The track and field season opener between Whitehall and Bethlehem Catholic last Thursday at Whitehall was full of pleasant surprises for two teams that can boast a boost in newcomers this year.

Becahi’s Jianna Brown won the 300 meter hurdles (:57.10) after a five-minute lesson that day, and Whitehall’s Ava Wells placed second in the long jump (14-10.00) after recently learning the event to fill a void on the Zephyrs’ winter track team.

“[Coach Rice] believed in me, so I was like, I can do it, I guess,” said Brown. “I had five minutes of training here from my teammate Cody. They gave me two hurdles and said run and jump until you get your vibe. It was fun. I enjoyed it a lot. I was scared of falling, but aside from that it was really interesting. It’s crazy, honestly. I just talked to my mom about it, and she was so excited.”

In addition to Wells’ long jump performance, the Zephyr sophomore won the 200 meter dash (:28.40) and the 400 meter dash (1:04.10).

“Longer sprints, I feel, are my events,” Wells said. “When I was little, I would come and watch my sister’s meets, and it peaked my interest, so I always knew I wanted to run and pole vault. I thought it was going to be really scary, but pole vault is my favorite event.”

Other top performers who placed first in individual events in the girls’ meet, won by Whitehall, 99-51, were M’Balu Fofana in the 100 meter dash (:13.80), Mikayla Warren in the 800 meter run (2:41.30), the 1600 meter run (6:11.70) and the 3200 meter run (14:08.00), Ava Demjan in the 100 meter hurdles (:20.20), Alexandra Cook in high jump (4-10.00), Arizona Marakovits in pole vault (8-06.00), Electra Theagene in shot put (28-08.00), and Brielle Schrey in javelin (102-07.00), all from Whitehall.

Emilia Lieb won the long jump (15-02.00) and the triple jump (32-10.00), and Kara Vasquez was first in discus (79-10.50), all for Becahi.

“For maybe 75 percent, this is their first track meet ever and only the third or fourth time they’re on the track, so today we’re using this as a really good practice,” said Becahi head coach Fred Rice. “I had some nice, pleasant surprises today from some of the kids, first time ever doing an event, so we’re figuring it out, and I wanted to give everybody a race today.”

Whitehall’s boys were 96.40-52.60 winners over Becahi’s boys.

“We have 40 more this year than we had last year,” said Whitehall head coach Tyler Miller, “and we have a huge junior class which is awesome. Definitely our sprints, for our guys, is strong, and probably sprints and jumps for our girls.”

Winners for the Zephyr boys were Jaiden Lee in the 100 meter dash (:11.10), Christian Foehrkolb in the 800 meter run (2:17.40) and the 1600 meter run (5:05.70), Jackson Glaser in the 110 meter hurdles (:17.70) and the high jump (5-04.00), Gregory Sommer in pole vault (10-03.00), Ian Thomas in triple jump (38-05.00), and Aiden Tacker in shot put (43-04.75) and discus (128-02.00).

Said Foehrkolb, “The guy next to me, I told myself I’d keep up with him, and then pass him when I see the time is right, but I got impatient and ended up passing him coming onto our second lap, and from there, I kept a distance. I heard him a few times, especially during the last lap toward the final 200, and that’s when I started gaining speed and won.”

Winners for the Golden Hawk boys were Kevin Soto in the 200 meter dash (:23.90) and the long jump (20-09.00) Joasil Kensley in the 400 meter dash (:52.30), Aidan Michels in the 3200 meter run (11:58.00), Cody Grant in the 300 meter hurdles (:47.60), and Steve Recchio in javelin (164-01.00).

“Coach Rice didn’t put me in the 200 at first, so I wasn’t expecting to do that race or win,” Soto said. “I was just nervous I would pull my hamstrings again, but I feel great.”

In the final race of the day, Whitehall pulled out a come-from-behind win in the boys 4x4 relay.

“To be honest, at the line, I didn’t think I would catch up, but once I started going, I knew I had to get him,” said Whitehall anchor Sean Connolly. “I felt a little quick, but as soon as I caught him, I thought he would slow down a little bit, but I made sure I kept with him, and on the last 200, after I went in front of him, I just kept going because everyone was cheering for me. Vinson (Eggleston) did really good because the kid he ran against (Joasil Kensley) was very good, and he kept up with him.”

Kensley congratulated Connolly after the race, telling the Zephyr senior that he loves a good dogfight.

“He ran the open 4 and beat us all by five seconds, so that was cool,” Connolly said.