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YATESVILLE — With the whole season on the line, Ashton Ashby got rid of a mental roadblock.
Nicole Zambetti shed a shoe.
And Pittston Area did whatever it took to cast aside any obstacle that got in its way of reaching the brink of a league title.
Ashby fought through a gusting wind to clear 5 feet in the high jump during the final event Tuesday, lifting Pittston Area to a dramatic 78-72 girls track and field victory over Dallas at Charley Trippi Stadium in a battle of Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 unbeatens that left the Patriots in control of the division.
“It’s a great feeling,” Ashby, a junior, said. “I’m happy for myself and for the team. I’m so happy the team performed how we should perform.”
The victory pulled Pittston Area to 6-0 heading into Monday’s regular-season finale, where the Patriots could lock up their third Division 1 title in five years by winning at arch-rival Wyoming Area.
Two-time defending WVC champion Dallas fell to 4-1, with a makeup meet later this week and one more on the final day of action for Division 1 teams before District 2 competition.
“We’re disappointed,” Dallas co-coach Matt Samuel said. “You kind of expect this kind of battle when you come up to Pittston. We have a meet Friday and another one Monday, they have one left.
“But I think this was the best shot here today.”
The Pittston Area boys took a shot at securing a winning season, and gave themselves one behind Paul Moska and Naseem Guillaume in an 88-62 victory over Dallas.
Moska won the triple jump and high jump, while Guillaume took the 110 hurdles and was a part of two winning relay teams.
Speaking of relays, Zambetti endured through the girls track final to provide one of the most dramatic finishes of the season.
The Patriots leaned on triple winner Zambetti, two wins from Abby Norwillo (in the pole vault and long jump) and victories by two Ashbys — as Ashton’s senior sister Taryn won the javelin throw — to position themselves for the big win.
But Zambetti’s willpower set it up.
Running the last leg of the closing 1,600-meter relay, Zambetti took the final handoff of the day with a lead of nearly 25 meters. But Dallas’ triple winner Abby Zolner closed fast, and the two were running shoulder-to-shoulder down the homestretch. That’s when Zambetti ran out of a shoe, but kept going to widen the gap to the delight of her cheering teammates to win the event by two strides.
“I was tired, because I ran three events before that,” said Zambetti, a freshman who also led off the winning 3,200 relay team and captured the 800 run for the Patriots. “I knew I needed to pick it up. When I saw her (Zolner) catching up, I sprinted as hard as I could. It paid off.”
It put Pittston Area into a three-point lead with only the high jump remaining.
“She ran the last 100 meters without her shoe,” marveled Pittston Area coach Joe Struckus. “Her teammates really gave her the adrenalin she needed.
“She had just enough.”
It was enough to make both teams nervous.
The final relay victory left Pittston Area needing a win in the high jump, or second- and third—place finishes, to capture the meet.
But the Patriots kept that quiet around Ashby.
“I knew it was really close,” Ashby said. “No one would tell me the score. I kept asking, but no one would tell me.”
For good reason.
“Ashton gets a little nervous,” Struckus smiled. “We tried to keep all that under wraps so she didn’t feel like she was affecting the team.”
That strategy didn’t really work — “I felt a little pressure,” Ashby admitted — but her legs did.
Fighting a rapidly-increasing wind that kept throwing jumpers off their mark, Ashby needed three tries to clear her first height. But in the end, she was the only jumper to cleanly cross the bar at 6 feet — reaching height she hasn’t hit in awhile.
To the daughter of former major league pitcher Andy Ashby, and to Pittston Area, it was the equivalent of a walk-off win.
“Before this, I was stuck at 4-8,” Ashby said, explaining her steps have been off a bit from when she hit her personal high of 5-2 three weeks ago. “My coach and I kept figuring where to start from — do we move it back, do we move it forward, do we move it in? It’s just a game. (With the wind) I had to re-start a couple times. Then you push through it. I was really happy with it.
“I was surprised.”
Her meet-clinching victory wasn’t quite as startling as the consistency of an inexperienced Patriots team that moved to the brink of completing an unbeaten regular season, to within one more win from securing its first WVC title since 2004.
“I didn’t think we’d be anywhere near a league title this year,” Struckus said. “It was a team effort. Everyone stepped up today. We knew we had to be on our A game. It feels good. The last couple of years, between both of us, we’ve won the title four years in a row. They had two, we had two, so this was the rubber match.
“It’s nice to win it.”
Hazleton Area 122, Crestwood 28
Kendra Pfeil won twice, Kayla Merkel was a triple winner and the Cougars cruised to victory.
Merkel took first place in the shot put, discus and javelin throws, while Pfeil won the long jump and high jump.
Wyoming Valley West 107,
Coughlin 43
Nina Dellarte won the 100 and 200 dashes and ran on the winning 400 relay team as the Spartans rolled to victory.
Irelyand Sullivan ran on two winning relays for the Spartans, while Foto Tsioles and Ashley Blannard finished as double winners by pairing relay wins to individual first-place finishes.
Wyoming Area 85, Tunkhannock 61
Shelby Stackhouse registered four victories and Jalen Rhodes was a double winner to spark the Warriors.
Stackhouse captured the 100 hurdles, long jump, high jump and pole vault.
Rhodes placed first in the 100 and 200 dashes.
Boys
Hazleton Area 109, Crestwood 41
Joe Grula was a four-time winner as the Cougars closed in on a WVC Division 1 title by controlling the Comets.
Grula won the triple jump, long jump, high jump and javelin, helping Hazleton Area improve to 6-0 in the division. The Cougars can clinch the league title by winning in Monday’s regular season finale against Dallas, or with a loss by 6-0 Coughlin.
