Mother Nature was kind to Northampton and Whitehall’s track and field teams for a change, during their rivalry meet, won by the Konkrete Kids girls, 106-44, and the Konkrete Kids boys, 92.50-57.50.

“The weather’s getting better, and that’s good because we’ll be running faster. Whitehall’s pretty tough compared to some of the north teams, so they’re good competition,” said Northampton senior Shaun Apsley.

Apsley won the 110 hurdles (16.4) and the 300 hurdles (40.2).

“I hit a couple hurdles that messed me up, but otherwise, I think I did pretty well,” said Apsley of the 300. “I can hold the sprint longer (in the 300), and I feel like if you’re taller and have a better stride, you can three-step well, and you’ll be good.”

Teammate Derec Fritzges placed second in the 110 (18.3) and the 300 (44.7), the latter being an emotional finish for the Northampton sophomore.

“I was excited because as I was crossing the line, I had my eyes on the timer, and I saw I broke 44, and my previous P.R. was 46.4, so I was really happy,” he said. “I was opening my strides, but I felt really tired at the end, especially coming around the sixth hurdle.”

Whitehall’s 4x8 relay scored the first points of the boys meet with the foursome of Christian Foehrkolb, Austin Hedrick, Brenden Sargent, and Sean Connolly (9:07.8), and Northampton’s 4x4 relay scored the meet’s last points with Victor Hunt, Apsley, Andrew Whitman, and Ben Henry (3:41.0).

The K-Kids also won the 4x1 relay with Hunt, Whitman, Logan Henry, and Ben Henry (43.2).

“I got my handoff from my brother (Logan), so the chemistry’s there,” said Ben Henry, the team’s anchor. “I get in a run, try to win it, and if I’m ahead, put it away. I’m not too worried about a gap, because Logan will clean it up for me.”

Ben Henry also clinched first in the 100 meter dash (10.9) and the 200 meter dash (21.8).

Connolly won the 400 for the Zephyrs (54.4).

Northampton’s Evan Dempsey took first in the 800 (2:04.8), and teammates Abel Veltri and John Breslin won the 1600 meter run (4:53.5) and the 3200 meter run (11:25.8), respectively.

Whitehall’s Gregory Sommer cleared 11-03.00 to win pole vault.

Jacob Kypridakes was first in high jump (5-09.00), and Logan Henry took first place in long jump (21-02.00) and triple jump (42-08.00), both boys for Northampton.

Whitehall swept the throwing events with Aiden Tacker winning shot put (43-10.00) and discus (127-10.00) and Thomas Lloyd winning javelin (150-09).

Northampton’s girls opened the meet with a 4x8 relay win on a combination of Juliana Medei, Sarah Mele, Jenna Caffrey, and Hannah Bowers (10:51.10).

Whitehall’s Tessa Hopkins, M’Balu Fofana, Arizona Marakovits, Christian Zulu won the 4x1 relay (53.7).

“My handoff was good,” said Fofana, who ran second. “I got out on time and exploded out. I was really happy. You can’t look back because if you do, and it happened once, the other person’s just gonna fly off top of you.”

Zulu was the Zephyrs’ anchor.

“They did have a really good lead for me,” she said. “I was a little anxious because I put my hand out, I left too early, and I was scared [Arizona] wasn’t gonna catch me, but yeah, she caught me.”

The 4x4 relay was won by Northampton’s Abigail Enstrom, Danika Cuchran, Avery Peluszak, and Lindsey Reimer (4:22.2).

Peluszak also won the 100 meter dash (12.9) and the 200 meter dash (26.5).

Ava Wells took first in the 400 meter dash for the Zephyrs (1:02.0).

Madelyn Hurst was the 800 meter run winner (2:33.0), Brianna Tyler was first in the 1600 meter run (5:33.7), and Olivia Horn won the 3200 meter run (13:51.9), all for the K-Kids.

“I was injured the first month of the season, so I’ve only been running for three weeks, and I really wanted to get a 2:32,” said a happy Hurst. “I tried to go out as hard as I could today and hang on.”

Northampton also won in hurdles: Morgan Kitz in the 100 (16.7) and Cuchran in the 300 (49.6).

In jumps, Hopkins won pole vault (8-06.00) for the Zephyrs, and Leah Jenkins won high jump (4-09.00), long jump (15-06.00), and triple jump (32-05.00) for the K-Kids.

In throws, Whitehall’s Electra Theagene took the top spot in shot put (31-02.00), and teammate Brielle Schrey was first in javelin (109-00).

Northampton’s Rebecca Coleman won discus (100-09.75).

“Both girls and boys did absolutely fabulous,” said Northampton coach Tim Caffrey. “We lost [only] to Stroudsburg, and I believe we could have been closer to that score, had we not had to go back-to-back with Pocono Mountain West and Stroudsburg. For jumpers, for throwers, it’s something they can handle, but for the runners, to go back-to-back is very difficult.”