."

Rock rolls to first

North East's state titlists comprised half of the meet's events won by District 10 participants.

Levi Prementine was responsible for the fourth and fifth. A day after the senior repeated as the 2A boys long jump champ, he topped the field in Saturday's 300 hurdles final at 38.63.

Second to Prementine was teammate Eli Anderson, someone he's been friends with long before their track and field days as Rockets. Anderson's silver medal time was 39.05.

"We're there to push each other all the time," Anderson said. "When you're at a dual meet, where maybe you don't have the same competition like (Saturday), or at practice you have him there to get you faster and work on your techniques."

Prementine's two individual victories also accounted for 20 of the 41 team points that Slippery Rock accrued. That total was enough to finish first in the small-school standings.

As if that collective victory wasn't memorable enough, the 2024 Rockets will always recall how they received their PIAA trophy in a torrential downpour.

The postmeet awards ceremony was cut short by a major storm front passed over the stadium. Slippery Rock joyously went from being drenched in sweat because of the humidity to being drenched in rain.

Record removed, but not win

Milena Sciullo set an unofficial PIAA record Saturday.

That unofficial record was for the shortest amount of time an athlete held an official PIAA record.

Sciullo was the district's sixth and final event winner at the meet. The Grove City sophomore, who was seeded first for the 2A girls triple jump, lived up to that status.

Sciullo's best attempt was announced at 40 feet, 3 3/4 inches. The cheers grew from nearby fans when they realized that distance was a new PIAA standard.

Sciullo's jump was 1/4 farther than the 2012 standard of Brookville's Lanae Newsome.

Until it wasn't.

PIAA officials remeasured Sciullo's landing spot. It was announced her attempt was trimmed back to 40-3.

"It definitely felt like a big jump," Sciullo said, "but I didn't hear the (original) mark right away,"

Sciullo's disapointment also was short-lived. Her reduced distance was still a personal best and more important, the only one in the field that exceeded 40 feet.

Palmerton's Nataly Walters was the silver medalist at 39-7 1/4.

"I was determined to be (first)," Sciullo said, "and I made it happen."

'Bummer I couldn't start'

It was difficult not to ask "what if" when it came to Mercyhurst Prep's 2A boys 400 relay.

The Lakers were the race's favorite with a seed time of 41.91. While they qualified for Saturday's final, they ran it minus star anchor Camden Bryant.

The Slippery Rock University recruit suffered a right hamstring pull midway through his closing leg of Friday's qualifying heat. Mercyhurst still won the heat to advance, but the senior's status for Saturday's action was tentative at best.

Bryant, with his right hamstring tightly wrapped, hop-skipped to the finish line for eighth place in the same 2A 100 final that Curlett won. He sat out the 400 relay final, with coach Dave Stolar inserting Craig Buckner for Mercyhurst's anchor leg.

Vincent Feliciano, Jacob Applebee and Ja'son Ellman started ahead of Buckner, who crossed the finish line in 42.51. They trailed Fort Cherry's gold medal foursome by .08.

"It's just a bummer I couldn't start," Bryant said.

District's dearth of 3A medalists

The Class 3A portion of the meet was less kind to the district's participants. Only three large-school athletes from northwestern Pennsylvania were top-eight medalists after two days of action.

General McLane hurdler Logan Anderson placed fourth in the 300 (38.58) and fifth in the 110 (14.51). Hickory's Rylan Dye, at a height of 6-5, ended up sixth for the boys high jump.

Megan Puleio was the district's lone 3A female medalist. The Meadville runner was the eighth and final medalist for the 800 (2:11.87).

Mike has worked for the Erie Times-News editorial department since 1997 and full time with its sports department since 2004. He was the sports editor for the former Titusville Herald from 1991-93.

