When most people think of Bellwood-Antis athletics, they think first of the football program or maybe the girls basketball team.
But, in the shadow of them both is the most consistently successful program at the school, the boys track and field team.
Recently, the team reached a significant milestone of 600 team wins.
“I think it is really nice for us to achieve this 600-win milestone,” said Coach Nick Lovrich, who has led the team since 2000. “Bellwood and Antis Township schools joined together in 1938-39. We have had a track season every year except 2020 which was the year that COVID shut the season down, so that means we have reached that number in 86 years.”
B-A achieved the mark April 9 in a sweep of Southern Huntingdon, Williamsburg, and West Branch at Memorial Stadium. It was par for the course during a 14-1 regular season bolstered Monday with a team championship at the Bellwood-Antis Invitational.
While Mr. Lovrich is proud to be a part of the record, he has been humbled by the milestone.
“There are so many people that have been part of this program. We have had a lot of outstanding coaches and athletes who played a role in this,” he said. “Most people think of track as an individual sport, but a milestone like this shows how much the team aspect plays a role in success in track. I also believe that it takes a special group of assistant coaches helping out too. I have had a lot over my years, including all of the ones we have now on both the boys and girl’s side. You also have to include the legendary Miss R (Julie Roseborough) in that group because she expected the same thing out of the girls’ teams, so it was a shared message between the two teams. Coach Jennifer Soisson has kept that same mindset since taking over, too.”
Throughout Bellwood’s history there has been a good number of great coaches, beginning with Lew Myer, who began the program in 1939 and for whom Myers Elementary is named. Before Coach Lovrich, Bob Fowler, who coached from 1961 through 1985, was the longest tenured coach.
“These were the years where Coach Fowler’s teams won four straight District championships,” he said. “We would run Altoona at the time and we actually beat them. We had a pole vaulter named Jay Mercado who got a third place to secure the win, and we won 76-74. Both Miss R and Coach Fowler told me the story and said how exciting it was.”
Ken Swanson coached for eight years in the 90s and reestablished B-A as a District power.
“Ken Swanson took over as head coach and kind of turned things around. When I took over, I was just hoping to keep maintaining that success,” said Lovrich.
Without plenty of outstanding coaches helping, 600 wins would have never been possible. However, you can also thank all of the great athletes at Bellwood-Antis over the years, guys like Steve Hatfield, Joe and Dan Garman, Brian leap, Ian O’Shea, Cameron and Seth Worthing, and Ben Hatch.
Mr. Lovrich believes everything in track revolves around a team concept.
“One thing that I have been proud of is our kids are willing to do whatever it takes for the team to be successful,” Coach Lovrich said. “Our relays are the backbone of our success. The team chemistry builds off of that. It is special when our kids make a relay team and it is something that those relay members take pride in. It takes guys willing to do 4 events in a meet to help us win a track meet even when that is very hard sometimes and sometimes, they have to sacrifice individual success to help the team.”
The Blue Devils’ success comes thanks to a solid depth.
“To win a team championship, you have to have a lot of very good athletes which means you have very good team depth,” he said. “To be successful, you also need to have some standout individuals. We have had 129 district champions, 60 states medalists, and 6 state champions.”
During one of the more dominant eras for B-A track and field, the Blue Devils won 12 ICC championship from 2010 through 2023, when B-A left the conference to join the Laurel highlands.
This year’s team takes a lot of pride in 600 wins, a stretch of victory lasting almost a century. To a person, they feel they are a part of something special.
