Winter 2023-2024 Summary: Abington Heights Athletics

It has certainly been an exciting 2023–2024 Winter season here at Abington Heights! We’d like to recap this amazing season and all the accomplishments our teams have achieved:

Boys Basketball 

Boys Basketball finished with a 26-1 overall record. The team secured an undefeated regular season, added on a 5A District 2 title, and a playoff run that ended in a hard-fought loss in the state quarterfinals. Will Marion, Ryan Nealon, Mason Fedor, and Robby Lucas earned 1st team Lackawanna League Coaches All-Stars. Mason and Will earned 1st team All Defense for the Lackawanna League as well and both were named Co-Players of the Year for the Lackawanna League. Ryan Nealon won the Bill Gerrity Team Player of the Year Award. Will Marion was named Regional Player of the Year and he was joined by Mason Fedor and Ryan Nealon as 1st team All-Region Selections. Coach Bianchi was also named Regional Coach of the Year.

Girls Basketball 

Girls Basketball finished with a 20-8 overall record. The team earned runner-up in the 5A District 2 tournament, and earned a berth in the PIAA state playoffs. It was their 9th straight trip to the District 2 Final and PIAA State Tournament. The team reached the PIAA Quarterfinals for the first time in 24 years. The Lady Comets were led by All Lackawanna League selection Maggie Coleman, Honorable Mention Selections Emily McDonald, Madison Zalewski, and Peyton Houlihan. Houlihan was also selected to the leagues all-defensive team and Maggie Coleman was selected to the All-Region team.The team ended their season with a tough loss at the hands of Bethlehem Catholic in the 5A state quarterfinals.  Madison, Emily, and Peyton earned spots to represent Abington Heights in the Senior All Star game. The team won the Taylor Lions Tournament with Maggie Coleman being selected MVP, Emily McDonald all tournament. 

Swimming & Diving

This season the Girls Swim team finished with a 5-3 record and the Boys team finished 7-1 and in 2nd place in the Lackawanna League. Several Swimmers and Divers qualified for the 2024 PIAA State Championships at Bucknell University from March 12-14.  Jason Casper, Derek Williams, Judah Donnelly, and Jackson Wentz represented the Comets in the 400yd Free Relay, while Jason Casper also competed in the 100 fly and 200 free. Derek Williams qualified for the 50 free competition while Gia Vachino represented the Girls Swim team in the 100yd Freestyle. Ethan Horutz and Veronica Mathies qualified for the Diving Championships and both represented AH very well! Horutz medaled, finishing in 7th place at the 2024 PIAA 3A Boys Diving State Championships! He finished with a score of 389.10 while Veronica Matthies placed 15th out of 24 divers statewide! She finished with a total of 328.75 points. Vachino and Mathies were selected to the Girls All-Region team while Casper, Williams and Horutz were selected All-Region on the Boys side.

Wrestling 

The Wrestling team finished 13-4 on the season. As a team, they finished 2nd in the Lackawanna League Tournament, 2nd place at the Jim Thorpe Christmas Tournament, 3rd place in District 2 AAA Team Duals, 2nd place at the District 2 AAA Individual Tournament, 5th place at the AAA Northeast Regional Tournament, and 10th at the AAA PIAA State Tournament. The team saw great individual success throughout the season, with Austin Smith, Brian Heard, and Caleb Marzolino earning their 100th career wins. Austin became the first Comet to win 4 individual AAA District 2 titles! He capped his career off by being a four-time AAA state qualifier as well. Brian earned a District 2 AAA Individual, a AAA Northeast Regional Title, and 5th place at the state tournament. Freshman Mason Whitney had a successful year as well. He earned 2nd place at the AAA District 2 tournament, 4th place at the AAA Northeast Regional Tournament, and a 7th place medal at the state tournament. Caleb Marzolino, Austin Smith, Brian Heard and Mason Whitney were selected to the Lackawanna League 1st team All-Stars and all four were also All-Region team selections.Connor Beck, Mark Lynott and Colin Price were chosen as 2nd team All-Stars for the Lackawanna League. Marzolino was also named Regional Wrestler of the Year.

Unified Bocce 

Team White won the Northeast League Championship and Team Blue placed 3rd. At the regional championship, the team defeated Kutztown 10-4, lost 12-1 to East Stroudsburg South, and won 9-3 over Governor Mifflin to win 3rd place. We are Comet Proud!

Indoor Track 

This season our Indoor Girls Track team had some state qualifiers as the 4x800 team of Emma Horsley, Anna Pucilowski, Reese Morgan and Marygrace Sabatini competed at Penn State University's PTFCA State indoor track championship. With a time of 9:53.56, they placed 14th overall. In the week prior, this team ran a time of 9:42, qualifying them for nationals and Penn Relays.

POSTSEASON SUCCESS:

1 Team League Champion:

• Boys Basketball

1 Team District Champion:

• Boys Basketball 

District Playoffs:

• Boys Basketball
• Girls Basketball
• Boys Swimming
• Boys Diving
• Girls Swimming
• Girls Diving
• Wrestling

2 District Championship Appearances:

• Boys Basketball
• Girls Basketball

12 Individual District Champions:

• Ethan Horutz - Boys Diving, Class 3A
• Derek Williams - 50 free
• Jason Casper - 200 free
• Jason Casper - 100 Fly
• Gia Vachino for 100 free
• Boys 400 Free Relay 
  • Jackson Wentz
  • Derek Williams
  • Judah Donnelly
  • Jason Casper
• Austin Smith - Wrestling, Class 3A (1st ever 4x District Champion for wrestling)
• Brian Heard - Wrestling, Class 3A
• Caleb Marzolino - Wrestling, Class 3A

1 State Runner-Up:

• Caleb Marzolino - Wrestling, Class 3A

2 State Medalists:

• Brian Heard - Wrestling, Class 3A - 5th place
• Mason Whitney - Wrestling, Class 3A - 7th place
• Ethan Horutz - Diving, Class 3A - 7th place

Winter Team League Record:

• 44 wins - 14 losses (.759 win%)

Overall Winter Team Record:

• 79 wins - 21 losses (.790 win%)