The overall winners and District 10 medalists for the 2024 PIAA track and field meet at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium:

Class 2A girls

Team: 1. West Catholic 36; 10. (tie including) Grove City 19 2/3; 12. (tie including) Greenville 18; 19. North East 13; 30. Fort LeBoeuf 10; 31. Corry 10; 39. Seneca 7; 49. Reynolds 5; 59. Sharon 3; 67. West Middlesex 2

100 meters: 1. Hayzes Robinson, Avonworth/Northgate 12.11

200: 1. Amirah Crabbe, West Catholic 25.35

400: 1. Tori Atkins, Laurel 55.49

800: 1. Kate Moncavage, Southern Columbia 2:13.25; 5. Karis McElhaney, Greenville 2:16.35

1,600: 1. Kate Moncavage, Southern Columbia 4:57.52; 2. Karis McElhaney, Greenville 5:00.92; 7. AnnaSophia Viccari, West Middlesex 5:09.71

3,200: 1. Chelsea Hartman, Shady Side Academy 10:37.32

400 relay: 1. West Catholic 48.33; 3. Fort LeBoeuf (Mackenzie Marsh, Abigail Falk, Emily Samluk, Alena Urbanowicz) 49.24

1,600 relay: 1. Central Columbia 3:55.94

3,200 relay: 1. Warrior Run 9:25.28; 5. Corry (Jordan Fox, Haley Mumua, Haeleigh Bayle, Camryn Fox) 9:45.94

100 hurdles: 1. Abby Malesiewski, North East 14.85; 6. Ella Corritore, Fort LeBoeuf 15.35; 7. Morgan Wilhelm, Seneca 15.72

300 hurdles: 1. Camryn Pyle, Midd-West 43.89; 4. Morgan Wilhelm, Seneca 45.66

Long jump: 1. Nataly Walters, Palmerton 18-8 3/4; 7. Milena Sciullo, Grove City 17-4

Triple jump: 1. Milena Sciullo, Grove City 40-3; 4. Grace Bresnan, Reynolds 38-6 1/2; 8. Hailey Corritore, Fort LeBoeuf 37-2 1/4

High jump: 1. Sarah McConnell, River Valley 5-7; 5. (six-way tie including) Milena Sciullo, Grove City 5-2

Shot put: 1. Sasha Garnett, Richland 43-7 1/2; 3. Maggie Goodlin, Greenville 40-10 1/2; 6. Victorya Byler, Sharon 39-1/2

Discus: 1. Margaret Bila, Lancaster Catholic 140-6; 3. Lindsey Hasbrouck, Corry 125-5; 6. Tessa Bemiss, North East 115-0

Javelin: 1. Sophia Mazzoni, Derry Area 161-10

Pole vault: 1. Lilyana Carlson, Bermudian Springs 13-0; 3. Aleah Morgante, Grove City 12-0

Class 2A boys

Team: 1. Slippery Rock 41; 7. (tie including) North East 20; 16. Franklin 16; 27. Mercyhurst Prep 10; 43. Seneca 6; 51. Commodore Perry 5; 67. Oil City 3; 77. Mercer 2; 82. Lakeview 1

100 meters: 1. Jamari Curlett, North East 10.82; 8. Camden Bryant, Mercyhurst Prep 37.64

200: 1. Josh Stolarski, Penn Cambria 21.98

400: 1. Josh Stolarski, Penn Cambria 47.10

800: 1. Gabriel Cuffey, Archbishop Carroll 1:52.38; 6. Caleb Prettyman, Franklin 1:56.97

1,600: 1. Kevin Sherry, Coudersport 4:13.74; 2. Caleb Prettyman, Franklin 4:16.49;

3,200: 1. Jaxon Schoedel, Mohawk 9:10.45; 4. Caleb Prettyman, Franklin 9:20.03

400 relay: 1. Fort Cherry 42.43; 2. Mercyhurst Prep (Vincent Feliciano, Jacob Applebee, Ja'son Ellman, Craig Buckner) 42.51; 8. Lakeview (Blake Skiles, Austin Haines, Ethan Williams, Danick Hinkson) 43.45

1,600 relay: 1. Nativity BVM 3:20.91; 6. Slippery Rock (Eli Anderson, Trent Davey, Levi Prementine, Tyler Arlblaster) 3:26.93

3,200 relay: 1. Midd-West 7:54.27

110 hurdles: 1. Josef Book, East Juniata 14.34; 3. Eli Anderson, Slippery Rock 14.50; 5. Levi Prementine, Slippery Rock 14.70

