‘Rust free’: Upper St. Clair star sprinter Dani Prunzik fights through discomfort to race to fast start to senior season

Upper St. Clair hosts a “rust buster” meet each year, an early season event in which athletes aim to do just what the name indicates — bust off the rust.

Dani Prunzik must have gotten confused about that this year, though. For one of the top sprinters in the state, there was no rust to bust. Instead, Prunzik busted a personal record in her top race, a feat she hopes will propel her to a giant senior season.

Prunzik is a senior at Upper St. Clair and a two-time defending WPIAL Class 3A 100-meter champion who placed second at last year’s PIAA championships. The time of 12.05 seconds Prunzik sprinted to in that state meet had been a career best, but that changed March 25 when she blazed to an 11.96 at Upper St. Clair’s Rust Buster Invitational. Prunzik followed up one excellent performance with another when she ran 12.18 to win the title at this past Saturday’s South Hills Classic.

“It definitely gave me a confidence boost, especially since indoor season I was kind of struggling with my foot injury,” said Prunzik, a Penn State recruit. “I was kind of doing some indoor meets and kind of not. Obviously I didn’t give up. To be where I’m at right now, I feel pretty confident.”

That’s right, Prunzik’s career-best time, which according to PA MileSplit is the fastest in the state this season, was accomplished despite Prunzik calling herself less than 100%. Prunzik has fought some adversity since claiming two medals (second in the 100, fifth in the 200) at last year’s PIAA championships. Prunzik said she began experiencing soreness in her right foot when she started practicing with her summer team. After trying to fight through the pain for a few weeks, Prunzik was diagnosed with having a stress reaction, which forced her to be in a cast for eight weeks and prevented her from participating in any national meets that summer.

“I was on crutches the whole time. It stunk,” Prunzik said.

Prunzik returned for senior indoor season, and while she claimed titles at a few meets, she said her times weren’t as good as they were her junior season. She was still good enough to place sixth in the 60-meter dash at the PTFCA Indoor Championships at Penn State. Even now, Prunzik said she is still fighting tendinitis and is doing lots of rehab work in hopes of soon returning to top form.

Prunzik, who said she would like to hit 11.7 or 11.8 this season, has a chance to three-peat in the 100 at the WPIAL Class 3A championships, a feat that has not been accomplished since Laurel Highlands’ Breehana Jacobs won four consecutive titles from 2004-07. Another goal of Prunzik’s is to “double” in the sprints at WPIAL’s for the first time. She finished third in the 200 as a sophomore and was second last season. Her PR in that event is 24.76. Defending champion Abby Huey of Indiana is also back this year. Huey is a Georgetown recruit. Prunzik winning a PIAA title in either race won’t be an easy task as Campbell is the defending champion in both events and is considered one of the top sprinters in the country. Her personal best in the 100 is 11.24.

Unlike last season, Prunzik isn’t running to try to impress any colleges that are recruiting her. She signed with Penn State in November, picking the Nittany Lions over Tulane, Maryland and Richmond. But that doesn’t mean she’s running carefree.

“I feel more relieved because I know if I run a bad time, it’s not the end of the world, where last year I was stressing over every meet,” Prunzik recalls. “But now that I’ve signed, I feel like I’m bonded with Penn State, and I want to show them that I’ve gotten better.”

Prunzik is the star of what looks to be a strong group of sprinters at Upper St. Clair. Panthers runners took three of the first four spots in the 100 at the South Hills Classic, with Prunzik placing first, freshman Sadie Tomczyk second and sophomore Noor El Nokali fourth.

Joining Prunzik on the team this season is her brother, Justin, a freshman who big sister said is competing in the 400 and high jump.

This could be a big senior season for Prunzik, who hopes to put the injury woes behind her and return to top form in the very near future. As she does, there could be another return, too — the return of the knee-high compression socks that have sort of been Prunzik’s trademark the past few seasons.

“I haven’t been wearing them, but I might bring them back,” Prunzik said, laughing. “I mainly wore them because I had shin splints and I didn’t want them to come back.”

Prunzik appears to be back, though, and that’s a great thing for Upper St. Clair and WPIAL track and field.