The 35th annual Mountain Conference Track and Field Banquet at the Bull Pen Restaurant on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 was a cause for both glitter and tears.
The Mt. Conference All-Stars and point leaders were acknowledged at the dinner, but after considerable thought and discussion, it was decided to end the conference due to the success of the new monster Mountain Athletic Conference which reduced the old Mt. Conference to merely a smaller double of the MAC. It was agreed that those schools in the old Mt. Conference, but not part of the MAC, would work out an agreement to join the MAC in the next few years or at least continue to be included on the track schedules of the MAC schools.
Bellwood-Antis was presented with the league championships in both boys and girls competition with perfect 6-0 marks in both divisions.
The B-A boys claimed their fifth straight league title, 10th in the last 13 seasons and 13th league crown overall. Either the Blue Devils or backyard rival Tyrone have won every league championship since 1992, with the Golden Eagles winning in 1992, ‘95, 2000 and ‘01.
Bellwood-Antis sophomore Brandon Pruznak was the boys leading scorer with 141 points, followed by Tyrone junior Trey Brockett with 135. The Eagles Billy Dean was tied for fifth place in the points race with 111 points and Blue Devils Aaron Bell (7th with 109) and freshman Ben Hatch (10th with 95) also made the top 10 scoring list. Bell was fourth in 2004 with 109 points and Dean was seventh with 102.
Either Tyrone or Bellwood-Antis has won the individual scoring title 15 of the 35 years the league has been in operation. The Eagles’ Tom Crowl was the leader last year following Terry Watters (1971, ‘72), Dennis Rozick (’79, ‘80), Kevin Jenkins (’83), Scott Nail (’89), Jeff White (’00) and Jim Wiggin (’01). Watters still shares in the two longest-standing league records with a best time of 14.3 in the 110 high hurdles, set in 1972, and was part of the 1971 record-setting Tyrone 1600 relay team of Barr, Heaton, Smith and Watters, which recorded a time of 3:30.1.
Bellwood-Antis point leaders have been Jerry McCloskey (’76), Brad Wertz (’97, ‘98), Cory Daly (’02) and Dan Houser (’03).
Earning berths on the 2005 Mt. Conference All-Star Team from Tyrone were Billy Dean in the 100 dash, Trey Brockett in the long jump and triple jump, Adam Shaffer in the javelin and the 400 relay team of Dean, Leonard Wilson, Shane Barr and Brockett. Shaffer is a repeat selection from 2004. The Eagles also scored repeats, but with different faces, in the long jump, where Tom Crowl was an All-Star last year and in the triple jump where Leonard Wilson was an All-Star a year ago.
For the B-A Blue Devils, All-Stars were Brandon Pruznak in the 400 run, Ben Hatch in the 800, Aaron Bell in the 1600, Tony DelGrosso in the discuss and the 1600 relay team of Evan Hughes, Chris Edmiston, Dan Kovac and Pruznak and the 3200 relay squad of Hughes, Edmiston, Elliot Geist and Bell. Bell is a repeat All-Star selection in the 1600 from 2004.
The Bellwood-Antis girls won the league title for the fifth consecutive year, although the 2001 team was tied for first with Tyrone. The Lady Blue Devils have won or shared 17 Mt. Conference crowns in the 27-year history of the girls program, including nine of the past 10 seasons. Long-time Blue Devil girls coach Julie Roseborough collected her 300th win of her career late in the spring against the Tyrone girls and now stands at 303-54-2.
Bellwood-Antis girls ran one-two in the points scoring race, with Ashley Mueller claiming the title with 140 points, edging out teammate Lauren Carter (138) by two points. Steph Hatch was the third Bellwood-Antis girl in the top five with a fourth place finish with 126 points. Tyrone sophomore Elizabeth Tepsic was sixth with 108 points and junior Emily Ingle was eighth with 95 points.
Mueller held the eighth spot in pints a year ago with 113, while Carter moves up a spot after being third in 2004 with 139 points.
Bellwood-Antis girls have won the points race in the Mt. Conference 15 times in the 27-year history of the girls division of the conference. Allison Cherry was the winner last year. Erin Imler won four titles from 1996-99, Julie Nevel won the first two titles in 1979-80 and Mindy Baker won back-to-back in 1989-90 and tied for the lead in 1992. Winning single titles were Deana Hoffer (’81), Pam Miner (’82), Shari Dodson (’84) and Lori Imler (’88).
Only one Tyrone girl has ever won the points race, but Christina Burnett etched her image into the top spot with back-to-back-to-back titles in 2000, ‘01 and ‘02.
Local All-Stars on the 2005 girls team includes Emily Ingle in the 800 and 1600 runs and Elizabeth Tepsic in the triple jump for Tyrone and Sarah Bell in the 3200 run, Ashley Mueller in the 100 intermediate hurdles, Lauren Carter in the 300 low hurdles, Steph Hatch in the high jump, Allison Sinisi in the pole vault and all three Lady Blue Devil relays-Hatch, Carter, Erica Greene and Mueller in the 400 relay, Carter, Jenna Ralston, Chelsea Wilson and Lauren Leap in the 1600 relay and Ralston, Arin Cherry, Rebekah Colyer and Bell in the 3200 relay.
Ingle was a 2004 All-Star in the 400 and 800. Hatch repeats from 2004 in the high jump and Sinisi in the pole vault. Lauren Carter was a 2004 All-Star in the 100 dash and a member of the All-Star 3200 relay team from Bellwood-Antis. The B-A girls 400 relay team was selected All-Star for the second straight year with Ashley Mueller and Erica Greene repeating.
