The Bradford Track & Field team has its sight set on repeating as District 9 AAA Champions and it has 17 returning lettermen and over 50 boys out for the team.

Coach Tom Tessena returns for his 54th year as head coach.

Tessena has 26 District 9 AAA championships to his credit and 561 wins counting both dual meets and Districts finishes. I have always been fortunate to have great athletes and even greater assistant coaches. It has always been a team effort.

We only have four Seniors this year but we have 14 juniors,17 sophomores, and 18 freshmen. Our senior class has three great athletes who have had outstanding careers.

Brayden Frair has been our top scorer for the last three years.

He has 2 school records to his credit. He holds the 3200 meter record(9:37.23) and the 2000 meter steeplechase(6:31.13). He also placed 16th in the PIAA Cross Country Meet last fall.

He has 11 District 9 medals including 8 1st places and 1 2nd places. He has also scored 464 points in his 1st 3 seasons. He has set some very high goals for this year and has been working all winter long to achieve them.

Brayden won the 1600 meters, the 3200 meters, and was on the 1st place 4x800M relay team. He also was on the 2nd place 4x400m relay last year.

Joe Caruso is working on his 4th letter. Joe is our all-purpose runner. He ran at States last year on that 4x800M relay and also was 3rd in the 3200M and 4th in the 1600M at Districts.

He will run any event to help the team. The 3rd Senior is Joe Cary. Last year he overcame a serious injury got a late start but still place 4th in the javelin and 5th in the Discus at Districts. Our 4th senior is a newcomer, Damino Dac Pos, who will run the sprints and also throw the Shot Put.

We have a veteran junior class and they will provide great leadership. This group scored 515 points last year.

Logan Kohler was our 3rd leading scorer last season as a sophomore. He placed 2nd in both the 110M High Hurdlers and the 300M Intermediate hurdles.

He also placed 5th in the 200M and was on the 4x100M relay team. He has been looking very good this season and has set some very high goals for this year. Danny Marasco returns with an impressive resume.

He won the triple jump at Districts, placed 3rd in the long jump, took 4th in the 400M, and was on the 2nd place 4x400M relay. He has won 8 District medals in the 8 events he was in the past two seasons. He has been looking much better already in practice. He is a great leader and hard worker. Andrew Giordano returns as our top thrower from last year where he won the Javelin, placed 3rd in the discus, and 4th in the shot put. He is one of the top Throwers in all of those events this season. Marcus Terwilliger returns in all the jumps and 300M Intermediate hurdles. He place 6th in the long and triple jumps and also the 300M Hurdles., Marcus has been looking good in all the jumps as well as those hurdles. He will provide some much needed depth in all those events. Enzo Aiellio placed 2nd in the pole vault at Districts last year. He vaulted indoors this winter and he really looks good. He is also running the sprints this year as well as the 4x100M relay. Fabian Sherk is another versatile athlete. Last year he placed 3rd in the triple jump, 5th in the high jump, and was on the 3rd place 4x100M relay team.

He will also long jump and may run the 100M or the hurdles as well.

Jeremiah Long returns in the javelin where he placed 3rd at Districts. He also was on the 3rd place 4x100M relay. He will also run the sprints and may throw the shot put.

Our 8th junior letterman is Matt DeCasper who will run the sprints and some relays. In addition we have 3 other juniors with experience: Konner Phillips( Shot, Javelin, Discus), Preston Neel( Shot and Discus), and Tony McDonald in the hurdles who will help.

New this year are Kaleb Mackey and Joe Bukowski in the throws and Trenton Johnson in the 400M and 800M. Kaleb and Joe are catching on fast.

The sophomore classis strong as well. Kadyn Tessena returns as our 5th highest scorer (159 points) as a freshman. He placed 5th in the 800M and ran at the 1st place 4x800M that ran at the State Meet. He was also on the 2nd place 4x400M relay at Districts.

