Peaking at the end of the season is the goal of every athlete.

 The Dock track and field program set a dozen season or personal bests in their final meet, the District 1 AA Championships Friday and Saturday at Coatesville High School. The results helped the girls place second behind Delaware County Christian while the boys were seventh, five points out of fourth place.

The Pioneers had one gold medal winner though no Dock athletes will advance to the state championships. Liv Mozzone got the meet and the Pioneers off to a great start when the sophomore set a new personal record and cleared 7-feet to win the girls pole vault.

Sophia Mercure had a big breakthrough in the girls javelin. The senior in her first season of track and field improved her best by more than 11 feet to place second with an 80-feet-1 PR. Gretchen German threw 70-8 for sixth place.

Sophia Veltre pulled ahead to second place with a 31-7.75 distance in the girls triple jump. Olivia Valverde placed fifth at 28-10.5. Veltre was second in the girls shot put with a personal best of 30-10.75. She earned third in the girls long jump with a personal record 15-7.5. Mercure was seventh with a 13-5.25 jump.

Jayden Waters hit a big personal best of 16.77 seconds for second place in the boys 110-meter hurdles. Trace Scavetti ran 19.99 for seventh place. Waters was third in the boys 300 hurdles in 44.94 seconds. He increased his personal record in the boys long jump to 19-feet-10 while placing fifth.

The girls 4x800 relay of Ceara Barnes, Tessa Moyer, German and Ashley Brown took 13 seconds off their season best to go 10:16.57 for second place.

Tessa Moyer ran 5:36.74 for second in the girls 1,600 meters. Liv Moyer ran 5:43.81 for fourth place. Liv Moyer ran a season-best 12:21.51 and closed fast to finish third in the girls 3,200 meters.

In the girls 800 meters, German placed third in 2:31.07, Tessa Moyer ran a personal-best 2:32.52 for fifth and Barnes was eighth in 2:35.42.

The girls 4x400 relay of Barnes, Valverde, Liv Moyer and German ran 4:30.67 for fourth place.

Maddie Afanador was fifth in the girls 100-meter hurdles in 19.43 seconds while Mozzone ran a personal record of 19.59 for seventh place. Afanador was seventh in the girls 300-meter hurdles in 57.47 seconds while Mozzone came in eighth in 1:00.12.

The boys 4x100 relay of Johnson, Smeland, Xander Morsby and Waters was fifth in 46.75 seconds.

Aaron Sensenig lowered his personal best to 10:55.24 while placing sixth in the boys 3,200 meters.

Seungkyu Cho threw 101-feet-8 for seventh in the boys discus. Cho was sixth in the boys javelin with a throw of 123-4 while Luke Smeland was seventh with a 122-9 effort.

Myles Johnson placed seventh in the boys triple jump with a 35-3.25 measurement.

The girls 4x100 relay of Mozzone, Afanador, Eliana Farmer and Valverde ran 57.71 for seventh place.

The boys 4x800 of Michael Pustay, Aaron Sensenig, Josh Frederick and Roman Kurian ran 9:16.30 for seventh place.

The boys 4x400 relay of Morsby, Scavetti, Pustay and Johnson ran 3:52.19 for seventh place.

The Dock Last Chance Distance Night was aptly named for a couple of reasons.
It allowed competitors of all ages to compete on the Dock track for the final time officially before the track and turf are replaced this summer.
And for high school athletes, the meet served as a final chance to improve their district qualifying marks or personal records.
The meet proved hugely important for Aaron Sensenig. The junior was just outside the top eight to go to the District 1 AA championships, but improved his rankings with a personal-record 10:58.43 for fourth place on Distance Night. The move jumped his four spots to No. 5 and the chance to compete individually at districts in his first track season.
Dock took the top four spots in the girls 800 meters. Gretchen German posted an impressive 2:31.87, Ceara Barnes rolled to a personal-best 2:32.76 for second place, Tessa Moyer ran 2:34.20 and Olivia Moyer ran 2:37.32.
Both Dock entries in the boys 800 had personal bests. Michael Pustay was second in the first heat in 2:18.16 and Josh Frederick ran 2:19.22 for third in the same heat.
Sadie Bernd was just off her season best with a 6:01.92 clocking for second in the girls 1,600 meters.
A pair of Dock alumni competed in the open mile. The 2015 District 1A cross country champion Michael Gunden returned to place second in 5:36.31, while 2023 graduate Daniel Ringenberg was third in 5:47.68.
The Pioneers will compete in the District 1 AA championships on Friday and Saturday at Coatesville. They have a total of 32 entrants to the meet. 

