Despite the countless postponements and cancellations that have marred the early season track and field schedule, the Palmerton program is right where first-year head coach Jeffrey Minnich wants it to be.

Further proof came in Tuesday's Colonial League duel meet against Northern Lehigh, where the Bombers earned a 111-39 win in the boys' meet and a 91-59 victory on the girls side."What I take out of this is that we're starting to round into form, albeit in not-so-great weather conditions," said Minnich. "One of the things that I've stressed to the kids is that they're just going to have to hang in there on some of these cold or windy days, because there is better weather on the horizon, and with better weather good performances tend to follow."Sometimes that's a hard sell when you're standing around in 30-degree weather. But after today, it's nice to see that a lot of our kids brought their times down from other meets, which is really what your aim is as a coach; set a bar in the beginning of the season and shoot for that each time and just try to get better. I think we're trending in the right direction."The Bombers (3-0) had a number of standout performances on the boys' side, flexing their muscle in nearly every event.Austin Shupp showed his versatility by winning three individual events (110HH, 200, 300IH) and value to the team by also aiding the 400-relay team in its victory.Gerald Pereira was also a part of the winning relay team and was able to claim two individual triumphs of his own in the meet, taking the 100 and javelin.Jarred Sacks helped round out the dominant effort in the field by winning the long jump and triple jump, respectively. Teammate Spencer Hay, who won the high jump, was second in both events.Northern Lehigh (3-2) once again received a strong performance in the distance events from Gavin Kemery, who swept the 1600 and 3200-meter runs.While satisfied with the victories, Kemery knows he will have to bring his 'A' game to the Bulldogs' next meet, Jim Thorpe's Olympian Invitational this coming Friday."I'm definitely expecting to be worked, that's for sure," he said. "I'm just going to try and work as hard as a I can and keep going."But I think meets like today help me build my confidence because it's just me out there and I'm just doing my thing. I show up to run my race and I don't worry about the other kids."Much like Shupp in the boys' meet, Palmerton's Brinn Doherty also claimed three individual event wins (100, 200, long jump) and was a part of the Lady Bombers winning 400-relay team.And Doherty echoed her coach's sentiments when looking ahead."I'm really happy with my performances today," the sophomore said. "But I want my times and distances to get better, and hopefully that will happen as the weather gets warmer."I know I have some things that I need to work on, especially my steps with my jumps. But I'm happy with how everything went."Fellow sophomore Monica Wood gave the Lady Bombers (2-1) another force on the track, winning the 800 and 1600 and also helping Palmerton win the 400-relay by a mere two seconds.Northern Lehigh's Jessica Olewine turned in another strong performance for the Lady Bulldogs (2-3), winning the triple jump and pole vault. The junior was second in the long jump and third in the high jump.On the track, Northern Lehigh's Erika McKay continued her strong start to the season, winning the 3200 and coming in second in the 1600.Even in defeat, Northern Lehigh coach Mike Lehtonen likes what he is seeing from his team."We're definitely getting valuable experience (in these meets)," the coach said. "We have some younger