Pine-Richland field athletes showing promise

By: Kevin Lohman
Friday, April 19, 2019 | 8:48 PM

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There is plenty of talent taking over the field events for the Pine-Richland track and field team. And while the team’s hurdlers, sprinters and long-distance runners have been performing well this season, so have the throwers.

However, the Rams’ true top performers will be revealed as the team enters the thick of its invitational season. That’s not to say Section 3-AAA isn’t challenging, but the wide range of competitors the team will face off against in the invitationals is more in line with what the athletes will see in postseason events.

“All of our top field athletes are returning from last year. They’ve been strong so far this year, too,” Pine-Richland coach Bill Crummy said. “We’ll see as we get into these invitationals. We’re just a few meets into the year, and the field athletes have performed well but we’ll see how they really stack up in the invitational part of the schedule. We’ll see how they do there.”

The boys and girls teams are each 2-1 in dual meets this season.

For the girls, a well-rounded group of athletes have led the way for the field portion of the team.

Abby Baratka has been contributing to the Rams’ success, throwing in the shot put and discus events. The junior also plays goalkeeper for the Pine-Richland field hockey team. Taylor Regan has also chipped in some top performances in the shot put. Meanwhile, Grace Kristofic, a George Mason volleyball commit, is locking down the top spot in the javelin for the girls team.

“We’ve had a good start to the season with our throwers. Grace did a great job for us last year. So she’s proven it for us and done well before,” Crummy said. “All of these girls are returning from last year, so they have the experience and they know what it takes. It’ll be fun to see them get pushed by athletes from other schools as the year goes on. But it’s an exciting group.”

Devon Erb, who qualified for the WPIAL championships last year, has been solid in the pole vault.

On the boys side, Zach Shaver has been a top performer in the shot put and discus. Noah Naelitz has been another name to watch, putting together strong showings in the discus and the javelin.

Tags: Pine-Richland