A harsh winter has made life difficult for many track and field teams so far this spring, with practices often held indoors and meets frequently postponed.

The uneven schedule has made life even more complicated for coaches looking to sort out their rosters, trying to maximize every event.And while many aspects of their squads are still unsettled, the picture became at least a little bit clearer for both Jim Thorpe and Lehighton on Friday afternoon in the Schuylkill League opener for both schools.The Lady Indians picked up a 78-72 victory in the girls' meet, while the Olympians earned a 76-74 win on the boys' side."I thought this was good for us to kind of get over those first-time jitters," said Lehighton head coach Jim Blakeslee. "We had a lot of good performances and it was good to get them back into competition again. I think that's going to help them and let them know what they need to do heading into the next meet."Lehighton (1-0, 1-0) had a number of impressive performances, highlighted by senior Riley Durishin's three individual event wins in the long jump, triple jump and high jump.While Durishin dominated in the field events, sophomores Grace Shanton (100, 300 hurdles) and Rajah Quinones (100, 200) helped the Lady Indians excel on the track."Honestly, I wasn't expecting to do this well. I'm really surprised," Quinones said. "But I've done a lot of training in the offseason and I have great support from my team."In a meet where every point was critical, the Lady Indians did well to take advantage of that teamwork, sweeping the top three spots in both the 100 and 200."That helps so much," Quinones noted. "We all motivate each other and just keep pushing each other."Multiple individual event winners for the Lady Olympians (0-1, 0-1) were Kayley Kovac (1600, 3200) and Brooke Cope (javelin, shot put).Despite coming close, Jim Thorpe head coach Frank Miller accepted responsibility for the loss."They fought and I couldn't be more proud of this group," he said. "I overworked some of our girls and got caught up in the moment, especially at the end, and I'm taking the blame for this one."Rayan Green played a big role in Jim Thorpe's win in the boys' meet. The junior was victorious in the high jump, triple jump 110 and 300 hurdles.With little room for error, Miller knew Green would be key to the Olympians' success."He had a phenomenal meet for us, winning all four of his events," Miller said afterwards. "With the hurdles and the high jump, you kind of expect that out of him because he's done that before."Based on his body type and build, we thought we'd put him in the triple jump. For him to do what he did this week with minimal outdoor practice is very, very impressive on his part."Green, who was a state qualifier a year ago in the high jump, is looking to reach even greater heights this season."I feel like I've improved a lot. I'm a lot better than last year and two years ago," the junior said. "I've been working really hard and it's definitely paying off."Jim Thorpe (1-0, 1-0) also owned the middle distance and distance races, with Dylan Bucior (800, 1600) and Johnathan Condly (3200) sweeping the events."I wanted my time (in the 1600) to be a little better," Bucior said of his 4:54, "but I'm OK with it because we swept the event."Behind Bucior was Jacob Saxon, who was followed closely by Condly.Both Bucior and Condly were also on the winning 3200-relay team, success they're hoping to continue."I think our team as a whole will be really good," Condly said. "We're really trying to get that time