Track and Field Team Wins Catholic League Championship

The La Salle College High School Track and Field team captured the PCL team championship Saturday, May 11, 2013 at Upper Darby High School. The championship is the 4th in school history (2010, 1998, and 1960).

The day began with a very strong performance from the field event athletes. Sophomore Grant Jones earned 1st team All-Catholic in the javelin with a throw of 152'0" to place 2nd. Corey Muggler and Mike Koller then added points with their 3rd and 5th place finishes in the long jump, with marks of 21'4.5" and 20'4.5" respectively. Koller then added a 3rd place finish of his own in the high jump with a season best clearance of 6'4", and Jack Carlidge joined him as a score placing 5th in 5'8". Muggler then added a PCL Individual championship in the triple jump with a leap of 44'6.5".

Meanwhile in the throws, the combination of Luke Persichetti and Chris Kane placed 1st and 3rd in the shot put with throws of 52'9" and 43'3.25". Persichetti added a 4th place in the discus throw with a mark of 123'7" and Joe Caponi earned 5th place with his throw of 112'6". To conclude the morning field session sophomore Eddie Eason cleared a personal best 13'0" in the pole vault to garner 2nd place.

As the running events were beginning on the track, the Explorers narrowly trailed two-time defending champions Father Judge, and had a slim margin over 3rd place team Cardinal O'Hara. The running events began in great fashion with Levi Hardy taking 3rd place in the 300m hurdles in a season best 40.31. The 4x800m relay team of Patrick Grant, Mark DeSantis, Stefon Sutton, and Jack Magee then captured 2nd place in a quick 8:04.19 which was capped by Magee's sensational 1:55.8 anchor leg.

The Explorers then got an enormous, and unprecedented contribution from freshman sprinter Charles Headen who captured 2nd place in the 100m dash as he blazed 11.15 seconds down the straightaway. Next up was the Mile run, where Tom Coyle used a 60 second final 400m to capture his 4th straight PCL Mile title in a stellar 4:16.34. He was joined by fellow scorers Andrew Stone (4:20.92) and Brendan Bilotta (4:26.71).

After the Mile it was back to the sprint events and the team received its sole school record of the day from the 4x100m relay team of Luke McCann, John Matthews, Charles Headen, and Corey Muggler as they flew to a 43.55 clocking to place 3rd. Levi Hardy then added a 5th place finish in the 110m hurdles race in 15.59. Next up was another signature event for the Explorers, the 800m run, and senior Andrew Stone captured his 4th consecutive PCL 800m title by rolling a 56.0 second lap to run a 1:56.68. Charles Headen then put an exclamation point on the finest day for a La Salle sprinter in a long time by scorching through a 22.80 200m final to capture 4th place and add some big points in the team race.

At this point, the team had the lead and just needed a few more points heading into the final events. Tom Coyle provided the clutch points to seal the team title in the 3200m run. Coyle ran strong and patiently to finish 2nd place in 9:26.95 (closing his final 400m in 62.0). The concluding race of the day saw the relay team of Kyle McElwee, Stefon Sutton, Michael Bishof, and Aaron Streets place 5th in the 4x400m relay in 3:34.58.

The final team scores showed the Explorers tallying 133 points to Father Judge's 118, to Cardinal O'Hara's 115.5. It was a remarkable day to cap an amazing Catholic League career for this year's senior class (who were freshman in 2010 when the Explorers last won the PCL Outdoor).

The team will now prepare for the PIAA District XII Championship on Wednesday and Thursday at Germantown Super Site and Northeast High School, which serves as the qualifying meet for the PIAA State Championship. The State Championship is Memorial Day weekend at Shippensburg University.