SPAGNA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Abington Heights dominates Class 3A again; Lakeland wins in 2A

May 10—SCRANTON — Unbeaten in the regular season. Dual-meet winning streak at 96 straight. Jordan Relays title already in hand.

So, it was no surprise when Abington Heights' girls team overwhelmed the competition at the 17th Robert Spagna Championship meet.

Madison Zalewski won the javelin and high jump, Tomara Seid won the triple jump, Emma Horsley won the 800 and Abington Heights swept the three relay races on the way to 134 points for a 12th Class 3A team championship Tuesday at Scranton Veterans Memorial Stadium.

North Pocono finished second with 71 1/2 points, and Wallenpaupack, last year's champion, had 67 1/2 points to finish third.

"It is really great to contribute to the win," Zalewski said. "We all work together, and everyone plays an important role on this team."

Lakeland, led by Anna Liuzzo's win in the discus, scored 69 points to win its ninth championship in Class 2A.

"This means a lot to this title," said Liuzzo, who had a mark of 110 feet, 6 inches for her team's only gold medal. "We are very happy. We came into the meet really wanting to win this championship heading into districts next week."

Susquehanna finished second to the Lady Chiefs with 40 points, with Tatum Norris accounting for every point with four gold medals. Riverside, last year's Class 2A winner, was third with 29 points.

"I am exhausted," said Norris, who repeated as champion in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and added the long jump and pole vault to her haul. "My sprint times weren't where I wanted them to be, but I have to kind of expect that with doing four events."

Zalewski won the first gold medal of the meet with a toss of 115 feet, 3 inches in the javelin that outdistanced Western Wayne's Paige Lee (114-11). Then she won the high jump with a clearance of 5-2 with teammates Emily Dennis third at 4-10 and Sophia Policare in a tie for seventh at 4-6.

"This is really great because at the beginning of the season, my coaches were looking for people to try the throwing events, and I gave (javelin) a try and have really been working and progressing," Zalewski said. "The high jump went well. There were some nerves in the beginning, but it was good to have teammates competing there with me."

Seid won the triple jump, an event in which she has had the best mark all season and where she finished fourth last season. She hit a distance of 35-11 3/4 to finish ahead of Lakeland's Kirsten Navich (34-5 3/4 ).

"I am happy with how I jumped today," Seid said. "It felt really good to place because last year I didn't, and I wanted to get a medal this year."

Horsley won the 800 in 2:20.26, just ahead of her teammate Reese Morgan, who earned the silver in 2:22.23. Horsley and Morgan teamed with Maia Arcangelo and Marygrace Sabatini to win the 3,200 relay in 10:07.10, and Horsley also joined Sabatini, Kaylyn Elliott and Maggie Coleman on the winning 1,600 relay.

"The 800 is something I have been working toward for three years," Horsley said. "I am just ecstatic about that race. The competition was really good, and we all pushed each other."

Abington Heights' team of Sabatini, Coleman, Alea Dorunda and Lilia Calvert won the 400 relay in 51.28.

"I am really proud of the relay win," Calvert said. "Our handoffs were really nice, and we ran a really good time."

In a busy meet that included a qualifying race for Norris, the senior, who is headed to Binghamton University, had a personal-best mark of 12-0 in the pole vault, struck gold in the long jump with a distance of 17-5.25, won the 100 in 12.23, and won the 200 in 25.52 to hold off a late rally by Honesdale's Rachael Collins (25.73).

"I am so happy, especially in the pole vault," Norris said. "To make that 12-0 in pole vault was a goal of mine."

In addition to Liuzzo's win in the discus, Lakeland earned several medals. Gabrielle Martini won a silver in the 300 hurdles (49.20) and a bronze medal in the 100 hurdles (16.04); Olivia Warholic won a bronze in the discus (103-3); and Navich also won a bronze in the 400 (1:00.56) to go along with her silver in the triple jump.

Riverside senior Lacey Danilovitz swept the 1,600 and 3,200 against a talented field of runners. The University at Buffalo commit sprinted down the final straightaway to check in at 5:19.14 in the 1,600, ahead of North Pocono's Emily Franklin (5:20.48) and Scranton's Bella Noreika (5:20.79). Then, she added the 3,200 with a time of 11:12.60 to again finish ahead of Franklin (11:20.91) and Honesdale's Brenna Dahlgren (11:24.85).

"I am very happy," Danilovitz said. "I think this just shows that all of the hard work that I put in during the preseason has paid off. It's awesome to win two golds, especially because this is such a deep and talented field of runners. These girls are all fantastic runners, and I am just honored to compete against them."

Abby Kimler won the 100 hurdles (15.65), Ella Smith won the 300 hurdles (48.16) while nursing an injured hand, and Grace Steffen won the shot put (34-4) to lead Wallenpaupack.

Collins won the 400 (58.78) in a tight race with Calvert (58.90) to give Honesdale a win.

Contact the writer: jbfawcett@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9125; @sportsTT on Twitter