Hempfield Graduates at the Penn Relays

To run in the Penn Relays is a dream for most track athletes.  With hard work & many hours, that dream came true for at least 4 Hempfield alumni!  See all results for the Penn Relays at:

Penn Relay Results

Kori Meshaw - Kutztown

Kori was one of the finest athletes in the history of Hempfield Boys Track & Field!  Not only was he talented, but demonstrated great leadership as Hempfield won its fist PIAA Team Title in 2009!  Kori has qualified for the Penn Relay's 400 H race the last few years!  This weekend Kori ran in the finals of the 400 H!!!

Kori ran against BIG schools!  Mississippi State & South Carolina, Olympians like the winner of the race Seth Mbow!  And he ran with the BEST!!  Kori is a senior at Kutztown & has had a great career!

Hasel Akers - Georgetown

Hansel Akers was also part of the 2009 PIAA Championship team!  He is running for one of the top track & field programs at Georgetown!  And running well!  Hansel was a member of the 4 x 400 relay team that ran at Penn Relays this weekend in a time of 3:14.34!

Hansel, a junior at Georgetown has already had a great career and more to come!  Hopefully, the Big East Championships!!  Last year Hansel tried the 400H & finished 12th!  Let's see what this year brings!

Eric Solomon - Widener College

Eric was a top thrower at Hempfield during his high school career!  This weekend in the men's hammer throw, Eric finished 6th, with a throw of 54m(177'1").  A great accomplishment for the sophomore from Widener!!!  Great job Eric!

Melissa Fellenbaum - Alvernia College

Melissa graduated from Hempfield as the best lady pole vaulter of ALL time.  A school record holder, district medalist(had the district record!), and two year state qualifier!  This year, Melissa was jumping awesome, but has had a recent hamstring injury.  She jumped this weekend, she was not at her best, but still finished 13th with a 11'11" jump!  Her best jump this season was earlier this year of 12'7" earning her NCAA All American Honors!!

Great job to all Hempfield Graduates!!

Girls Continue the Chase to the Section Title

The score was 117 to 33, Hempfield over Cedar Crest.  So, as the boys were fighting for all the points they could get, the girls were racking up points all over the track and in the field!

Winning all three relays:
4 x 100 - Friedman, Davis, Klag, & Bland Time: 50.7
4 x 400 - Yoder, Brunner, Thomas, & Klag Time: 4:16.2
4 x 800 - Kurcina, Nolan, Yoder, & Thomas Time: 9:57.1

In the Field,
Shot - 1st, Rohrer - 34-8 & 3rd, Loose - 30-10
Discus - 2nd, Rohrer - 104-0
Jav - 1st, Rohrer - 124-9 & 3rd, Glass 84-8
LJ - 1st, Davis - 15-11 & 2nd, Daggett - 14-11
TJ - 1st, Davis - 33-4 & 2nd, Klag - 32-8 & 3rd, Daggett - 31-2
HJ  - 2nd, Williams 4-8 & 3rd, 3rd, Daggett - 4-6
PV - 1st, Poletti 10-0

That is of 41 of 63 points

On the Track,
100m - 1st, Helgeson - 12.1 & 2nd, Bland - 12.7
200m - 1st, Helgeson - 25.6 & 2nd, Klag - 26.3 & 3rd, Bland - 26.8
400m - 1st, Helgeson - 59.3 & 2nd, Brunner - 63.7
800m - 1st, Conrad - 2:32.1 & 2nd, Yoder - 2:32.2 & 3rd, Nolan - 2:32.5
1600m - 1st, Conrad - 5:35.1 & 2nd, Thomas - 5:35.9
3200m - 1st, Campbell - 12:02.0 & 3rd, Kurcina - 12:42.6
100H - 1st, Gamble - 16.4, & 2nd, Garpstas - 16.5 & 3rd, Friedman - 17.3
300H - 1st, Gamble - 47.9

That is 61 of 72 points!  First in all races!!

Final Score Hempfield 117 & Cedar Crest 33!
One more meet, Warwick at Home Senior Night! - April 29th!

New Faces Lead the Way for the Hempfield Boys Team!

