One of the WPIAL’s top long jumpers lives on a farm.
California’s Lee Qualk is surrounded by many animals when he’s at home, but we’re not talking about dogs or cats.
“Tons of chickens and lots of cows,” he said. “It’s primarily a beef farm, but we make a little bit of milk.”
Between school and sports, Qualk doesn’t have as much time to work on the farm as he used to, but that doesn’t mean that he’s void of any responsibilities.
“Every hay season I’m out baling hay,” he said.
And every track season he’s out breaking school records and competing for WPIAL titles.
Such is life for Qualk, a 2,000-yard rusher as a running back in football who is hoping to run it back after claiming gold in the WPIAL Class 2A long jump as a junior a season ago. He’ll compete in the WPIAL championships next Wednesday at Slippery Rock University.
Facing competition from some much larger schools, Qualk soared to a personal record and broke his own school record when he jumped 23 feet, 5½ inches to win the title at last Friday’s Baldwin Invitational.
“I’m incredibly happy,” he said. “I couldn’t be more happy to break my PR by a foot and a half. Last year I PR’d big and broke into the 22’s at this meet. I felt like with this competition I’d be right up there with some of these guys.”
Qualk broke the school record his freshman season and has been rebreaking it ever since. He placed sixth at the WPIAL championships his freshman season and 13th as a sophomore before leaping a then-PR 22-2½ to capture the title his junior season. He’s won titles at every invitational he’s competed in this season, among them the Chartiers-Houston Invitational, Washington-Greene County Championship, and Scott Frederick Mid Mon Track Classic.
Qualk’s best performance yet came at the Baldwin Invitational, and the distance he attained there has him readjusting his goals for this season.
“I was shooting for the 23’s,” he said. “Considering it’s only the [first week of May] and states isn’t for another [two-plus] weeks, I wouldn’t put it past me to shoot for the low 24’s.”
Last year’s PIAA Class 2A champion, Levi Prementine of Slippery Rock had a top jump of 23-0¾ at last year’s championship meet, so it’s safe to say Qualk has put himself in great position as the postseason nears.
Qualk is also an excellent sprinter who has a PR of 11.11 and a season best of 11.23 in the 100-meter dash, an event in which he finished seventh at last year’s WPIAL championships.
In football, Qualk was one of the most productive running backs in the WPIAL last season when he rushed for 2,145 yards and 36 touchdowns in what was his first season as a starter. His 1,967 yards and 212 points in the regular season were more than any WPIAL player.
One might think with those numbers he would be planning on playing football in college, but Qualk has other ambitions.
“I put a lot of thought into football, but I came to the decision that I do not want any business playing football in college,” he said. “I want to pursue track. I’ve talked to Penn State and Michigan, and both are interested in me. Penn State wanted to see my jump in the high 23’s and then look for a spot for me, and Michigan told me to keep them updated.”
Allderdice’s White a hit on the track
Bailey White might be best known athletically for her success in basketball, but this Allderdice junior continues to impress on the track, as well.
White posted one of the top performances by a City League athlete at the Baldwin Invitational when she placed fifth in the 1,600 after running a time of 5:29.16. That came two weeks after White finished second in the race at the Slippery Rock Invitational.
On Saturday, White will try to defend her City League titles in the 800 and 1,600 when the field portion of the championships is held at Oliver High School. White won the City League cross country title last fall.
In basketball, White was named Class 6A third-team all-state and was selected to the PUP all-star team this past season after averaging 22 points per game and leading Allderdice to a second consecutive City League championship.
Three other Allderdice athletes earned top-5 finishes in individual events at the Baldwin Invitational, with senior Will Tew placing third in the 800, junior Eli Coffey finishing third in the 3,200, and senior Allahna Askew placing third in the girls 100 hurdles.
USC’s Kurzawa jumps to huge day
One of the top all-around performances at the Baldwin Invitational was turned in by Upper St. Clair senior Tayla Kurzawa, who used a pair of PR’s to exit the meet with two gold medals and a silver.
Kurzawa won titles in the high jump and triple jump while placing second in the long jump. She soared 5-3 in the high jump, 37-10 in the triple jump and 17-6¼ in the long jump. Her marks in the triple jump and long jumps were career bests, while her high jump mark was just off the PR of 5-4 she set while finishing second at the Butler Invitational.
It’s been a breakout season for Kurzawa, whose PR’s coming into the year were 35-0 in the triple jump, 15-4 in the long jump and 5-1¼ in the high jump. Kurzawa placed fourth in the high jump at last year’s WPIAL Class 3A championships, her best career finish at WPIAL’s to date, but she appears to be a championship contender in all three jumping events this season.
Norwin, Quaker Valley sweep team titles
Norwin and Quaker Valley broke out the brooms and swept titles at Tuesday’s WPIAL team championships. For Norwin, it was a long time coming. And for Quaker Valley, it was a case of deja vu.
The Norwin boys edged out North Allegheny (78-72) and Butler (77-73) to win their first title since 1977, while the Norwin girls beat out a field that included runner-up North Allegheny (83-67) to capture their first title since claiming three straight titles from 2006-2008.
Quaker Valley rolled to lopsided wins in both the boys and girls competitions. It was the second consecutive title for the boys and fourth straight for the girls. It was the 10th championship overall for the girls, who trail only Butler (15) and North Allegheny (13) for most titles all time.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.