The race is on once again for track and field athletes in the Schuylkill League.

After a one-year COVID-forced absence, the league meet returned to the Tamaqua Area sports complex on Tuesday.

Day 1 of the two-day event saw 13 medal winners crowned.

The elation of all those winners was obvious, but none more so than Lehighton’s Brittany Bartasasvage.

Bartasasvage had vowed to herself that she was going to win the gold in honor of her late grandmother, who had passed away.

“I said that I was going to win it for her,” Bartasavage said after a terrific down-to-the wire finish in the 300 hurdles that saw her edge Jim Thorpe’s Lydia Wallace. Bartasavage’s time of 46.96 was just a tad better than Wallace’s 47:08.

Bartasavage entered the meet as a slight favorite. She was the defending champion, winning the event in 2019 as a freshman.

Other girl medalist

Lehighton also turned in a strong showing in the discus as Abagail Meckes and Madylin Wolter finished first and third, respectively. Jim Thorpe’s Laura Clarke came in fourth.

“I really was worried about the slippery conditions,” Meckes said after her toss of 113-11. Her worries were caused by a downpour just before the meet was about to start. “I was ranked first coming in, but I’m not very good in the rain. Now I’m excited about (next week’s) districts.”

Sophia Boyle said she was a bundle of nerves heading into the meet, as her hamstring injury had been weighting on her mind. But when it was all said and done, the Tamaqua senior was all smiles.

“Honestly, I was pretty nervous, because I hadn’t pole vaulted in two or three weeks because of my hamstring injury,” Boyle said after an 8-7 vault gave her the gold medal.

Despite her nerves, Boyle was confident that if the hamstring held up, she had a good chance to win the event.

“My PR (personal record) was a whole foot higher than the girl behind me,” Boyle said.

North Schuylkill’s Sarah Wagner picked up gold in the long jump, but Tamaqua’s Megan Rolko had a top-notch showing with a second-place finish in the event. Rolko’s leap of 17-0 was just behind Wagner’s winning mark of 17-7.

Thorpe boys get gold

The boys events found Jim Thorpe’s superb shot putter Allan Bailor take gold with a toss of 54-10. Tamaqua’s Toby Berg was second, but well behind Bailor.

“I knew I had to come in here and take care of business,” Bailor said. “I was looking to put a good one out on my first mark and build off that.”

Two years ago in the Schuylkill League meet, Bailor finished third in the shot put and second in the discus, which will be staged today. After not getting a chance to improve on those performances last year, Bailor was determined to excel in this, his final SIAL meet.

“I’ve been working for this moment ever since we got shut down,” Bailor said.

Jim Thorpe’s David Richards and Christopher Condly were rubbing elbows taking first and second place in the high jump. Tamaqua’s Steven Kostecky was fourth.

“I just wanted to come out and compete,” Richards said after his win with a jump of 5-11 - just ahead of teammate Condly’s 5-10. “Me and my teammate were one and two today, and we’ve been like that all year. It was no different today.”

In the 300-meter hurdles, Nativity’s Cody Miller (42.46) captured the top spot. Panther Valley’s Gariel DeMatto came in fourth.

Lehighton girls lead

The gold medal performances from Bartasavage and Meckes helped Lehighton take the early lead for the girls team title with 51 points. North Schuylkill is second with 40 points, Blue Mountain is third with 30 points, Jim Thorpe is fourth with 28, and host Tamaqua is fifth with 24.

On the boys’ side, Blue Mountain leads after the opening day with 52 points. Jim Thorpe follows with 44, and Tamaqua is third with 41. Marian and Weatherly are tied for seventh with 14 points.

WALT LIGENZA AWARD … Pine Grove’s Josh Leininger was first in the long jump at 21-4 to win the award is sponsored by the Ligenza family.

VIRGIL SCOTT AWARD … North Schuylkill’s Mike Reilly picked up the hardware in the javelin event with a throw of 174-3 to take the award sponsored by the Blue Mountain Track Boosters. Tamaqua’s Alex Barron and Nathan Hope were second and third in the event.

MORT BASHIM MEMORIAL … Tamaqua’s Boyle picked up the award for winning the pole vault. It is sponsored by Mrs. T’s Pierogies of Shenandoah.

RECORD BREAKER ... Blue Mountain’s sensational junior 3200-meter runner Oliva Haas set a new league-meet mark in the event with a time of 10:42,02. The previous mark was set in 1991 by West Hazleton’s Kelli Hunt (10:54.8). Haas fell just short of the league best-ever time in the event set by Pottsville’s Paige Stoner (10:41.96) during a regular season meet.

COMING UP … Day 2 of the league meet will return to Tamaqua today and gets underway at 4 p.m.

