The Board of Commissioners recently welcomed an elite group of local athletes to a meeting at the Wayne County Courthouse.
More than 200 boys and girls competed in this year’s edition of the Hershey track & field championships.
Of that group, nearly 20 moved on to the regional level and a dozen to states. In the end, eight local boys and girls brought back medals from Penn State University, the site of this year’s State Finals.
The 2010 Wayne County state finalists include: Jacob Wacker, Molly Jansco, Gina DeBastiani, Emily Allegrucci, Brianna Tuite, Grace Alvarez, Grace Hollister and Morgan Wagner.
“The Commissioners are always glad to support local kids doing positive things like Hershey Track & Field,” Chairman Brian Smith told TWI Sports.
The Man in Charge
Wayne County’s tireless Parks & Recreaton Director Ray Ofner organized the local meets again this year.
“Ray Ofner is just a great guy,” Commissioner Smith said. “He works very hard, not just on Hershey Track & Field, but on many youth sporting events.”
Several local athletes advanced from these local meets to State College. At the head of that list is Wallenpaupack Area’s Jacob Wacker, who brought home gold medals for both the 400M and 800M runs.
Wacker competed in the 11-12 division and breezed to convincing wins in each of the finals. Jacob posted a gold medal time of 1:10.81 in the 400M. He followed that up with an equally impressive win in the 800M (2:36.40).
Molly Jansco, another Paupack student/athlete, placed second in the 11-12 softball throw.
Jansco unleashed a toss that measured 117’9”, good for a silver medal.
North Pocono’s Emily Allegrucci battled her way to a 6th place finish in the 11-12 long jump (6’71/2”).
Western Wayne was also well-represnted at Penn State this summer.
Gianna DeBastiani competed in the girls bracket of the 50M dash (9-10). She sprinted her way to a silver medal time of :08.32.
Finally, Western Wayne’s relay team of Grace Hollister, Morgan Wagner, Grace Alvarez & Brianna Truite placed 5th in the girls (9-10) 400M relay.
This fleet-footed quartet posted a time of 1:14.05.
