Sports Round-up: GFS Takes Down Springside in Girls' Lacrosse

Plain and simple, when it comes to track, Springside School’s Taylor Ellis-Watson is the best.

The University of Pittsburgh bound athlete won the 100, 200 and 400-meter races and anchored the Lions’ 4x400 relay to a first place finish helping Springside beat Notre Dame, 61 1/3-52 2/3, in Wednesday’s Inter-Ac League meet at Chestnut Hill Academy.

For Springside’s program, it was the first time the Lions have ever beaten Notre Dame in a dual meet. With the win, they improved to 1-1 within the league.

Ellis-Watson clocked in at 13.3 seconds in the 100 dash. She finished in 25.4 seconds in the 200 and 57 seconds flat in the 400.

In the 4x400 relay, the foursome of Jamie McGinn, Natalie Bates, Sarah-Chen Ogorek and Ellis-Watson took top honors with a time of four minutes, 19 seconds.

In the field, Bates and McGinn, along with Ashlee Hale, also scored big points for the Lions. Bates took first in the long jump (15 feet, 10 inches) and the high jump (4-10). McGinn’s mark of 33-5 was good enough for her to earn first place. She also placed third in the long jump with a leap of 14-7.5. Hale earned first in the shot put with a throw of 31-5.5.

Bates also bagged a second place finish with a time of 53.5 seconds in the 300 hurdles, as did Jamie Costarino in the 800 (2:45.2) and the 1,600 (5:51.8), and Riley Tarver in the 100 (13.8) and 200 (29.1).

Caitlin Sirianni helped Springside’s cause with a second place finish in the triple jump (25-7.5) and a third place effort in the shot put (20-1.5). Melanie Rankin won third place in the 100 hurdles (18.0), the 200 (29.2) and the high jump (4-8, three-way tie). In the 3,200 race, Emily Davis’s time of 13:23.9 was good enough for third place points.

Hill School Invitational 

Springside’s track team had four first place finishes in last Saturday’s Hill School Invitational and placed fourth overall as a team.

Springside’s 4x400 relay, made up of Jamie McGinn, Natalie Bates, Sarah-Chen Ogorek, Taylor Ellis-Watson, took first with a time of 4:14.19.

The foursome of Jamie Costarino, Ellis-Watson, Ogorek and Bates won gold in the 4x800 relay race and set a new school record in the process by clocking in at 10:33.50.

The shot put relay of Ashlee Hale (28 feet, 10-0.75, new school record) and McGinn (26-3) earned first with a combined mark of 55-1.75. Springside’s javelin relay of Bates (97-0, new school record) and Hale (83-1, broke old school record) placed first with combined throws of 180-1.

Council Rock Kiwanis Invitational 

At the Council Rock Kiwanis Invitational, Germantown Friends School’s boys’ distance medley relay took first with a time of 10:46.13.

The boys’ 4x800 and 4x400 relays finished sixth and 10th overall, respectively. Nick Caldwell (800) and Henry Blood (3,000) both placed 10th in their races. James Finney took seventh in the 1,500 race for freshmen boys.

Both GFS girls’ and boys’ teams fell to Penn Charter on Thursday. The Tigers’ girls’ team lost, 76-49, while the boys’ team lost, 76-46.

Springside Golf

The Springside golf team fell short of upsetting Inter-Ac powerhouse Notre Dame on Tuesday and lost 285-264. It was Springside’s first loss of the season.

Standout junior co-captain Kelly Brady shot a 50 in the cold and blustery conditions to lead the Lions. Freshman Morgan Schneer carded a 56 for Springside.

Springside’s roster of eight was reduced to six golfers because of illnesses.

Neighborhood Rivalry

In Tuesday’s neighborhood, non-league girls’ lacrosse showdown, Germantown Friends School took down Springside, 16-6, at Carson Valley School.

Iris Williamson, Annie Morrissey and Lyles Swift Farley each tallied four goals to power the Tigers’ offense. Lilly Tyson added two goals.

Sophomore goalie Lauren Shinn earned her first varsity win with six saves and nine successful clears.

The Tigers dominated draw controls and ground balls in both the first and second half allowing GFS’ attack to turn up the heat on the Lions.

Thus far, Springside’s laxers have yet to win a game. The Lions (0-5) lost, 10-7, to Friends Central on Wednesday and they fell, 11-9, to Lawrenceville School last Saturday.

After being Springside, GFS (1-3) lost, 15-11, to Notre Dame on Wednesday. Lower Merion cruised past the Tigers, 14-4, in last Saturday’s non-league contest.

Inside the circle

In softball news, Springside lost big, 22-4, to Archbishop Carroll on Wednesday after beating Lawrenceville, 6-5, last Saturday. In addition to being the winning pitcher against Lawrenceville, Michelle Cybularz scored the game-winning run on a single by Alexis Giovinazzo in the bottom of the eighth inning. Cybularz scored three runs and drove in two runs. In eight innings on the mound, the sophomore allowed five runs on seven hits, three walks and an error while striking out four.

Blue Devils Report

At last Saturday’s Chestnut Hill School Invitational, the Blue Devils’ distance medley relay of Mike Fuery, Dan Trulear, Graham Allen, Dustin Wilson) took first with a meet-record time of 11:04.4.

Chestnut Hill’s sprint medley relay and 4x100 relay placed third overall.

Colin Kelly won bronze in the shot put with a mark of 46-11.5.

In lacrosse, CHA is currently 3-3. The Blue Devils beat up Westtown, 11-2, on Tuesday after losing, 12-1, to Bullis last Saturday and, 12-4, to Penn Charter last Wednesday.

On the baseball diamond, CHA (10-1 overall) has been red hot. On Wednesday, Blue Devils’ hurler Dan Rosenbaum racked up 12 strikeouts as CHA snuck past host Episcopal Academy, 4-2, in an Inter-Ac League showdown.

And last Saturday, CHA swept Perkiomen School in a doubleheader. In the first game, Matt Primavera hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning putting the visitors up by three runs (7-4). Mike Hayes finished off Perkiomen with five solid innings on the mound in relief. Nick Boyle had two RBI for CHA.

Then in the second game, Primavera knocked in two runs while Matt Rowand plated three runners to help the Blue Devils pull cruise to a victory. Andy Good picked up the win.

On the prowl

After dropping its season opener to Haverford School, the GFS baseball team has rebounded nicely by beating GAMP, 7-3, last Saturday and Pennington, 11-4, on Wednesday.

Against GAMP, the Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to pull away. Working in relief for pitcher Nick Rittler, Tyler Clausen-Wolf picked up the win with solid work in two and two-third innings.

Elijah Tatgenhorst led all Tigers (2-1 overall) with three RBI, with all three coming on a double he cracked in the sixth.

Pitcher Andrew Becker earned the win with his five-inning effort.

Racquet boys

In boys’ tennis, GFS lost, 3-2, to visiting Penn Charter on Wednesday.