Beaver Falls, PA –Despite torrential rain and a lightning delay, for the first time Geneva earned the title of Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Champions on April 29 on their home turf at the Merriman Athletic Conference. Along with the first place finish, head coach Phil Thompson earned the PAC Coach of the Year award.

The Golden Tornadoes performed a monumental day, earning medals in 10 different events in both the track and on the field.

Junior Clay Smith (Williamsport, MD/Williamsport) represented the mid-distance crew on the podium as he earned a silver medal in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:58.80. 

Senior Cameron Unrath’s (Wexford, PA/Pine Richland) 100 meter dash time of 10.77 not only earned him a silver medal but also claimed him the school record. Unrath went on to claim his second silver for the day with his run of 21.80 seconds in the 200 meter dash.

Dalton Paxton (Rochester, PA) battled for a third place finish in the 400 meter hurdles with a final time of 57.06 seconds.

The 110 meter hurdles demonstrated the depth of the Golden Tornadoes’ team as Geneva claimed the first, second, fifth and sixth spots in the final. Sophomore Alex Parker (Meadville, PA/Meadville) earned the gold with a time of 15.07 seconds, quickly followed by Paxton in winning silver with a final time of 15.31 seconds.

Geneva showed their colors in the 4x100 meter relay leaving all other teams in the dust as Henry Kennedy (Titusville, PA/Titusville), Unrath, Aaron Tedys (Beaver Falls, PA/Riverside), and Parker earned a gold medal, as well as claiming the new meet record and breaking the school record by 1.07 seconds with their new time of 41.58.

The men’s stamina held out to the end, earning a third place finish in the final event of the evening with the 4x400 meter relay. David Dill (Canal Fulton, OH/Northwest High School), Unrath, Paxton, and Tedys completed the meet with a final time of 3:24.58.

The fullness of the team was demonstrated in the field events as Isaac Barringer(Delta, OH/Toledo Christian) claimed a second place finish in the discus with a throw of 42.44 meters.

Sophomore Peter Taylor’s (Stratham, NH/Portsmouth Christian) jump of 13.21 meters in the triple jump earned him a silver medal and Jesse Garcia’s (Mechanicsville, MD/Chopticon High) 6.56 meters in the long jump helped Geneva to complete the meet in first place.

“It was an unbelievable meet,” said head coach Phil Thompson. “Everything went right.”

The season does not end yet for the Golden Tornadoes as they will make their next appearance on Friday, May 5 with the location and start time still to be determined.