If the Dock girls track and field team had nerves or doubts or uncertainties, it didn’t show in their performances.
The Pioneers pulled away late from two-time defending champion Delaware County Christian to capture the 2024 Bicentennial Athletic League title Thursday at Dock. Dock finished with 182 points to Delco’s 167, but the score was closer than that throughout the entire second day of competition and the Pioneers were never comfortable until the final track event, the 4x400, and final field event, the long jump, were wrapping up. It’s their first league title since 2021.
The Dock boys exceeded many of their rankings in a strong performance. With just one senior, the Pioneer boys scored 59 points to place sixth to set up a bright future.
The Dock girls came off Wednesday’s first day of competition with a three-point edge. It never seemed to change too greatly from there, with both Dock and Delco battling through the ebbs and flows that came with relying on their strengths and depth.
On the track, the day began with Olivia Mozzone running a personal record 56.19 seconds and Maddie Afanador posting a personal best of 56.67 seconds to take seventh and eighth place and pick up three points. Delco’s second and sixth were expected. Delco took the lead when they placed three in the 100 meters while the Pioneers did not have a finalist.
In the first field event of the day, Dock’s Sophia Veltre placed second with a personal best of 29-feet-2.5. Delco took third to retain their lead.
The Pioneers regained the lead when they countered Delco’s 100 meters with a fleet of place-winners in the 1,600 meters. Tessa Moyer ran a PR of 5:36.37 for second place, Olivia Moyer ran a personal best of 5:43.19 for third place, Gretchen German posted a best of 5:43.23 for fourth place and Sadie Bernd, competing despite a strained muscle, ran just off her season best at 5:58.92 for fifth place as the Pioneers picked up 23 points in the event.
The girls 4x100 picked up another five points as Eliana Farmer, Afanador, Mozzone and Olivia Valverde placed fourth in 57.14 seconds. Delco was first to pull closer.
Ashley Brown ran a personal best of 1:02.29 for second and Valverde was eighth in 1:07.71 in the 400 while Delco went 1-5 to pick up some more points.
Delco went into the lead with the 100-meter hurdles as the top five finishers all set personal records. Afanador ran 19.42 seconds for third, and Mozzone broke 20 seconds for the first time at 19.94 for fifth. Delco took the top two spots to set the stage for the final four events.
The boys long jump was still going on so the girls long jump that featured several strong competitors from Delco hadn’t even begun. On the track next came the 800 meters, an event Dock was poised to score big but there were also doubts with four of the competitors coming off the turnaround from the 1,600 and eventual Track Athlete of the Meet Elaina Rainwater from Phil-Mont Academy in the race.
German led wire to wire to win in 2:32.41, Ceara Barnes nearly edged out Rainwater for second, missing by one-hundredth of a second in a personal record 2:33.18. Tessa Moyer was fourth in 2:36.08, and Olivia Moyer outkicked a Bristol runner in the final 50 meters for fifth in 2:36.59. Bernd gutted out a season-best 2:41.57 and two more huge points to give Dock 27 points in the event and the team lead again.
In the race of the day, Brown closed in a hurry on the Delco favorite and a Faith Christian Academy sprinter and finished second to Delco by one-hundredth of a second in 27.23 seconds. Delco’s first and eighth places kept them in the hunt.
With girls long jump still just starting, scores were calculated going into the final event on the track, the 4x400 relay. The Pioneers expected they needed a second-place finish, and maybe even a win to offset Delco’s potential big points in the long jump.
Barnes ran a great 1:05.38 split to open, Olivia Moyer ran a top split of 1:09.34 and handed off in second, Valverde closed the Faith Christian lead with a 1:07.04 split, and gave the baton to Brown with a one-second deficit. Faith’s anchor held the lead on Brown for 360 meters but over the final 100 Brown’s turnover picked up and the freshman stormed by with a 1:01.92 split to give the Pioneers the win in 4:23.69, a huge season’s best, and a big 10 points. Delco ran third, and when two of their competitors backed out of the long jump, the overall result was no longer in doubt.
Veltre jumped a personal best of 15-feet-7 for third place and Sophia Mercure jumped 14-1.75 for fifth place to earn more points than Delco’s second-place finisher did and seal the final advantage.
Jayden Waters had a big day for the boys. The sophomore was second in the 110-meter hurdles in 17.35 seconds. He ran 44.46 for third in the 300-meter hurdles. He earned a personal record of 19-feet-1 for sixth place in the long jump.
Waters also brought the baton home in the boys 4x100 that ran a season-best 46.37 seconds. Roman Kurian, Myles Johnson and Xander Morsby set him up and Waters overtook the Delco anchor to give the Pioneers a thrilling third place.
Seungkyu Cho threw 105-9 for third place in the discus. The team’s lone senior boy was fourth in the javelin at 121-feet. Luke Smeland, the junior captain, placed fifth in the javelin with a 118-9 throw.
Both Aaron Sensenig and Mikey Pustay had great efforts in the 1,600 meters. Sensenig broke the 5:00 barrier for the first time with a 4:57.40 clocking for seventh place. Pustay just missed the mark, but still PR’d with a 5:00.38 finish for ninth.
Morsby captured eighth place in the 400 in 55.23 seconds.
Trace Scavetti put together his finest performances of the season. Running in the first of three heats, he placed eighth in the 300-meter hurdles in a personal-record 47.77 seconds. He was also in the first heat for the 110 hurdles and finished sixth overall in a personal best of 19.92 seconds.
In the final event for the boys, the 4x400 relay of Johnson, Pustay, Kurian and Morsby ran a season-best 3:45.19 for fourth place.
There is one more meet before the District meet. The Pioneers host the Last Chance Dock Distance Night 5:30 p.m. Monday on the final qualifying day for districts. 

