Valley View Completes Historic Eight-Day Championship Double as Unified Athletes Leave Everything on the Track and Field
By: Brad Loff | SportzWire | May 16, 2026 | Photo courtesy Brad Loff
When you cover a major championship event through a camera lens, you catch the small, raw details that are easily missed from the crowded bleachers. Thursday afternoon, 6 teams converged on Wallenpaupack High School for the highly anticipated Lackawanna Sectional Unified Track and Field Championship. What our SportzWire photography team witnessed through the viewfinders was local high school sports at its absolute best, culminating in a historic team performance that was decided by the slimmest of margins.
With yesterday's breathless victory, the Valley View Cougars managed to capture two major Special Olympics Pennsylvania Unified Champion Schools championship titles in a span of just eight days. It was a masterclass in team depth and determination, with every single point proving vital to the final scores.
Photo - Valley View: Carlos Lopez, Dominic Lopez, Billy Giovagnoli, Rosie Karrie, Sophia Davies, Lanayjea Hawley, Emily Sorber, Eliza Sanchuck
Looking through the glass yesterday afternoon, the energy across the infield was awesome. Unified track and field teams are uniquely inspiring, pairing a proportional number of students with and without intellectual disabilities to practice, train, and compete side-by-side as equal peers.
The structure of the meet ensures a balanced, highly competitive environment where every competitor faces peers of similar ability levels. Athletes are grouped by ability into specific divisions across three track events (the 100M, 400M, and 800M runs) and three field events (the long jump, mini javelin, and shot put). To give every team member a balanced showcase, each athlete gets to compete in exactly one track event and one field event. Because yesterday's sectional showdown was a full-team event, entire rosters got the chance to hit the stadium, push their limits, and score for their schools.
Cover Photo
The shot features Khair Jones from West Scranton and John Mulkerin from Valley View locked in an intense, stride-for-stride battle. Frame after frame on our digital screens captured competitors like Khair and John representing different school colors running side-by-side. Because the divisions are grouped tightly by ability, these were close races from the starting gun to the finish line. The runners were not just racing against one another; they were actively pulling each other along, demanding the absolute best out of their peers. It did not matter which school they represented, they were fueling each other's competitive fire the entire way down the straightaways.
Down near the track's edge, the noise from the crowd and the teams was constant. There was no rail to separate the action, just the track's edge where passionate coaches stood right on the boundary line. They were screaming out split times and pace markers, using every ounce of breath to motivate their athletes to find another gear and lock in a new personal record. You could hear the urgency and pride in their voices, and you could see the immediate response in the athletes as they dug deep into their reserve tanks.
The real story of the day, however, unfolded right at the finish line. As a photographer, that is where you capture the absolute truth of a sporting event. I could see clearly that these athletes gave it everything they had to cross that line. Some threw their heads back in pure exhaustion, others let out bursts of pure joy, and many collapsed onto the turf to catch their breath. Looking at the expressions frozen on my camera screen after the races, there was no doubt that every single athlete left a piece of themselves on that track.
Photo - Makenzy Rega of North Pocono and Ava Kielar of Valley View
While the track provided plenty of photo-finish drama, the championship standings were heavily shaped by the outstanding, equally tight performances in the field flights. The infield layout allowed us to capture the incredible technical skill required in the long jump, shot put, and mini javelin events.
At the long jump pit, athletes generated incredible speed down the runway, finding their rhythm before exploding off the board and flying through the air to scrape out every possible inch in the sand. Over at the shot put circle, the pure power and intense focus on the competitors' faces right at the moment of release was remarkable to capture, with throws generating crucial points for the team standings.
Photo- Mia Kellam from Wallenpaupack
The mini javelin events brought an entirely different level of excitement. Rows of teammates and fans lined the grass, cheering as the points climbed with every single throw. Because these divisions were so evenly matched, victory often came down to a matter of inches, proving that every single throw and jump mattered just as much as the track sprints.
While team points were accumulated in small increments across dozens of tightly contested ability divisions, a handful of spectacular athletes pulled off the impressive feat of earning division titles in both of their selected events.
Valley View's charge was led by John Mulkerin, who paired his standout performance in the 400M with a hard-fought victory in the shot put circle. His teammates Alaina Lucas and Brady Bachman also put on fantastic performances, with both earning top marks in their respective divisions for the 100M dash and the mini javelin throw.
Host Wallenpaupack answered right back with an incredible crew of double-winners who fought through close finishes. Joseph Kaszycki excelled in his division, capturing wins in both the 800M run and the long jump. Reese Cosgrove powered through for a double-victory in the 100M and shot put, while Ada Bekdemir matched that feat by winning her division in the 100M and mini javelin. Damon Jones rounded out the Buckhorns' multi-gold day by leaping past the field in the long jump and sprinting to a division title in the 100M.
Photo - Joseph Kaszycki of Wallenpaupack
