Father Judge dashes to win
Catholic League track championship

Sports Columnist
By John Knebels

Sometimes it’s what happens off the playing field that says more about a program than what happens on it.

Even after winning a championship.

Two weeks ago, Father Judge earned its first-ever Catholic League indoor track title. The Crusaders celebrated as expected. A team that had the potential to do what no other had done in school history needed to win the last two events to dethrone defending champion Cardinal O’Hara.

Judge took care of business, seizing both the 4x400- and 4x800-meter relays while second-place O’Hara fell a bit short.

“It’s not easy to put into words how special this is,” said Judge coach Matt Dwyer, a 1996 Judge graduate. “We had a strong team in (last year’s) outdoor and knew we should be in the mix. But schools like O’Hara and LaSalle were in there, too.”

Then, along with lauding his senior-dominated squad, he made an emphatic point of mentioning how touched he was that the obviously disappointed Cardinal O’Hara team went out of its way with a display of sportsmanship that demonstrated why Catholic schools do what they do in the first place.

“After the meet, the entire O’ Hara team came over to congratulate our kids,” said Dwyer. “It was a true class act. I was really impressed with that. They are a great group of athletes and true champions. I thought that it really embodies what the Catholic League is all about.”
The fact that O’Hara did what it did, and that Dwyer and several Father Judge parents made mention of it later, suggests that two champions emerged from Lehigh University that afternoon.

But earlier, it was Father Judge that basked in the spotlight thanks to several outstanding performances.

Twin senior brothers Jermaine and Jerome Lowery took first and second in the 200 - and 400-meter events, respectively. Jermaine also seized gold in the 60-meter hurdles. He also anchored the aforementioned relay teams in their victory. In the field events, seniors Chris Boland, Dan Dunkelberger, Dave Smith and Jason Flanigan came up big.

Thus, the Father Judge upperclassmen left a profound impact on the younger Crusaders, who now must forge their own legacy when they defend their indoor title next winter.

“It was great to be a part of this,” said sophomore Tom Kehl, a cross country standout who placed sixth in the 3000-meter run. “Our seniors were amazing. They kept getting better and better as the season went on. We learned a lot from them.”

The younger players also learned a lot from Dwyer and the entire Cardinal O’Hara team, which proved that you don’t have to be successful defending a championship to be considered a winner.
That being said, Cardinal O’Hara’s girls ended up on the receiving line of congratulations after winning the league title.

Behind first-place finishes by junior Sarah Houtmann (60-meter dash and the long jump) Beth Kelly (3000-meter run), sophomore Brigid Harron (high jump), Robyn Oakley (triple jump), and freshman Anna McCloskey (shot put), the Lions scored 140 team points to out-distance second-place Archbishop Prendergast (97 points).

John Knebels may be reached at: jknebs@aol.com.