Indoor Track & Field - Girls - Varsity

A nationally renowned school. A culture of academic success. A rich track and field tradition. A place to define yourself as a person and as an athlete.

A history of excellence:

18 Olympians who have earned nine medals (seven of them gold), including legends Ted Meredith ’12, Bill Carr ’29, and Charlie Moore ’47.
15 members enshrined in the Olympic, United States, and Pennsylvania Track and Field Halls of Fame.
Penn Relays: 11 Championships of America, seven records, three teams inducted in the Wall of Fame.

Contemporary success:

2012: girls’ outdoor team is PAISAA state runners-up and MAPL runners-up; double league and state champions in the boys’ and girls’ pole vault, state champions in girls’ javelin and discus and boys’ discus.
Six top-two finishes in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League in the last five years; numerous MAPL individual championships; 2011 and 2012 Independent-Parochial School League champions.
2005 girls’ outdoor PAISAA state team champions

Over the last several years, Mercersburg athletes have gone on to compete on the collegiate level at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Davidson, Emory, Penn, Army, Navy, Air Force, St. Joseph’s, Valparaiso, and Nebraska.

Most of the coaching staff overlaps from one season to the next; assistants include former Division I athletes and veteran coaches in almost every track & field event.

The current schedule features high-level competitions at premier high school and college venues, as well as the Penn Relays.

Track & field athletes train and compete in the state-of-the-art Hale Field House.

David Grady

Mathematics Faculty, Head Cross Country/Indoor Track & Field Coach

Bio

Prior to coming to Mercersburg, David taught math and computer science for five years in public schools and was an instructional designer for an aerospace company for one year. David served as Mercersburg's director of educational technologies for four years before returning to the classroom full time. He enjoys incorporating technology in meaningful ways into the mathematics classroom. David lived in Main Hall for 18 years as a residential faculty member; he finds working with students in the residential setting particularly fulfilling. He is also Mercersburg's head indoor track & field coach and head coach of the boys' cross country team, and previously served as head coach of the school's outdoor track & field teams. David and his wife, Hope, stay busy with their four children: Christopher '16, Sarah '22, Mary, and Dominic. They are also involved in spreading awareness about childhood cancer, having lost their daughter, Lauren, to brain cancer.

Ellie De Leon

Science Faculty

Bio

Ellie De Leon officially joined the faculty and the science department in 2020, though she has been a member of the community and assistant girls’ cross country coach since 2018. Ellie now serves as an assistant boys’ cross country coach, assistant track & field coach, and an adviser and dorm faculty member in Fowle Hall. Prior to Mercersburg, Ellie taught middle school science and coached cross country as well as track and field at the Barnesville School of Arts and Sciences in Maryland. Ellie earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Mount Holyoke College and a master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ellie lives off campus with her partner, Leela Woody, who is a faculty member in the English department.

Rob Lee

indoor Track & Field Assistant Coach

Bio

Betsy Cunningham

Peer Group Leadership Program and Head Girls’ Cross Country Coach

Bio

Betsy Cunningham has been head coach of the girls' cross country team since 2005, and also works with Mercersburg's Peer Group program. She previously taught mathematics and science and spent eight years as a dormitory dean in South Cottage and Culbertson House on campus. As a student, Betsy ran for 12 consecutive seasons at Colgate University and was the first female cross country and track inductee into Colgate's Hall of Honor in 2003. She was also part of the All-Decade Patriot League Cross Country Team for her first-place finish at the league championships in 1995. She was a six-season captain of Colgate's cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field teams, and then went on to run professionally for the Mountain West Track Club. Before coming to Mercersburg, Betsy coached both a middle school cross country team and a junior club team in Missoula, Mont. In 2007, she was named the Pennsylvania State Independent School Cross Country Coach of the Year.

Christian Bancroft

English Faculty and Dormitory Dean

Bio

Christian Bancroft, a faculty member in the English department, most recently was an English instructor at Temple University in Philadelphia, as well as an English teacher at STEMCivics, a charter school located in Ewing, N.J. He has 10 years of teaching experience. Christian graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor of arts in English and creative writing. He has a master's in creative writing from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in English language and literature from the University of Houston.

Skip Sydnor

Director of Campus Safety

Bio

Skip Sydnor is the school's director of campus safety. He joined the Academy in 2005. Sydnor graduated from West Chester State College with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education. He previously worked for 26 years for the Pennsylvania State Police (10 years in the patrol unit and 16 years in the criminal investigation unit). He is an assistant track & field coach; his daughter, Kiersten '12, and nephew, Brice '15, both graduated from Mercersburg.

David Holzwarth

Science Faculty

Bio

David Holzwarth graduated from Mercersburg in 1978 and began teaching at the school in 1990. At Mercersburg, Dave applies his background in mechanical engineering to the physics classroom. In addition to helping develop the lab-based course curriculum of Mercersburg's physics courses, he has also worked to incorporate the study of astronomy into the classroom. He designed the school's Class of '38 Observatory, which is equipped with three high-precision telescopes. Dave continues to serve as a computer interface consultant with PASCO Scientific by leading technology workshops for teachers across the country. At Mercersburg, Dave has coached football and track & field, and in 1994, he established a varsity ski team. He is a USSA Alpine coach and certified referee and continues to train and compete in track as a USTFA Masters athlete. Dave and his wife, fellow faculty member Allison Stephens, have two children: Wynn Holzwarth '11 and Zack Holzwarth '13.

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