2022-23 GIRLS WINTER TRACK MEETS

Strong performances from a small group of upperclassmen girls, in general, highlighted by Tory Gauthier's quick 60m performance and Lila Ziegler's 5th place Long Jump performance. Gauthier's 8.32 moves her up one spot to #4 All-Time at Conestoga's Top 10 Indoor Girls T&F list and Ziegler's 15'7.5" narrowly misses an All-Time Top 10 performance by a quarter inch.

The race of the day goes to freshman Audrey Dogum in her first Indoor T&F experience ever. She placed 9th overall in the girls Mile (5:56.91) with a thunderous closing kick. Her twin sister, Laila Dogum, was just as impressive, placing 15th in the 3000 (12:14.95). Junior Mary Pealer was back to her strong performances, placing 5th overall in the girls High Jump (4'8"), barely missing a Top 3 medal. Finally, the girls Pole Vault was a successful event for Conestoga. Freshman Melissa Guillen and sophomore Sabrina Conrad set or matched their lifetime best (7'6'') in a tie for 13th place.  

Plenty of 'Stoga girls were in action on Friday night at Alvernia College, beginning with the DMR (Distance Medley Relay: 1200-400-800-1600). The star of the relay was junior Marah Walton, closing her 1600m leg in a new personal best (5:41.92). The 4x200 relay team of Lila Ziegler, Tory Gauthier, Angelina Pierce, and Addison Delorefice ran a season's best (1:55.63), landing them in the top 20 performances in the DVGTCA. Sabrina Conrad vaulted a new personal best of 8'0" and Rheeya Sudhagar ran the first 60m high hurdle race of her young career, finishing as the fourth-best freshman in the field.

Senior Julia Harris ran 11:14.46 for 3000m at the DVGTCA meet on 12/23 - a Meet of Champions qualifying mark, the second of her career. That time currently stands as 14th best in the State. In the Robert J Burdette Classic at Lehigh, Mary Pealer, placed 3rd place in the Girls High Jump with a jump of 4’9”.

Mary Pealer placed 3rd place in the Girls High Jump with a jump of 4’9”.

The weekend got underway with our girls traveling a large group out to Alvernia College. The underclassmen were shining bright - freshman Nicol Bovanova placed 9th overall in the Long Jump (15'2.5") and both freshman Rheeya Sudhagar (11.24) and Melissa Guillen (11.45) set personal bests in the 60m Hurdles. Senior Mary Pealer was the lone medal winner, placing 3rd overall in the High Jump (4'11") and earning her first Meet of Champions qualifier. The girls 4x200m Relay ran exceptionally well, placing 5th overall, and also qualifying for the Meet of Champions (1:52.57). This team consisted of Tori Gauthier (JR), Angelina Pierce (JR), Ofure Abhulimen (FR), and Kayla Allen (JR). The star of the day goes to freshman Ofure Abhulimen -- not only was she the fastest leg on the MoC qualifying 4x2, she also ran a very quick 400m (1:03.91), less than a second off an individual MoC qualifying standard. 

The underclassmen were on display, once again; this time in the distance events. Freshman Laura Traineau had a lifetime PR in her first high school T&F race - 6:05.75 for Mile. Her distance teammates followed up with excellent 3000m results. Brendan McGuilkin (SR) ran 10:28.02, Ethan Del Viscio (SO) ran 10:46.19, and Lilly Jones (SO) ran 11:19.23 -- great results for athletes competing in the event for the first time. The star of the day goes to freshman Alexia Tubbs for placing 6th overall in the 3000m running 11:06.26 - currently the #2 overall freshman girl for 3000m in the State of Pennsylvania and currently #10 All-Time for Conestoga Indoor T&F.

