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BERWICK — Most track and field fans around the Wyoming Valley Conference suspected a move to Division 2 might make Berwick a big problem for other teams trying to win a league title.

But not many figured the Berwick girls would be this difficult.

Not even the Bulldogs, who not only remained unbeaten Wednesday, but put themselves in the Division 2 championship hunt by speeding past last year’s district power.

Taylor Montana swept all three throwing events, Amber Koshinski, Reese Mensinger and Megan Dalo were three-time winners and Berwick handled Holy Redeemer, 88-60 in a girls track and field meet at Berwick’s Senator John R. Gordner Stadium.

“I think it was a very important meet for the girls,” Berwick coach Bob Calarco said. “We knew coming in that it was going to be close. The girls were emotionally prepared for it.

“They were excited about it.”

The excitement’s sure to build for Berwick in the coming weeks.

The victory moved the Bulldogs to 3-0 with four regular season meets to go, as they remained just behind 4-0 Lake-Lehman as the only undefeated Division 2 teams. And it came against a strong Holy Redeemer program that went unbeaten in 2016 while winning the WVC Division 2 and then the District 2 Class 2A girls titles.

The Royals ran their WVC winning streak to nine consecutive meets over the past two seasons entering this week, but ran into a couple rough spots.

After dropping a makeup meet to Lake-Lehman on Monday, Redeemer couldn’t quite get past Berwick — despite dominating the hurdles and distance events.

“This was tough,” said Holy Redeemer coach Kevin Walters, whose Royals fell to 2-2 and pretty much out of contention for a second straight league title. “You go Monday and Wednesday, back-to-back, with the two powerhouses in the league.”

The Berwick boys also remained in contention in Division 2, using a 92-58 victory over Redeemer to move to 2-1 behind unbeaten Hanover Area and Meyers.

Senior Connor Hanson and freshman Tim Maron paced the boys victory for the Bulldogs, as Hanson captured the triple jump and the high jump while Maron finished first in the 100 and 200 dashes and ran on the winning 400 relay team.

The Berwick girls once again leaned on the strength of Montana, who accumulated 15 team points by winning the discus, shot put and javelin.

“Oh, they have a young lady in the throws, she’s awesome,” Walters said. “We’ll cheer her on at Shippensburg, hopefully.”

A few other performances gave Berwick more to applaud.

Reese Mensinger won the 200 dash, Megan Dalo took the triple jump, both ran on the winning 400 and 1,600 relay teams as the Bulldogs continued their surprising run toward the top of their new division.

“If you look at our roster, we don’t have a lot of depth,” Calarco said. “But we have some quality right now. A couple holes in the lineup, we had some girls step it up. It was a total team effort.”

The effort of Koshinski gave the Bulldogs another big boost.

One of the league’s best pole vaulters, Koshinski cleared nine feet to lead a Berwick sweep in that event. She also also captured the 100-meter dash in 13.1 seconds, joined Dalo and Mensinger on the 400 and 1,600 relays and finished second to Mensinger in the 200 to provide the Bulldogs with 18 points toward their big victory.

“Pole vault is her area of specialty,” Calarco said. “But she’s also a great sprinter.”

And now, Berwick’s sprinting toward the top of the standings. The Bulldogs have a makeup meet with 2-2 Nanticoke Area and face 1-2 Meyers before hosting a May 5 showdown with Lake-Lehman.

“That quality is really starting to shine,” Calarco said of the strong showing throughout the girls squad.

Meanwhile, the Royals were left looking toward the District 2 championships to provide another day in the sun.

“You take that loss, it’s always tough to swallow,” Walters said. “But we had a ton of PRs (personal records) on Monday and did the same today. Kids are where they need to be.”

Girls

Lake-Lehman 130, GAR 16

Paige Motovidlak was a three-time winner and Morgan Marchakitus and Emily Johns produced two individual victories as the Black Knights moved to 4-0 and remained a half-game ahead of 3-0 Berwick in the WVC Division 2 by winning every event but the 100 dash.

Motovidlak won both hurdles events and ran on the winning 400 relay team. Marchakitus took the triple jump and the long jump, while Johns placed first in the shot put and discus.

