WPIAL track and field season preview

Sophia Mazzoni is a dog lover.

Mazzoni and her family have two as pets — a cane corso named Bruno and a boxer named Luca — but her affection for canines extends beyond her home, with Mazzoni working part time at a nearby business that provides grooming, boarding and day care services for pooches.

“It’s honestly the best job,” said Mazzoni, a senior at Derry Area High School.

Mazzoni doubles as a track and field standout whose job in that sport is to throw a spear with a sharp tip as far as she can. And while her fondness for dogs is unquestioned, when it comes to javelin throwers, Mazzoni is no underdog story. Already one of the top throwers in WPIAL history, Mazzoni will hunt more personal records and titles this season all while her competition continues to hunt her.

“I kind of like people chasing me,” Mazzoni said. “I like the feeling of me going against myself. At a lot of these meets, I was up there pretty good with some of my throws. If it was an invitational, it was just me up there just trying to break my own numbers.”

Mazzoni is a focused and confident teenager who enters the season as one of the most accomplished athletes in the WPIAL. An outstanding junior season saw Mazzoni win WPIAL, PIAA and national titles, with just about all of her many wins coming by wide margins. Mazzoni is one of only three WPIAL girls this century to throw the javelin more than 160 feet, with her top throw of 161 feet, 10 inches at last year’s PIAA Class 2A championships ranking her fourth all time in district history, according to historian Jim Faiella.

But before she heads off to compete in the Southeastern Conference, this Auburn recruit is aiming for even bigger marks this season. And if Mazzoni has her way, she will be among the top two throwers in WPIAL history by season’s end. The only girls to throw farther are Connellsville’s Madison Wiltrout (185-8 in 2015), Knoch’s Jenny Crouch (165-9 in 1989) and Elizabeth Forward’s Tori Paterra (162-9 in 2010).

“My goal is to get 180. If I did, I don’t even know what I’d do. That would be crazy,” Mazzoni said.

Wiltrout’s throw of 185-8 at a WPIAL championship qualifier 10 years ago is not just the WPIAL standard but also the national standard. That throw stands as the top mark in the history of U.S. high school track and field. Wiltrout went on to win three ACC titles at North Carolina, and last year finished third at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Mazzoni said she followed Wiltrout’s journey the past few years and rooted her on from afar at the Olympic Trials. While reaching 180 is Mazzoni’s goal this season, she can’t help but dream of besting Wiltrout’s historic mark, too.

“That’s a big number,” Mazzoni said. “That’s a big jump. I’m not going to say I can’t do it because that’s what I’m hoping to do.”

Mazzoni’s No. 1 sport had been softball before giving it up following a freshman track season that saw her finish third in the javelin at the WPIAL championships. She would go on to win WPIAL titles her sophomore and junior seasons, with last year’s PIAA title being her first. She topped the field at last year’s WPIAL championships by 33 feet and her competition at the PIAA championships by 22 feet. When Mazzoni became the first WPIAL thrower since Wiltrout to win a javelin title at New Balance Nationals last June, her closest competitor finished 16 feet behind.

Derry moves from Class 2A to Class 3A this season, so Mazzoni should be pushed a bit harder this spring. But still, last year’s PIAA Class 3A champion threw 152-4, nearly 10 feet less than Mazzoni’s winning throw at the Class 2A meet.

Mazzoni said that Derry throws coach Dave McNichol has provided her with some new workouts this year, ones that are trying to bring Mazzoni more flexibility, mobility and speed. Mazzoni began her junior season with a bang when she fired off a then-career best throw of 156-10 in a season-opening meet, and she now hopes to get her senior season off to a fast start, as well.

Said Mazzoni, “I’m ready for the warm weather to kick in and ready to go on the runway.”

Sprints

The WPIAL is not short on standout sprinters this season. One of them is even shooting for a historic “quadruple-double.” Laurel senior Tori Atkins is the three-time defending WPIAL Class 2A champion in both the 200- and 400-meter dashes. A Youngstown State recruit, Atkins will now try to four-peat in both events. She’s also the reigning PIAA champ in the 400, an event in which she owns the fourth-fastest time in WPIAL history. Winchester Thurston junior Monroe Law and Upper St. Clair junior Sadie Tomczyk should have some great duels in the 100 and 200. Law was the runner-up in the 100 at the PIAA Class 2A championships. A pair of former WPIAL Class 3A 100-meter champs headline the boys sprinters. New Castle senior Kaevon Gardner won the title in 2023 and Woodland Hills junior Scoop Smith claimed it last season. Also back is Neighborhood Academy senior DeJuan Croumbles, the defending WPIAL Class 2A champion in the 100. Two top sprinters transferred to IMG Academy in Florida — Canon-McMillan jack-of-all-trades Colton Dean and North Allegheny’s Mackenzie Winning.