The girls headed off to Alvernia, the last stop in Reading for the season. Both freshman hurdlers continued to improve and impress: Rheeya Sudhagar ran 11.11 and Melissa Guillen ran 11.19 for 60mH. These times keep them both planted in the top-16 for all freshmen in the State of PA. Junior Kayla Allen jumped a personal best for Triple Jump (30'1.25") and sophomore Lizzie Gares placed 8th overall in the 3000m (11:29.68). The star of this meet goes to junior Lila Zielger -- she jumped a new Indoor personal best in the Long Jump (15'7.5") and ran a new lifetime best in the 60m (8.27), which plants her at #4 All-Time in Conestoga Indoor Track & Field history.

A much larger co-ed squad headed over to Collegeville for the final meet at Ursinus on our calendar. Once again, there were nearly 1,200 student-athletes competing which made for a very long day of competition and patience.

On the girls side:

• 400m lifetime PRs from sophomores Ella Skrdla (1:06.51) and Allison Hickey (1:08.56) 

• 55m Hurdle lifetime PRs from the sensational freshman duo of Rheeya Sudhagar (10.29) and Melissa Guillen (10.39). Sophomore Mariel Hadijiliadis, in her first attempt at the distance, ran an excellent 11:24.58 for 3000m, good for 6th overall. 

• Junior Lila Ziegler broke the 28 second barrier for the first time over 200m (27.80). 

• Star(s) of the Meet - (1) junior Angelina Pierce ran a very quick 55m (7.82), landing her at #6 All-Time Conestoga Indoor Track & Field, her first appearance on the All-Time charts, and followed up with a 200m personal best (28.80). (2) freshman Nicol Bovanova continued her impressive rookie campaign in the Long Jump - she jumps 15'8.75" (over a 6" personal best), finishes 4th overall (out of 39 athletes), and lands at #10 All-Time Conestoga Indoor Track & Field (the first addition to the Long Jump list in nine years).

Another smaller squad, this time from the girls team, headed out to Lehigh for one of their last Indoor competitions held at the facility. 

• Junior Keating Hopkins, in her first attempt racing 800m, set a high bar for herself racing 2:31.21 - currently good for 92nd in Pennsylvania. She finished 9th overall. 

• First-year hurdlers Maddie Rakes and Grace Hummel raced their first 60m Hurdle race of the season, finishing in 11.95 and 12.45, respectively. 

• Sophomore Lilly Jones had an exciting Mile race, running 5:55.70 for her first dip under the 6:00 barrier. 

• Star of the Meet goes to junior Tori Gauthier for her strong double performance - 8.24 60m and 27.53 200m. Her 60m performance is a Meet of Champions qualifier and vaults her to #4 All-Time Conestoga Indoor Track & Field. Her 200m is a painstaking 0.03 off another Meet of Champions qualifier. Gauthier will represent Conestoga in both the 60m and 4x200m at the Meet of Champions.

Friday was the final attempt for our girls to qualify for their DVGTCA Meet of Champions and they absolutely rose to the occasion. Angelina Pierce ran another personal best for 60m (8.55), her second of the season. Our freshman hurdle duo both raced to new personal bests - Rheeya Sudhagar (10.97), #12 Freshman time in PA and Melissa Guillen (11.18), #20 Freshman time in PA. Senior Mary Pealer high jumped to a 5th place finish (4'9"). Lila Ziegler jumped a new lifetime personal best in the Long Jump (15'11.5"), good for another Meet of Champions qualifier (2 individual and 1 relay) and #9 All-Time in Conestoga Indoor Track & Field history. Star of the Meet goes to freshman Alexia Tubbs, our 3000m champion. This marks her first high school race victory. Her time (10:59.04) lands her at #9 All-Time in Conestoga Indoor Track & Field history, right behind her teammate, sophomore Lizzie Gares. Tubbs stands at overall #31 in Pennsylvania at the moment and #3 Freshman in the State. 

A small handful of our JV girls went out to Glen Mills to finish their season at our league's Consolation Meet. Stoga's 4x800m relay team placed 10th overall (12:12.54) and sophomore Kayleigh Bender ran an excellent Mile race, finishing in 6:12.01.