Nanticoke Area 84, Meyers 43

Amiah Lukowski, Emily Scott and Amy Witts were triple winners as the Trojanettes moved to 2-1 on the season.

Lukowski won the 100 dash, the 300 hurdles and the triple jump. Scott captured the 1,600 and 3,200 runs and ran on the winning 3,200-meter relay. Witts placed first in the 800 run, and ran on the winning 3,200 and 1,600 relays.

Northwest 81, Hanover Area 68

Kennedy Maclean won all three throwing events and Sarah Zultevicz joined her as a triple winner to lift the Rangers.

Maclean took the shot put, discus and javelin throws. Zultevicz placed first in the 100 hurdles, the high jump and ran on the wininng 400 relay team.

Abby Korba was a triple winner for Hanover Area, capturing the triple jump, long jump and 300 hurdles.

Hazleton Area 103, Wyoming Area 43

Kayla Merkel swept the throwing events and Holly Buchman joined her as a triple winner as the Cougars cruised to a victory in a Division 1 meet that was moved ahead a day.

Merkel, a returing state silver medalist in the javelin throw, captured her signature event with a distance of 136-6. She also won the shot put by launching a throw of 33-5 and took the discus with a distance of 105-5.

Buchman captured the 100 dash and ran on the winning 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

Boys

Lake-Lehman 87, GAR 62

Riley Newman went the distance, winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 runs as the Black Knights rolled to victory.

Newman finished the 1,600 in 5:09 and captured the 800 in 2:20.

Hazleton Area 109, Wyoming Area 37

Franklin Cunningham was a triple winner and Mike Cusaitis, Joe Grula, Chris Scalleat and Luciano Stanko all won twice in victory that moved the Cougars to 4-0 and kept them a game up on 3-1 Coughlin in the WVC Division 1.

Cunningham won the 1,600 and 3,200 runs and was on the winning 3,200 relay.

Stranko won both hurdles and Grula took the long jump and triple jump. Cusaitis won the 400’dash, Scalleat placed first in the 800 run and both ran on the winning 3,200 relay team.

Hanover Area 93, Northwest 56

Brandon Chafin was a four-time winner and Stephen Dule won three times as the Hawkeyes moved to 4-0 and remained locked in a tie at the top of Division 2 with Meyers.

Chafin won the long jump, triple jump and high jump and ran on the winning 400 relay team.

Dule captured the 1,600 and 3,200 runs and was on the wininng 3,200 relay team.

***Boxscores go in Agate type***

Girls

Berwick 88, Holy Redeemer 60

3,200 relay — 1. HR (Cameron Marcinkowski, Lindsey Williams, Emily Thomas, Leah Mullery), 12:07. 100 hurdles — 1. HR, Autumn Kaminski, 17.4; 2. Ber, Sierra Miedaner. 100 — 1. Ber, Amber Koshinski, 13.1; 2. Ber, Reese Mensinger; 3. HR, Colleen Cavanaugh. 1,600 — 1. HR, Lindsey Williams, 5:39; 2. Ber, Samantha Dyer; 3. HR, Destiny Andes. 400 — 1. Ber, Sydney Lloyd, 63.3; 2. HR, Cavanaugh; 3. Ber, Haley Owens. 400 relay — 1. Ber (Mensinger, Belles, Koshinski, Megan Dalo), 52.8. 300 hurdles — 1. HR, Kaminski, 48.7; 2. Ber, Miedaner. 800 — 1. HR, Mullery, 2:34; 2. HR, Marcinkowski; 3. Ber, Dyer. 200 — 1. Ber, Mensinger, 27.8; 2. Ber, Koshinski; 3. HR, Nicole Kerestes. 3,200 — 1. HR, Williams, 12:23; 2. Ber, Dyer; 3. HR, Andes. 1,600 relay — 1. Ber (Dalo, Belles, Lloyd, Mensinger), 4:26.

