(EDITOR’S NOTE: Since May of 1999, the Times News Sports Department has featured an On This Date practically every day, highlighting an event that happened in the past. With the coronavirus putting a halt to sports locally and nationally, the On This Dates have been expanded to the stories that actually ran in the next day’s newspaper. Today’s On This Date story is from May 4, 2007).

By Joe Plasko

jplasko@tnonline.com

POTTSVILLE - For a team dominated with underclassmen, Lehighton’s Lady Indians know how to perform in prime time.

Lehighton’s girls captured the team championship at the 37th Annual Schuylkill County Relays, held Friday at Pottsville High School’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Tribe, which won the Schuylkill Relays crown for the first time since 2002 and for the third time overall, racked up five first places and one second to finish with 75 points, earning the Ray DiCello Memorial Trophy.

Tamaqua, which was without several upperclassmen due to a class trip, was right behind Lehighton in the girls race with 65 points.

The Indians really shined in the field events, winning the discus, jave;in, long jump and high jump. Lehighton’s 50 points surpassed Hazleton’s 37 to win the Leroy Kocher Jr. Memorial Trophy for supremacy in the field.

On the boys side, the overall winner was Mount Carmel, claiming the DiCello Award with 66 points to Blue Mountain’s 61. The Eagles, however, took home the Kocher trophy in the field events, edging the Red Tornadoes 37-34.

The Russell B. Keating Sr. Trophy, which goes to the Schuylkill Division II team with the most points, went to the Marian boys with 32 points. The Nativity and Shenandoah Valley girls shared the Keating award with 12 points apiece.

The Lehighton girls’ performance was even more impressive when one considers the number of freshmen on the squad who earn points, such as jumper/hurdler Vanessa Rimbey, sprinter Auriel George and Sheena White in the throwing events, to name a few.

“The freshmen are half of our team, and we only have four seniors,” said Lehighton coach Norm Frey. “We always enjoy our trip to the Relays, and the girls did a great job. They’ve competed like that all year, and a lot of them had their best performances tonight.”

Rimbey. who teamed with George for a combined distance of 30 feet, six and 1/4 inches in winning the long jump (George at 15-5 3/4, Rimbey at 15 feet, 1/2 inch), grabbed another gold when she was joined by Breane Rupell in clearing a combined height of 10 feet in the high jump, tying the meet record which another Indian tandem, Hahn and Sander, set in 2005.

“I really want to jump 5-4 and break the school record (held by Kim Muffley and Norine Frey at 5-3 3/8),” said Rimbey, who tied her personal best when she leaped 5-2. “I already have the school hurdle record (15.9), so this would be the cherry on top of the cake.”

In the discus, Emily Kline, one of the Indians’ upperclassmen, connected for a heave of 98 feet, best in the field, to combine with White for the winning distance of 191-9.

Another senior, Emily Perkins, threw a personal best 104 feet to team with Cady Frey to win the javelin with a distance of 215-5. Tamaqua’s Casey Wagner had the top throw of the competition at 134 feet.

Lehighton’s other first came on the track in the medley relay. With George and Cady Frey each running 200 meters, Camille Dagorn 400 and Hailey Neff anchoring at 800 meters, the Indians took the gold in 4:27.

The Lady Tribe’s 4x100 team of George, Abby Frey, Rimbey and Dagorn placed second behind Pottsville with a time of 51.4 The Crimson Tide’s 50.8 was a meet record.

The Indians might have had even more points, but their 4x200 team was disqualified due to a handoff outside of the exchange zone.

Lehighton added third in the shot put (Catie Remaley and White, 63-2) and the 4x400 of Neff, Abby Frey, Cade Frey and Dagorn (4:22).

Tamaqua’s pole vaulters swept their competition for the only other first places among TIMES NEWS area entries.

The Blue Raiders’ tandem of Bryant Butala and Jared Beers combined to clear 26-4, missing Hazleton’s meet record by two inches. Butala’s effort of 13-10 not only topped the field, it broke his own school record by one inch.

On the girls’ side, Lady Raider cousins Gabby and Amanda Smarr teamed to clear 16-6, with Abby’s 8-6 the top performance.

Lehighton’s Mike Balch and Scott Smith placed second to Butala and Beers in the pole vault at 23-6, while other silver medals on the boys side went to Tamaqua’s medley relay of Steve Clemson, Travis Pitts, Aaron Bonner and Alex Zubey, and Marian’s shot put duo of Mike Ryan and Travis John, who combined for 84-7 1/4.

Among the girls silver medalists were Tamaqua girls 4x200 (Megan Inama, Caitlin Ruch, Brittany Hill, Lauren Wenzel, 1:52) and 4x400 (Wagner, Katie Hummel, Jaime Price, Wenzel, 4:20.6), and Lady Raider long jumpers Wagner and Inama (29-7 1/4).

Third place finishers among the boys were Marian’s 4x200 and 4x800 team (a season’s best 8:33.9 for Pat and Brian Filanowski, Jamie Ramer and Mike Lindenmuth); Lehighton in the long jump (Corey Kresge and A.J. Turner, 36-3 1/4) and triple jump (Turner, Keith Newton, 77-3), and Jim Thorpe’s 4x400 team (3:38.3).

Girls third places went to Tamaqua’s shuttle hurdles team (Inama, Price, Amanda Creveling, Sam Digilio) as well as the Raiders’ javelin (Wagner, Lauren Hope) and high jump (Alexis Simchak, Jessica Bealer) tandems.

Lehighton’s Brian Horn had the top throw in the discus at 143-8 as the Indians finished fifth in the event.