What makes a team a champion?  There are many facets to the goal of team champion!

1 - Talented athletes - Hempfield has always been blessed with talent!

2 - Quality coaching - taking the raw talent and fine tuning the athlete, picking the right event, teaching the techniques, and getting the athlete to believe!

3 - Overcoming adversity - during the course of any season, for any sport, a team must face struggles & have new people step up to the challenge!

This meet, Cedar Crest provided that chance!  An AWAY meet, believe it or not, that is BIG in track & field!  And, Hempfield is missing some of its top athletes!  Who would score the points needed to wimn the meet?

If, you follow track & field 76 points wins the meet!  Where would that come from?

We had the regulars - the throws
Shot - 1st, JD Aument - 51'0"  &  2nd, Tanner Unger - 46'11",  & 3rd, Matt Bobetsky - 45'3"
Discus - 1st, Tanner Unger - 168'7",  &  2nd, JD Aument -147'2"
Javelin - 1st, Tanner Unger - 180'11", & 3rd, JD Aument - 162'3"

That is 23 points!

The Sprints:
100 m - 1st, Tory Long - 10.9, 3rd, Preston Swett - 11.4
200 m - 1st, Tory Long - 22.6
400 m - 1st, Darnell Lathon - 52.2

New Face - Preston Swett and key 3rd in the 100m!

That is 16 points, 39 total!

The Distance:
800 m - 2nd, Andrew Birk - 2:01.0
1600 m - 1st, Andrew Birk - 4:31.7  &  2nd, Connor Lehr - 4:32.9
3200 m - 1st, Connor Lehr - 10:09.4

That is 16 points, 55 total!

Hurdless:
110 H - 2nd, Andrew Pogue - 17.4  &  3rd, Alec Martin - 20.3
300 H - 1st, Andrew Pogue - 41.7

New Faces - Andrew Pogue & Alec Martin!!  Big Points!!

That is 9 points, 64 Total!

Jumps:
LJ - 3rd, Issiah Bennett - 18'11"
TJ - 2nd, Darius Stuckey - 40'6"
HJ - 1st, Adam Karl - 6'0"  & 2nd, Darius Stuckey - 5'10"
PV - 2nd, Dustin Peck - 11'6"  &  3rd, Will Foehlinger - 11'0"

New Faces - Will Foehlinger big third in the pole vault!

That is 16 points, 80 Total - That is a win!!!!  Moving toward a Section Title!

Hempfield Track & Field at Shippensburg Invitational!

I always look at the Shippensburg Invitational as a measuring stick!  What happens here is imprtant for two reasons!

1 - Competition - You will compete against a VERY large field of District 3 athletes! (and other districts)

2 - The Venue - The competition is at the Shippensburg University Track & Field Stadium!  This is the same venue as Districts & States!

How did we do?  First the girls:
Event  -  Athlete -     (place)  Results
100 m - Danielle Bland (16) - 13.30
400 m - Sarah Helgeson (1) - 57.15
800 m - Maria Yoder (14) - 2:24.08
3200 m - Kim Campbell (22) - 12:24.93
100 H - Kayla Garpstas (19) - 17.34       Abbey Friedman (24) - 18.33
300 H - Erin Gamble (15) - 49.93
2000 Steeple - Molly Conrad (2) - 8:03.40
4x100 - Friedman, Davis, Klag, & Bland (4) - 51.75
4x800 - Campbell, Conrad, Kurcina, & Nolan (4) - 10:00.59
HJ - Anna Williams (11) - 4'8"
TJ - Claire Davis (13) - 32-2
PV - Danielle Bland (1) - 11'6"  & Kayla Garpstas (2) - 11'-0"
Shot - Alecia Rohrer (9) - 30-11
Discus - Alecia Rohrer (7) - 103-10
Javelin - Alecia Rohrer (10) - 101-11

Some great results!  AGAIN, if you have not seen Sarah Helgeson run, you need to see this JUNIOR run!  First, at the Shippenburg Invitational is AWESOME & the time 57.15 almost 3 seconds ahead of second!  Sarah is a hard working, confident, & VERY talented young lady!!  More to come the next few weeks!

