The Tyrone boys and girls track and field teams open their 2003 season this afternoon when they travel to Chestnut Ridge.
Looking at the two teams this year, there is promise for the present and also promise for the future.
“We have a lot of kids who have experience back,” said Tyrone track coach Tony Yaniello. “On the boys team, you have Aaron Jeffries who is one of the top returning jumpers in the district returning, Jesse Shaw who has turned into a solid distance runner and pole vaulter, Evan Stover who finished in the top-10 in Districts in the pole vault, Dan Grazier in the field and Dan Domenick who had a strong season last year in the hurdles. We have some experience coming back.”
The boys will not have junior standout Tommy Crowl this season.
“Tommy is a big loss,” said Yaniello. “He had reconstructive shoulder surgery over the winter and won’t be ready this season. We have kids like Kevin Hershberger and Billy Dean who will make up for the loss of Tommy this season.”
The future looks bright with a group of freshman who will make their mark on the Golden Eagles in the future.
“We have a lot of young guys who will be learning on the fly this year,” said Yaniello. “Leonard Wilson is going to contribute for us and a couple other freshmen will make strides as the season goes along. I expect the boys to have a solid season.”
Tyrone has not had a losing season since Yaniello became the head track coach in 1979.
On the girls team, it is going to be tough to replace Christina Burnett and Amy Gilliland. The two recent graduates are contributing on their college teams already.
“The talent that Christina and Amy have doesn’t come around everyday,” said Yaniello. “Losing them hurts, but we have a strong group of girls who will go out and compete with everything they have this year. Misty Snyder (hurdles), Ashley Black (jumps), Marie DelBaggio (high jump) and Jo Turner (shot put) all have performed well as underclassmen and we expect them to perform even better as seniors.”
The girls have a solid group of newcomers who should count for points for the Lady Eagles.
“We have some girls who have been working hard in the pre-season,” said Yaniello. “Emily Lloyd, Emily Ingle, Emily McKenna are three freshmen who will contribute this year. They have had good pre-seasons and we hope that they can continue their growth through the season. At Chestnut Ridge, they’ll get an idea of what they have to do in a meet and will grow from there.”
The Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles will hit the track this afternoon at 4 p.m.
