Penncrest’s Talone uses baseball skills to nab javelin spot at states

CALN TWP. — The oppressive 91-degree heat was unkind to all but a handful of Delaware County athletes who qualified for states in the field portion of the boys District 1 track and field championships Saturday at Coatesville High.

Nicolas Ha of Garnet Valley was having one of those days you would want to start over. Hampered by an ailing heel, he finished 15th in the long jump. That was hours before he was scheduled to go in the triple jump.

Ha passed on the first three tries of the triple jump. He prepared himself to let go of the season. That burden too heavy to carry forward, Ha convinced the trainer he had more in his tank, got the go ahead and gave it the old Jaguar try. Boom!

Ha qualified for the PIAA Class 3A state meet with a personal best of 45-03.25, good for third and almost two feet more than his previous best.

In the javelin was Joe Talone, a converted baseball player in his first year of track at Penncrest. His throw of 165-04 earned him fourth place, a berth in states and instant respect. Five more inches and Talone would have finished third. Seven inches and he would have been second in an event won by Nick Masterman (Harriton) with a throw of 169-11.

“I just started javelin about two months ago and the coaches, they just kept on fixing what I had to fix and I just kept going,” Talone said. “I was a baseball player. I was an outfielder so it’s kind of like the same motion throwing it.”

In 2A action, Josiah Bronkema of Delco Christian qualified for states with a personal best of 22-4.24 on his sixth and final attempt in the long jump. That distance would have qualified in 3A.

The next closest finisher was Jason Lavoe (Church Farm), who jumped 21-0.

“After I got done with the high jump, and I finished my prelim jumps for the long jump I just kind of thought, ‘Well, I don’t really have anything for a couple hours so I might as well just kind of send it,’” Bronkema said. “I think I just got a little more speed than I usually do and I had a good takeoff.”

Bronkema also qualified on fewer misses in the high jump (5-11), although it wasn’t up to the standard of 6-2 he registered to win the Delco championships.

“I think my steps were just a little off and I was trying to go more into the mat than jumping off,” Bronkema said. “But it does feel good. I wasn’t really planning to qualify for the long jump. I just come out and do the best I can and give the glory to God.”

It’s safe to say no Delco field event competitor was more frustrated than Zaquan Bruton of Chichester, who qualified for states with a second-place finish in the high jump.

After clearing 6-3 on his first attempt, Bruton got over the bar at 6-5 almost handily on his final two attempts. Unfortunately, he tapped the crossbar loose with a heel, and a calf.

“I dropped it way too early,” Bruton said. “If it was like a tenth of a second sooner, I would have been over it with ease. I watched the clip, and I was over by like five inches. It feels good to qualify. But that’s not what I came here for. I came here to win the whole thing. But it’s still a good feeling.”

Bruton had fewer misses than Jack Steilen (William Tennent), who was third. Aidan Rohrbough (Owen J. Roberts) won the event with a jump of 6-5.

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