Danielle Polettie & Kayla Garpstas first & second - FIRST & SECOND!  This is a FIRST for Hempfield! I spent the last few years of my coaching career coaching the pole vault & these two girls are special!  We have had some AWESOME one-two pole vault punches in the past - Fellenbaum & Lundy, Ressler & Poletti(older sis), BUT this is our best ever!

How about the 2000 m Steeplechase?  It is the only time all year the ladies run it!  And, Molly Conrad finished SECOND by 0.1 seconds!!

Molly - GREAT RUN!!!

How did the boys do?

Event  -  Athlete -     (place)  Results

100 m - Dustin Koenig (10) - 11.50     &   Preston Swett ((23) - 11.66

200 m - Tory Long (2) - 22.97

400 m - Darnell Lathon (14) - 53.05

1600 m - Andrew Birk (11) - 4:33.16   &   Connor Lehr (30) - 4:43.65

300 H - Andrew Pogue (17) - 44.07

2000 Steeple - Justin Yurchak (10) - 7:11.98

HJ - Adam Karl (6) - 6-0   &  Darius Stuckey (8) - 6-0

TJ - Isiah Bennett (13) - 40-2

PV - Danielle Bland (1) - 11'6"  & Kayla Garpstas (2) - 11'-0"

Shot - Tanner Unger (3) - 52-1   &   JD Aument (5) - 47-2

Discus - Tanner Unger (2) - 150-11  &   JD Aument (6) - 144-10

Javelin - Tanner Unger (9) - 157-08

In the sprints, Tory Long's second place was impressive & the time is equally good! - 22.97  Tory an an underclassman is running with the BIG BOYS and showing he belongs!

It is good to see Adam Karl back in the high jump, a 6th place at Shippensburg in impressive & Darius Stuckey's 8th at the same height provides another 1-2 punch!

Speaking of 1-2 punches Unger & Aument are another thatmany teams would love to have!  After the graduation of Kyle Long, Tanner & JD are keeping the Hempfield thrower tradition alive & well!

The big push to Districts & States began this weekend & it looks like Hempfield will have some athletes to watch!

REMEMBER - This Monday, April 22 at Cedar Crest!  Another big meet for the girls & boys!!!

Hempfield Girls Overwhelm McCaskey

Before the boys & girls track & field meet began with McCaskey, the girls meet was more predictable.  Final Score Hempfield 105 - McCaskey 45!

Alecia Rohrer again was dominant in the throws, winning the shot, discus & javelin!  This young lady is a rare breed - a THREE sport athlete in today's world!  Alecia is a great volleyball & basketball player!  In the spring, she is also having a great season!  Shot(33-11), Discus(100-4) & Javelin(109-0) all wins!!

In the hurdles, a sweep, led by Kayla Garpstas in the 100H(16.5) and Erin Gamble in the 300H(48.4) winning!  The sprinters scored big points, Sarah Helgeson just ran the 100m(12.4) and won.  Sarah Klag is coming on in the sprints, providing depth, finishing second in the 200m(26.3).  While Amelia Brunner 400m(63.8) finished second and Maddie Dione 400m(66.1) placed 3rd.

The jumpers were scoring big points, Claire Davis winning the Long(14-10) & Triple(32-4), High Jump(4-11) Anna Williams placing first, and the one-two punch of Danielle Poletti & Kayla Garpstats taking 1st & 2nd, with jumps of 11' & 10'6!

This girls team & the success over the past 10 years have been AMAZING!  It looks like the tradition will continue!

Hempfield Vs. McCaskey - The Young Men!

Today I'm focusing on the young men of Hempfield & McCaskey!  For almost 40 years I have been lucky to see some amazing track & field when it comes to this track meet!  When I did my "student teaching" at Hempfield back in 1976, I was introduced to this rivalry - and back then, it was not much of a rivalry - McCaskey was amazing!  Hempfield had it's moments, but McCaskey was thriving!