He will run the relays, the 400M and 800M this year. Tyler Simmons had a good freshman season last year placing 3rd in the District high jump, 3rd in the 4x100M relay, and 6th in both the 100M and 200M. He may be our most improved athlete this year. He is our top all-purpose sprinter and has already been over 6’0” in practice. He worked hard in the summer and fall on his sprinting and is running much faster already then he did last year. He will also run the relays where he is a really tough competitor.

He should be one of our top scorers this season.

Evan Troisi returns in the distance events and the relays. With all the good distance runners you may not have noticed him a year ago but he is coming into his own this season. He was our #2 cross country man last fall. He will run all three of the distance events and the 4×800 relay this year. He is a difference maker. Landon Davenport returns in the shot and discus. He placed 4th at Districts in the discus, coming on strong at the end of last year. He has shown a great deal of improvement this season.

He will also throw the shot put. Cooper McGee and Evan Soto return in the pole vault where they both made 12’ last year.

They placed 5th and 6th at Districts. Cooper will also do the long and triple jump while Evan will run the 800M and some relays. Other returning sophomores include Cavan Drake(400M & 800M), Jace Geist(Shot and javelin), and Luke O’Brien( 400M).

Newcomers include Jake Whitlow and Bryce Thomas(Throws), Carter Roulo(jumps), Kamil Chen( 400M, 800M),Lucas Hinchman(Pole Vault and hurdles),and Isaac Wallace (javelin). Payton McCool will run distance events.

We look forward to this group making a big step forward this season.

Our freshmen class numbers 18. There is potential here but they lack experience and have to learn to work hard and push themselves. It will be tough for them to score this year with all the upper classmen but some will. Jordan Hogue, Nikolai Frontino, and Xavier Frontino lettered in Cross Country in the fall so they do have some experience. Hogue has shown potential in the 400M and 800M while the Frontinos will run the 1600M and the 3200m. Malyk Harpster has shown up well in the 400M and 800M.

He also was a cross country runner. Other distance runners include Eddie Youmans, Cole Sloan, Miles Hawk, and Owen Blauser who were on the Fretz team . Miles Bundy(Shot and discus), Mikah Geist(javelin,discus), Noah Mackey(hurdles), Grayson Daugherty(Pole vault), Sam Kokowski(sprints) also had experience last year at Fretz. New this year are Lucas DeCasper(sprints) Lucas Sokoly(throws), Keenen Miller(sprints), and Lucia Santiago(distance).

Being the District 9 champions last year puts us on everyone’s target list so we have to be ready for everyone’s best effort.

Our schedule includes six dual meets: St.Marys, Kane , Brookville, DuBois, Elk County, and Punxy.

We have 5 invitationals: Altoona or South Hills, Brookville, Butler, McDowell, and Altoona.

These meets should really test us with outstanding competition and exposure to some of the best athletes in PA. Our coaching staff remains the same with a veteran and experienced group. Dave Cercone will handle the throws, Travis Faulkner will do the distance events and the 4×800 relay, Tom Tessena will coach the sprints, hurdles, pole vault, and the short relays, and Head girls coach Larry Stillman is in charge of the long, triple, and high jump events. We open on the road with the Altoona Invitational if weather permits. Otherwise we will travel to St. Marys for a dual meet with one of the top teams in District 9. The 1st meet will give us a chance to see where we are at fitness-wise. We have a lot of veterans but are still very young. It should be a very interesting season.

Schedule: Sat., Mar. 29 Altoona Igloo Invitational (Tentative) 10:00 am Tue., April 1 At St.

Marys 4:00 pm Sat.., April 5 South Hills Classic Pittsburgh (Tentative) 10:00 am Tue., April 8 At Kane 4:00 pm Sat., April 12 Brookville Invitational 9:30 am Tue., April 15 Home with Brookville 4:00pm Thur., April 17 Butler Invitational Butler, PA Tue., April 22 At DuBois 4:00 pm Fri., April 25 McDowell Invitational Erie, PA 2:00 pm Tue., April 29 Home Senior Night with Elk County 4:00 pm Tue. May 6 At Punxy 4:00 pm Fri., May16 District 9 AAA Championship at Brookville 1:00 pm Fri. and Sat. May 22, 23 PA State Championship Meet Shippensburg, PA