Wallenpaupack Area Girls Track Team Captures First-Ever Class AAA Crown
SCRANTON — A week prior to the District 2 track & field championships at Memorial Stadium, the Wallenpaupack Area girls team walked away with the Lackawanna League AAA title.
In more ways than one, as the great Yogi Berra said, it was déjà vu all over again.
Not only did the Lady Bucks repeat their performance from the Spagna Championships, their mainstay, senior Anastasia Ioppola walked away with four gold medals repeating her count from the district finals her freshman year.
“We had kids step up and perform above their seeds,” Head Coach Mark McHugh said. “Ana broke district records in the triple jump and her own district long jump record as well as school records in the triple jump, 100M, and 300M hurdles.”
Total Team Effort
All told, the Lady Bucks racked up 94.50 team points to edge out Abington Heights for the AAA crown.
Although the Comets won the final event, the 4x400M relay, the 10 points they picked up from that race still wouldn’t have put them ahead of Paupack, already in the lead with 88.5.
The Purple & White finished third, adding six to their tally further solidifying their status.
“The girls picked up points everywhere,” Coach McHugh said. “Grace Steffen was seeded sixth in Shot Put and came in third. She was seeded third in Discus and came in second.
“Abby Kimler was crazy in the 300M and took fifth beating her old PR by a second. Meg Desmet picked up points in the long jump, Gabby Mancino got us a half-a-point in the Pole Vault.
“Ella Smith helped us in the 400. Sam Sassi did phenomenal in the 800M. Our relay teams all did well. The team worked really hard, and it was something special to be a part of.”
Ioppolo contributed 40 points overall for the Lady Bucks. In the 100M hurdles, she posted a time of 15.14 and in the 300 Hurdles, a 45.62. She hit a triple jump mark of 38-9.75 and landed an 18-5.25 long jump.
Always humble, she was the first to point out that she wasn't a one woman show.
“Our depth made this possible,” Ioppolo said. “I knew we had the potential. I could see this coming all season since we won our meets mostly by big margins
“After Spagna I knew we had a solid shot to win districts and it all came together.”
Paupack’s 4x800 team of Lexi Kapschull, Darby Brennan, Ella Smith, and Sam Sassi took second place while 4x400 crew of Sassi, Smith, Devon Kiesendahl, and Hanna Karp grabbed third.
Points were had by the 4x100 squad as well consisting of Kiesendahl, Genna Terry, Caitlyn Posdon, and Soleil Wright.
Kiesendahl also added to the Paupack score with a seventh finish in the 100M Sprint. Smith took third in the 400M with Sassi adding points by coming in sixth. Sassi also took fourth in the 800. Kimler was fifth in 100 hurdles and the 300 hurdles.
Fitting Finale
For girls like Devon Kiesendahl and Megan Desmet the victory was a sweet reward after a long career with Paupack through three sports.
Both athletes saw considerable amount of time on the soccer pitch and basketball court since freshman year, district titles eluding them throughout that that period.
“It’s crazy that we finally got a championship,” Desmet said. “We worked hard all the time and it’s definitely paid off.”
“We wanted our last season to be special,” Kiesendahl added. “We knew if we could work hard and pull together, we would be district champions. It’s a great feeling to end senior year this way.”
Over & Out
“We had a few boys step up and they did well,” said Coach McHugh.
“Still a lot of younger guys on the team that can really improve over the next few years.”
The Buckhorns came in eighth overall. Solid performances by Ben Ostroski in the discus, Michael Passenti in the 400M and long jump, Nick Tighe helped in the 3200M, Andrew Cerciello in the 300M hurdles and third place 4x100 anchored by Shadrak Agyei.
Chris Quigley was Paupack’s best finisher among the guys with a 52.66 for third in the 400M.
“Overall, we came into the season expecting a lot of kids to return and thought we were going to do well with both boys and girls,” Coach McHugh said.
“Then, a bunch of them didn’t come back and we went ‘Oh Boy!’
“However, a lot of these new kids really surprised us. Genna Terry was one and I honestly don’t know if we would have won the title without Sam Sassi. Things turned out nice and for our first ever girls title it was very impressive.”