In 1983, at the Lancaster-Lebanon League Meet, Hempfield had 5 League Champions!  But, McCaskey still ran away with the title!  But, shockwaves in 1986!  Coming down to the last event, Hempfield & McCaskey was tied!!  BUT, the 1600 relay team of Keith Shelly, Kevin Johnson, John Wade, & Jeff Fritz brought home the TITLE!!!

Then, we had a sprinter, Justin Kiscadden, finally win the 100 metes (And he did it for 3 straight years!).

Monday night, April 15th was tax day!  And it was very "taxing" for McCaskey!  What happened was amazing to watch!  And now, as a retired coach, and fan!  What a meet!  Coming in McCaskey, had a great win against Conestoga Valley!  And on paper, it looked like a nail biter!

But, the results were clear!  Tonight was Hempfield's night to shine!

Tanner Unger led the throwers!

Let's begin with the throws!  Points?  Hempfield 26 - McCaskey 1!!  Leading the charge - Tanner Unger!  Three wins!  Shot 50-6, Discus 156-0, & Javelin 167-2!  And depth!  JD Aument, Matt Bobetsky, & Anthony Delgiorno!  Coach Herr - AMAZING!!!

In the jumps, McCaskey was strong!  Guess what?  Hempfield 21 - McCaskey 15!  Issiah Bennett wins the Triple Jump - 40'-4", Dustin Peck wins pole vault 12'0"!  And more points, Issiah, 2nd in the Long Jump - 20'3", Darius Stuckey, 2nd High Jump - 6'1" & 3rd in triple jump - 38'6", Adam Karl, 3rd in high jump - 5'7", & Alexander Rogers, 2nd in pole vault - 11'!  BIG POINTS!!!

In the hurdles, Devon Santos is making a huge step, becoming on of the best hurdles Hempfield ever had! (Look out Frey, Wiederrecht, Dixon, & Meshaw!)  Hempfield 14 - McCaskey 4!  Devon wins the highs and intermediates in 14.8 & 39.2!  And Andrew Pogue, a freshman, grew up fast with a second in the 330H - 41.2 & 3rd in the 110H - 16.9!  This is exciting!!!!

Devon Santos - one of the League best hurdlers!

In the sprints, yes the sprints Tory Long, a sophomore wins the 100, 200 & anchors the 1600 relay!  Against McCaskey!!  (And without a dropped handoff, the 400 relay!) Hempfield 2013, what a difference 30 years make!!!!  And all this without our other top sprinter, Dustin Koenig!  Look out leagues!!  Hempfield 15 - McCaskey 12!

And, I thought the distance runners were in trouble!  Against Conestoga Valley, McCaskey's distance runners were tough!  But, Andrew Birk would have none of that!  Andrew wins the 800(2:05.3) & 1600(4:35)! And runs a great leg in the 1600 relay!  Big Points from Connor Lehr first - 3200(10:24.7) & 1600(4:42) - 3rd! And Justin Yurchak, 3rd in the 3200(10:37)!  Hempfield 17 - McCaskey 12!

Andrew Birk leads the Distance Runners!!

That's right!  Every category - sprints, hurdles, throws, distance, & distance outscored McCaskey!  What does that mean?  A BIG WIN!!!!  Hempfield 92 - McCaskey 58!!

DO NOT LET UP FOR CEDAR CREST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hempfield Versus JP McCaskey Track & Field!!!

The anticipation was felt at the stadium! The athletes, coaches, family & fans waited for the the 3200 relay to begin and they were not disappointed!  A great meet, with amazing results, a typical battle of the athletes of two of the best programs in Lancaster County and the state of Pennsylvania!

The track & field tradition at McCaskey goes back many years, led by past Olympian Barney Ewell!

Hempfield'd tradition over over fifty years has built upon this rivalry & developed into a premier track & field program.  And recently, Hempfield has been able to win not one, but TWO PIAA State Track & Field Championships!

This week will will focus on the rivalry and try to help define what goes into making this such a great event!  Today we will start with the coaches.

Hempfield's Curt Rogers & McCaskey's Carl Frederick have many similar traits!  This is one reason both programs have continued to thrive!