The Dock girls track and field team holds a slim lead over Delaware County Christian after the first of two days of the Bicentennial Athletic League.
The Pioneers are hosting again this year, and honored their seniors following the first day of competition. This year’s seniors are: Ceara Barnes, Maddy Churches, Eliana Farmer, Sophia Mercure, Olivia Moyer, Toni Phillips, Jenayah Vanegas, Claudia Zhang, the lone boy senior is Seungkyu Cho.
The girls could celebrate on their home turf Thursday if they can hold off a strong Delco team that is defending champion. Dock held a 68-65 lead with a majority of track events still to be run Thursday. The Pioneer boys picked up nine points on the first day to sit in ninth place.
Wednesday opened with the girls 4x800 relay of Barnes, Sadie Bernd, Gretchen German and Ashley Brown cruising to a win in 10:46.54.
The boys placed fourth in their 4x800 with Michael Pustay, Aaron Sensenig, Josh Frederick and Roman Kurian running 9:27.08.
The only other track event that was a final on the first day was the 3,200 meters. In the girls 3,200, Moyer ran 12:37.74 for second place and Tessa Moyer ran 13:07.78 for third place to give the Pioneers 14 points in the event. In the boys race, Sensenig posted a personal-record 11:07.26 for seventh place. Pustay also lowered his personal best to 12:23.11.
There were four field events contested Wednesday. Olivia Mozzone won the girls pole vault when she cleared 6-feet-6 to score 10 points.
The Dock girls also scored huge points in the javelin. Yebeen Lee threw a personal-record 89-feet-11 for second place, only one inch away from the automatic District 1 AA qualifying mark. German was third with a PR of 76-9, and Sophia Mercure moved up two spots from her rankings to place sixth with a personal best of 68-10. Mercure is now ranked ninth in the district, one spot from possible inclusion. Bernd threw 54-7. Barnes threw 42-5.
Lee was the only Pioneer thrower to place in the girls discus. The junior threw 82-7 for fifth place. Sophia Veltre was ninth with a throw of 73-11. Logan Naidoo hit a best of 53-4.
Veltre placed second in the girls triple jump with a season-best 31-10. Olivia Valverde also hit a PR. The sophomore was fourth with a 30-2.75 effort.
In the boys shot put, Luke Smeland threw a personal best for the second straight meet. The junior improved to 30-feet-1. George Gaugler also threw a PR of 24-9.25.
In the boys triple jump, Myles Johnson got a new personal best of 36-feet-7.5 for seventh place.
The rest of Wednesday’s first day included preliminary races to qualify for Thursday finals and non-scoring races that gave athletes who had not qualified in the varsity event another opportunity to compete.
Eliana Farmer ran a personal-record 15.04 seconds in the girls 100-meter preliminaries. Logan Naidoo also had a personal best, running 15.28. Toni Phillips hit a season best 16.18 seconds.
Myles Johnson ran a personal-record 12.48 in the boys 100-meter preliminaries. Roman Kurian ran 12.72.
Brown ran a personal-record 27.28 seconds to win her heat of the girls 200-meter preliminaries. The freshman qualifies for Thursday’s final. She also moved up one spot in the district to fourth place.
Xander Morsby ran 24.17 seconds in the boys 200-meter preliminaries. Trace Scavetti hit a personal best of 26.25 seconds.
In the novice girls 400 meters, Phillips ran a personal best of 1:22.03. Zhang ran 1:24.41 in her first 400 meters.
Churches was the top finisher for Dock in the novice girls 800 meters. The senior, in her first meet back after a serious knee injury, ran 3:16.12 for second place in the race. Julia Kim was third in a personal best of 3:20.28. Zhang ran 3:42.60 and Phillips ran 3:59.56.
Frederick placed fifth in the novice boys 1,600 meters. The sophomore ran 5:40.09.
Thursday’s final day of the BAL begins at 4:30 p.m. at the Dock track and field complex. 

