MERCERSBURG – Germantown Academy’s indoor track and field teams took to Mercersburg Academy on Feb. 18 for their penultimate meet of the 2022-23 season. Competing at the Indoor Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association Championships, the Patriots turned in plenty of top marks en route to a second-place finish for the boys. 

Evan Badami ’26 took first in the Boys 400 Meter Dash final with a time of 51.97, besting the second-place finisher by 1.5 seconds. The freshman also finished second in the 200 Meter Dash Finals with a time of 24.15, and took eighth in the Boys High Jump by clearing 5-02.00. Robert Bright cleared 11-06.00 in the Boys Pole Vault finals, winning the event by two feet. 

GA swept the top three spots in the Boys Shot Put thanks to Gavin Fountain ’24, CJ Mersky ’24, and Mario Toscano ’24. Fountain recorded a throw of 49-11.00 to win the event, while Mersky threw 45-09.50 and Toscano went 44-09.50. For the Girls Shot Put, Layla Gentile ’25 took third with a 31-09.00 throw, while Kate Stone ’23 (28-01.75) and Caitlin Lozano ’24 (28-00.50) took sixth and seventh, respectively.

Luke Philip ’24 finished second in the Boys 800 Meter Run final by one second, recording a time of 2:08.19. Philip also took third in the 1600 Meter Run in 4:39.90. Ethan Na ’26 took 12^th in the 800, finishing the event in 2:19.19, while Walter Mulroy ’26 and Jake Spain ’23 took 12^th and 19th in the 1600. Jet Dickerson ’26 took second in the 55 Meter Hurdles in 8.51, just .07 off the first-place finisher. Dickerson also placed fourth in the Boys Long Jump (20-01.00) and sixth in the Boys Triple Jump (38-00.00). 

The Boys 4x400 Relay team captured third place by running the event in 3:46.34. J-Jay Ordillas ’23 turned in a third-place finish in the Boys 200 Meter Dash with a time of 24.26, finished fourth in the Boys 55 Meter Dash final in 6.84, and took eighth in the Boys Long Jump by clearing 18-09.75. Mulroy and Andrei Vava ’24 went 4-5 in the Boys 3200 Meter Run finals in 11:13.96 and 11:27.47, respectively. 

Taryn DiFranco ’25 and Lauren Truong ’26 took 12^th and 14^th in the Girls 1600 Meter Run finals, turning in times of 6:43.90 and 7:04.80, respectively. 

The only remaining competition for the Patriots in the Pennsylvania Track & Field Coaches Association Indoor State Championships on Feb. 26. That meet will take place at Penn State’s main campus.