Similar to the boys, the girls were ready to fire the moment they stepped into Ocean Breeze's beautiful facility. Junior Angelina Pierce improved on her 55m lifetime best, running 7.74 (improving her #6 All-Time performance in Conestoga history). Freshman Melissa Guillen continued her season's improvement over 55m H, running 9.94 to make the finals for the Freshman division alongside her classmate and teammate, Rheeya Sudhagar (10.32). That time for Guillen is #7 All-Time in Conestoga history, her first appearance on the list. In the finals, Guillen placed 2nd overall and Sudhagar placed 8th. Guillen came back in the Pole Vault to clear 8'0", a new personal best, and place 6th overall in the event. Sophomore Ella Skrdla ran 28.35 for 200m, an Indoor best, and was followed up by an even better 28.06 in the 4x200m relay. Freshman Audrey Dogum ran an excellent race to place 3rd overall in the Freshman division (2:27.47). That time is easily the fastest Indoor freshman 800m result in the past 15 years of Conestoga history. The Mile race also had some solid performances from Lizzie Gares (5:42.05 - 4th overall, Soph race), Lilly Jones (5:48.35 - 6th overall, Soph race), Laura Traineau (5:52.04 - 9th overall, Freshman race), and Mariel Hadijiliadis (5:53.21 - 8th overall, Soph race...after a fall). Star of the Meet goes to freshman Nicol Bovanova for her gold medal in the Freshman Long Jump. Bovanova jumped 15'9.25" on her sixth and final jump of the competition which stands as a new lifetime best and ties her for #10 All-Time Conestoga history. Her result is #4 for all freshmen in the State of PA. She walked away with both a first place medal and plaque for her efforts.

We had some very quality performances from both the boys and girls team against some stiff competition from around the State. Stars of the Meet go to the girls 4x200m relay team. Not to be outdone by their Sprint teammates, the team of Tory Gauthier, Angelina Pierce, Lila Ziegler, and Ella Skrdla raced to a 7th place finish (1:49.65) but, more importantly, moves them to #28 on the State Champs descending order list (flat track conversion --> 1:48.05). For this event, only 20 teams will be selected for the State Championships. This race marked the first time Pierce and Skrdla broke the 28 second barrier and Ziegler broke the 27 second barrier.

At the DVGTCA Meet of Champions, our girls team was represented across four events. Though we had qualifiers in more events, we decided to focus on the events we felt gave us the best opportunities at State Qualifying performances. 

• Tory Gauthier opened our meet with a 22nd place finish in the 60m dash (8.36). 

• Mary Pealer followed up with an 11th place finish in the High Jump (4'7"). 

• Our 3000m athletes - Julia Harris and Alexia Tubbs - had high hopes before a fall in the first 100m of the race sent Tubbs to the ground. They finished 7th (Harris - 11:02.86, a new personal best) and 8th (Tubbs - 11:06.68). 

• The highlight of our meet was the girls 4x200m relay team of Tory Gauthier, Angelina Pierce, Lila Ziegler, and Fure Abhulimen. Racing in the slow section, we finished 3rd overall in a season's best time 1:47.44 (flat track conversion - 1:45.84). That time vaults this group to a #2 All-Time performance in Conestoga history.

4x200m – placed 14th (1:46.14) – Tory Gauthier, Angelina Pierce, Lila Ziegler, Fure Abhulimen

A strong result in my opinion (the girls would disagree) considering we made the meet after a flat track conversion. Placed 2nd in our heat but would’ve needed some faster teams to have disastrous days. This was the first State meet for all four girls and the first banked track experience for Fure. We were the highest placed CAL team (only Garnet Valley made the event and finished 18th). This could put us in a good position to score well in a 4x100m relay Outdoors….if we can pull Fure away from her club soccer commitments.