SCHUYLKILL LEAGUE TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

BOYS TEAMS AND LEGEND

1. Blue Mountain (BM) 52, 2. Jim Thorpe (JT) 44, 3. Tamaqua (T) 41, 4. North Schuylkill (NS) 34, 5. Minersville (M) 24, 6. Pine Grove (PG) 18, 7. (tie) Marian Catholic (MC) and Weatherly (W) 14, 9. Nativity (N) 11, 10. Mahanoy Area (MA) 8, 11. Panther Valley (PV) 5, 12. Lehighton (L) 3, 13. (tie) Pottsville (P) and Shenandoah Valley (SV) 2, 15. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 1.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

(Top three plus other local Times News finishers in top 10)

3200 - 1. Justin Williams (NS) 10:13.46, 2. Landon Boyle (M), 3. Ryan Bailor (JT) 10:35.78, 4. Scotty Zoscin (W) 10:38.37, 10. Albin Petschauer (MC) 11:05.20; 300H - 1. Cody Miller (N) 42.46, 2. George Budihas (MA), 3. Vlad Debryun (PG), 4. Gabriel DeMatto (PV) 44.30, 6. Chris Condly (JT) 44.98; 3200 relay - 1. Blue Mountain 8:43.21, 2. Tamaqua 8:44.66, 3. Jim Thorpe 8:45.13, 4. Weatherly 8:46.59, 6. Marian Catholic 9:08.78, 10. Lehighton 10:06.74; Shot put - 1. AJ Bailor (JT) 54-10, 2. Toby Berg (T) 44-6, 3. Tristan Bolinsky (NS), 5. Jacob Solonoski (W) 40-2 3/4, 6. Gauge Hartney (L) 40-0 1/2; Javelin - 1. Mike Reilley (NS) 174-3, 2. Alexander Barron (T), 3. Nathan Hope (T), 5. Mason Fristick (MC), 6. Benjamin Artz (MC); Long jump - 1. Josh Leininger (PG) 21-4, 2. Anthony Hendricks (BM), 3. Brayden Boyer (NS), 5. Johnny Malarkey (MC) 18-7 3/4, 6. Adam Linkhorst (T) 18-6, 8. David Fiorito (JT) 18-0, 10. Mason Fristick (MC) 17-8 1/2; High jump

- 1. David Richards (JT) 5-11, 2. Chris Condly (JT) 5-10, 3. Matthew Caulfield (BM), 4. Steven Kostecky (T) 5-8, 7. (tie) Michael Steigerwalt (T) and Harry Swinehart (T) 5-6, 9. Mason Fristick (MC) 5-6.

GIRLS

TEAMS AND LEGEND

1. Lehighton (L) 51, 2. North Schuylkill (NS) 40, 3. Blue Mountain (BM) 30, 4. Jim Thorpe (JT) 28, 5. Tamaqua (T) 24, 6. Pottsville (P) 23, 7. Minersville (M) 15, 8. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 9, 9. Pine Grove (PG) 7, 10. Mahanoy Area (MA) 4, 11. Panther Valley (PV) 3, 12. Marian Catholic (MC) 1.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

(Top three plus other local Times News finishers in top 10)

3200 - 1. Olivia Haas (BM) 10:42.02, 2. Cori McCormick (NS), 3. Kelsey Gaston (L) 11:49.09, 5. Katelyn Bos (JT) 12:29.43, 9. Maddie Dando (MC) 12:59.88; 300H - 1. Brittney Bartasavage (L) 46.96, 2. Lydia Wallace (JT) 47.08, 3. Alexia Maccarone (P), 6. Autumn Steibler (PV) 52.08, 8. Anna Zelinsky (T) 52.53, 9. Jamison Wheeler (MC) 52.89, 10. Ashley Jones (T) 53.37; 3200 relay - 1. North Schuylkill 10:00.09, 2. Pottsville, 3. Minersville, 4. Jim Thorpe 10:42.01, 6. Tamaqua 10:55.02, 7. Lehighton 11:47.24, 8. Marian 11:50.42; Discus - 1. Abigail Meckes (L) 113-11, 2. Randi Wood (SV), 3. Madylin Wolter (L) 94-2, 4. Laura Clarke (JT) 93-1, 5. Megan Hauser (L) 83-10, 7. Shyann Weighknecht (T) 80-9, 10. Rylee Wenzel (T) 78-4; Long jump - 1. Sarah Wagner (NS) 17-7 3/4, 2. Megan Rolko (T) 17-0, 3. Devin Hubler (M), 5. Megan Aaron (L) 15-11, 6. Alyssa Zehner (L) 15-7, 8. Madison Brown (L) 15-0, 9. Ashley Beers (L) 15-0, 10. Abigail Buffington (L) 14-9; Pole vault

- 1. Sophia Boyle (T) 8-7, 2. Greta Snukis (P), 3. Katrin Cavanaugh (JT) 7-7, 5. Isabella Mystkowski (L) 7-1, 8. Eliza Andrew (L) 6-7, 10 (tie) Hailey Toth (T) and Olivia Rosenberger (JT) 6-1.