Spartan effort nets another team championship for Wyomissing

Track and Field coverage sponsored by ATT Sports., Inc.

By  Julie Pelchar Cohen — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

SHIPPENSBURG – The Wyomissing boys arrived here as the heavy favorite to win another team title.

That should’ve given them a heaping dose of confidence.

The Spartan sprinters added extra to be safe.

The 400 relay team of Andrew Delp, Ethan Brower, William Delp and Charlie McIntyre each wore one navy arm sleeve as an experiment of sorts.

“Coach had a sale for them and we thought why not just buy them and see how we look,” McIntyre said. “I feel like we look nicer and it helps us with a little bit of confidence. I think we might bring them out again next week because we had our fastest time wearing them.”

The Spartans’ boys team won a Class 2A gold medal during Saturday’s District 3 Track and Field Championships — Wyomissing’s fourth straight team title dating back to 2019. The meet wasn’t held in 2020 due to the pandemic. The Spartans have won five of the last six.

Wyomissing finished with 96 points. Greenwood was second with 59.5. Schuylkill Valley was third at 57.

The Spartans’ girls team finished third, behind Annville-Cleona and Susquenita.

This weekend’s win had a different feel from last year, when Wyomissing also won the PIAA team title. Superstars Jven Williams and Amory Thompson made the Spartans top-heavy in 2022.

This squad is nothing but balanced.

Boys ranging from football players to cross country runners scored points in a sprint, both hurdles races, all three throws, all three distance events and also in two relays.

“It’s just a total team,” said Wyomissing coach Jim Delp. “Distance, sprints, hurdles, the throws. It’s a pretty neat team in that regard. We’re not just loaded in one area. We’re loaded everywhere this year. It’s a special group of boys.”

The Spartans enjoyed a fast start Friday by taking the top three spots in the javelin. Collin Niedrowski grabbed gold, Isaac Focht silver and Drew Forrey bronze.

Tyler Niedrowski and Jamie Miller scored in the discus. That was 28 points in two events.

Paul Monsour gave them 10 more with his evening 3200 win. 

The Spartans grabbed their third and final gold Saturday with the 400 relay.

Those boys ran a personal best of 43.30 for a comfortable win over silver medalist Steelton-Highspire.

They’ll look for a medal at next weekend’s PIAA championships.

“Our handoffs were very clean,” Brower said, “and I think our confidence going into this really helped us. We were really excited to run and it paid off.”

“We’re just trying to PR every week,” said McIntyre, the relay’s anchor. “That’s our goal for every weekend. Hopefully, we can do it again next week and just keep getting faster and faster.”

The Delp twins provided a bundle of hurdles points. William was fourth in both races and Andrew third in the 110 hurdles to earn 16 points.

Shot putter Max Tipton took silver, giving the Spartans a whopping 36 points in the throws.

While Williams and Thompson stole the show at last year’s district meet – Williams won the shot put and discus and Thompson the 200 and triple jump – no single Spartan dominated this time.

“We were relying on Jven and ‘Amo’ to carry us last year,” Jim Delp said. “We were supporting them. This year we don’t have any superstars, It’s just a total team.”

Experience in other sports hasn’t hurt the Spartans. Their football team is a perennial district and state powerhouse. Their distance runners have won district and state titles in recent years..

“I feel like at Wyomissing we are known to win,” Brower said. “We always try to win in everything we do. So that’s the mindset we have, and I think that really helped us.”