By: Kyle Moylan
All wins may count the same, but that certainly doesn’t mean they are the same.
On Wednesday, April 6, the Allentown High School boys’ track team got one of those wins that meant a lot more than one digit in the won-loss column.
Allentown’s 72-50 win over Ewing was the first that any member of the team had ever been associated with.
"It was the first win ever for the senior class," noted Coach Mike Gaeta. "They went nuts. My vocal chords are swollen. We were all screaming, yelling and jumping around."
While the win certainly was a team, effort, one person literally went further than anyone else to insure Allentown’s success. Greg Scott, a sophomore, won the 800 (2:21), 1600 (5:13) and 3200 (12:11).
"He’s a tough as nails kid," Gaeta said. "He was huge for us."
Scott’s win in the 800 and 3200 led to sweeps in both events. Garth DeBlasio was second (2:22) and Dan DiRocco third (2:28) in the 800. Gordan Jones was second (12:15) and Matt Valnoski third (12:37) in the 3200. Valnoski also added a third in the 1600 in a time of 5:30.1.
Allentown also managed sweeps in the pole vault and javelin. Sean Graney won the pole vault at 9-6, with Antonio Trappanese second (9 feet) and Jonas third (8 feet). Nick Sancilio won the javelin at 142-10, with Ron Gonzales second (103-3) and Guy Canzano third (101-10).
In contrast, Ewing only managed to sweep the 400 hurdles. The long jump and triple jump were not held. Allentown managed to score points in every other event.
"There was a sense of urgency, especially from the seniors," Gaeta said. "We have to do it now. The seniors took the young guys aside and let them know we were going to need help from everyone. The kids came in confident, but they knew they needed everyone to perform well."
Fortunately, that’s what happened.
Allentown didn’t win either of the sprint event, but it scored in both of them. Lee Varanyak placed second in the 100 (12.2) and Cameron Grant was second in the 200 (24.3).
Dennis Smith was third in the 100 (12.2) and also delivered a first in the high jump at 5-8.
Grant won the 400 in a time of 53.8. James Fisher placed second at 54.4.
Jarret Huneke placed second in the 110 hurdles in a time of 19.1. Sancilio placed third in the shot with a distance of 36-3 1/4. Sancilio also won the discus with a distance of 99-11.
"We’ve been talking about making the jump to the next level," Gaeta said. "Ewing is a track team with a good tradition. We went in there and surprised everyone. Now we’re there. Now we know we can go in and compete with the big schools.
"This is definitely very big for us. We went three years with no wins. I told the kids to go celebrate, but to remember we’re not through. We have a lot of work still to do."
Part of that work was in the Notre Dame Relays, held in honor of Joe Wroblewski, the Irish’s former coach.
Showing off his versatility, Scott took part in a 4×400 sophomore team that placed third. John Solewin, Mike Grabowski and Phil Mattarese were the other runners.
Brett Taft cleared 8-6 in the pole vault and 5-2 in the high jump. Other highlights included a personal best for Grant in the 100 (11.5) and Fisher in the 800 (2:16).
Allentown was scheduled to host West Windsor North yesterday. It will compete in the Mercer County Relays this Saturday at Steinert, starting at 9 a.m. Allentown will be at Hightstown for a meet Wednesday at 3:45 p.m.

