Wyoming Area’s Luke Kopetchny won the long jump gold medal at Monday’s Wyoming Valley Conference Track and Field Championships. His teammate Nicholas Kondrosky (left) took second in the event, and Lake-Lehman’s Bodhi Cronin (right) finished third.
Kevin Carroll | Sunday Dispatch
A year after a strong debut that included two silver medals at the 2025 WVC Track and Field Championships, Wyoming Area’s Jenesa Sancho traded in those two silvers for two golds this week.
Sancho swept the hurdling events, winning the 100 hurdles in a close race and the 300 hurdles by over five seconds to lead the Warriors at Monday’s conference championship meet at Wilkes-Barre Area High School.
“I thought last year I wasn’t as ready, but this year I knew what to expect,” Sancho said. “I know at the end [of the 300] I kind of get tired, so I know I have to push myself.”
It was a strong day for Wyoming Area in both the girls’ and boys’ meets: the Warriors won six total events, finished in third place as a team in the girls’ competition, and fifth in the boys’ team standings.
Pittston Area took sixth place in both meets and had two winners: Elinor Schardien in the pole vault and Paige Bittmann in the high jump.
For the Warriors, Sancho was joined in the winner’s circle by discus thrower Taylor Gashi, whose throw of 104 feet, three inches kept her way clear of the field for the victory. Gashi also won bronze in the long jump.
Wyoming Area’s three wins on the boys side of the meet all came in the field, as well: Luke Kopetchny in the long jump, Nicholas Kondrosky in the triple jump, and Josh Mruk in the shot put.
In the jumping events, the two Warriors were essentially dueling each other: Kondrosky won the silver medal behind Kopetchny in the long jump, but got a measure of good-natured revenge by triumphing in the triple jump while Kopetchny took third place.
“Having a teammate like that [Kondrosky] is so valuable because you practice with him, too,” Kopetchny said.
Mruk entered Monday’s contest with two silver medals in the shot put the past two years, and the senior delivered a throw of 52 feet, four inches to take the step up the podium to the gold.
Lucia Campenni won bronze in both hurdling events for the Warrior girls. Isabella Costa won silver in the 400 dash, and the Warrior girls added bronze in both the 400 and 1600 relays.
Ben Gravine won silver in the discus to round out Wyoming Area’s medal winners.
It was a pair of first-time champions getting it done for Pittston Area with Bittman and Schardien both ascending to the top of the conference podium for the first time in their careers.
Schardien has improved steadily at the WVC meet year by year, winning a bronze medal as a sophomore and finishing second last year.
In her final crack at the gold, she cleared 10 feet to fend off Northwest’s Auria Daniels for the win.
“It’s been my goal to get 10 feet all year, and I finally did it,” Schardien said. “I just try to relax and stay confident and not get into my own head too much.”
Fellow senior Bittmann emerged from a big crowd of high jumpers to win. Five jumpers cleared the 4-10 mark, but only Bittman was able to get over 5-0.
“At first, I started off a little rough, but I told myself that I’ll get through it,” Bittmann said. “It feels great, I’ve been waiting for this moment.”
The Pittston Area boys weren’t able to bring home any gold but added a few more medals to the school’s haul. Freshman Deondre Miller won silver in the 100 dash, and Caden Boettger added a silver in the 800 run.
The Patriots won bronze in both the boys’ and girls’ 3200 relay events. Lucas LoPresto added a bronze in the javelin and Nick Logan won bronze in the 110 hurdles.
