by Ed Weaver - July 30, 2020

On Tuesday, July 28, Wellsboro senior Silas Wagaman signed his National Letter of Intent to continue his track & field career as a Bloomsburg Husky.

Wagaman initially chose Penn State, but with COVID-19 he reversed course.

“I wanted to run track at PSU but to do so I’d have to do (their) club (team) and be successful there to go to the team and it was kind of a harder opportunity that wasn’t guaranteed. Bloomsburg it’s guaranteed so I can start right now and do my things immediately, so that’s what I switched as well.”

In addition to being only a handful of sprinters joining the Huskies for the 2020-21 season, Wagaman found many aspects of the campus appealing.

“It’s a nice campus,” he commented. “It’s not too big. It’s perfect. You can get around within walking distance, take the bus if you need to. It’s just beautiful, a lot of nice facilities there.”

Wagaman was also able to meet and correspond with his new coaches electronically.

“I got to do a Zoom call with the coach, that was pretty cool and he’s a nice guy. So is the assistant coach. They’re very personal. You can relate to them and they care about you.”

Wagaman is also considering playing football for the Huskies. Perhaps not this season but later down the road.

“I’m going to see how it goes,” he said. “A lot of people don’t recommend doing two sports in your freshman year. It’s pretty difficult but I love the game and you play as long as you can, it’s pretty much a high school thing and then done but if you can play in college you’re lucky. So I’m going to try and see as long as I can play.”

Following football season, and before his spring season was cut short, Wagaman put in a ton of time in the winter working out. Last season the Hornets’ 4x100m team missed out on qualifying for the PIAA State Championship meet by 0.68. So this off season, Wellsboro Strength and Conditioning Coach John DeLeonardis spent countless hours with Wagaman, and the rest of Wellsboro’s sprinters and possible 4x100m relay runners, on timing and hand offs.

“The biggest thing with Silas was his determination,” DeLeonardis said. “We had him on a lifting program and we were seeing definite increases. We put together a group of guys for the 4×100 relay and were working hand offs at least one day a week and they were lifting at least three days a week. We went to Cornell University and practiced on their indoor track. The determination and dedication were just fantastic. You couldn’t ask for anybody that worked harder than he did. I think he’ll do extremely well at Bloomsburg, I really do.”

Wagaman started the 2019 season running 11.73 in the 100m and whittled it down to an 11.55 in the finals round of the PIAA District IV Championships. This off season Wagaman recorded a time of 7.02 in the 60m at Cornell.

Wellsboro Girls Track head coach Liz Hoover also added, “Silas is an extremely hard-working athlete. His work ethic last year contributed to a district competition in which he, along with three others, almost made the state competition in the 4x100m relay. Silas leads the team by example. He put in a lot of time in the off-season and it was evident in his district qualifying times. Silas will do well at Bloomsburg University. He will excel academically as well as athletically for the Huskies.”

The Home Page Network would like to congratulate Silas on continuing his academic and athletic career this upcoming season at Bloomsburg.