It may have taken some time, but Saturday at Shillington, Exeter track and field co-coach Kevan Schaeffer saw something he’d never seen in his 20 years at the helm.
Led by individual gold medal winners Chase Choudhry and Josiah Newman and gold medals from the 400 and 1600 relay teams, the Eagles won the boys team title at the William H. Firing Memorial Victory Meet for the first time since 1982.
Exeter finished with 108 points to top Berks Catholic, which came in second with 71 points.
“It’s been 42 years since Exeter (boys) won it (and) I’ve been here 20 (years),” Schaeffer said. “So it means a whole lot.”
For fellow co-coach Drew Eckel, the achievement is the culmination of immense levels of hard work and togetherness shown by athletes and staff alike.
“These are a bunch of kids who have worked really hard and they truly deserve it,” Eckel said. “We couldn’t do it without the great staff that we have and I’m so grateful for them. We have people (coaching) at every discipline. We got pole vault, we got throws, we got hurdles, we got jumps (coaches). We got everybody.”
Exemplifying the well-rounded nature of the squad, Newman earned gold in the discus with a throw of 167-03 and Choudhry won the 1600 in 4:21.12. In addition, the 400 relay team of Jayden Zandier, Lukas Petersen, Leomar Brown and Manuel Boyd won in 43.32 and the team of Tai Morgan, Josh Brown, Kameron Mills and Petersen won the 1600 relay in 3:27.81.
After finishing second in the 3200 on Thursday, Choudhry, a sophomore, had more than one source of inspiration heading into the 1600 on Saturday. Drawing motivation from the Bible, Choudhry was able to secure his first win of the season by making a good move when it mattered most.
“The key was to just stay with the top guys until the end, and I made a good move with like 600 left and gave it my all,” Choudhry said. “This is my first win of the season, so it feels great. I wasn’t really expecting to call it a win, but I knew I was going to give it my best and it’s God’s plan, you know?
“I read a bible verse (Joshua 1:9) before I started running and it said, ‘Be strong and courageous, the Lord your God is with you.’ I think that really sat with me and it gave me the ability to just lay it all out there.”
Also laying it all out there, Newman, a senior, bested his second-place throw of 143-4 from a year ago by over 20 feet to overtake Berks Catholic senior Brady Mider, the reigning champion.
With the win, Newman will be competing in the discus at the upcoming District 3 championships for the first time in his career. Earlier in the season, he broke the Exeter program record in the event and said he has been building up to this success.
Having earned his way as one of the elite throwers in Berks, Newman is prepared to continue giving it his all to end his career on a high note as the postseason rolls on.
“At the beginning of the season, I threw like 175 in practice so I knew I was capable of doing it,” Newman said. “And then my first meet was an invitational and I didn’t do too well, but I’ve been looking forward to the postseason, where I can really (throw) in the warm weather.
“Next week I’m hoping to win districts and I just need to keep building up.
“At this point, I feel like I’ve earned my way there. Now it’s the end of the season and I’m just going to give it my all every time I’m in the circle.”
Schuylkill Valley senior Luke Martinez was the top individual boys point scorer with 28 points. Martinez won the pole vault at 13-6 and the triple jump with a leap of 43-2.5. He also earned second in the long jump with a distance of 21-4.5 on Thursday.
Martinez, who won the long jump at last year’s meet and came in second in the pole vault, went on to win the pole vault at the 2023 District 3 Class 2A meet. Focused on improving his skills, Martinez is striving for another strong postseason this year.
“When I first started (pole vault) in seventh grade, I loved it so much, but then in eighth and ninth grade I didn’t do track because of COVID,” Martinez said. “But then 10th grade came and I was excited to do it again, but was getting pulled away with sprinting and long jump.
“Then in my first meet I jumped like 10-6 and was ecstatic. I was like, ‘I’m ready. I have something with this.’ And that really just pushed me to keep getting better, and better and better.
“You have to stay positive and keep working hard.”
Also winning two gold medals on Saturday was Hamburg’s Jaydon Witman, as the senior won the 110 hurdles in 14.83 and the 300 hurdles with a career-best 39.83. For Witman, finding the right leg (both literally and figuratively) was key to earning the two gold medals at the county championships for the first time in his career.
“It feels great,” Witman said. “I didn’t know how I was feeling with this race because I’ve been dealing with (jumping) over with the wrong lead leg. I worked on it, and I normally lead with my left, but I got it down to finally being all right. I got the first hurdle with my right lead leg, and then I used my right for all the others and I was fine. I just kept going.”
Twin Valley sophomore Ben Grundy won the 400 for the second consecutive year after finishing in 50.38 on Saturday. He narrowly defeated Exeter sophomore Lukas Petersen, who earned second in 50.46.
“I never really expected to get the win last year,” Grundy said. “That really built my confidence up and I came here looking forward to doing it again and got the job done.”
Berks Catholic senior Dylan Sutton won the 100 in 11.20 to claim his first career Berks gold in the event. According to Sutton, his strong performance was the result of extensive training and his coach’s persistent influence.
“Coming into the season, I was not in the best shape of my life,” Sutton said. “But as soon as I got into the season, man, it was just nonstop work and losing weight. So I’m glad all that work paid off on the track, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it if it wasn’t for my coach Anthony (Roselli).
“He really pushed me throughout the season because he knew I had the ability to win this.”
Wyomissing senior Drew Forrey earned gold in the javelin with a throw of 175-10, as the Spartans finished first, second and third in the event for the second consecutive year. Fellow senior Collin Niedrowski, who entered Saturday as the three-time reigning champion, finished second with a throw of 172-7 and senior Issac Focht placed third with a 168-1.
“It feels great, especially to go back-to-back top three,” Forrey said. “I think we were all top-five sophomore year too, and it’s really nice to be consistent. Today we pushed each other and all three of us had really good marks.”
After suffering a season-ending leg injury during the Wyomissing football season, Forrey has been committed to finishing his athletic career with the Spartans on a high note.
“I missed the rest of the football season and the basketball season,” Forrey said. “It’s nice to finally get back to full health, and I’m even better than I was last year and it just feels nice to be back. And of course, because it’s senior year, everything means more.”
Other Berks boys event champions from Saturday: 200: John Kowalski, Schuylkill Valley, 22.46. 800: Zack Zerbe, Gov. Mifflin, 1:54.60. 3200 relay: Twin Valley (Jackson Kinsey, Jack Taylor, Clark Gaynor and Sam Frey), 8:18.52.
Source: Berkshire mont