Pictured above: North Pocono’s Colin Kravitz started his day by leading qualifying in the 100-meter dash. From left: West Scranton’s Joseph Harris, Kravitz and Delaware Valley’s Aiden Black. (Tim Drewes Photo)
By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
SCRANTON – North Pocono senior Colin Kravitz swept the sprints, then capped the meet with a stirring burst into the lead for a win in the 1600-meter relay Tuesday night at Memorial Stadium.
Kravitz was the clear individual star with four gold medals while Valley View and Mid Valley won the team titles at the Robert Spagna Lackawanna Track Conference Championship Meet.
The Cougars and Spartans continued unbeaten seasons with their third title each, adding the conference meet to regular-season LTC division titles and team championships in last week’s Jordan Relays.
Kravitz turned defending champion North Pocono into a title contender.
On a night when the other three team titles were decided before the 1600 relay hit the track, North Pocono went into the final event with a shot to win the team championship if it could win the event while Valley View did not place in the top six.
Kravitz took the baton for the anchor leg in fifth place, surged into the lead by the midway point in the lap and held on with a 48.81-second split, 1.31 seconds faster to his 400-meter dash win.
The Trojans did their part, but the Cougars were not cooperating.
While Kravitz pulled North Pocono away from everyone else in the relay field, Connor Swartz gave chase, bringing Valley View in 1.02 seconds later in second place in the event for a six-point win in the final team standings.
The Cougars finished second in all three relays, following Abington Heights in the 3200 and Delaware Valley in the 400.
The 24 points gained from the relays and 18 more from the 1-2 finish of Jacob Nielsen and A.J. Kucharski in the long jump boosted Valley View to a 97-91 advantage over North Pocono.
Nielsen’s win was the only by the Cougars, who took the Jordan title last week without winning any of the six events. He also, however, was part of the team’s ability to compile significant points across multiple events, taking third in the triple jump and contributing to the 400 relay.
Kucharski added a third in the 300 hurdles and was on the 1600 relay.
Swartz, Connor Hilling and James Liparulo were all on two of the relay wins. Swartz, who ran on the 3200 relay, was also third in the 400.
Hilling took third in the 100 and fourth in the 200. Liparulo was fifth in the 200. Both were on the 400 and 1600 relays.
Teams were scored together with the top eight earning points in each event and the top six received medals.
Five Class 3A teams scored 71 points or more while Mid Valley took the Class 2A team plaque by outscoring Dunmore, 45½-29.
The Class 3A teams combined to win all 18 events.
Delaware Valley, Scranton and Abington Heights finished third, fourth and fifth in the team standings with each led by the only other athletes to win two individual events.
Peter Stanislavsky won the triple jump and high jump for Delaware Valley, which was third with 76 points.
Brian McCormack won the 1600 and 3200 for Scranton. The Knights were fourth with 75 points.
Nikolai Williams from Abington Heights won the discus and shot put. Colin Donahoe, who anchored the 3200 relay win, won the 800 for the fifth-place Comets.
North Pocono’s Thomas Esgro was the only other athlete to win both an individual event and a relay. He took the pole vault.
Other individual winners were: West Scranton’s Colin Manley in the 110 high hurdles; Honesdale’s Jeffry Delgado Santos in the 300 hurdles; and North Pocono’s Nicholas Franceschelli in the javelin.
Mid Valley’s Class 2A title was led by second-place finishes from Cody Michaels in the 300 hurdles and Gabe Pacyna in the 800 along with a third-place finish by Charles Davey in the javelin.
MORE SPAGNA MEET COVERAGE
Results: Spagna Meet results – NEPA Sports Nation.
Photo Gallery: Robert Spagna LTC Championship Meet 2023 Photo Gallery – NEPA Sports Nation.
