SCRANTON – Natalie Talluto’s senior season started with the greatest news a young athlete could receive when she accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

But sports, in particular track and field, can sometimes test a young athlete with great adversity.

After only a couple of races in the Lackawanna Track Conference schedule, Talluto, a Mid Valley senior, suffered an injury to her hamstring. It nagged her and challenged her patience.

Taking a cautious approach and enduring a demanding rehabilitation program, she was rewarded in the one meet that counts just a little bit more than the others.

Racing down the home stretch in an intense battle with Lakeland’s Kaylyn Davis in the 300-meter hurdles, Talluto, the defending champion, cleared the final hurdle and withstood a lunge at the line to earn a gold medal. Her win, a thrilling finish, highlighted an impressive first day at the District 2 Track and Field Class 2A Championships at Scranton Veterans Memorial Stadium on Monday afternoon.

When the times flashed on the giant scoreboard, Talluto won in 45.34 seconds. Davis was second in 45.39. Both eclipsed the state-qualifying standard.

“It is such a special moment given to me by God,” Talluto said. “The last three weeks, I could not compete at all. I saved it all for the districts. Doing the right things always pays off.

“Kaylyn is awesome. She pushed me to my maximum ability. My performance, especially after the setback of an injury, shows me how much stronger this has made me.”

While Talluto’s inspired performance stood out, the Dunmore boys overwhelmed the competition with a heavy gold medal haul.

Weston Yannone won the 300 hurdles (38.91), Josh Dudick won the long jump (22-2.75), and Carter Sload won the high jump (6-5).

“Our team has performed all year,” Yannone said. “Carter and Josh had big wins. This shows how much work we put in. We hang out together almost every night, and our closeness shows.”

Girls recap

In addition to Talluto’s victory that punched her return ticket to the PIAA Championships on May 22-23 at Shippensburg University, Mid Valley also had a champion in the girls’ long jump.

Olivia Thomas, the shining star of the 2026 season so far, won the long jump with a meet-record distance of 19 feet, 5 inches. That leap wiped out the previous mark of 17-11.75 by Montrose’s Julia Koloski from the 2009 meet.

“That jump felt really good,” said Thomas, who also set a meet record in the preliminary heat of the 100 hurdles in 14.55 seconds. “I felt pretty confident coming in, but my goal has always been to continue to improve and do better each time I jump.”

Montrose also celebrated a pair of gold-medal winners.

Sadie Jones won the javelin with a heave of 125-8. That easily surpassed her previous personal best of 118-0 from the Robert Spagna Championship meet last week.

“I am so pleased that things came together at this important time of the season,” said Jones, who finished second in the long jump to Thomas and qualified for the state meet with a distance of 18-2.75. Districts are so important. I was able to put things together. I was over the moon, actually.”

Addison Stephens captured the title in the 3,200. She jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, finishing in 11:55.47.

“I didn’t expect this,” Stephens said. “I didn’t even realize it was a possibility until two days ago. It feels crazy.”

Dunmore freshman, Amelia Joseph, carried the momentum of setting a school record late in the regular season to the top step at the award’s podium. Joseph cleared 5-0, the same height as Holy Redeemer’s Isabella Boylan, but with fewer misses, to claim a gold medal.

“I think practicing and my coaches working with me really pushed me to do my best,” Joseph said. “Things went really good. I thought there would be more pressure, but I just stayed relaxed.”

Western Wayne’s Sadie Booths overcame an anxious moment when she broke on the first two throws of the discus competition. She threw one in bounds from only the power position to reach the final.

With three additional attempts, Booths released a throw of 117-8 to win the gold.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Booths said. “I had to think in my head, I could do this. That winning throw felt very relieving. This means a lot to me. I have the best coach ever, and Jesus helped me. I feel great.”

Boys recap

Like Talluto, Yannone overcame his own demons in winning the 300 hurdles.

At the Robert Spagna Championship meet, the junior led the race heading into the final barrier, which he clipped and tumbled ahead of the line. His fall allowed Western Wayne’s Robert Carrelle to speed past him for a win.

In the rematch, Yannone dominated from the start, and when the final hurdle came, he downshifted and cleared it to secure a gold medal.

“Obviously, when you fall over a hurdle, your mind goes to places where you realize how quickly your season could be over,” Yannone said. “I came in nervous, but with the help of my family and teammates, without whom I couldn’t have done this, their motivation took away the nerves, and I am extremely grateful.”

Dudick, who started the season by setting a school record in the long jump, held off fierce challenges from Blue Ridge’s Chance Davis (22-2) and Riverside’s Brayden Rose (22-1.5) to stroke gold.

All three are headed to the state meet.

“I feel great,” Dudick said. “Running down that runway, then hitting more than 22, it feels like something really special.”

In the high jump, Sload, who was battling an illness last week, had his own battle to conquer. Elk Lake’s Brody Crisman equaled Sload’s height of 6-5, but he had more misses. Davis finished third at 6-3, and all three qualified for the state meet.

“I want to give thanks to coach (Vince) Fedor, who has helped me since my freshman year,” Sload said. “Our team is special. I came off a 102 fever on Friday. I didn’t think I was going to do great. I iced my knees and came out and did what I have been doing.”

Lakeland’s Rocco Spataro conquered his disappointment from 2025 when he finished second in the javelin after winning the event at the Robert Spagna Championships. This year, the sophomore unleashed a throw of 175-11 to win the event. His teammate Evan Lonzinski finished second (168-1), with Riverside’s Alex Kimble third (142-2) and Lakeland’s Matt Prtichyk fourth (136-6).

“This is a great feeling after what happened last year,” Spataro said. “The thing that helped was that it wasn’t just me. I had two teammates competing with me. That is great to see the guys you work with all season to be up there with you is awesome.”

Mid Valley’s Robert Mattioli won a gold medal in the discus. He had a personal-best throw of 151-6 to set a school record.

“I knew that I had that in me all year; it was just about bringing it out,” Mattioli said. “As soon as it left my hand, it felt amazing, so I knew it was a bomb out there. I was hyped.”

Elk Lake’s Kendel Jones made it a clean sweep of the individual events for the Lackawanna Track Conference. He dominated the highly competitive 3,200, winning in 9:25.34.

Jones’ teammate Cody Adams was second (9:32.24), Lackawanna Trail’s Avery Ronchi was third (9:37.03), Mid Valley’s Jacob Borrelli was fourth (9:38.76), and Lakeland’s Henry Decker finished fifth (9:39.49). The top five finishers qualified for the state championship meet.

“I was really happy with that race,” Jones said. “I went out at about 4:44 for the first mile and was going to see what I had left in the second mile. I knew that we had a lot of good runners in the event, especially my teammate, Cody. I was thankful for how everything went.”