Every so often, a transcendent athlete comes through and raises the bar to previously unattainable heights — and we’re not talking about the pole vault.
Already solidified as one of the greatest track stars in WPIAL history, Laurel senior sprinter Tori Atkins polished off her decorated career with a historic afternoon on Wednesday at the WPIAL Class 2A track and field championships at Slippery Rock University. The Youngstown State recruit captured a trio of individual titles in the 100, 200 and 400 meters, then Atkins capped off the event by anchoring the Spartans to a gold medal with an electric final lap in the 1600 relay.
Now a 10-time WPIAL champion, Atkins is the first athlete in WPIAL history to capture four consecutive gold medals in the same two events. Only eight girls had ever won a single event four years in a row.
“It’s special,” Atkins said. “There have been so many good runners before me, so to be the first to do it, it’s a very special feeling.”
After sweeping the 200- and 400-meter titles as a freshman, sophomore and junior, Atkins added her first gold medals in the 100 meters and 1600 relay to go with her 200 and 400 titles on Wednesday. Her personal-best time of 24.20 in the 200 ranks No. 6 in WPIAL history, while her PR of 54.95 in the 400 ranks No. 4 all time.
“Doing it as a freshman, I was very excited to see the next three years,” Atkins said. “I didn’t know if I would be able to do it, because you never know who is coming in. But to be able to do it all three years after my freshman year was very exciting.”
In the 100, Atkins narrowly missed out on a new personal record, finishing in 12.07 to become the official Class 2A sprinting queen. She won the 400 comfortably with a time of 55.35, crossing the finish line more than two seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Atkins then completed her historic quadruple-double with a winning time of 24.60 in the 200.
“I just focus on my race and not really worrying about the people around me,” Atkins said. “I just keep working hard at practice. My coaches are pushing me, my teammates are pushing me, and I just focus on myself.”
As if that weren’t enough, Atkins then put the finishing touches on her remarkable performance with an astounding split of 53.64 on the final leg of the 1600 relay, racing from behind to chase down the leader as the crowd went wild during the home stretch.
After excelling in multiple sports as a freshman and sophomore, Atkins gave up basketball to focus solely on her track and field career — a decision that certainly seems to have paid off. Her oldest sister, Brooke, played college softball at Westminster, and her other sister, Regan, currently plays basketball at Slippery Rock.
Atkins likely could have followed in either of their footsteps if she chose to, but instead, she forged her own path on the track. Now, her name will go down in history as one of the WPIAL’s greatest of all time — but she’s not done yet. The reigning PIAA champion in the 400 meters, Atkins is determined to bring home at least one more state title title next weekend.
Good luck stopping her.
“I’m going to keep pushing hard at practice and see what I have,” Atkins said.
Basketball star Mimi Thiero leaps to first gold medal
Holding more than 50 Division I scholarship offers, Quaker Valley junior Mimi Thiero is widely considered the WPIAL’s most prized girls basketball prospect since former McKeesport legend Swin Cash.
Whatever you do, though, just don’t call Thiero a one-trick pony.
Rather than devoting all her time to basketball in the offseason, the 6-foot-4 phenom keeps herself busy by focusing on track and field during the spring. And after taking home a third-place finish in the high jump at both the WPIAL and PIAA championships last year, Thiero decided to go straight to the top of the charts this time, securing her first WPIAL title with a personal-best jump of 5-8.
“It feels really good. I wasn’t expecting it,” Thiero said. “I [jumped] 5-6 and felt good, then I told my coach I wanted to do 5-8. I went and jumped it and got it on my first try.”
Not only did Thiero claim her first WPIAL gold medal, she also put herself on the short list of favorites to win the state title in the high jump next weekend. Her title-winning jump on Wednesday tied for the sixth-highest mark in WPIAL history.
“I definitely feel like I have what it takes to go compete with the best,” Thiero said. “I feel like I’ve got a better chance [at states] this year. … These past few days, really focusing on high jump and really focusing on my form helped me out.”
Sophomore Alexis Bansah smashes triple jump meet record
Earlier this season, Winchester Thurston sophomore Alexis Bansah made waves when she became only the third girl in WPIAL history to clear 40 feet in the triple jump at the Butler Invitational.
Determined to prove that performance was no fluke, Bansah elevated her personal-best jump by a half-inch on Wednesday, posting a new Class 2A meet record with a jump of 40-2 to blow away the competition for her first WPIAL title.
“I’m trying to get to 41 [feet],” said Bansah, who only started competing in the triple jump in seventh grade. “Getting close to that showed me that I was able to do it, which felt really good. I didn’t think it was possible.”
Last year, Bansah placed seventh in the triple jump and 17th in the long jump while missing out on qualifying for states in the triple jump by just three inches. This time, she qualified in both events, finishing in fourth place in the long jump with a mark of 17-8.75 to go with her triple jump crown.
Prior to Bansah, the only girls in WPIAL history to clear 40 feet were Canon-McMillan’s Rose Kuchera, who jumped 40-9 in 2023, and South Park’s Nikita Lewis, who set a WPIAL record of 41-2.5 in 1998 that still stands to this day. Bansah’s winning jump on Wednesday was more than two-and-a-half feet ahead of her next-closest competitor, ranking as one of the top-50 marks in the nation this year.
“I’m really preparing myself for states,” Bansah said. “I want to be a state champion.”
Other top performers
Doubling up on gold medals in the long-distance events, Quaker Valley senior Cecilia Montagnese dusted the competition with a time of 4:58.55 in the 1600 meters, followed by a title-winning time of 11:02.51 in the 3200. Montagnese won by more than 10 seconds in the 1600 and more than 25 seconds in the 3200. She almost made it a triple, settling for silver in the 800 with a personal-best time of 2:16.62 while Trinity Christian’s Eilidh Edgar won in 2:14.96.
Elsewhere, Freeport sophomore Mackenzie Magness soared to a gold medal in the pole vault with a mark of 12-4 — nearly two feet above the second-place finisher in the event — while making her way onto the podium four times overall. She finished in fifth place in the long jump with a PR of 17-8.75, and her personal-best triple jump of 35-9.25 earned her a seventh-place finish. Magness also helped the Yellowjackets to a fifth-place finish in the 400 relay.
In the discus, Shenango’s Anna McKinley beat out fellow Wildcats sophomore Taylor Bulow with a personal-best throw of 130-2, while Bulow took home silver with a mark of 125-4. McKinley earned silver in the shot put with a throw of 38-2.75, as Laurel junior Alexis Geiwitz cleared the competition with a mark of 41-10. Bulow finished fourth in the event with a throw of 35-1.5. McKinley also took fourth place in the shot put, recording a mark of 120-10, while Fort Cherry junior Sophia Holmes won with a throw of 127 feet.
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
