ERIE – Bradford High’s Alex Ita ran 50.33 in the 400 meters to
break Shawn Colligan’s school record of 50.34 at the Erie McDowell
Track and Field Invitational on Saturday.
Only the converted record of Brian Hart which is 49.94 set in
1970 stands in the way of Ita being the top all-time 400 man.
“If he works hard he should get that soon,” Bradford coach Tom
Tessena said.
Ita also had his fastest time in the 100 meters, a 11.25, and
ran a “really good leg” in the 4×400 relay, according to
Tessena.
Ita ran with Shane Hvizdzak and two sophomores – Vanere Maynard
and Nick Johnson. They were clocked at 3:31.10. This was the ninth
fastest time ever for Bradford.
Earlier Hvizdzak, Johnson, Maynard and another sophomore Ben
Walter ran an incredible time of 44.45 in the 4×100 relay. This was
the second fastest time ever. They missed the record by only .01
seconds. Bradford took third overall in that relay and was second
in the 4×400 relay.
Maynard and Hvizdzak placed seventh and eighth in the 200 with
times of 23.84 and 23.96, respectively.
“Ben Walter and Shane had good times in the 100 even though they
didn’t make the finals,” Tessena said.
Walter had a personal best of 11.34 and Hvizdzak ran 11.40.
The 4×800 relay team of Jared Feura, Anthony Cavallaro, Ben
Moran and Alex Goodman placed eighth (8:34.3).
“These guys did a great job with Feura running a 2:05 split and
Cavallaro a 2:07.8,” the coach said.
“It’s always hard to place in all three relays at this meet and
to do it with six of your top runners somewhere else is
incredible,” Tessena added. “We had five guys at the Penn Relays
and one boy out of town for a wedding.ð Our guys really stepped up.
We have a pretty solid team where we don’t have to depend on a few
super stars to do well.
“We are a blue collar, lunch pail bunch of guys that have a lot
of intestinal fortitude. It is great to work with them.”
Hvizdzak joined the exclusive 500-point club along with Josh
Holleran.ð They have scored 525 and 521 points, respectively.
“That is a tremendous accomplishment,” Tessena noted.
“Our distance guys did well with Jared Feura and Mike Foerstner
each having a personal best in the 3200 meters. Jared ran a
10:26.41 and Mike did 10:53.5. Ben Moran also ran the 1600 meters
in 4:55.3.”
Andy Skaggs had a personal best of 56.6 in the 400 meters and
Johnson had a new best of 42.8 in the 300 intermediate hurdles.
Rob Bleem placed in all three throwing events.
“This is a first for Bradford,” Tessena pointed out.
Bleem took fourth in the discus (141’9″), fifth in the javelin
(172’5″) and eighth in the shot put (48′). Bleem has now scored 194
points this season.
“He will be our first ever pure thrower to break 200 points in a
season,” Tessena added.
Garrett McEwen had a strong day – throwing the javelin 153’6″
and the shot put 44’7″. Ben Lanich threw 121 in the discus and
132’2″ in the javelin.
Freshman Steve Reinhardt had a personal best of 42’9″ in the
shot put. Matt Teribery tied the sophomore record in the pole vault
(12’6″, 6th place).
Teribery is now on the top 10 all-time list. The jump ties him
for ninth.
Tyler Hopkins had a personal best of 38’5 1/2″ in the triple
jump. David Rivera triple jumped 40’8″ and long jumped 18’10
3/4″.
The Owls travel to Johnsonburg on Tuesday to face Elk County
Catholic and Johnsonburg.
“We have to start focusing on districts and getting our lineup
ready,” Tessena admitted. “We have a lot of choices for some of the
events so we need to find out who is serious and who wants to go
along for the ride.”
