Joe Sanford was synonymous with McDowell's track and field team long before Saturday, when the Trojans hosted their first meet in three years.
Sanford, a 2010 inductee of the Metropolitan Erie Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame's, has coaching experience with the school's football and track and field programs that date back nearly 40 years.
Such a sentiment, though, wasn't enough for Joe Yuhas. McDowell's current head track and field coach wanted Sanford, who's part of his staff as a volunteer assistant, to be formally recognized.
That's why, starting with Saturday's meet at Gus Anderson Field, it will be known as Joe Sanford's McDowell Track and Field Invitational. Team officials made the announcement via Twitter on Friday.
Yuhas replaced Sanford as McDowell's track and field coach in 2019. The former Seneca coach said he initially pondered the name change that same year, but the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 meets because of COVID-19 delayed it until now.
“The main thing is I want everyone to remember who really is the godfather of McDowell track and field,” Yuhas said. “When I thought about this invite (in past years), he's the person I always thought about. I just want his name to be forever enshrined so that no one will ever forget him.”
It was appropriate that Sanford spoke about his honor behind the stadium's west end zone, where he was in charge of Saturday's pole vault competition.
Pole vaulting is the 1971 Edinboro University graduate's specialty when it comes to track and field instruction.
“(The announcement) caught me by surprise,” Sanford said. “It's just nice to be honored by people who have coached with me and even against me, like coach Yuhas did (when he was) at Seneca. I've even coached some of the other people who are on our staff right now.”
Hours later, Sanford watched one of McDowell's vaulters finish first in the girls standings. Senior Emma Revak cleared 9 feet, 6 inches.
“Coach Sanford is always there to help,” Revak said. “He's always positive with us.”
Erie High junior Bradon Schneider, at 13-6, was Saturday's male pole vault champion.
Friedman returns from Penn Relays
Fort LeBoeuf's girls, led by star thrower Audrey Friedman, finished first in the meet's team standings. The Bison compiled 156 points to McDowell's second-place total of 129.
Friedman was selected as the meet's outstanding female athlete. The Penn State University recruit won her specialty event, the javelin, at 135-6. She also was the gold medalist in the shot put (36-9) and the bronze medalist for the discus (88-0).
Friedman competed two days after participating in the Penn Relays at Philadelphia's historic Franklin Field. She was seeded third in the meet's high school girls javelin field and finished in that same spot based on her best throw of 133-3.
“There was a pretty decent crowd, so it was very exciting,” Friedman said. “Everyone there also competes at a very high level, so you get a little adrenaline going.”
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Nicole Woods of Demarest, New Jersey, was the champion at 141-3. Berwick's Ali Melchiorre was second at 135-2.
Friedman was more excited about her last Penn Relays attempt than the one long enough for third. She said her last attempt was roughly 45 meters (147-6), but stuck in the sod out of bounds.
“It was the best throw I've had in my life. Even in practices,” Friedman said. “It was out by just a bit, but it was definitely encouraging to see.”Fort LeBoeuf's Mackenzie Huston and Alee Young were triple winners Saturday for the Bison with two individual wins and a relay victory. Huston won the 100 hurdles (16.65) and 300 hurdles (48.39), and Young had a first-place leap of 16-8 in the long jump and had a winning distance of 34-7 in the triple jump.Huston and Young also teamed with Emily Samluk and Maggie Morrison to win the 400 relay (52.04).
McDowell's Mattern with late win
The McDowell boys, thanks to a victory in the meet's last event, were team champions with 149 points to Harbor Creek's 130.
The Trojans' Christian Santiago was the gold medalist in the javelin with his top throw of 159-7. He recorded the last of McDowell's five event wins.
The Trojans' other four wins were in distances races. None was closer or more dramatic than the end of the 800 run.
Christian Mattern, thanks to an outside pass of McDowell teammate Nicolin Pierce and Harbor Creek's Max Dailey with less than 20 meters to then finish line, crossed it at 2 minutes, .56 seconds.
Pierce was timed at 2:00.74 and Dailey at 2:00.78.
“That was fun,” Mattern said. “Me and Nicolin were (going at it) back-and-forth all week about who was going to take (the 800). That (late pass) is always something I love to have in my back pocket. To know I can close like that is going to be really good at (the PIAA Class 3A meet), where everyone is finishing within five seconds of each other.”
Pierce and Mattern joined fellow Trojans Kamden Kramer and Caleb Willis for a first-place time of 8:17.40 in Saturday's 3,200 relay. Kramer also was an individual winner in the 1,600 at 4:40.16.
