Rain Can't Dampen Relays Results

The Dock track and field teams danced to promising times between the rain drops in the first BAL Track Relays at Bristol on Monday. It was another chance to see where best the team’s newcomers can help.
Highlighted by a big comeback in the boys 4x100, convincing wins in the girls 4x800 and 4x400, and strong efforts all-around, the Pioneers left happy with the progress shown.
The meet began with Maddie Afanador and Olivia Mozzone getting their first chance to compete in the girls 300-meter hurdles. Both runners in the relay meet competed together with their combined time going toward the team finish. Afanador ran 1:02.94 and Mozzone was less than a tick behind in 1:03.58 as they placed third overall.
Micah Mast teamed with his brother, Matthew, for the boys 300 hurdles team. Micah ran the top time of the day, 45.71 seconds, and Matthew ran 52.75 in his first time competing in the event to help the Pioneers win the event.
The girls placed fifth in the 4x100 relay. Mozzone and Afanador came right off the hurdles race to combine with Gretchen German and Sophia Veltre to run 59.85 seconds while cleaning up the baton exchanges that had been an issue in the season’s first scrimmage.
The boys entered a pair of 4x100 relays. The relay of Luke Smeland, Jayden Waters, Drew Bauman and Micah Mast stormed back to win the event by less than three-tenths of a second in 48.09 seconds. Their relay team of Roman Kurian, Josh Frederick, Myles Johnson and Matthew Mast ran 53.66 seconds.
The girls 4x800 saw the Pioneers win handily while using a newcomer with three veteran runners. First-year member Ceara Barnes led off in 2:50 to give Dock a big lead, Sadie Bernd ran 2:50, Liv Moyer clocked 2:47 and Bobby-Jo Dodds finished in 2:37 for an overall time of 11:05.39.
The boys 4x800 saw a pair of seniors and a pair of freshmen combine for fourth place. Daniel Ringenberg led off in a personal-best 2:13 and fellow senior Drew Bauman followed with a 2:30 leg, Josh Ohm ran 2:31 and Michael Pustay anchored in 2:44 for a total time of 9:58.57.
The relays meet allowed the league to run a special 4x200 event that is not in usual meet competitions. Mozzone, Afanador, Veltre and Toni Phillips placed sixth in the girls top race in 2:17.12. The boys 4x200 of Matthew Mast, Kurian, Johnson and Waters finished fourth in 1:52.23.
The final event of the meet was the traditional 4x400 relay. Dock put together a pair of girls teams and a pair of boys teams to end the day. The same foursome that won the 4x8 of Barnes (1:09), Bernd (1:13), Moyer (1:11) and Dodds (1:04) won in 4:38.43. Veltre (1:09) and German (1:11) combined with the busy duo of Afanador (1:21) and Mozzone (1:22) ran 5:05.96.
Micah Mast nearly brought the 4x400 boys back for another thrilling win. The Pioneers team of Bauman (:60), Waters (:59), Ringenberg (:58), and Mast (:55) ran 3:56.87 for second place. Kurian, Frederick, Ohm and Smeland fought through strong rain to finish the meet in 4:19.73.
The Pioneers will look for more strong efforts and get a chance to compete in jumps and throws when they head to Upper Moreland High for the John Heinz Invitational on Friday.