When Whitehall hosted Parkland for the final regular season track and field meet last Monday, it marked both and end and a new beginning. It was also good preparation for this week’s East Penn Conference meet.

It was especially relevant to the seniors who marched onto the midfield with their parents, sharing a farewell with the Whitehall coaching staff.

While the high school careers of those seniors may be in the final lap, they all share the promise of a new beginning when the postseason begins this week.

That’s especially true for Ivanna Jones who was part of the winning 4x100 relay team against the Trojans. Joining her were Amanda Crooks, Kylee Cunningham and fellow senior Taylor George. They crossed the line in 50.8.

Jones only competed in the relay against the Trojans. With the regular season now history, she’ll set her sights on returning to Shippensburg. The senior accomplished a lot in her two seasons devoted to track and field. She holds two school records and has tied another. She still has a lot more work to do, but the realization that it was her last official home meet brought with it some mixed emotions.

“It’s very bittersweet,” said Jones. “I’m going to continue with track in college, so it’s something I’ll still have, but today’s a little sad.”

Jones said that everyone was excited about the possibilities of what still lies ahead, but that this moment will now be gone forever.

The senior is coming off a win at the Allentown School District Invitational. She won the high jump at 5-4.

Jones said the goal is to get to states. She also revealed that she’ll attempt to make the trip to Ship in three events: high jump, long jump, and the 4x100 relay. Jones knows what’s required to make the return trip. “It’s going to take determination and focus,” she said.

Another senior whose goal is to make it to Shippensburg is Calvin Schneck. Schneck last made it in 2014 as a member of the record-setting 4x800 team.

Schneck won the 800 in the meet versus Parkland. He crossed the line in 2:00.30. He also ran in the 4x400, closing out his 2016 regular season.

He’ll now focus on the postseason. He’ll be concentrating on the 800, but still wants to drop a little bit more time in the mile. He said he’ll talk with his coaches and get their feedback.

He’ll also leave a window open to run the 4x400 at districts, but knows that the 800 is the race that will propel him to Shippensburg.

As the meet against Parkland came to a close, Schneck was getting ready to leave a place where he invested a lot of time and energy. He won a lot of races on the oval at the Zephyr Sports Complex and had lots of fond memories.

“It’s been great the past four years,” said Schneck. “To be pushed by all these guys here at Whitehall, guys that graduated, guys that have been coming up underneath me, all of them have been pushing me all these four years. So it’s great to finish it off here at home, the regular season. It’s just been an awesome experience.”

Schneck said that it’s been rewarding to see the progress on a steady curve, as he looks to continue that upward trajectory into the postseason.

“I hope it gets me to states again,” he said.

Last year Schneck competed in the mile at districts and a strong headwind took its toll. He was able to finish third, but after expending all that energy, especially in the final lap where he clocked a .63, he wasn’t able to recover completely.

“I realized I was splitting up my focus too much,” said Schneck. “I was thinking I could do it all, the mile and the 800, but sometimes you have to focus on one thing.”

While Schneck and Jones each helped in the points race against Parkland, it still wasn’t enough to lift the Zephyrs over the Trojans. The girls lost 84-66. They closed out the season at 7-4. The boys lost 78-72. They ended their season 6-5.

Both the girls and boys had a number of top-flight performances.

Crooks was tops in the 100 again, crossing the line in 12.2. She’ll be someone to watch in the sprints this postseason as she’ll be battling Liberty’s Jaylyn Aminu.

Rebecca Ganthier was second in the 200, finishing in 27.6 while senior Anna Gallina was second in the 400 at 1:04.1.

Kassidy Cunningham was second in the 800, finishing in 2:27.3, while Rachel Herr was third in the mile at 5:54.6. Herr was also second in the 3,200, finishing in 12:36.6

Senior Jill Kreglow was third in the 100 hurdles at 17.9, while Madelyn Mertz was second in the 300 hurdles finishing in 50.0. Kreglow was also second in the high jump with a 4-9 mark.

The foursome of Caitlin Cunningham, Kassidy Cunningham, Kylee Cunningham and Gallina were first in the 4x400 relay, finishing in 4:16.2.

Savanah Rivera and Amber Myers who each cleared 7-6 were second and third in the pole vault, respectively, while Kylee Cunningham was second in the long jump at 15-8.

Senior Vanessa Hadeed was first in the shot put at 33-00.50, and came in second in the discus with a 91-09.50 mark.

The girls swept the javelin as Logan Miller, Hayley Arner and Victoria Marks were first, second, and third, respectively.

The boys finished first and second in the 100 as Dez Boykin was tops with an 11.3 mark, while senior Nick Kovalchick was second at 11.3 as well.

In the 400, Zahir Linton was third at 54.4.

Jahrod Amoroso was tops in the 110 hurdles, finishing in 16.0, while Charles Hudson was second in the 300 hurdles at 43.0, while Amoroso was third at 43.4.

Whitehall also won the 4x100 relay as Boykin, senior Javaughn Hussett, senior Brandon Jones and senior Carey Okoth broke the tape in 44.9.

Hussett also won the high jump at 6-3. The senior was also part of a sweep in the long jump, finishing first once again, this time with a 20-06 mark. Boykin was second at 20-04, while Hudson was third at 20-03.

They also swept the triple jump with Hudson on top at 42-01.50, while Ryan Klaugh was second at 39-09 and senior Nicholas Rackus was third at 39-03.

In the pole vault, Gavin Wood was second at 12-9, while senior Elliot Miller was third at 12-3.

Senior Phil Reeves was tops in the shot with a 42-02 mark, while Tyler Meyers was first in the discus with a 140-07 toss.

Jackson Buskirk won the javelin at 155-00, while Michael Bogucki was third at 128-01.

The Press will recap the two-day EPC track meet in next week’s edition.