McDowell's 400 relay, comprised of Zach Holllenbeck, Ray Jackson, Benny Whitaker and anchor Leonardo Whitaker, won at 44.38.
Krahe comes through in throwing events
Harbor Creek's Nicholas Krahe was named the meet's top male athlete based on his sweep of the shot put and discus.
It was an easy sweep, at that.
Krahe's top shot put attempt of 53-11½ during the preliminaries held up through the championship rounds. Huskie teammate Hayden Mahoney was second at 47-7½.
Krahe (150-2) and Mahoney (137-2) also were first and second, respectively, in the final standings for the discus.
Bison boys still thinking of Lichtinger
While Fort LeBoeuf's girls returned to Waterford as the meet champs, its boys were fourth overall (80 points).
Hayden Skinner swept the 110 hurdles (15.81) and 300 hurdles (40.95). Also victorious was distance specialist Ben Schrumpf, who cracked the 10-minute mark (9:58.77) in the 3,200.
Schrumpf said he's on schedule in terms of time drops going into the District 10 meet, which is scheduled for May 21 at Slippery Rock University.
The junior would be further psyched up if senior teammate Adam Lichtinger was active for that meet.
Lichtinger suffered second- and third-degree burns to his left arm and leg due to an April 14 garage fire in LeBoeuf Township. Fellow senior Dom Gentile, who played basketball for the Bison, also was injured in the same blaze.
Kellie Lichtinger, Adam Lichtinger's mother, formerly told the Erie Times-News her son plans on recovering in time to compete at districts, where he's the defending Class 3A javelin champ.
“Oh, that would be such a confidence boost,” Schrumpf said. “Everyone performs better when the team is stronger, and everyone can fall back on everyone else. When your teammates are doing well, it makes you want to do that much better.”
Sweet success for Lakers
Mercyhurst Prep distance runner Sarah Sweet continued her outstanding track season with three first-place finishes Saturday.
The senior won the 1,600 meters by almost 8 seconds with a time of 5:34.26. In addition, she pulled away for a 45-second win in the 3,200 by finishing in 12:23.14.
Sweet also anchored Mercyhurst Prep's 3,200 relay team, which won in dominant fashion with time of 10:18.12. Ella Harrington, Samantha Ferrick and Gabi McAllister joined Sweet on that first-place relay team.
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.
Track and field results for Joe Sanford's McDowell Invitational at Gus Anderson Stadium:
Girls
Team: 1. Fort LeBoeuf (FL) 156, 2. McDowell 129, 3. Lakeview (Lv) 83, 4. (tie) North East (NE) and Meadville (Mv) 82, 6. Mercyhurst Prep (MP) 57½, 7. Seneca (Sen) 48, 8. Harbor Creek (HC) 35½, 9. Iroquois (I) 23, 10. Girard (G) 3
100 meters: 1. Lydia Reed (Lv) 13.29, 2. Malaya McCoy (Mv) 13.44, 3. Sydney Burchard (Mv) 13.56, 4. Abby Falk (NE) 13.66, 5. Jessie Aitken (Mv) 13.69
200: 1. Dara Fallon (Mc) 27.99, 2. Marlaya McCoy (Mv) 28.10, 3. Abby Falk (NE) 28.19, 4. Samantha Zank (HC) 28.33, 5. Sydney Burchard (Mv) 28.62
