Despite some disappointing performances and a dropped baton, Mitch Vleminckx and John Eakin were able to bring home a pair of first-place finishes Friday at the Altoona West Central Coaches Invitational for Bradford High.

The Owls as a team finished in fifth place (73) in the field of 12 teams, but narrowly missed a top-three finish with South Western (76) and Mifflin County (75) just ahead. State College (154) beat host Altoona (123) for first place.

Bradford High boys track and field head coach Tom Tessena thought the Owls could have finished higher in the team standings.

“We had many places we should have scored more points,” Tessena said. “So it was very disappointing from that point.”

Vleminckx continued his assault on the Bradford High boys track and field record books Friday at the Altoona West Central Coaches Invitational.

Vleminckx placed in all three of his individual events, including a win in the 200 dash (22.78). He was fourth in the long jump (21-04) and fifth in the 100 dash (11.39), while also running the anchor leg for the Owls’ fourth-place 1600 relay team.

“Vleminckx now has 726 career points and is over 200 points for the third straight year,” Tessena said, noting his senior is now at 208 points on the year.

The competition at Altoona is divided between Class AA and AAA.  

“He ran and jumped extremely well in outstanding competition,” Tessena said.

Junior thrower John Eakin continued his strong season with the Owls’ only other first-place finish on the day. He threw the shot put 51-06 to win.

Individually for Bradford High, sophomore Jaron Ambrose placed in both the 110 and 300 hurdles, taking third and fourth, respectively. His 15.82 time in the high hurdles was his fastest of the year and came back to run 41.42 in the intermediates.

“He lost some places by a couple hundredths of a second, so his races were exciting,” Tessena said. “He lost to seniors [Friday], so that is a fine effort.”

Logan Caruso, a junior, ran 4:33.02 to take fifth in the 1600 and move him up to No. 8 on the all-time list. He then came back in the 3200 to place fourth with a time of 10:05.26.

In the relays, the 1600 team of Vleminckx, Vinnie Bizzarro, Tyler Kraft and Mike Bosworth ran a season-best 3:33.52 for fourth.

“Vinnie, Tyler, and Mike all ran well with Mike recording a 52.4 split,” Tessena said. “Mike has been really coming on for us.”

The 3200 relay team of Isaac Paterniti, Kraft, Nate Blauser and Bizzarro was “our best relay of the day,” according to Tessena. The team ran 8:24.34 to take third place, improving by more than 10 seconds from their previous best time on the year.

“Both Kraft and Blauser ran 2:05 for their 800-meter legs,” Tessena said. “With three sophomores and a freshman (Kraft), these guys have a bright future ahead of them.”

Bizzarro (2:04.46) and Kraft (2:09.27) came back to run the 800 meters for ninth and 13th place, respectively, in addition to their legs on the 1600 relay.

However, the Bradford High sprint relay was disqualified.

“Our most consistent relay –– the 4×100 –– was disqualified for a bad handoff,” Tessena said.  “These guys (Matt Stafford, Mike Bosworth, Andy Pantuso, and Donny Pattison) had one bad handoff, but ran well. We need to get this relay back on track for [Tuesday’s dual meet] with Punxsutawney.”

Also placing on the track for Bradford High was Matt Stafford, who took seventh in the 300 hurdles (43.65), while also running in the 110 hurdles (16.53) and 200 dash (24.14), just missing the finals in both events.

Dawson Ambrose had a season-best time of 4:52.55 in the 1600, while Andrew Kraft ran the 3200 in 10:54.99. Bosworth and Blauser ran the 400 dash in 54.27 and 55.65, respectively.

In the field, Ryan Whittemore took fourth in the discus (128-04) and seventh in the javelin at 139-05. Jack Kellam was fifth in the pole vault (13-00), while his brother Steve was eighth at 11-06. Freshman Daemone Patterson jumped a personal-best 38-11 in the triple jump, an event that teammate Andy Pantuso was 11th in at 39-04.50. Pantuso also was 11th in the long jump (19-04.75).

Tony Fuhrman recorded a shot put throw of 37-02.50.

The Owls have their final regular-season meet Tuesday at Punxsutawney.
“They are our major competition for the relays, distance and hurdle events, so we have to get some things straightened out in those relays,” Tessena said. “We were also off in throws so we need to get those guys going as well.

Districts are set for Wednesday, May 17.

“We only have about a week until districts, so we need to get better,” Tessena said.