The track and field programs shined, highlighting Wyoming Area’s athletic efforts during the spring sports seasons.
Both teams went 6-0, more than doubling the point production of their opponents while repeating their Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 championships.
The success, which included a series of strong performances in invitationals, continued into the postseason with individual boys field and girls track efforts leading the way.
Drew Mruk followed up a 2022 state Class 2A gold medal with a Class 3A silver medal at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Track and Field Championships Memorial Day Weekend at Shippensburg University.
Madelyn Keating was one of the standouts of the District 2 Track and Field Championships, joining Susquehanna’s Tatum Norris, a three-time state sprinting champion in Class 2A, as the only four-event gold medalists.
Mruk had a 17-foot lead when the state javelin field was trimmed to nine contenders, but his throw of 208-3 wound up second best to Jersey Shore’s Peter Bellomo.
“I threw the 208 and I was pretty confident,” Mruk said. “I thought that would have gotten me through for the win, but I should have kept the pedal on the gas.”
Keating handled the transition from Class 2A to 3A by winning the four longest races at the district meet, finishing first in the 3200-, 1600- and 800-meter runs and anchoring the victory in the 3200 relay.
The grueling series of titles came a year after Keating won three gold medals on the district level.
“I’ve seen so many people the last couple years get three races or two races, but fumble on the fourth one,” Keating said. “Even I did that last year on the fourth one.”
Hannah Stoss, Nina Angeli and Ella McKernan joined Keating on the championship relay team, helping Wyoming Area to a third-place finish in the team standings behind two other unbeaten division champions, Abington Heights and Dallas.
The Wyoming Area boys were ninth in the district meet team standings.
The Warriors, however, dominated most of the regular season. They squeezed past Northwest, 76½-73½, but scored at least 100 points in every other dual, winning by an average of 108-42.
Wyoming Area’s closest girls dual meet came in the first-place battle to end the regular season. The Lady Warriors defeated Lake-Lehman, 83-67, finishing a WVC season in which they beat opponents by an average of 101-47.
BOYS TENNIS
Wyoming Area’s only losses in an 11-2 season were a pair of 3-2 defeats at the hands of the two District 2 Class 2A team finalists.
The Warriors lost to unbeaten WVC champion Dallas in the regular season and to Holy Cross in the district semifinals.
Luca Argenio reached the District 2 Class 2A doubles semifinals with Dylan Stoss after making it to the quarterfinals in the singles tournament.
GIRLS LACROSSE
A potent offense allowed Wyoming Area to put together a strong finish, reaching the District 2 Class 2A semifinals before falling to eventual champion Crestwood.
The Lady Warriors averaged 16.9 goals in their final seven wins. After starting out 5-3, they won seven of their last nine with the only losses coming against a Crestwood team, which also won the WVC title.
Wyoming Area went 10-4 to place fifth out of 15 teams in the WVC and added one non-league win.
The Lady Warriors entered the district tournament as the fifth seed, but avenged a WVC loss when they opened with a 16-15 win at Dallas in the quarterfinals.
Julianna Gonzales scored seven goals and Sofia Sabatini added five against Dallas before Halle Kranson scored the game-winner with 5:59 left.
Gonzales scored her 100th career goal in the game.
The Gonzales milestone was just the latest in the late-season run by the Lady Warriors.
Sabatini and Kranson each celebrated while scoring seven goals in a 19-9, Senior Night victory over Pittston Area. Sabatini scored her 200th career goal in the game while Kranson reached 100 goals and 100 assists.
OTHER SPORTS
Softball gave Wyoming Area a fifth winning team out of its seven spring sports.
The Lady Warriors went 7-5 to place fourth out of seven teams in WVC Division 2 and ended up 11-10 overall when they lost to Berwick, 3-1, in the District 2 Class 4A quarterfinals.
The baseball team’s run of two straight district titles ended, but after struggling much of the season, the Warriors showed some improvement late in the year.
Wyoming Area went 4-8 to place fifth of seven in WVC Division 2 and was 4-16 overall to miss the district Class 4A playoffs. The Warriors picked up two of their wins in the last four games and their last three losses were by three runs or less against winning teams.
The boys lacrosse team went 3-9 to finish in a tie for ninth place out of 13 teams in the WVC. The Warriors lost in the first round of district play and finished 5-12 overall.
