Mounts team up to top Garden Spot

With her blazing time of 25.3 seconds, Ephrata’s Jianna Long had already sealed a PR in the 200-meter dash as the Mountaineers hosted Garden Spot in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two track and field meet on Monday.

However, Long’s day wasn’t done.

She was called upon again to anchor the final running event, the 1,600 relay, much to her surprise.

“During the 3,200 they told me. I knew the meet was close, but I wasn’t expecting to get pulled in at that time,” she said.

But with only that event and the girls pole vault to be decided, Long was needed as Ephrata’s lead was a narrow four points.

So Long, Katelyn Baker, Claire Schwartz and Madison Kimmel did what they needed to, running a 4:17.7, which, combined with Camille Cochran’s pole vault win at 7 feet, keyed the Mountaineers to a 81-69 victory in the girls meet.

Ephrata coach Matt White was quite impressed with the push his teams got from the Spartans. He saluted the Garden Spot coaching staff.

“There were a couple halftime adjustments we were making as a coaching staff mid-meet, especially on the girls side,” he said. “Their kids came in prepared, especially their girls. They were prepared, dialed in and ready to compete. They gave us everything we could handle and then some. They are really swinging that program around.”

Long said she thought she was finished after her 200 run, where despite the cool temperatures, did a personal best time.

“I didn’t run the open 400 so I thought it was my last event. I thought I can go all out on this,” she said. “Actually, compared to the conditions last week, it was a nice day to race. I was really pushing myself so when I crossed the finish line, I was really excited to see what my time was.”

“She’s special,” White said of Long. “She is really focused. She is the type of kid, you say, ‘Go run the 4x4.’ A lot of kids (shy away from running) the 4x4. Jiana was like, ‘I’ve got this coach.’ She is very coachable; she’s a great athlete and her ceiling is even higher.”

Of course, Garden Spot has one of those competitors in senior Bryn Kelly, who won three individual events and anchored the Spartans’ winning 400 relay. Kelly won the 100 hurdles in 15.3, the 300 hurdles in 49.2, the high jump with a 5-feet leap and teamed with Chloe Grady, Kaitlyn Davis and Angela Nuse for a 51.4 relay.

“We have a lot of underclassmen that came out, which really helped us grow. They are all-around athletes,” Kelly said of her team’s improvement. “Our first meet of the season we won against Cocalico, which I think was eye-opening for our team. We can compete against a team like Cocalico, which I think helped our confidence.”

Ephrata’s Olivia Good helped the cause by winning the shot put and discus.

Mountaineer boys earn strong victory Ephrata got a pair of wins from three athletes to lead the boys to a 99-51 victory.

Enrico Faccio won three events, taking both the 110 and 300 hurdles, along with the pole vault. Jeremiah Knowles won the 100 dash, the long jump, plus was on the victorious 400 relay and Sam McCracken scored the high jump and javelin throw.

Still, White knew his boys got a battle from Garden Spot, which was led by Finn Wenrich’s winning 400 and 200 runs.

“It’s good for us to see there is a target on our back and you just can’t walk on this track and say, ‘Here we are. We are going to win,’” White said. “We better be on guard for the rest of our season. Garden Spot was good tonight.

“It’s funny, you can scout out so much, forecast and shift the lineup around. But in the end, the kids have to show up and they have to compete. Luckily, we had a few more horses in the stable. Our depth helped us out tonight on the boys and girls side.”