>> The Dock track and field team had a variety of excuses that could have hindered competing at the Neshaminy Invitational on Saturday.
>> It was cold and rainy…again. An athlete forgot their spikes and arrived late after stopping to buy new ones. There were late changes to the schedule on meet day, and the meet itself was a late addition to the Dock schedule and the third meet in three days for some Pioneers.
>> None of it mattered as Dock performed well again with 14 personal records and a big medal haul rewarded for top-five finishes.
>> Gretchen German won the girls 1,600 meters in a personal-record 5:46.27 and came back to win the girls 800 meters in 2:34.95. She hit the District 1 AA qualifying standards and is now ranked seventh in the district 1,600. She came back later to place seventh in the girls javelin at 70-feet-2.
>> Olivia Valverde placed third in the girls 400 meters out of the second heat with a personal-record 1:06.50. She also took fourth in the girls 200 out of the second heat with a 29.43 personal best. She hit another PR in the girls 100, finishing in 14.32 seconds for eighth place. She also did one field event, placing fifth in the girls triple jump with a 28-feet-4.5 mark.
>> The top finisher for the boys was Aaron Sensenig. Despite a last-minute change, he was able to hustle to the start line and run a 16-second personal record of 11:07.47 for fourth place in the boys 3,200 meters. Sensenig made a big move in the district rankings up to fifth place with the time. Earlier in the meet, he also took 16 seconds off his previous 1,600 best with a 5:05.98 clocking.
>> Jayden Waters flew down the track in his new spikes for a new personal-record 44.37 seconds in the boys 300-meter hurdles for ninth place. His time is an automatic district qualifier. Waters is ranked third now in the district in the 300 hurdles. The sophomore then ran 17.39 seconds for fifth in the boys 110-meter hurdles. And he ran a personal best of 11.91 seconds for the boys 100-meter dash. He placed seventh in the boys long jump with a season-best long jump of 18-3.25. He sits 11th in the district in the long jump.
>> Luke Smeland placed sixth in the boys javelin with a throw of 120-feet-4. Seungkyu Cho took eighth place with a throw of 112-8. Smeland also hit a personal best of 27-feet-8 in shot put.
>> Sophia Mercure ran a personal-record 57.18 seconds for seventh place in the girls 300-meter hurdles. The senior is now ranked seventh in the district. Maddie Afanador was eighth in 57.89 seconds. Afanador took fifth place in the girls 100-meter hurdles in 20.03 seconds. Mercure posted another PR of 20.90 seconds for seventh place, and a time that has her ranked eighth in the district. Mercure was eighth in the girls long jump with a 13-6.75 effort. Farmer jumped 11-1.5. Mercure also had a huge 12-foot PR in the girls javelin with a best of 65-feet-6 for eighth place.
>> Xander Morsby ran a personal-best 55.02 seconds in the boys 400 for 11th place. The freshman is ranked 10th in the district now. He was also 11th in the boys 200 meters in 24.59 seconds.
>> Logan Naidoo threw 45-feet-9 and Jenayah Vanegas threw 32-feet in the girls discus. Vanegas threw 18-10 in the girls shot put. Eliana Farmer ran 15.27 seconds for the girls 100 meters. Farmer finished the girls 200 in 32.51 seconds. Toni Phillips went 16.53 seconds in the 100.
>> The Neshaminy meet capped three straight days of competitions. Dock was at the Helman/Hosier Invitational on Thursday, then sent a small group to compete in two events at the Henderson Invitational on Friday. Liv Moyer moved to eighth place in the District 1 AA rankings when she dropped almost nine seconds to finish in 5:50.89 in the novice girls 1,600 meters. The 4x800 relay of Ceara Barnes, Tessa Moyer, German and Valverde ran 10:53.31 for 11th place.
>> Dock will host the Bicentennial Athletic League Championships on Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday, the Pioneers will celebrate Senior Night following the first day of competition.

