Jacob Butler is escorted to the team meeting.
Mark Moran | For Abington Journal
From left: Audra Wimmer, Molly Rooney, Emma Adamsky, Vanessa Badalmente, and Lindsey Bartell.
Mark Moran | For Abington Journal
From left: Hilde Temblador, Callie Odom, Laura Cantarella, Maddie Rowlands.
Mark Moran | For Abington Journal
Maddie Rowlands runs in the 100-meter dash.
Mark Moran | For Abington Journal
Start of the boys’ varsity 100-meter dash.
Mark Moran | For Abington Journal
Audra Wimmer, left, and Olivia Rembecki.
Mark Moran | For Abington Journal
Boys varsity 4 X 800-meter relay, Joe Grad hands the baton to Paul Rollins, left.
Mark Moran | For Abington Journal
Julia Schuster wins her heat of the girls’ varsity hurdles.
Mark Moran | For Abington Journal
CLARKS SUMMIT — It was a busy meet for Abington Heights Unified Track athlete Kale Bonnewell — he ran the 100-meter dash, threw the mini-javelin, and ended his afternoon running a relay with some of his teammates.
But this wasn’t just an ordinary meet for Bonnewell. For the first time, he and the rest of the Comets’ Unified Track team got to compete alongside their varsity-level teammates in one meet, a true demonstration of unity and a good showcase of his skills.
“I feel terrific,” Bonnewell said. “I’ve been doing a lot.”
Believed to be the first of its kind in Pennsylvania, Unified Track athletes joined forces with the varsity track teams of Abington Heights and Scranton Prep to hold one truly unified meet on April 14 at Abington Heights High School.
Interspersed between the Lackawanna Conference Division 1 showdown between Abington Heights and Scranton Prep were several events contested between the Unified teams from Abington Heights, Lakeland, and Wallenpaupack.
Both the Abington Heights and Wallenpaupack programs have experienced success at the local and state levels in the past, but they had never had the chance to compete in the varsity meet before this one.
“We got a little taste of this last year when we went to states, we got to see how it runs,” Abington Heights Unified Track head coach Debbie Musgrave said. “It’s really cool that we’ve gotten to bring it to Abington Heights, as probably the first school to do a joint meet that way.”
The meet started with two varsity events, the 3200-meter relay and the 100/110-meter hurdles. Then, it was the Unified athletes’ time to shine, with the 100-meter dash marking the official beginning of the Unified meet.
The 400- and 800-meter runs would follow later for the Unified athletes, and then the group headed into the field for a long jump, shot put and a mini-javelin throw.
The final two Unified events were the 400- and 800-meter relays, the latter bringing the whole day to a close.
One constant theme throughout the meet, no matter who was on the track or in the field: the Unified athletes were constantly met with cheers and applause from the varsity athletes, some even making signs to display.
“It allows our kids to get involved and be cheering them on and to be part of something that’s a really, really good thing,” Abington Heights varsity head coach Frank Passetti said. “I’m not surprised, the Abington [Heights] community is extremely family-focused, and they rise to the occasion whenever something like this happens.”
This combination meet was something that Passetti had wanted to see for a while. With the coordination between his program, Musgrave’s Unified program, and the Northeast Region of Special Olympics Pennsylvania, a dream became reality when the first starter’s gun was fired.
When all was said and done, Lakeland had won the Unified portion of the meet with 191.08 points. Abington Heights scored 189 points, and Wallenpaupack finished with 185.76 points, a tightly contested meet between all three schools.
Abington Heights swept Scranton Prep in the varsity meet, with the Comets’ boys beating Prep 105-45 and the girls winning 136-14. The Comets are undefeated in LFC Division 1 in both boys’ and girls’ track and field, with the girls boasting an undefeated divisional streak that extends back 20 years.