kids that competed really well, and we're happy about that."Obviously, give Palmerton a lot of credit; they have a very good team. But we're making progress and we're happy about that."BOYSPalmerton 111,Northern Lehigh 39100 - 1. Gerald Pereira (P) 11.2, 2. Harley Appelbaum (P) 11.7, 3. Nathan Farber (NL) 11.9; 200 - 1. Austin Shupp (P) 22.7, 2. Harley Appelbaum (P) 23.9, 3. Devon Santos (P) 24.7; 400 - 1. Nate Eckhart (P) 54.2, 2. Ryan Rubio (NL) 54.7, 3. Dominic Shivone (P) 55.7; 800 - 1. Bryce Moser (NL) 2:13.5, 2. Nate Eckhart (P) 2:14.0, 3. Aaron Hofmann (NL) 2:17.0; 1600 - 1. Gavin Kemery (NL) 4:53.1, 2. Bryce Moser (NL) 4:56.9, 3. Shaun Seiler (P) 4:58.6; 3200 - 1. Gavin Kemery (NL) 10:58.3, 2. Carter Waibel (P) 11:58, 2. Gage Christ (NL) 12:09; 110HH - 1. Austin Shupp (P) 14.3, 2. Drake Pristash (NL) 17.2, 3. Adam Moyer (P) 17.3; 300IH - 1. Austin Shupp (P) 39.7, 2. Sean Doherty (P) 44.5, 3. Drake Pristash (NL) 44.6; 400 relay - 1. Palmerton (Harley Appelbaum, Austin Shupp, Mike Stasko, Gerald Pereira) 44.9, 2. Northern Lehigh 47.9; 1600 relay - 1. Palmerton (Dominic Shivone, Mike Stasko, Shaun Seiler, Nate Eckhart) 3:49.8, 2. Northern Lehigh 3:54.4; 3200 relay - 1. Northern Lehigh 13:52.2; Shot put - 1. Scott Heffelfinger (P) 40-8, 2. Tre Nelson (P) 38-11, 3. Jake Lieberman (NL) 37-09; Javelin - 1. Gerald Pereira (P) 152-04, Sean Mulcahy (NL) 135-11, 3. Nate Silfies (P) 130-02; Discus - 1. Nate Silfies (P) 128-8, 2. Jon Anthony (P) 115-2, 3. Sean Mulcahy (NL) 109-2; Long Jump - 1. Jarred Sacks (P) 20-0, 2. Spencer Hay (P) 19-2.5, 3. Floyd Snyder (NL) 18-7.5; Triple jump - 1. Jarred Sacks (P) 42-3.5, 2. Spencer Hay (P) 39-5.5, 3. Gerald Pereira (P) 37-2.25; High jump - 1. Spencer Hay (P) 6-0, 2. Matt Myers (P) 5-10, 3. Brendan Lutton (P) 5-8; Pole vault - 1. Darris Rodrigues (P) 12-6, 2. Logan Blasiak (P) 10-0, 3. Brendan Lutton (P) 8-6.GIRLSPalmerton 91,Northern Lehigh 59100 - 1. Brinn Doherty (P) 12.9, 2. Kaelyn Englert (P) 14.0, 3. Alexis Merkle (NL) 14.1; 200 - 1. Brinn Doherty (P) 27.6, 2. Jackie Tracy (P) 27.6, 3. Dakota Schweitzer (NL) 28.9; 400 - 1. Jaclyn Wood (P) 1:04.2, Maddie Ligenza (NL) 1:10.8, 3. Annelise Tarafas (NL) 1:12.0; 800 - 1. Monica Wood (P) 2:36.8, 2. Jaclyn Wood (P) 2:48.7, 3. Maddie Ligenza (NL) 2:56.7; 1600 - 1. Monica Wood (P) 5:42, 2. Erika McKay (NL) 5:48.5, 3. Johanna Matsko (P) 6:22.9; 3200 - 1. Erika McKay (NL) 13:09, 2. Sara Hunsicker (NL) 14:31, 3. Nina Schnyder (NL) 14:44; 100HH - 1. Arissa Snyder (P) 17.7, 2. Jess Debski (P) 17.8, Darby Pender (NL) 19.7; 300IH - 1. Jess Debski (P) 52.7, 2. Arissa Snyder (P) 54.8, 3. Darby Pender (NL) 55.7; 400 relay - 1. Palmerton (Kaelyn Englert, Brinn Doherty, Arissa Snyder, Jackie Tracy) 53.8, 2. Northern Lehigh 57.5; 1600 relay - 1. Palmerton (Monica Wood, Johanna Matsko, Kaelyn Englert, Jaclyn Wood) 4:55.7, 2. Northern Lehigh 4:57.0; 3200 relay - 1. Northern Lehigh 14:16.1; Shot put - 1. Emily Bevans (NL) 26-09, 2. Sabreena Strauch (P) 25-0, 3. Ashley Mulcahy (NL) 23-8; Javelin - 1. Sabreena Strauch (P) 107-01, 2. Kelsey Follweiler (NL) 66-08, 3. Andrea Snyder (NL) 64-01; Discus - 1. Ashley Mulcahy (NL) 74-1, 2. Sabreena Strauch (P) 67-9, 3. Jocelyn Sillman (P) 64-10; Long Jump - 1. Brinn Doherty (P) 15-5.75, 2. Jessica Olewine (NL) 14-7.75, 3. Jade Farquhar (P) 14-3.75; Triple jump - 1. Jessica Olewine (NL) 34-0, 2. Jade Farquhar (P) 32-8, 3. Jaclyn Wood (P) 32-2.5; High jump - 1. Jade Farquhar (P) 4-10, 2. Emily Bevans (NL) 4-8, 3. Jessica Olewine (NL) 4-6; Pole vault - 1. Jessica Olewine (NL) 8-0, 2. Kaelyn Englert (P) 7-6, *3. Caitlin McCormick (NL) 6-6, Kayla Sompel (NL) 6-6.