Indoor Track Team Wins 3rd Consecutive Catholic League Championship

The La Salle College High School Indoor Track & Field Team captured their 3^rd consecutive PCL Indoor Championship on Sunday at Lehigh University. It also marked the 7^th consecutive seasonal championship for the program (Including 2 cross country and 2 outdoor championships).

The team managed to score in 15 of the 16 events, scored 2 or more places in 12 of the 16 events, and finished no worse than 2^nd in any of the 4 relays, showing the team's balance across event groups and depth in all event areas.

The field team started the day strong with an impressive 1-2-3 sweep in the Shot Put from Noah Walker (52-2.75, a State Qualifying Standard), Owen Lawn (45-1.75), and Chris Caponi (43-5). Alex Sislo started his day with a win in the Long Jump (21-8.25), followed by Octavious Carter in 5^th (19-1.5). Sislo then took 2^nd in the High Jump (6-0) finishing behind teammate Jonathon Squadrito who captured the PCL crown (6-0). Luke Crawford defended his PCL title in the Pole Vault (11-6), and then Frank Depman (37-0.25) and Squadrito (36-0.5) placed 5^th and 6^th in the Triple Jump.

On the track, the day started strong with the 4x200 relay of Dan Capreri, Peter Nelson, Brennan Daly, and Alex Sislo taking 2^nd in 1:35.79. They were followed by another runner-up relay in the Distance Medley with Vince Twomey, Greg Sywulak, Thomas Price, and Matthew Zilligen running a very solid 11:03.07.

The next several individual events were led by strong State Qualifying marks in the Mile and 60m. In the Mile Evan Addison ran away with the title in 4:22.57, and was following in the scoring by Brendan Price who was 5^th (4:34.59). Ocatvious Carter ran a great race in the 60m to finish as runner-up in a SQS time of 7.07. In the 400m senior Peter Nelson placed 5^th in 52.29.

Then, in the race of the day La Salle placed 3 runners in the final of the 60m High Hurdles, led by the individual champion Zack Beavers (9.02), Mike Becattini (9.10) and Luke Hardy (9.36) finished 5^th and 6^th. The 800m saw 2 more Explorers score with Evan Addison finishing 2^nd (2:01.54) and Mac Costonis finishing 6^th (2:02.62). The 3,000m group was led by Dave Kennedy (9:11.33) and Stephen Paul (9:15.97) in 4^th and 6^th.

And then the day was capped by a couple of strong relays. The 4x400m team of Ryan O'Neill, Marcus Curvan, Luke Ullmann, and Danny Boyle finished 2^nd in 3:39.87. Closing out the day with a final exclamation point was the 4x800m relay of Sean Grant, Paul Ghantous, Michael Eastmond, and Conor Christian who were victorious in a solid 8:30.75.

The Explorers will be back at Lehigh University this Saturday for the Track and Field Coaches Association of Greater Philadelphia Meet of Champions, which will serve as their final tune-up before the PTFCA State Championship on February 25^th at Penn State University.

View photos from the event at http://www.lschs.org/cf_media/index.cfm?g=4040.