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‘Perfect Culmination’

Wolfpack’s Swan Caps Career With 2nd In Pentathlon

By Christian Storms 4 min read

Clymer/Sherman/Panama's Leighanne Swan left the Section VI Track and Field Championships her junior year coming up just five points shy of qualifying for the state meet in the pentathlon. That disappointment she felt served as fuel for her senior campaign.

In her final season with the Wolfpack, Swan set lofty goals for herself and by the end of the year she accomplished every single one of them.

Improving every day since last season, Swan found herself on the podium earlier this month in not only the New York State Public High School Athletic Association meet, but also as a Federation medalist. In the pentathlon, Swan scored 3,005 points -- surpassing her goal of 3,000 -- to earn a second-place finish in Division 2 at the NYSPHSAA Championships at Middletown High School. Her score also landed her sixth place overall in the Federation meet.

"The perfect culmination for her career," Clymer/Sherman/Panama track and field coach Pam Warner said. "All the goals she set for herself she achieved. She wanted to finish her career with a medal and that goal turned into wanting to earn a Federation medal. She can say she did everything she wanted to do. She's walking out of the program extremely successful."

At the state meet, Swan recorded a personal best in three of her five events, including the 800 meters, where a half-second cost her a trip to states last season. She ran 2:31.83 in the 800 meters to claim fourth place in Division 2 and ninth overall.

In the shot put, her toss of 29 feet, 2.5 inches of 5 feet, 1 3/4 inches earned her a tie for second in Division 2 and fourth overall thanks to a third personal record.

Then, in the 100-meter hurdles, she ran a time of 15.94 for second in Division 2 and ninth overall; and, in the long jump, she posted a distance of 15-1 1/4, which was good for ninth in Division 2 and 18th overall.

"She was performing at the top of her game," Warner added. "Sectionals she PR'd in four out of five events. It played out where we thought she could finish. She had a great race in hurdles at the Class D meet where she set the program record."

That constant improvement right to the end of the season is the product of Swan's hard work and had been nothing new all year. On top of coaching from Warner and Wolfpack coach Ray Shroud, other experts were brought in to help Swan become her very best.

"She's putting work in all year," Warner said. "She's working out over the summer and runs cross country. Ray does a fantastic time scheduling our pentathlon athletes. We took her to a certain point and we reached out to bring in a variety of experts in. A lady came in and worked out with her on hurdles, sent her to work in shot put, fine tuning of her mechanics."

Swan's success continues the tradition of Wolfpack performance at the state level in the pentathlon and, thanks to her, there will likely be more to follow in her footsteps.

"The program has sent four different pentathletes to the state meet and they all have earned a medal," Warner said about the program's success. "We've been fortunate to have athletes come through the program, Leighanne is carrying on a good tradition and she has some big shoes to fill, and it's only a matter of time to find the next athlete to carry that on. She worked with the younger athletes and is their biggest supporter and cheerleader."

While her high school career came to an end at Middletown High School with a state and Federation medal, Swan's career will pick right back up at Slippery Rock University next year where she will compete in the heptathlon.

"I don't know if competing at the college level at the beginning she thought was possible," Warner said about Swan. "But after sectionals last year she thought it was a possibility. She visited Slippery Rock and she's going to fit in just fine. Moving into the next level she'll learn two more events, the 200 meters which won't be anything different, but she's excited to learn the javelin."

Swan capped off her senior season accomplishing all of the goals she set out for, claiming a state and Federation medal in the pentathlon. For all of these reasons, she is The Post-Journal/OBSERVER Female Track & Field Athlete of the Year for 2023.

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