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For the first time in school history, East Stroudsburg North brought home the state title.
North's unified track team won the gold medal at the PIAA state track and field championships at Shippensburg University back in May, marking the first time any program won first place at state.
Unified track is a track team comprising kids with and without intellectual disabilities, split with either a ratio of 50/50 or 60/40. Each student-athlete competes in one track event (100-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter, 4x100-meter relay or 4x400-meter relay, the latter of which wasn't a state event) and one field event (long jump, mini javelin, or shot put).
"This group of kids has worked so hard, and they've met obstacle after obstacle in a way no one could expect them to do," head coach Barbara Wetherhold said. "The number of personal records they have set was insane.
"The camaraderie of this team, the support of this team - the success is because of who they are as humans, not because of who they are as athletes."
More: Stroudsburg looks to fill varsity field hockey, baseball positions
Wetherhold added the team defied expectations this season, winning first place in every meet besides regional. At state, the Timberwolves won 17 total medals, including eight gold medals, the most impressive of which came in the 4x100-meter relay.
"Our strength is in our field events, which were the first day of states. We were in first place after our field events, but when we looked at numbers, our running events were not great," Wetherhold said. "They scored so many points in the running events, but the 4x100 was by far the most stressful and exciting point of our day."
Senior Isaiah Virella was on the relay team that won gold. As confident as he was in himself, he was even more confident in his teammates Malik Mitchell, Darrius George and Za'Nyra Smith.
"Watching the others go by made it even better for me, because I trusted them to get it done," Virella said. "Those people are tough, just like me. And I really liked the fact that we all worked together as a team. It's hard to win without a team."
After the relay was completed, North was in second place, but Wetherhold refrained from mentioning that to the team as to not add extra stress. It was also so close in margin that the standings were far from solidified.
Once the 400 and 800 were done (both won by North) the awards staff kept the top three teams — North, Spring Grove and Wyoming Valley West — together, and the rest of the teams were ushered to another area.
More: 'I think this place has earned it' | Denny Hamlin, other NASCAR drivers argue for second race at Pocono
"At that point, we knew we made the podium," Wetherhold said. "We knew we weren't in third place because we knew roughly how many points we had. Then they announced second place, and our kids lost their minds."
Hearing the school's name called was more memorable considering that North placed fifth in 2025 after having to compete shorthanded. In unified track, each school is allowed 12 members from its full roster, but North only had 10 due to unforeseen circumstances.
It meant a lot to the seniors, most of whom were members of the team since its inception in 2022, to get redemption and end their high school careers on top.
"They're just so happy that this is what capped off their senior year. And for us to have seen them grow as a team, amazing," Wetherhold said.
For a school that's often talked about as not being competitive, unified track brought an undeniable shining moment for the Timberwolves athletic program.
*Denotes state championship participant, ^denotes manager
*Olivia Brockmann, *Maddison Eggar, *Isaiah Virella, *Javonna Ponton, *Jeremy Frangipane, *Za'Nyra Smith, *Brandon Cedano, *Jazlene Perez, *Victoria Lourenco Bravin, *Alicia Wilson, *Darrius Gage, *Malik Mitchell, Aiden Dick, Nate Roberts, Ciara Warner, James Madsen, Mathew Dreier, Taina Horton, Mariah Sellow, Harvey Latoraco, Hyugo Totsuka, ^Lindsay DeMarinis.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: East Stroudsburg North wins 2026 state title in unified track
Continue reading...
North's unified track team won the gold medal at the PIAA state track and field championships at Shippensburg University back in May, marking the first time any program won first place at state.
Unified track is a track team comprising kids with and without intellectual disabilities, split with either a ratio of 50/50 or 60/40. Each student-athlete competes in one track event (100-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter, 4x100-meter relay or 4x400-meter relay, the latter of which wasn't a state event) and one field event (long jump, mini javelin, or shot put).
"This group of kids has worked so hard, and they've met obstacle after obstacle in a way no one could expect them to do," head coach Barbara Wetherhold said. "The number of personal records they have set was insane.
"The camaraderie of this team, the support of this team - the success is because of who they are as humans, not because of who they are as athletes."
More: Stroudsburg looks to fill varsity field hockey, baseball positions
Wetherhold added the team defied expectations this season, winning first place in every meet besides regional. At state, the Timberwolves won 17 total medals, including eight gold medals, the most impressive of which came in the 4x100-meter relay.
"Our strength is in our field events, which were the first day of states. We were in first place after our field events, but when we looked at numbers, our running events were not great," Wetherhold said. "They scored so many points in the running events, but the 4x100 was by far the most stressful and exciting point of our day."
Senior Isaiah Virella was on the relay team that won gold. As confident as he was in himself, he was even more confident in his teammates Malik Mitchell, Darrius George and Za'Nyra Smith.
"Watching the others go by made it even better for me, because I trusted them to get it done," Virella said. "Those people are tough, just like me. And I really liked the fact that we all worked together as a team. It's hard to win without a team."
After the relay was completed, North was in second place, but Wetherhold refrained from mentioning that to the team as to not add extra stress. It was also so close in margin that the standings were far from solidified.
Once the 400 and 800 were done (both won by North) the awards staff kept the top three teams — North, Spring Grove and Wyoming Valley West — together, and the rest of the teams were ushered to another area.
More: 'I think this place has earned it' | Denny Hamlin, other NASCAR drivers argue for second race at Pocono
"At that point, we knew we made the podium," Wetherhold said. "We knew we weren't in third place because we knew roughly how many points we had. Then they announced second place, and our kids lost their minds."
Hearing the school's name called was more memorable considering that North placed fifth in 2025 after having to compete shorthanded. In unified track, each school is allowed 12 members from its full roster, but North only had 10 due to unforeseen circumstances.
It meant a lot to the seniors, most of whom were members of the team since its inception in 2022, to get redemption and end their high school careers on top.
"They're just so happy that this is what capped off their senior year. And for us to have seen them grow as a team, amazing," Wetherhold said.
For a school that's often talked about as not being competitive, unified track brought an undeniable shining moment for the Timberwolves athletic program.
2026 East Stroudsburg North unified track and field roster
*Denotes state championship participant, ^denotes manager
*Olivia Brockmann, *Maddison Eggar, *Isaiah Virella, *Javonna Ponton, *Jeremy Frangipane, *Za'Nyra Smith, *Brandon Cedano, *Jazlene Perez, *Victoria Lourenco Bravin, *Alicia Wilson, *Darrius Gage, *Malik Mitchell, Aiden Dick, Nate Roberts, Ciara Warner, James Madsen, Mathew Dreier, Taina Horton, Mariah Sellow, Harvey Latoraco, Hyugo Totsuka, ^Lindsay DeMarinis.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: East Stroudsburg North wins 2026 state title in unified track
Continue reading...