400: 1. Mackenzie Nelson (Sen) 1:03.75, 2. Riley Fronce (Mv) 1:04.36, 3. Madison Chew (I) 1:05.51; 4. Adelaide Phillis (Mv) 1:05.85, 5. Morgan Wilhelm (Sen) 1:06.26
800: 1. Maddy Hammond (NE) 2:26.77, 2. Mikayla Montgomery (Lv) 2:29.68; 3. Maddie Hartner (NE) 2:30.03, 4. Allie Gladitz (Sen) 2:34.07, 5. Camryn Guffey (Mv) 2:34.84
1,600: 1. Sarah Sweet (MP) 5:34.28, 2. Camryn Guffey (Mv) 5:42.36, 3. Sara Renshaw (Mc) 5:46.32, 4. Veronica Brewer (HC) 5:48.16; 5. Monica Curtis (HC) 5:49.32
3,200: 1. Sarah Sweet (MP) 12:23.14, 2. Katelyn Stravinsky (Mc) 13:08.71; 3. Brooke Hudnall (Mc) 13:12.21, 4. Angelina Krochalis (I) 13:26.80, 5. Alivia Hetrick (FL) 13:29.71
400 relay: 1. Fort LeBoeuf (Mackenzie Huston, Alee Young, Emily Samluk, Maggie Morrison) 52.04, 2. McDowell 52.23, 3. Meadville 52.69, 4. Lakeview 53.07, 5. Seneca 53.59
1,600 relay: 1. Lakeview (Kady Alexander, Taylor McKean, Mikayla Montgomery, Lydia Reed) 4:21.59, 2. Mercyhurst Prep 4:29.21, 3. North East 4:31.88, 4. Fort LeBoeuf 4:33.41, 5. McDowell 4:36.09
3,200 relay: 1. Mercyhurst Prep (Ella Harrington, Samantha Ferrick, Gabi McAllister, Sarah Sweet) 10:18.12, 2. McDowell 10:37.77, 3. Lakeview 10:45.73, 4. Seneca 10:58.81, 5. Iroquois 11:24.19
100 hurdles: 1. Mackenzie Huston (FL) 16.65, 2. Laci Redfoot (Lv) 16.84, 3. Ella Corritore (FL) 17.63, 4. Jordan Redfoot (Lv) 17.81, 5. Destiny Miller (HC) 17.90
300 hurdles: 1. Mackenzie Huston (FL) 48.39, 2. Samantha Zank (HC) 49.47, 3. Laci Redfoot (Lv) 50.10, 4. Taylor Bunce (Sen) 51.94, 5. Ella Corritore (FL) 51.95
High jump: 1. Ella Corritore (FL) 4-11, 2. Macy Testa (Mc) 4-9, 3. Allyson Lutz (NE) 4-9, 4. Alexa Pawlak (Mc) 4-9, 5. (three-way tie including) Ella Wisniewski (G), Millie Hinds (Sen) and Rebecka Habursky (MP) 4-7
Triple jump: 1. Alee Young (FL) 34-7, 2. Alaina Kuhn (Mc) 32-8, 3. (tie) Hailey Corritore (FL) and Rebecka Habursky (MP) 31-9, 5. Joslyn Schnell (Mc) 31-6
Long jump: 1. Alee Young (FL) 16-8, 2. Lydia Reed (Lv) 15-5¾, 3. Lauren Dahn (FL) 15-4, 4. Joslyn Schnell (Mc) 15-1½, 5. Marlaya McCoy (Mv) 14-11¾
Shot put: 1. Audrey Friedman (FL) 36-9, 2. Paige Massey (Mc) 32-3½, 3. Natasha Myers (NE) 31-4½, 4. Kerringten Wasiulewski (FL) 30-10, 5. Katelyn Gregg (NE) 28-11½
Discus: 1. Ellie Sebolt (NE) 95-7, 2. Chloe Rossi (FL) 92-1, 3. Audrey Friedman (FL) 88-0, 4. Tessa Bemiss (NE) 86-10, 5. Kerringten Wasiulewski (FL) 86-8
Javelin: 1. Audrey Friedman (FL) 135-6, 2. Madisyn Szymanowski (NE) 105-3, 3. Caroline Lewis (Mc) 103-7, 4. Maikayla Fisher (I) 99-9, 5. Chloe Rossi (FL) 96-5
Pole vault: 1. Emma Revak (Mc) 9-6, 2. Erika McGowan (Lv) 9-6, 3. Katie Frank (Mc) 9-6, 4. Mary Stravinsky (Mc) 9-0, 5. Lanie Labruzzo (NE) 9-0
Boys
Team: 1. McDowell (Mc) 149, 2. Harbor Creek (HC) 130, 3. Seneca (Sen) 95, 4. Fort LeBoeuf (FL) 80, 5. North East (NE) 73, 6. Meadville (Mv) 64, 7. Lakeview (Lv) 51, 8. Mercyhurst Prep (MP) 29, 9. Iroquois (I) 15, 10. Erie High 10, 11. Girard (G) 6