Hazleton Area distance runner Franklin Cunningham added wins in the 1,600 and 3,200.
Coughlin 101,
Wyoming Valley West 49
Ron Sepkoski returned with a vengeance, winning the 110 and 300 hurdles to lead the Crusaders to victory.
Sepkoski sat out last week with a foot injury suffered in an invitational at Shippensburg two weekends ago.
Freshman Rafael McCoy was a triple winner for Coughlin, taking the 100 and 200 dashes between running on the 400 relay team. Nate Searfoss added wins in the 1,600 and 3,200 in the victory.
Tunkhannock 83, Wyoming Area 66
Bryce Steele, Ben Tidball and Erik Bennett were all double winners as the Tigers churned out a victory.
Steele was first to the finish in both hurdles events, while Tidball took the 1,600 and ran on the 3,200 relay team. Bennett captured the long jump and triple jump to pick up crucial points for the Tigers.
Girls
Pittston Area 78, Dallas 72
3,200 relay — 1. PA (Nicole Zambetti, Charity McLeod, Jada Sharp, Mary Silinskie), 10:21. 100 hurdles — 1. Dal, Abby Zolner, 16.5; 2. Dal, Emily Fleming; 3. PA, PA, Sydney Williams. 100 — 1. Dal, Sam Mazula, 12.7; 2. PA, Jenna Smith; 3. PA, Anjelica Singer. 1,600 — 1. PA, Arianna Boccardi, 5:31; 2. Dal, Megan Borton; 3. PA, Zambetti. 400 — 1. PA, McLeod, 64.2; 2. Dal, Emily Farrell; 3. Dal, Leonard. 400 relay — 1. PA (Smith, Singer, Jessica Tighe, McLeod), 52.9. 300 hurdles — 1. Dal, Zolner, 48.5; 2. PA, Andrea Ruby; 3. PA, Janelle Wilk. 800 — 1. PA, Zambetti, 2:34; 2. PA, Silinskie; 3. Dal, Borton. 200 — 1. Dal, Mazula, 26.7; 2. PA, Smith; 3. PA, Tighe. 3,200 — 1. Dal, Madison Baloga, 12:16; 2. PA, Boccardi; 3. Dal, Kapitula. 1,600 relay — 1. PA (Smith, Mia Barbieri, McCleod, Zambetti), 4:24.
High jump — 1. PA, A. Ashby, 5-0; 2. Dal, Francesca Treslar; 3. PA, Hannah Waleski. Pole vault — 1. PA, Abby Norwillo, 10-6; 2. Dal, Megan Miller; 3. Dal, Hollie Holthaus. Long jump — 1. PA, Norwillo, 17-4; 2. Dal, Mazula; 3. PA, Taryn Ashby. Triple jump — 1. Dal, Abby Zolner, 32-11; 2. PA, Ashton Ashby; 3. PA, Jillian Scanlon. Shot put — 1. Dal, Sara Lojewski, 31-3.5; 2. Dal, Alicia Langan; 3. PA, Jennifer Nickas. Discus — 1. Dal, Langan, 96-0; 2. Dal, Krokus; 3. Dal, O’Donnell. Javelin — 1. PA, T. Ashby, 121-0; 2. Dal, Farrell; 3. PA, Emma Coles.
Boys
Pittston Area 88, Dallas 62
3,200 relay — 1. Dal (Adam Borton, Josh Wyandt, Jack Zardecki, Culp), 9:11. 110 hurdles — 1. PA, Naseem Guillaume, 15.7; 2. PA, Nick Barbieri; 3. PA, Shane Syms. 100 — 1. Dal, Christian Roberts, 11.4; 2. PA, Alex Haas; 3. PA, Jimmy Pliska. 1,600 — 1. Dal, Zardecki, 4:58; 2. Dal, Wyandt; 3. Dal, Mitchell Rome. 400 — 1. Dal, Roberts, 53.6; 2. PA, Pliska; 3. Dal, Culp. 400 relay — 1. PA (Rich Wallace, Haas, Guillaume, Tighe), 46.6. 300 hurdles — 1. PA, Syms, 42.7; 2. PA, Guillaume; 3. PA, Barbieri. 800 — 1. PA, Hunter Kraklio, 2:07; 2. Dal, Culp; 3. Dal, Borton. 200 — 1. Dal, Roberts, 23.4; 2. PA, Haas; 3. Dal, Solano. 3,200 — 1. Dal, Zardecki, 10:45; 2. Dal, Rome; 3. Dal, Wyandt. 1,600 relay — 1. PA (Tannon Kraklio, Syms, Guillame, Plisak), 3:44.
High jump — 1. PA, Paul Moska, 6-2; 2. Dal, Paul Zablotney; 3. Dal, Almeckt. Pole vault — 1. Dal, Nate Maransky, 11-0; 2. PA, Tyler Santee; 3. PA, Nathaniel Wesnak. Long jump — 1. Dal, Maransky, 18-2; 2. PA, Wallace; 3. Dal, Frank. Triple jump — 1. PA, Paul Moska, 39-3; 2. Dal, Jay Frank; 3. PA, Barbieri. Shot put — 1. PA, Pat Mitchell, 43-7; 2. PA, Jake Rutkowski; 3. PA, Nick Lynch. Discus — 1. PA, Rutkowski, 122-9; 2. PA, Mitchell; 3. PA, Walter Coles. Javelin — 1. PA, Coles, 153-8; 2. PA, Rutkowski; 3. PA, Michael Elko.
