The John Heins Invitational at Upper Moreland on Thursday served as an early indication of both the promise and the youth of the Dock track and field teams.
Gaining experience at a large team meet was an important first step for Dock. The opening meet gave the Pioneers a chance to compete and assess their strengths and where to improve.
Seungkyu Cho delivered a pleasant surprise. The senior is in his second season on the team. He dabbled in a few different events last year after joining late, but this year came in focused on competing in the throws. Cho showed off a live arm as the only Dock athlete to win a top-five medal when he placed fourth in the boys javelin with a 120-feet-5 throw on his first attempt of the season. For Cho and the sophomore-heavy Pioneers, the meet was just a starting point.
The girls 4x800 relay was first of three Dock events to hit the District 1 AA qualifying standard in the first meet. The team of Liv Moyer (2:41.5), Sadie Bernd (2:49.6), Gretchen German (2:42.8) and Tessa Moyer (2:39.9) ran 10:53.73 for sixth place, one spot out of a medal, but more than six seconds under the district qualifying mark.
Sophia Veltre qualified in the girls long jump. The sophomore, who also throws, jumped 15-feet-3½ for sixth place. She bettered the district standard by nearly six inches, and came within an inch of her personal best.
Tessa Moyer also hit the district qualifier in the girls 1,600 meters. The freshman made her high school individual event debut with a 5:45.88 clocking for seventh place, almost five seconds ahead of the district qualifying time.
Jayden Waters got his season off to a unique start when he competed in the boys 400-meter hurdles that are rarely run in Pennsylvania (the 300-meter hurdles are the typical event in Pa.). The sophomore, who has made a switch to commit to hurdles this year, ran 1:04.19 in the 400s hurdles for 13th place. He came back to place ninth in the 110-meter hurdles in 18.82 seconds.
Olivia Mozzone cleared 6-feet-6 for ninth place in the girls pole vault to equal her personal best in the first meet of the year. Maddie Afanador clocked 21.23 seconds for 10th in the girls 100 hurdles. Mozzone ran 21.70 for 13th.
Veltre had a busy day between the throws and jumps. She recorded a 29-10¼ mark for ninth in the girls triple jump. She placed 10th in the girls discus with a throw of 71-2. Jenayah Vanegas was 28th at 34-5. Veltre also took 10th in the girls shot put with a 27-1 effort. Vanegas was 29th.
Ceara Barnes got her senior year off to a strong opening. She ran a personal-record 1:07.26 for 13th in the girls 400 meters. Lizzie Kennard-Chalmers was 32nd in 1:20.08.
Gretchen German made a bold move early and ran 2:37.93 for 12th in the girls 800 meters. The sophomore also competed in the girls javelin by throwing 68-9 for 11th place. Senior captain Liv Moyer placed 15th in in the 1,600 in 6:02.03.
In his first track season since middle school, Aaron Sensenig opened with a 5:21.66 time for 18th in the boys 1,600 meters. Michael Pustay closed quickly to run 5:23.37 for 20th place. The two came back to run the 800 meters later with Pustay edging to the faster time of 2:30.15 and Sensenig coming in at 2:30.57.
Ashley Brown got her start in the sprints. The freshman was 18th in the girls 100 meters in 14.12 seconds. Olivia Valverde ran 14.50 seconds for the girls 100. The sophomore in her first year at Dock was 28th.
Myles Johnson was 12th in the boys triple jump with a 33-2½ mark while Waters took 14th at 32-10. Johnson also recorded a new personal best of 26.69 seconds for 26th in the boys 200 meters. He ran 13.07 for 28th in the boys 100. Newcomer Xander Morsby ran 12.49 seconds for 20th in the 100 meters.
Luke Smeland threw 93-11 for 22nd in the boys javelin. Cho was 24th in the boys discus with a throw of 63-2.
Trace Scavetti ran 1:02.43 for 27th in the boys 400 meters. The sophomore also hit 27.57 seconds for 28th in the boys 200 meters. Roman Kurian ran 1:03.08 for 28th in the boys 400.
Eliana Farmer placed 31st in the girls 200 in 33.49 in the senior’s debut. Freshman Logan Naidoo ran 35.18 seconds for 35th.
George Gaugler threw 23-feet-2 for 37th in the boys shot put. Cho was 38th with a 22-foot throw.
The boys 4x100 of Johnson, Kurian, Waters and Morsby placed 10th in 48.02 seconds. The girls 4x100 relay of Mozzone, Afanador, Valvarde and Brown ran 57.96 for 12th.
The girls 4x400 of Brown, Barnes, Tessa Moyer and Liv Moyer ran 4:40.65 for 11th place. The boys 4x400 of Pustay, Morsby, Scavetti and Cho ran 4:12.77 for 14th place.
Dock will be at home to host the Tom Putera Invitational on April 13. The meet is named for the former volunteer track and field assistant coach who passed away unexpectedly in 2022 from a heart issue.