down, and we have four or five guys that we can put in there."There's a lot of competition for that race."Samuel Gilkes was also a multiple event winner for the Olympians, taking the 100 and 200.For the Indians (0-1, 0-1), Joseph Blauch (discus), Devin Steigerwalt (javelin), Tyler Crum (long jump) and Aaron Bowman (pole vault) were victorious.GIRLSLehighton 78, Jim Thorpe 72100 - 1. Rajah Quinones (L) 13.50, 2. Celina Fital (L), 3. Christina Green (L); 200 - 1. Rajah Quinones (L) 28.20, 2. Christina Green (L), 3. Tia Brownmiller (L); 400 - 1. Jennifer Beers (L) 1:07.36, 2. Noelle Fasolino (JT), 3. Jordan Waselus (JT); 800 - 1. Meghann Principe (JT) 2:38.50, 2. Kayley Kovac (JT), 3. Jennifer Beers (L); 1600 - 1. Kayley Kovac (JT) 6:08.00, 2. Cera Gaston (L), 3. Delana Nalesnik (JT); 3200 - 1. Kayley Kovac (JT) 13:35.88, 2. Cassandra Rehnert (L), 3. Delana Nalesnik (JT); 100 LH - 1. Grace Shanton (L) 17.09, 2. Devon Matz (JT), 3. Alexis Barndt (L); 300 IH - 1. Grace Shanton (L) 51.20, 2. Devon Matz (JT), 3. Alexis Barndt (L); 400 Relay - 1.Jim Thorpe (Colleen Hoffman, Monae Bullock, Jacqueline Condly, Devon Matz) 57.80; 1600 Relay - 1. Lehighton (Jennifer Beers, Mya Wagner, Grace Shanton, Celina Fital) 4:38.00, 2. Jim Thorpe, 3. Jim Thorpe; 3200 Relay - 1.Jim Thorpe (Meghann Principe, Jordan Waselus, Ilse Hassler, Kayley Kovac) 11:19.40, 2. Lehighton; Shot Put - 1. Brooke Cope (JT) 33-2.25, 2. Holly Bollinger (L), 3. Rebecca Strohl (L); Discus - 1. Holly Bollinger (L) 75-0, 2. Ava Lowin (JT), 3. Megan McCullion (L); Javelin - 1. Brooke Cope (JT) 118-11, 2. Megan McCullion (L), 3. Autumn Cope (JT); Long Jump - 1. Riley Durishin (L) 15-6, 2. Rebecca Cressman (JT), 3. Jacqueline Condly (JT); Triple Jump - 1. Riley Durishin (L) 30-5.5, 2. Autumn Cope (JT), 3. Erin Shigo (JT); High Jump - 1. Riley Durishin (L) 4-4, 2. Jillian Peterson (JT), 3. Noelle Fasolino (JT); Pole Vault - 1. Colleen Hoffman (JT) 8-6, 2. Mallory Dorward (L), 3. Ruina Gentile.BOYSJim Thorpe 76, Lehighton 74100 - 1. Randy Sanon (JT) 12.00, 2. Mathew Strubinger (L), 3. Gavin Zehner (L); 200 - 1. Samuel Gilkes (JT) 24.30, 2. Mathew Strubinger (L), 3. Dominic Palumbo (L); 400 - 1. Samuel Gilkes (JT) 54.60, 2. Tyler Dunbar (L), 3. Shae Blasiak (L); 800 - 1. Dylan Bucior (JT) 2:09.00, 2. Jacob Saxon (JT), 3. Devin Steigerwalt (L); 1600 - 1. Dylan Bucior (JT) 4:54.00, 2. Jacob Saxon (JT), 3. Johnathan Condly (JT) ; 3200 - 1. Johnathan Condly (JT) 11:01.00, 2. Michael Blacketter (L), 3. Jian Gentile (JT); 110 HH - 1. Rayan Green (JT) 16.80, 2. Mathew Strubinger (L), 3. Conner Fabian (L); 300 IH - 1. Rayan Green (JT) 43.20, 2. Craig Serfass (L), 3. Conner Fabian (L); 400 Relay - 1. Lehighton (Dominic Palumbo, Jackson Schaeffer, Jose Ortiz, Alex Dobay) 48.40; 1600 Relay - 1. Jim Thorpe (Dylan Bucior, Jeremy Annan, Ben Saxon, Samuel Gilkes) 3:50.50, 2. Lehighton; 3200 Relay - 1. Jim Thorpe (Dylan Bucior, Ben Saxon, Jacob Saxon, Johnahan Condly) 9:06.80, 2. Lehighton; Shot Put - 1. Joseph Blauch (L) 37-11.25, 2. Bailey Becker (JT), 3. Devin Steigerwalt (L); Discus - 1. Joseph Blauch (L) 118-7, 2. Bailey Becker (JT), 3. Devin Steigerwalt (L); Javelin - 1. Devin Steigerwalt (L) 132-0, 2. Tom Ruzicka (L), 3. Devin Hinkle (L); Long Jump - 1. Tyler Crum (L) 21-8, 2. Tom Ruzicka (L), 3. Samuel Gilkes (JT); Triple Jump - 1. Rayan Green (JT) 42-2.5, 2. Tanner Haydt (L), 3. Grant Wetzel (L); High Jump - 1. Rayan Green (JT) 6-2, 2. Seth VanFossen (L), Shae Blasiak (L); Pole Vault - 1. Aaron Bowman (L) 10-6, 2. Nathan Kroboth (L), 3. Brandon Bell (JT)...