The Dock track and field program’s annual trip up to Pennridge for the Helman/Hosier Invitational proved hugely valuable.
In the first track meet of the season in which sweatshirts finally were unnecessary thanks to warm conditions, the Pioneers provided plenty of hot times and solid marks Thursday against a field mixed with some talented AAA schools and a few AA schools. In all, there were 26 personal records and six District 1 AA championship qualifiers established by Dock athletes.
On the girls' side, Yebeen Lee came through with two exciting efforts, Ashley Brown enjoyed a breakout day, Liv Moyer posted the highest individual finish and was a part of a season-best 4x800 relay, and Maddie Afanador led a group that made big jumps in district rankings. 

The Dock track and field team seemed to enjoy the change of venue for the Unionville Invitational on Saturday.
Instead of their high school hosting the meet, West Chester University served as the backdrop for the Pioneers, and they responded with 20 personal bests to continue to build toward postseason success. Placing even in the top 20 with most of the 51 attending schools being larger proved tough, but the marks were encouraging.
Sophia Veltre was 17th in the girls triple jump at 31-feet-1, a distance that qualifies the sophomore for the District 1 AA championships.
Jayden Waters also hit a district qualifier. The sophomore ran 45.11 seconds in his first race in the boys 300-meter hurdles. Waters 18.41 seconds for the 110-meter hurdles.
Roman Kurian, Myles Johnson, Xander Morsby and Waters placed 12th in the boys 4x100 relay in a season-best 46.60 seconds, an improvement of nearly a second and a half. The time moved them to fourth in the district rankings.
Morsby had an incredible drop in the boys 400 to win his heat in 56.94, a new personal best by almost three seconds. Morsby ran a personal-record 24.50 seconds for the boys 200 meters.
The boys 4x400 of Johnson, Morsby, Waters and Kurian ran 4:01.34 for 17th place.
The girls 4x800 relay of Ceara Barnes, Ashley Brown, Sadie Bernd and Tessa Moyer ran a season best of 10:50.57 for 17th place.
The girls 4x400 was just off their season best with Brown, Gretchen German, Olivia Valverde and Barnes clocking 4:32.19 for 12th place.
Seungkyu Cho set a new personal record with a throw of 124-feet-1 in the boys javelin, good for fifth in the district currently. The senior threw 102-5 in the boys discus.
Maddie Afanador’s 20.06 time for the girls 100-meter hurdles was a new personal best. She is ranked fifth in the district. Olivia Mozzone was just off her best in 20.89 seconds.
Afanador came back to record another PR of 57.24 seconds in the 300 hurdles. Sophia Mercure made it around in 58.00 in her first time in the event. Afanador ranks seventh and Mercure now eighth in the district.
Gretchen German set a new personal best of 5:51.93 for the girls 1,600 meters. The sophomore is seventh in the district. Liv Moyer ran a season-best 5:59.22. She is 10th in the district. Moyer earlier lowered her season-best in the girls 3,200 to 12:44.71, fourth best in the district. German also recorded a new personal best of 74-feet-8 in the girls javelin that ranks third in District 1 AA.
Michael Pustay lowered his 1,600 PR by more than 11 seconds to place second in his heat in 5:05.52. He is 12th in the district. Josh Frederick ran 5:19.64 for the 1,600, an improvement of more than 20 seconds on his best.
Frederick recorded a new personal best of 2:25.39 for the boys 800 meters. Kurian established a baseline time of 2:29.03 in his first time in the open 800.
In the girls 800, Tessa Moyer ran a personal best of 2:37.06. The freshman ranks seventh in the district.
Johnson set a new personal best of 35-2.5 in the boys triple jump. narrowly missed his own best in the 200 with a 26.73 clocking. Johnson sits eighth in the district in triple jump.
Veltre posted a girls long jump distance of 14-feet-1.75. Mercure jumped a personal-best 13-6 to move into a ninth-place tie in the district.
In the girls discus, Veltre threw 70-10. She threw 26-9.5 in the girls shot put.
Luke Smeland threw 115-5 in the boys javelin.
Brown ran 14.16 seconds in the girls 100 meters. Eliana Farmer finished in 15.63 seconds.
Valverde went 30.24 in the girls 200 meters. Logan Naidoo posted a PR of 34.44 seconds. Valverde jumped 28-8.5 in the girls triple jump.
Barnes ran 1:08.32 for the girls 400 meters.
The girls 4x100 of Mercure, Afanador, Mozzone and Valverde ran 57.94.
The Pioneers have a busy week before they will turn their attention to their league meet. Dock competes at the Helman Invitational at Pennridge on Thursday, sends select athletes to Henderson Invitational on Friday, and finishes the week at the Neshaminy Co-Ed Invitational on Saturday.