100 meters: 1. Nicholas Williams (Mv) 11.77, 2. Danick Hinkson (Lv) 11.81, 3. Zach Hollenbeck (Mc) 11.81, 4. Benny Whitaker (Mc) 11.83, 5. Camden Bryant (MP) 11.83
200: 1. Dominic Maas (NE) 23.42, 2. Zach Hollenbeck (Mc) 23.78, 3. Camden Bryant (MP) 23.83, 4. Benny Whitaker (Mc) 24.01, 5. John Morvay (Sen) 24.18
400: 1. Wesley Paris (Sen) 52.47, 2. Nick Kerner (NE) 52.49, 3. Chase Reeves (I) 53.41, 4. Sam Parente (HC) 53.72, 5. Carter Williams (Lv) 54.42
800: 1. Christian Mattern (Mc) 2:00.56, 2. Nicolin Pierce (Mc) 2:00.74, 3. Max Dailey (HC) 2:00.78, 4. Clay Bendig (Sen) 2:08.04, 5. Riley Kordes (NE) 2:09.13
1,600: 1. Kamden Kramer (Mc) 4:40.16, 2. Landon Owens (Mc) 4:44.05, 3. Logan Byerly (HC) 4:45.73, 4. Eli Rhoades (HC) 4:48.67, 5. Caleb Willis (Mc) 4:50.09
3,200: 1. Ben Schrumpf (FL) 9:58.77, 2. Landon Owens (Mc) 10:09.52, 3. Max Dillaman (Mv) 10:27.40, 4. Lucas Boyd (NE) 10:27.60, 5. Kyler Woolstrum (Mv) 10:40.58
400 relay: 1. McDowell (Zach Holllenbeck, Ray Jackson, Benny Whitaker, Leonardo Whitaker) 44.38, 2. Meadville 45.24, 3. Harbor Creek 45.25, 4. Mercyhurst Prep 45.28, 5. North East 45.29
1,600 relay: 1. Lakeview (Carter Williams, Gavin Murdock, Brayden Sample, Danick Hinkson) 3:36.61, 2. North East 3:37.21, 3. Harbor Creek 3:41.10, 4. McDowell 3:42.64, 5. Iroquois 3:46.34
3,200 relay: 1. McDowell (Nicolin Pierce, Kamden Kramer, Caleb Willis, Christian Mattern) 8:17.40, 2. Harbor Creek 8:33.47, 3. North East 3:36.74, 4. Seneca 8:40.02, 5. Iroquois 8:53.17
110 hurdles: 1. Hayden Skinner (FL) 15.81, 2. Ryan Miller (Sen) 17.63, 3. Justin McCullough (Mc) 19.12, 4. Jack Burchard (Mv) 19.15, 5. Damian Blose (FL) 19.26
300 hurdles: 1. Hayden Skinner (FL) 40.95, 2. Gavin Murdock (Lv) 41.52, 3. Kyle Brace (Sen) 45.51, 4. Tyler Lafferty (NE) 46.06, 5. Peyton Brewer (HC) 46.33
High jump: 1. Vincent Rupp (Sen) 6-3, 2. Travis Kruszewski (HC) 5-9, 3. Ronan Dorler (FL) 5-7, 4. (tie) Lane Smith (Lv) and Donovan Davis (FL) 5-7
Triple jump: 1. Lee Hoover (Sen) 44-7, 2. Khalon Simmons (Mv) 43-7½, 3. Donovan Davis (FL) 42-4½ 4. Gavin Ennis (HC) 41-4½, 5. Ray Jackson (Mc) 40-11
Long jump: 1. Khalon Simmons (Mv) 21-7, 2. Brandon Koneiczki (HC) 20-11½, 3. Lee Hoover (Sen) 20-9, 4. Jason Ellman (MP) 20-6½, 5. (tie) Ray Jackson (Mc) and Donovan Davis (FL) 20-4
Shot put: 1. Nicholas Krahe (HC) 53-11½, 2. Hayden Mahoney (HC) 47-7½, 3. Dylan Ellenberger (Sen) 44-11¾, 4. Nathan Digilio (NE) 41-9½, 5. Ryan Garner (HC) 40-9
Discus: 1. Nicholas Krahe (HC) 150-2, 2. Hayden Mahoney (HC) 137-2, 3. Christian Santiago (Mc) 127-10, 4. Ryan Visosky (Mc) 121-10, 5. Nathan Digilio (NE) 120-7
Javelin: 1. Christian Santiago (Mc) 159-7, 2. Bobby Yost (Sen) 156-0, 3. Conner McChesney (FL) 136-11, 4. Lane Smith (Lv) 135-10, 5. Nathan Bartlett (NE) 133-11
Pole vault: 1. Bradon Schneider (EH) 13-6, 2. Greg Berlin (Mc) 13-0, 3. Toby Charlton (HC) 12-0, 4. Conner McChesney (FL) 12-0, 5. Reed Yost (Sen) 10-6