Trait #1 - Both are Track & Field enthusiasts!  Both men were great high school track & field athletes, spent many years as an assistant track & field coach in each program & then became the head track & field coach!!!

Trait #2 - Both are graduates of the school that they coach!!  Curt, a Hempfield 1983 graduate was a track & field & football player!  Guess what!  Carl, was a McCaskey grad and, you got it, was on the track & field and football teams!!!

Trait #3 - Both are great Dads!  Carl has three fine sons & a very supportive wife, Bev!  And, you got, it, Curt has two awesome sons & a very supportive wife, Stacey!!!

And Trait #4, both men do a great job during the school day!  Carl, as a guidance counselor at the high school and Curt as a fifth grade elementary teacher!

So, they you have it!  Both Hempfield & McCaskey have coaches with a "tradition" of succesful track & field roots!

11th Annual Black Knight Invitational

It has been 11 years!  11 years!  From 4 teams to 17 teams! Track & Field is alive and well at Hempfield!

Clear blue skies, a tailwind for the sprinters, a cool day & hot performances!!!!

In the sprints, the tailwind made times go low!!  Tory Long, Devon Santos & Sarah Helgeson led the charge for Hempfield! The coaches were careful not to run the athletes hard, because of the big meet with McCaskey on Monday!!!

Ladies first!  Sarah Helgeson!  If you have the chance you need to see this girl run!  Again, the coaching staff did not over use Sarah, but she had time to win the 200(25.64) & 400(57.69) meters! She won the 400 meters by 3 seconds!  Danielle Bland ran an awesome 100m(12.73) & fished second!Also, the 4x100 relay took first in 51.70 with the team of Abbey Friedman, Claire Davis, Sarah Klag, & Danielle Bland!

Hempfield's young male sprinters also had a great day Tory Long placing 2nd in the 100(11.04) & 400 relay(44.25)2nd place & Devon Santos placing second in the 300 hurdles(38.72) & 400 relay(44.25) 2nd place.  (Saved some for the McCaskey meet!)

In the distance events, the boys were led by Conner Lehr in the 1600(4:37.04) for 3rd place & Andrew Birk in the 800(2:01.42) for 4th!

Girls distance led by Kim Campbell in the 3200m(12:23.38) for 6th and Maria Yoder in the 800m(2:24.58) for 5th place!

In the throws Alecia Rohrer had a BIG day!  Shot Put (33-8)-5th, Javelin (109-6)-4th, & Discus (102-2)-2nd!  Placing in all the throws!  WOW!

For the boys, the the Shot Put - Hempfield's JD Aument (48-3)& Tanner Unger (46-10) placed 2nd & 4th.  In the Javelin Anthony Delgiorno (153-9) placed 6th!  And the Discus, Tanner Unger (156-10) and JD Aument (140-1) placed 2nd and 6th.  Great day for the throwers!

And in the jumps the girls, Claire Davis finished 7th in the Triple Jump (32-4), Anna Williams 4th in the high jump (4'-8").  The Pole Vault was again a HUGE strength for Hempfield, Dani Poletti 1st with  an 11' jump and Kayla Garpstas 2nd with a 10'6" jump!  These two young ladies are having an incredible year, with more BIG things to come!!

For the boys, in the High Jump, Darius Stuckey(5'10") 6th and Adam Karl(5'8").  The Triple Jump had Issiah Bennett (41-5) in 4th & Darius Stuckey(40'-7") 7th.  Stuckey (19'-3") also placed 4th in the Long Jump.  And Dutin Peck placed 7th in the pole vault with a jump of 11'6".

Great day, great competition, and more to come!

Complete results at - Black Knight 2013 Annual Track & Field Invitational

Boys & Girls Win A Big Meet Against Conestoga Valley!

It was a warm day!  For Spring Track & Field, a warm day is a GOOD day!!  And the track was warm with competition!

For the boys, the section one title is always a challenge!  Usually the championships goes through Cedar Crest and our friend at McCaskey!  But this year, as last year Conestoga Valley has a great team!  They narrowly lost to McCaskey last week, without one of their best runners!  So today, every event was critical!  The race to 76 points began with some big wins in the 3200 really, 110 HH, and 100 meters!!!!  The 3200 relay(Kling, Lehr, Yorchak, & Birk) got it started with 5 BIG points! Then two very, very close races!  Santos wins the high hurdles in 14.4!!  And Long wins the 100 meters by a whisker!!  Great start!!!