300 hurdles: 1. Levi Prementine, Slippery Rock 38.63; 2. Eli Anderson, Slippery Rock 39.05

Long jump: 1. Levi Prementine, Slippery Rock 20-3/4; 8. Ja'son Ellman, Mercyhurst Prep 21-6 1/4

Triple jump: 1. Lorenzo Fancher, East Allegheny 45-6 3/4; 4. Jack Thomas, Commodore Perry 44-8 3/4

High jump: 1. Noah Crozier, North East 6-8; 6. (three-way tie including) Ben Godfrey, Mercer 6-2

Shot put: 1. Clark Gulycz, Allentown Central Catholic 58-3 3/4

Discus: 1. Alex Polenik, Penns Manor 171-0; 6. Ethen Knox, Oil City 153-9

Javelin: 1. Bronson Krainak, Danville 215-7

Pole vault: 1. Luke Martinez, Schuylkill Valley 15-6; 3. Reed Yost, Seneca 15-0

Class 3A girls

Team: 1. Spring Grove 46; 76. Meadville 1

100 meters: 1. Amirah Nesmith, Cheltenham 11.84

200: 1. Laila Campbell, Spring Grove 24.44

400: 1. Kaddel Howard, Cedar Crest 53.25

800: 1. Olivia Cieslak, Haverford Township 2:07.60; 8. Megan Puleio, Meadville 2:11.87

1,600: 1. Logan St. John Kletter, Mt. Lebanon 4:38.54

3,200: 1. Logan St. John Kletter, Mt. Lebanon 10:21.46

400 relay: 1. Cheltenham 47.19

1,600 relay: 1. Chester 3:47.09

3,200 relay: 1. Upper Dublin 9:01.43

100 hurdles: 1. Macaela Walker, Oxford Area 13.74

300 hurdles: 1. Ella Bahn, Spring Grove 41.98

Long jump: 1. Jaylynn Dorsey, Susquehanna Township 19-3/4

Triple jump: 1. Destini Smith, Souderton 40-4 1/4

High jump: 1. Ella Bahn, Spring Grove 5-7

Shot put: 1. Laci Nelson, Manheim Central 40-2 1/2

Discus: 1. Genesis Castro, J.P. McCaskey 138-8

Javelin: 1. Rosalind Gergely, Blue Mountain 152-4

Pole vault: 1. Veronica Vacca, Mount St. Joseph Academy 14-0 (PIAA RECORD)

Class 3A boys

Team: 1. Coatesville 27; 30. (tie including) General McLane 9; 69. Hickory 3

100 meters: 1. Shaun McCoullum, George Washington 10.39 (PIAA RECORD)

200: 1. Jayden Horton-Mims, Imhotep Charter 21.29

400: 1. Jayden Horton-Mims, Imhotep Charter 46.06 (PIAA RECORD)

800: 1. Dale Hall, Hampton 1:51.29

1,600: 1. Drew Griffith, Butler 3:57.08 (PIAA and NFHS RECORD)

3,200: 1. Drew Griffith, Butler 8:43.72 (PIAA RECORD)

400 relay: 1. Coatesville 41.45

1,600 relay: 1. Coatesville 3:13.80

3,200 relay: 1. Council Rock North 7:38.73

110 hurdles: 1. Tyler Burgess, Palmyra 13.74; 5. Logan Anderson, General McLane 14.51

300 hurdles: 1. Tyler Burgess, Palmyra 37.47; 4. Logan Anderson, General McLane 38.58

Long jump: 1. Kyle Moore, Emmaus 23-6 3/4

Triple jump: 1. Jordan Sowell, Cheltenham 50-6 (PIAA RECORD)

High jump: 1. Kyle Archie, Muhlenberg 6-8; 6. Rylan Dye, Hickory 6-5

Shot put: 1. Brady Mider, Berks Catholic 61-10 3/4

Discus: 1. Peyton Murray, Hempfield Area 186-6;

Javelin: 1. Sam Guzman, Hazleton 208-8

Pole vault: 1. Drake Risser, Lower Dauphin 16-0

Note: General McLane finished fourth in the meet's unified team standings.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: North East athletes win three events during PIAA track and field meet