Last winter, the Allentown High School indoor track and field team enjoyed the most successful season in the program’s history.
Under the direction of head coach Jack West, the Redbirds collectively tied or broke 22 team records and sent two athletes to the Meet of Champions for the first time ever.
While several of the top athletes from that team have graduated, it appears the foundation has been established for a winning program as Allentown is again enjoying success this winter.
“It’s going really well, I’m happy to say,” West said. “We started with even more kids in the program than last year. I think we started with 93 kids, and that number hasn’t gone down a lot, which tends to happen. We’ve got a lot of young kids and some very good veterans, too.”
And with a stronger program, West has begun introducing his athletes to some tougher competition over the course of the season.
“It’s been a more competitive schedule,” the coach said. “We went to the New York CityArmory for the first time to compete in the Spiked Shoe meet, and it was a great experience. [Junior]Mary Sancilio took first in the high jump, while sophomore Nicky Jalipo took fifth.And that was out of something like 79 girls.”
The duo of Sancilio and Jalipo also teamed up for a fifth-place showing at the Levino Relays at Lawrenceville Prep, which marked the first time anyone fromAllentown medalled at that prestigiousmeet.
The Redbirds have also had some strong showings in a pair of batchmeets, one at the Peddie School and the other last Thursday at Allentown against teams from the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC).
It was in the high jump where Allentown really excelled, with Sancilio and Jalipo once again taking first and
fifth, respectively. On the boys’
side, Sam Florio won the high
jump competition while Brandon Colona took fifth.
“The high jump has been
the strongest event for us this
year, with Mary leading the
way by breaking the school record (5-2) a couple of times, and Sam tying the boys’ record at 5-8,” West said.
But the records have fallen on the track as well for the Redbirds this winter.
“We went to the state relays at the Jersey CityArmory and had some strong showings,” the coach said. “The boys shuttle hurdle relay teamofEric Lacroix, JeffHensley, Josh Barrett and Josh Levinson broke the teamrecord, as did the girls shuttle hurdles relay team of Morgan Marsicano, AlexandraMagnolo, Jalipo andChristaBonham. And the girls 4×200 relay team of Jalipo,Erica Johnson,AbbieChek andHaley Ostrander missed the school record by one one-hundredth of a second.”
Allentown also had a pair of records broken at the Polar Bear Invitational at Robbinsville earlier this year, when the boys distance medley relay team of Kyle Ondy,Mike Bartoli, Nishit Patel and Zack Wishbow set a new record, while Bartoli also set a new mark in the boys 400.
“So far we’ve broken nine or 10 team records, which is great,” West said.
“Coming off a year like last year, when we broke 22 records, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I mean, how many more can you break the next year?”
With plenty of time left this winter, the Redbirds are likely to add to that total, and West believes the tougher competition has brought out the best in his team.
“I’m trying to get the competition to be a little bit tougher,” he said.
“You’re not going to get better going against people you can beat all the time.”
Today, the Redbirds will travel back to the Peddie School for a meet that will also include the likes of Rancocas Valley and Holy Ghost Prep.
“The coach at Peddie and I got together and said, ‘Let’s start a rivalry, since we’re so close to each other,’ ” West said. “And those other two teams are pretty powerful teams, so it should be a good test.”
Then, this weekend, Allentown will look to make some noise in the Mercer County Championships at the Bennett Center in Toms River.
“The CVC is such a strong conference, it’s such an advantage for us,” West said. “I had a parent say to me recently that once we get to the state meets, we’re seeing all the same kids we competed against during the season, and that’s a credit to the level of athletes in the CVC.”
And Allentown is certainly part of that talent pool.
“A lot of kids have come a long way here,” West said. “But as a coach, I’m all about doing the best you can.We’re not all about winning here. It’s about setting goals and trying to achieve those goals. If you can do that, you’re going to find yourself winning.
“We work a lot on technique here,” he added. “I really stress to them the importance of being a little more disciplined in everything you do. This sport can give you such a great sense of inner discipline. You learn to push yourself a little more, even when your body is telling you ‘no more, no more.’ ”
And West is confident that with the commitment he’s getting from his athletes, the recent success of the program is simply a precursor of things to come.
“Hopefully we can get some athletes back to the MOC this year, and go from there,” he said.
So far, the Redbirds have given their coach every reason to believe that the program is destined for greater things.