Santos 2nd in the 300 IH & 1st in the 110 HH

Long scores BIG points in the sprints!

Some other big races - Birk wins the 1600 meters in 4:39, Unger wins the three throws!! 0 Shot - 49-7, Discus - 170-6, and Jav in 162-5!  Bennett wins the long jump!  Final score Hempfield 79, CV 71!  That is a REAL close meet!!!!!  Hempfield outscored CV 21-11 in the distance races & 25-2 in the throws!!!

The girls meet was not as close, but a good meet - final score Hempfield 89, CV 61!  Winners were:

Helgeson in the 100(12.1), 200(25.4), 400(59.0), & 1600 relay!  Thats four for four, and remember each athlete can only do four events!!!  Yoder wins the 800m(2:29), Rohrer in the Jav(110-0), Davis in the triple jump32-11), & Poletti in the pole vault(10-6)!

Helgeson dominates the sprints!

If you are following the girls team, they have not lost a dual meet since April of 2005!!  That's 8 years!!  WoW!!!!  What a streak!!!

Next Monday, at home McCaskey!!!  BE THERE!!!

Ex-Hempfield Athletes at Millersville Metrics!!!

Great day to see the college runners at Millersville!  (Too bad the "Crazy" college administrators destroyed many great years of men's cross country & track & field!)  That is a entire other story!

The runners that were at Millersville today:

Rachel Poletti             2010               Messiah University         

Tyler Cox                    2010               Lock Haven                 

Rachel Wynne           2009               West Chester                        

Natasha Henderson  2011               Messiah

The day started running into Rachel Poletti(Messiah) & Tyler Cox(Lock Haven)!

Rachel in middle, Tyler on right!

Rachel had a good day in a cold windy pole vault competition!

Rachel cleared 9'2" and finished in the middle of the pack! - 12th Place!

Rachel Wynne ran the 3000m Steeplechase and finished in 7th place - Millersville Metric Results.

Natasha Henderson finished 2nd in her heat in the 1500m.  - Millersville Metric Results.

Tyler Cox finished 10th in his 1500m heat. - Millersville Metric Results.

Good to see all the athletes & parents at the meet - they all said hello to the Hempfield Track & Field coaching staff!!!

Hempfield Track & Field College Athletes Continue to Shine!!

I received this report from Jeff Bradley as he headed north from Myrtle Beach!  He just so happen to stop at a college track meet - what a coincidence!!!  The Fred Hardy Invitational!  Here is a quick email report:

Look at the article about Chrissie.  She's on fire.

Christine Rickert, a freshman on the High Point University women's track & field team was named the Big South Conference Women's Field Athlete of the Week, the league announced Thursday. Rickert broke her own program record in the javelin at HPU's VertKlasse Meeting on Saturday.

http://www.highpointpanthers.com/news/2013/3/28/W-Track_0328135632.aspx#.UVoWKtBxL4l.email

I was at Richmond on Saturday for the Fred Hardy Invitational.   Kori Meshaw set the meet record 52.66 as he won the 400 IH.   Matthew Groff split 1:54.83.  And Tyler Cox ran a nice leg.

The The Fred Hardy Invitational 2013 Results!

There is still more reporting from Coach Bradley!

Tyler Cox split 2:02 twice at the meet.   He is happy to be on the team.

Ashley Cox is running at Elizabethtown.    

Matthew's split of 1:54.83 was 3 seconds faster than his fastest 800 time.   He was thrilled.

As we were talking to Matthew and Tyler, a man walked by and said "Coach Bradley."   It was Mark Davis (Class of 2000) who is the sports anchor at 6 and 11 on the Richmond NBC station.  http://www.nbc12.com/story/15014111/marc-davis

Hempfield Track is thriving.

The nest meet for the high school team is next week Monday, April 8th  against Conestoga Valley!