One day after the relays were featured, the Jack Armstrong Invitational at Abington High gave the Dock track and field program’s individuals a chance to shine.
The Pioneers did.
They recorded 11 new personal bests as well as strong marks that showed good development just four weeks out from the District 1 AA Championships and less than three weeks from the Bicentennial Athletic League Championships. Three Pioneer athletes earned medals for top-six finishes at the meet that included mostly AAA sized schools.
Luke Smeland had another improvement in boys javelin. The junior captain placed fifth with a throw of 119-feet-7. He is ranked seventh in the district.
Jayden Waters had a breakthrough in the boys 110-meter hurdles. The sophomore ran 17.28 in the preliminary heats to earn a spot in the finals where he placed fifth in 17.32 seconds to take a medal. His time is well under the district qualifying standard and currently sits ranked second in District 1 AA.
Olivia Mozzone cleared the opening height of 6-feet to medal in the pole vault. The sophomore placed sixth.
The girls 800 meters had three good times for the Pioneers. Gretchen German won her heat and placed ninth overall with a big drop in her personal best down to 2:30.43, better than four seconds ahead of her previous best. The time qualifies her for districts, where she is the current No. 2 seed. Ceara Barnes also lowered her PR. The senior dropped nearly two seconds to go 2:35.42 for 14th place. She is ranked sixth in the district. Liv Moyer ran 2:38.27, just a tenth of a second off her all-time best. The senior captain placed 18th overall, and now is ranked eighth in the district. She turned around two events later to run a season-best 12:47.11 in the girls 3,200 meters, placing seventh, just one spot from medaling. She is ranked fourth in the district.
German also nearly medaled in the girls javelin. The sophomore threw a season-best 68-11 for seventh place. She is ranked fifth in the district.
Seungkyu Cho placed ninth in the boys discus with a huge best of 107-feet-1, less than three feet from the district qualifier. He sits seventh in the district. The senior’s new personal record was more than 23-feet better than his first meet. Cho was also ninth in the boys javelin with a throw of 114-2.

Tessa Moyer clocked 5:50.56 for 11th in the girls 1,600 meters. Sadie Bernd had a strong finish to go 5:57.28 for 17th overall and the current No. 2 best on the team. Bernd is ranked eighth in the district.
Maddie Afanador ran a personal-record 20.41 seconds for 13th place in the girls 100-meter hurdles. Mozzone also PR’d in a time of 20.74 for 18th. Afanador is ranked third and Mozzone fourth in the district. The two also competed in the 300 hurdles with Afanador posting another personal best of 58.20 seconds for 20th and Mozzone running 1:00.56 for 22nd. They are fifth and sixth in the district now.
Aaron Sensenig placed 12th in his first 3,200 meters ever in 11:23.48. Michael Pustay ran 5:17.19 for 25th in the boys 1,600 meters, less than a second off his PR.
Olivia Valverde competed in four events. The sophomore ran a personal-best 14.44 seconds in the girls 100 meters, posted a 29.76 clocking in the girls 200, ran 1:10.17 in her first girls 400 for Dock, and placed eighth in the girls triple jump with a mark of 29-feet-1¾. 
Xander Morsby ran 12.40 seconds in his first 100-meter race of the season. The freshman ran a personal-record 24.95 seconds for the boys 200 meters, and 59.55 seconds in his first boys 400 effort.
Josh Frederick recorded a personal best of 1:02.47, more than two seconds better than his previous top mark. The sophomore also hit a new best of 2:25.55 in the boys 800.
Eliana Farmer set a personal-record 33.04 seconds in the girls 200 meters. The senior also ran 15.76 in the girls 100.
The Pioneers will travel to another large invitational this week. They will compete next at the Unionville Invitational that will be held at West Chester University on Saturday, April 27.

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.