The Ray Geesey Invitational: A Night in Pictures

Dallastown hosts annual track and field meet in honor of former head coach who continues to give back to the program.

Madelyn Neutzel, Reporter|May 5, 2022

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Madelyn Neutzel

Dallastown’s 3rd Ray Geesey Track and Field Medal. The top six in each event received a medal

The 3rd Annual Ray Geesey Invitational was held on April 29 at the stadium. Starting at  4 p.m., the events continued on until about 9:30 p.m.

Sixteen different schools participated in the meet. Schools from York County and some from other areas in Pennsylvania. 

Originally known as the Dallastown Invitational, Dallastown’s Head Coach Neil Gutekunst along with other track coaches decided to change the name to honor Coach Geesey, for his commitment to the program in 2019. 

Geesey was a Dallastown athlete himself. His passion for track and field was so strong, that he decided to coach whild teahci. 

Now that he is retired, he has returned to the Dallastown track family once again and coaches the long a triple jump. 

Coach Geesey is well-loved in the program and has a strong influence on the athletes, even if he does not coach them. It is believed that Dallastown Track and Field would not be where it is today without the influence of Coach Geesey.

“Geesey puts great effort into each and every athlete in order to push them to reach their full potential,” says jumper Gigi Morley

Now here are some of the night’s moments.

 

Boys Pole vaulters Sam Ryan and Maddox Thompson helped move standards and raise bars for the girls pole vault event. Girls pole vault started promptly at 4 p.m. Friday, April 29. (Madelyn Neutzel)

 

Girls distance runners, running the first lap of the 800m Run. Distance running consists of the 800 m, one mile, two mile, and a variety of relays within that.
(Madelyn Neutzel)

 

The sun setting over American Legion Field at Wildcat Stadium. The Ray Geesey Invitational is still just getting kicked off. Running under the lights gives an additional touch to the experience. (Madelyn Neutzel )

 

Dallstown Seniors Chris Jackson and Andrew Sheaffer Helping host the event. All of Dallastown’s track team was required to help run the events, some middle school athletes were also helping the event run smoothly. (Madelyn Neutzel)

 

The stands on the home side of Wildcat Stadium. The stand started to fill up around 4:30pm as people started to get out of work. As the night went on, the stand only filled up more and more. (Madelyn Neutzel)

 

Red Lion’s Pole Vault Squad cheering on their girl vaulter Izabella Lakatosh as she competes for a metal. Lakatosh jumped 7’0. (Madelyn Neutzel)

 

Dallastown’s girl sprinters Maryn, Kassie, Natalie, Kayla, and Hadja before they go and run the 4×100 relay and the open 400m dash. (Madelyn Neutzel)

 

Dallastown sprint coach Brady Altland as he makes his rounds to make sure his athletes are warmed up in order to have a successful race. (Madelyn Neutzel)

 

The first race of the night, the girl’s 100m hurdles. This race kicked the night off with a bang. (Madelyn Neutzel)

 

“

I’m happy that I get to be a part of such a fun event

— Olivia Brenneman

 

Results of the Ray Geesey Invitational can be found here.