Parkland boys, girls continued its domination

On one of the few warm, comfortable spring days, the outcome of the Emmaus at Parkland girls track & field dual meet came down to the final event: the 4 x 400 relay.

The Green Hornets were close many times before. The Trojans had four aces at the ready on this late April Monday. Senior Lucy Tobia, junior Kaley Seide, sophomore Dhaniya Miner and senior Ana Gbur ran away in the last race to keep the Trojans’ six-year unbeaten streak under head coach Stephen Ott intact.

Emmaus exacted postseason revenge by scoring more points in the EPC and District 11 Class 3A championship meets, but Parkland girls and boys continued their mastery of the regular season.

The Trojans didn’t do badly in the postseason, either. Tobia, Seide, Miner and Gbur finished third in the state in 3A with the area’s second-fastest time of all time.

Tobia, Seide, Miner and senior Cierra Valley teamed to win PIAA gold with an all-time area-best time in 4 x 100 relay.

And Jaden Bulgin was sixth in the 3A boys high jump. He also was the EPC high jump champion and second in the long jump.

For all that and the contributions of many more, Parkland is The Morning Call All-Area team of the year.

“It’s a great group of kids,” head coach Stephen Ott said. “They do whatever is asked of them. They work hard and work together.”

Many boys and girls contributed to the program’s regular-season and postseason successes.

On the girls’ side: Sophomore Samantha Schultz was the District 11 3A pole vault runner-up. Seide was EPC second, District 11 fifth and a PIAA qualifier in the 200. Tobia was PIAA 10th and District 11 fourth in the 400. Valley was District 11 seventh in the 200. Sophomore Harshita Keerthi was District 11 sixth in the 1,600. Senior Emily Hoysan was District 11 fifth in the 100 hurdles. Gbur was District 11 sixth and EPC third in the 300 hurdles. Senior Cinthia Grullon was District 11 eighth in the triple jump. Junior Aubrey Delong was District 11 seventh in the shot put. Junior Vanessa Ball was District 11 fifth in the javelin. Senior Gabriella Borgos was District 11 third and EPC fourth in the pole vault. Freshman Genevieve Inserra was District 11 fourth and EPC third in the pole vault. Miner was EPC eighth in the 100.

On the boys’ side: Sophomore Colin McGuigan was the District 11 1,600-meter run runner-up. Junior Exzavier Seide was District 11 6th in the triple jump and a PIAA qualifier. Senior Leo Dauberman was (PIAA 11th and District 11 second in the javelin. Senior Anthony Cappellini was EPC second and (District 11 fourth in the 400. Junior Marcelo Castilla was EPC champion and District 11 fourth in the 800. Senior Henry Stein was District 11 eighth in the 800. Junior Luke McEvoy was District 11 third in the 3,200. Senior Sam Ciampittiello was District 11 sixth in the 110 hurdles. Senior James McCauley was District 11 fifth in the pole vault. Senior Owen Tobias was District 11 sixth in the pole vault. Sophomore Radnor Rowlands was EPC second in the 100. After winning all but one regular-season race, he did not run in the district meet. Junior Lincoln Clark was EPC fifth in the 100 and third in the 200. Senior Landon Hoppel was EPC sixth in the 400. Junior Nmelichukwu was EPC 110 hurdles fifth and sixth in the 300 hurdles. Junior James Tyler was EPC eighth in the shot put. Senior Owen Tobias was EPC third in the pole vault.

Parkland boys and girls were 7-0 in EPC action. Neither has lost a conference meet since 2019.

Morning Call senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com