High jump — 1. HR, Kerestes, 4-8; 2. Ber, Owens; 3. HR, Dolan. Pole vault — 1. Ber, Koshinski, 9-0; 2. Ber, Owens; 3. Ber, Miedaner. Long jump — 1. Ber, Maron, 25-0; 2. HR, Caton Fahey; 3. Ber, Harro. Triple jump — 1. Ber, Dalo, 32-6; 2. HR, McKenna Dolan; 3. Ber, Carly Belles. Shot put — 1. Ber, Payden Montana, 42-3; 2. HR, Kaylee Soboleski; 3. Ber, Dia Cruz. Discus — 1. Ber, Montana, 129-3; 2. Ber, Makayla Force; 3. Ber, Roni Isenberg. Javelin — 1. Ber, Montana, 104-8; 2. HR,Madelyn Walting; 3. HR, Scott.

Track format is SCH Name time (DAL Michael Smith 3:34.06;)

Field format is SCH Name distance (PA Joanna Williams 54-10.5;)

Boys

Berwick 92, Holy Redeemer 58

3,200 relay — 1. HR (Dominic Capaci, Nick Brown, Lucas Volpetti, Dylan Weybrecht), 8:45. 110 hurdles — 1. HR, Weybrecht, 15.9; 2. Ber, Bao Le; 3. HR, Chris Banas. 100 — 1. Ber, Tim Maron, 4:37; 2. Ber, Kyle Yule; 3. Ber, Dean Limongelli. 1,600 — 1. Ber, Mitchell Martin, 4:37; 2. Ber, Mason Kimbell; 3. HR, Volpetti. 400 — 1. HR, Capaci, 53.8; 2. HR, Brown; 3. HR, Fahey. 400 relay — 1. Ber (Laubach, Yule, Jude Goddard, Maron), 47.3. 300 hurdles — 1. HR, Weybrecht, 41.6; 2. Ber, Le; 3. HR, Collin Dougherty. 800 — 1. HR, Weybrecht, 2:05; 2. HR, Volpetti; 3. HR, Chris Holmes. 200 — 1. Ber, Maron, 25-0; 2. HR, Fahey; 3. Ber, Harro. 3,200 — 1. Ber, Kimbell, 10:07; 2. HR, Aaron Hoda; 3. HR, Connor Stevens. 1,600 relay — 1. HR (Dylan Weybrecht, Fahey, Jonathan Weybrecht, Brown), 3:41.

High jump — 1. Ber, Connor Hanson, 5-2; 2. Ber, Laubach; 3. Ber, Jude Goddard. Pole vault — 1. Ber, Kyle Harro 10-0; 2. Ber, Le; 3. Ber, Matthew Plyler. Long jump — 1. Ber, Dalo, 15-3.75; 2. Ber, Beller; 3. HR, Smith. Triple jump — 1. Ber, Connor Hanson, 40-5.75; 2. Ber, Brayden Reigel; 3. Ber, Maron. Shot put — 1. HR, Jones, 31-0; 2. HR, Bensen; 3. Ber, Joe Brewer. Discus — 1. Ber, Peters, 81-3; 2. Ber, Jake Minnig; 3. HR, Jones. Javelin — 1. Ber, Miller, 132-0; 2. Ber, Goddard; 3. Ber, Anthony Spuches.

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Nicole Kerestes of Holy Redeemer took the high jump with a leap of 4-8.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Berwick-Holy-Redeemer-GTF-1.jpg.optimal.jpgNicole Kerestes of Holy Redeemer took the high jump with a leap of 4-8. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Triple jump winner Megan Dalo of Berwick jumped 15-3.75 and picked up a second victory as a member of the winning 1,600-meter relay team while helping the Bulldogs remain unbeaten.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Berwick-Holy-Redeemer-GTF-3.jpg.optimal.jpgTriple jump winner Megan Dalo of Berwick jumped 15-3.75 and picked up a second victory as a member of the winning 1,600-meter relay team while helping the Bulldogs remain unbeaten. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Berwick’s Payden Montana scored a first place finish in the shotput with a winning toss of 129-3, on her way to winning all three throwing events and keeping the Bulldogs at 3-0 and on the cusp of first place in the WVC girls Division 2 title race.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/web1_Berwick-Holy-Redeemer-GTF-2.jpg.optimal.jpgBerwick’s Payden Montana scored a first place finish in the shotput with a winning toss of 129-3, on her way to winning all three throwing events and keeping the Bulldogs at 3-0 and on the cusp of first place in the WVC girls Division 2 title race. Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Montana, Koshinski keep Berwick unbeaten in Division 2

By Paul Sokoloski

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Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski