HS TRACK AND FIELD: Lackawanna Track Conference Girls Past Individual Champions — The Hurdles

On Tuesday, the Lackawanna Track Conference was scheduled to hold the annual Robert Spagna Championship meet.

That is canceled. And without beating a dead horse, we know why.

This spring, as active high school sports stopped, ON THE BLOG decided to do some research. History has always interested me when it comes to high school sports. I do, of course, hate being asked who is the greatest of all time, because there are just too many factors. Era, running surfaces, training, timing systems, coaching have all improved even in single year increments.

What I always tell people about track and field is:

 

• The clock and tape measures don’t usually lie

• You know greatness when you see it.

And ON THE BLOG has seen a lot of greatness.

 

What makes the LTC champions so unique is that there is no separation for classifications in the races, which is not how the district or state champions are determined.

So, with this being a week where we normally would crown the latest Lackawanna Track Conference individual event and team champions, let’s take a look at the past champions.

That’s right, there were long nights when the computer stayed on late and we researched and researched. Reminded me of when classmates stayed up to finish their senior thesis.

Full disclosure. … Track and field media coverage was hardly a priority way back when, so gathering first names became the most daunting challenge of this project. If there are any missing in the lists, and you know who said person is, please let us know.

Before we start looking back, here are a couple of notes to remember.

 

• The LTC sponsored a partial conference championship meet for girls in 1978.

 

• Each LTC team was allowed ONE entrant per event from 1978 to 1989.

 

• Races were converted to meters following the 1982 season and all records were retired.

 

• The LTC conference meet was put on hiatus following the 1989 season due to a PIAA rule and all meet records were RETIRED.

 

• The LTC conference meet returned in 2005 with Fully Automatic Timing and new meet records were established.

 

• The LTC conference meet was dedicated to Robert Spagna that same season

 

• Champions for Class 3A and Class 2A were crowned starting in 2005.

 

 

THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE: 

 

MONDAY: The Hurdles

TUESDAY: The Sprints and Dashes

WEDNESDAY: The Distance

THURSDAY: The Throws

FRIDAY: The Jumps and Pole Vault

SATURDAY: The Relays

 

PAST TEAM CHAMPIONS

1978 Abington Heights
1979 Lakeland
1980 North Pocono
1981 Lakeland
1982 Carbondale Area
1983 Carbondale Area
1984 Carbondale Area
1985 Carbondale Area
1986 North Pocono
1987 North Pocono
1988 North Pocono
1989 North Pocono
Robert Spagna Championships
2005 Class 3A: Delaware Valley Class 2A: Lakeland
2006 Class 3A: Delaware Valley Class 2A: Lakeland
2007 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Montrose
2008 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Western Wayne
2009 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Western Wayne and Montrose
2010 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Montrose
2011 Class 3A: Honesdale Class 2A: Holy Cross
2012 Class 3A: Western Wayne Class 2A: Holy Cross and Lakeland
2013 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Lakeland
2014 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Lakeland
2015 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Lakeland
2016 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Lakeland
2017 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Lakeland
2018 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Western Wayne
2019 Class 3A: Abington Heights Class 2A: Western Wayne

 

---

 

 

 

THE HURDLES

 

110-yard Hurdles
1977 Sandy Bonacci (Carbondale Area) 16.7
1978 Patty Mikulak (Lakeland) 16.5
1979 Patty Mikulak (Lakeland) 15.9 (meet record – retired)
1980 Lisa Ball (Lakeland) 16.2
1981 Lisa Ball (Lakeland) 16.1
1982 Cathy Burns (Scranton Prep) 16.7
100-meter Hurdles
1983 Sue Halpin (Central) 17.1 (meet record) 
1984 Kara Pilewicz (Carbondale Area) 15.8 (meet record – retired)
1985 Karen Brown (Scranton Tech) 17.5
1986 Sheri Price (Central) 17.2
1987 Karen Brown (Scranton Tech) 17.2
1988 Storm Pringle (Abington Heights) 17.2
1989 Storm Pringle (Abington Heights) 17.0
2005 Alea Murphy (Abington Heights) 15.10 (meet record)
2006 Trina Carito (Lakeland) 16.25
2007 Amy Volz (Bishop Hannan/O’Hara) 15.93
2008 Lyndsey Barna (Western Wayne) 15.83
2009 Krista Matsko (Abington Heights) 15.72
2010 Krista Matsko (Abington Heights) 15.55
2011 Vanessa Munley (Riverside) 16.29
2012 Cassidy Jenkins (Lakeland) 15.46 Note: 15.01 (record in trials)
2013 Cassidy Jenkins (Lakeland) 14.99 Note: 14.96 (record in trials)
2014 Cassidy Jenkins (Lakeland) 14.57 (meet record)
2015 Cassidy Jenkins (Lakeland) 14.55 Note: 14.47 (record in trials)
2016 Madison Harding (Lakeland) 15.63
2017 Madison Harding (Lakeland) 15.11
2018 Skyla Wilson (Susquehanna) 14.81
2019 Trina Barcarola (Western Wayne) 14.88

Total champions: Lakeland (11); Abington Heights (5); Carbondale Area (2); Central (2); Scranton Tech (2); Western Wayne (2); Bishop O’Hara/Bishop Hannan (1); Riverside (1); Scranton Prep (1); Susquehanna (1).

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

330-yard Hurdles
1982 Kim Vermeulen (Tunkhannock) 49.9 (meet record – retired)
300-meter Hurdles
1983 Kara Pilewicz (Carbondale Area) 48.3 (meet record – retired)
1984 Kara Pilewicz (Carbondale Area) 48.8
1985 Karen Brown (Scranton Tech) 51.2
1986 Karen Brown (Scranton Tech) 50.2
1987 Aimee Newhart (North Pocono) 50.7
1988 Aimee Newhart (North Pocono) 50.6
1989 Kathy Sargeant (Scranton Tech) 51.4
2005 Alea Murphy (Abington Heights) 45.86 (meet record)
2006 Megan Gibbons (Abington Heights) 48.52
2007 No event (Rain)
2008 Amy Volz (Holy Cross) 46.57
2009 Krista Matsko (Abington Heights) 46.46
2010 Krista Matsko (Abington Heights) 46.17
2011 Shayna Miller (West Scranton) 46.97
2012 Cassidy Jenkins (Lakeland) 45.45 (meet record)
2013 Cassidy Jenkins (Lakeland) 44.56 (meet record)
2014 Cassidy Jenkins (Lakeland) 46.14
2015 Cassidy Jenkins (Lakeland) 44.38 (meet record)
2016 Lindsey Rupakus (Blue Ridge) 46.00
2017 Madison Harding (Lakeland) 45.25
2018 Skyla Wilson (Susquehanna) 44.65
2019 Trina Barcarola (Western Wayne) 45.40

Total champions: Lakeland (5); Abington Heights (4); Scranton Tech (3); Carbondale Area (2); North Pocono (2); Blue Ridge (1); Holy Cross (1); Susquehanna (1); Tunkhannock (1); West Scranton (1); Western Wayne (1).

 

---

---