Track season is coming to an end and Freedom
competitors have ran circles around their opponents.
Members have already ran miles, leaped
over countless hurdles and pole vaulted astronomical
distances.
Starting March 31, the boys and girls’ track
and field teams defeated Burgettstown. The girls
won decisively, 104-32 and the boys’ 73 points were
enough to overcome the Blue Devils’ 68. Several
boys’ track and field competitors placed first in their
events. Junior Jarrett Boyd triumphed in the 800
and 1600 meter dash, Senior Trevor Adams took
first in Shot and Discus, Sophomore Santino Guandola
in the 100 meter dash, Senior Erich Borgman
in the 200 meter dash and Sophomore Ben Wright
in the 300 hurdles.The boys 4×4 and 4×1 relay
teams also took first place.
The meet was successful all around, with many
girls’ track contenders placing first. Freshman
Alexis Barlamas in the 100 and 200 meter dash,
Senior Skylar Corfield in the 100 and 300 hurdles,
Sophomore Lynnsey Kauffman in the 400 meter
dash, Sophomore Brittany Freed in the 800 meter
dash, Senior Michaela Muron in javelin, Junior
Vanessa LaValle in discus, Junior Breanna Karns
in shot put, Sophomore Bailey Prell in high jump
and Junior Linsey Moldovan in long jump all placed
first. Both the girls’ 4×4 and 4×1 also recorded first
place wins.
The boys’ track and field continued to win in
their meet versus South Side 83 to 63, but lost to
Hopewell 93 to 56. The girls recorded a loss to South
Side 75 to 74 and lost to Hopewell 107 to 43. Senior
Trevor Adams in shot put and discus, Junior Jarrett
Boyd in the 800 and the 4 by 400 relay team
of Sophomores Nych Baker, Ben Wright, Carson
Gilarno and Junior Jarrett Boyd all brought home
the gold.
Senior Skylar Corfield in the 100 hurdles, 300
hurdles and pole vault and Freshman Alexsia Barlamas
in the 100 also recorded first place wins.
“I didn’t PR (set a personal record) in pole vault
this year but it felt great to get a new PR in the 100
[meter] hurdles and 300 [meter] hurdles. What lead
me to this success is working really hard at practice
on my form and endurance,” Corfield said after
a meet versus Hopewell. “I also did indoor track
which was good for conditioning in both of those
events.”
The track team competed in the Warrior Track
Classic at Central Valley. Adams earned fourth
place in shot put & discus, Boyd finished third in
the 800 meter run and 6th in the 1600 meter run.
Guandolo took second in long jump, Junior Joey
Pail got fifth in the pole vault and Wright finished
sixth in the 110-meter hurdles. For the girls, Corfield
placed fourth in pole vault and Prell placed
fifth in high jump.
“We got a lot of new contributions to this year’s
team. We are a young team but this year’s freshmen
are making a great contribution,” track and
field coach Ed Shepard said.
The multi-team meet on April 13 was a crushing
victory all round, as Freedom Track won all of
their meets. Boys and girls defeated Cornell, and
Winchester-Thurston, boys defeated Summit Academy,
and girls defeated Ellis School, qualifying
them for the playoffs.
On Apr. 20, Freedom traveled to Beaver to fight
for the section title. The team pulled together and
put forth a tremendous effort. The boys’ 4×4 relay
team achieved a personal record of 3:35, making the
score 78-72 over Beaver. The girls’ team lost 116-34
to Beaver; however, there was controversy over the
final score for the boys’ meet. The triple jump pit had
been open for one hour during the meet, but it was
reopened for a Beaver athlete. This athlete’s jump
won first place in the event, pulling Beaver ahead
77-73. Since the pit had been closed, Shephard filed
a PIAA request to get the score reviewed. PIAA officials
ruled that since the pit had been closed before
the final jump, that jump did not count. This gave
the Freedom boys’ team the section title at a