Hopewell Track and Field

The Hopewell Track and Field team has been working hard since Thanksgiving to get ready for the 2026 season and got their first opportunity to compete Saturday January 10th at Youngstown State University in the first indoor meet of the winter season.

The first meet of the winter provides a chance to see progress and evaluate strengths and weaknesses. Expectations are not always high this early in January, because there is still so much work to do, but the Hopewell girls started off with a bang anyway, breaking two school records in the process.

Sophomore Tessa Burgess was the first Viking to compete, and in her first ever 60m hurdles race, she broke the school record with a 10.66 second run in the prelims. Tessa was a WPIAL qualifier in the 100m hurdles last spring as a freshman, so this fast start is a promise of great things to come. The previous record of 10.77 was held by Jordan Pershin since 2017.

Tessa was part of a second school record on the day when she teamed up with seniors Madison Inderelst and Maya Richburg, and fellow sophomore Harley Hample in the 4x200m relay.

The girls combined to run a time of 1:57.40 and finishing 6th overall. The previous record of 1:59.60 was set by Lauryn Speicher, Leia Day, Ryann Essey, and Aubryanna Snyder in 2022, all of whom are competing at the collegiate level.

The girls will have 3 more chances this winter to improve on their record, the next one coming February 1st at Mount Union.

Emma Palmieri, Nevaeh Persi-Jones, Reese Murray, Maya Richburg, Madi Inderelst, and Avery Boyd made the trip to Philadelphia. The Penn Relays is one of the largest meets in the country, with hundreds of schools from many states, and even several teams from Jamaica competing. College and professional athletes also competed there over the weekend, so the girls got to see how athletes at every level go about their business. While the girls did not match their fastest times of the season (51.33 in the 4×100 and 4:23 in the 4×400), the experience will pay dividends, as every track and stadium will seem small by comparison, and the bonding and memories of this trip will last a lifetime.

The Hopewell Track and Field team recognized their senior class of 2025 before their final home meet of the season against Central Valley and Ambridge. This group has accomplished a lot – 3 school records, and 16 WPIAL medals between them – and still have so much more to do before they are done. With the sun on their faces, and the wind at their backs, the team showed their appreciation for their seniors with many of their best performances of the season, and their lives.

On the track, after the Girls’ 4×800 team of Keira Mann, Angelina Clarry, Skylar Elias, and Caylee Sundy won, all 5 of Hopewell hurdlers ran personal best times. Freshman Tessa Burgess was 4th overall with a 17.84 in the 100m hurdles, and Bri Inderelst (19.07) and Eileen Chen (20.58) also posted PB times. In the 110 m hurdles, Zach Lucas blew the field away with a new personal best time of 15.62, and Luke McGrail was second, running his best race ever in 16.02.

The 100m brought even more personal bests. Aided by a healthy tailwind, most of the Viking sprinters had their best day ever. Maya Richburg broke under 13 seconds for the first time ever, winning in 12.96. Nevaeh Persi-Jones ran her best time of the season with 13.66, and Cadence Zito (14.90) and Layla Biller (16.33) also set new personal records.

The boys were also cooking. Zach Kovell won the 100 in 11.32, a massive personal best. Tre Cameron (11.75), Julian Baldwin (11.93), Zach Gigliotti (12.01), Greg Gigliotti (12.13), Austin Martinez (12.35- nearly .7 seconds faster than his previous best!), Mike Garciulo (12.44), Maddox Fattore (12.53), Roman Amadio (12.65), Rameer Reeves (12.70), and Christian Chalmers (12.79) all showed off their continued improvement with their fastest times ever.

Freshman Skylar Elias continued to drop her mile time, winning the 1600m run in 6:47:34, a new personal best. She also ran a personal best in the 800m of 3:02, earning another win against CV. Antony Flitcraft led Jackson Valvo and James Pistorius to a Hopewell sweep of the boys 1600m.

The girls 4x100m relay stormed to a dominating victory, and the boys team won a measure of revenge on the Ambridge squad that had edged them at the County meet last Saturday, holding off their anchor for a close victory.

Keira Mann won the girls 400m dash with a new PB of 1:11.93. Bri Inderelst earned a new PB in the 300m hurdles (54.70) to go with her PB in the 100h, and Caylee Sundy made her 300h debut with 55.81.

The hits kept coming in the field events as well. Marlee Page was the overall winner in the girls’ javelin with a 91’4″ throw. Freshman Lillian Gruber (48′) and Samantha Anskate (47’4″) had their best throws ever. Vinny Boris led a clean sweep for the boys’ javelin, with Mike DiNardo 2nd, and Chris Shiel- who broke the century mark for the first time ever – 3rd.

Freshman Brody Brock had a big day, winning the discus with a PB throw of 104’1″, and came in second overall in the shot put with a PRB of 41’1″. Dom Gaughan was just behind him in both throws. Cullen Casey, Reese Jacobs, Zach Maxin, and Will Holland all posted PB throws in the shot and discuss.

Bryce Ray led a team of jumpers who leapt to new distances. He broke the 20-foot mark for the first time ever, winning the long jump with 20’4″. Avery Bokor hit 19 feet for the first time, and Grant Houy, Maddox Fattore, Manny Gomez, and Greg Gigliotti all jumped personal bests. Andy Gaguzis earned his first triple jump victory, and Houy and Gomez also jumped PBs. Avery Boyd won the triple jump on the girls’ side with a season best 31-foot jump.

Avery Bokor earned his second high jump victory of the season, clearing 5’8″, and Tre Camerson cleared a new PRB of 5’6″. Harley Hample led the Hopewell high jumpers with a 4’6″ jump.

The Vikings travel north for the Butler Invitational on Thursday before taking a break for Easter and recharging for the run to the WPIAL Championship meet.