SCRANTON — Aliya Lucarelli sported a broad smile and had a look of disbelief on her face.

Only a freshman, she didn’t even realize the impact she had in a shining effort by sweeping the 100- and 200-meter dashes that sparked Abington Heights to another team title.

With Lucarelli leading the way, the Lady Comets scored 110 points to hold off Crestwood, which had 98 points to finish second. Wyoming Area finished third with 68 points and North Pocono was fourth with 67.

Abington Heights won the Jordan Relays and Robert Spagna Championships this spring.

“I am very happy,” Lucarelli said. “I wasn’t expecting to come out on top in both races.”

Wallenpaupack put the finishing touches on a gold rush by winning the 1,600 relay in a meet-record time of 3:20.49. Izael Rodriguez, Aiden Janowicz, Dawid Mrowka and Bryce Pagano beat the previous mark of 3:23.44 held by Pittston Area since 1981.

“Before this meet, first and foremost, we worked for this,” Rodriguez said. “We have been talking about how we had a chance to qualify for nationals if we could get to 3:20. It’s awesome.”

As impressive as Wallenpaupack was in that race and in winning three other individual events, Dallas, led by Hunter Pitcavage’s win in the javelin, earned the boys team title in Class 3A with 100 points.

 

 

Gold-winning efforts

In addition to Lucarelli’s wins in the sprints, athletes from the Lackawanna Track Conference had good performances in Class 3A.

Delaware Valley’s Emma Simmons, who overcame an early-season injury, captured the 100 hurdles in 15.18 seconds.

“I pulled my hamstring early in the year, and that was scary,” said Simmons, who is headed to Millersville University. “It is amazing to see the progress that I have made. It’s my senior year; after having some injuries last season and starting this year with an injury, it’s nice to win this.”

Grace Holderith, a sophomore who put in a solid offseason, won the 1,600 in 5:03.81. Abington Heights’ Anna Pucilowski, who beat Holderith in the 3,200 on Monday, was second in the intense matchup between the two standouts.

“I didn’t even qualify for the 1,600 last year, and I got last in the 3,200, so to come back this year and run more than 2 minutes faster in the 3,200 and be the mile champ, just means so much,” Holderith said. “I was crushed last year, and I had a hard time in the sport. It took a lot of work, both mentally and physically, to get to this place.”

North Pocono’s team of Alia Rava, Celia DeCesare, Ella Geck and Pia Zangardi captured a gold in the 400 relay in 50.13. Abington Heights finished second in 50.56.

“We have been working on this for months, and to stand on the first-place podium just means everything,” Zangardi said.

Heavy haul
With Wallenpaupack’s relay triumph highlighting the boys meet, the Buckhorns had gold-medal efforts from Ryan Vargo in the discus, Janowicz in the 1,600 and Pagano in the 400.

Vargo, who started the season with a school-record heave in his first meet, won a second straight gold medal in the discus (176-4).

“It’s a great feeling,” Vargo said. “It’s all about giving praise to God. No matter whether I am up or down, I praise God. It’s why I am always happy, and I was happy about my throw. You can feel if it is a good one, and it felt pretty good.”

Janowicz, who considered not running the 1,600, won his third straight district title in the race. He also added the 800 (1:55.24) to give him four gold medals overall in the two days.

“Winning the 1,600 again is really special,” Janowicz said. “I didn’t expect to win that race in any of my years. Sophomore year, I was sick, and last year, I got hurt but came back. To come here again to score these points for my team means a whole lot to me.”

Pagano missed part of the early season with a hamstring injury. Relentless in his recovery, he used a late sprint to the finish to capture the 400 in 49.85. West Scranton’s Quincy Mosley was second in 50.09.

“This has been the goal the entire season,” Pagano said. “This means a lot to me. We train so much, and even though I was out, with the help of my coaches and training, it all came together. The 400 is one of those races where the end is very hard. You just pray and hope that the training can pull you through.”