Distance

When it comes to terrific distance runners, the WPIAL has been absolutely spoiled in recent years, with the likes of Butler’s Drew Griffith (now at Notre Dame), Moon’s Mia Cochran (Arkansas), Brownsville’s Jolena Quarzo (N.C. State) and Mt. Lebanon’s Logan St. John Kletter (North Carolina) — just to name a few — making huge impacts at not just the local and state level but also nationally. So, who’s up next? Among those carrying the WPIAL’s distance torch is North Allegheny senior Jack Bertram, a Notre Dame recruit who finished in the top five in the Class 3A 1,600 and 3,200 at both the WPIAL and PIAA championships. Bertram enters the season in great form, having won the 3,000 at the PTFCA indoor state championships. Mohawk senior Jaxon Schoedel is the defending WPIAL Class 2A champ in the 1,600 and 3,200. A Penn State recruit, Schoedel won a PIAA title in the 3,200, and has also won two PIAA cross country titles in his career. A few others to watch are North Hills senior Kayden Lightner, Freeport senior Michael Braun, West Allegheny junior Grace Fritzman and North Allegheny senior Wren Kucler.

Hurdles

As defending WPIAL champions, Quaker Valley senior Davin Gartley (Class 2A boys 110 hurdles) and Mohawk senior Ellie Whippo (Class 2A girls 300 hurdles) headline the hurdlers. Gartley went on to finish sixth and Whippo third at the PIAA championships. Gartley was also the WPIAL runner-up in the 300 hurdles. North Hills senior Gamaliel Mogire was the runner-up in the 110 hurdles at the WPIAL Class 3A meet. South Fayette junior Delaney Schumaker will aim for her first WPIAL Class 3A gold medal after placing second in the 300 hurdles her sophomore season and second in the 100 hurdles a season ago.

Jumps

Central Catholic senior Elijah Faulkner and California senior Lee Qualk have two things in common. Both are reigning WPIAL boys long jump champions (Faulkner in Class 3A and Qualk in Class 2A) and both were among the WPIAL’s most productive running backs last season. Qualk ran for 2,145 yards and scored 36 touchdowns, and Faulkner rushed for 1,649 yards and 20 touchdowns while helping Central Catholic to the WPIAL Class 6A title. Faulkner will play football at UMass. Faulkner’s senior teammate in both sports, Penn State football recruit Xxavier Thomas, won the WPIAL Class 3A triple jump title in 2023 before finishing third in the triple jump and long jump a season ago. Indiana senior Stanford Webb finished just one inch behind Faulkner in the long jump. All three WPIAL Class 2A girls champions in the jumping events return — Quaker Valley junior Mia Gartley (high jump), Carlynton senior Clare Ruffing (long jump) and Quaker Valley senior Jay Olawaiye (triple jump). Quaker Valley also features 6-5 junior Mimi Thiero, the third PIAA third-place finisher in the high jump and one of the top basketball players in the WPIAL. Also keep an eye on Trinity sophomore Ella Sammel, the runner-up in the PIAA Class 3A high jump as just a freshman last season.

Throws

A quartet of top javelin throwers have repeats on their minds, as all four of last year’s WPIAL champions are back — Penn-Trafford senior Logan Kerstetter (Class 3A boys), South Side senior Mateja Pavlovich (Class 2A boys), Canon-McMillan senior Abby Tucker (Class 3A girls) and Mazzoni (Class 2A girls). Kerstetter is an Edinboro recruit and Tucker a West Virginia volleyball recruit. A deep group of Class 3A boys javelin throwers also includes Pine-Richland senior Ryan Beam, Mt. Lebanon junior Patrick Smith and Peters Township junior Reston Lehman. The Shenango girls have quite a few excellent throwers, among them a pair of defending WPIAL Class 2A champions. Senior Rachel Callahan won the discus and sophomore Anna McKinley the shot put. Junior teammate Zoe Bupp placed in the top four in both events, and last month won the shot put at the PTFCA indoor state championships. This sets up to be a big season for Gateway senior Dino Nadarevic, who was second in the shot put at indoor states after placing fourth in the shot put and fifth in the discus at last year’s WPIAL Class 3A meet.

Pole vault

A trio of WPIAL pole vault champions is back to try to win back-to-back titles. They include Trinity senior Zach Noble (Class 3A boys), Butler senior Aubrey Rock (Class 3A girls) and Freeport sophomore Mackenzie Magness (Class 2A girls). Lindsay Breneman, a junior at North Allegheny, was the runner-up to Rock at the Class 3A meet. Pine-Richland senior Jake Jones finished fifth at both the WPIAL Class 3A championships and at the PTFCA indoor state championships.