The PIAA track and field championships will turn 100 this weekend.
And while Quaker Valley doesn’t literally have 100 athletes in pole position to capture titles, it certainly feels that way.
Quaker Valley is one of the many WPIAL schools that will compete in the 100th edition of the championships to be held Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University, which has hosted the meet since 1976.
The Quaker Valley boys and girls won WPIAL Class 2A championships in lopsided fashion earlier this month, and the talent on those teams is reflected by the number of athletes that have earned No. 1 seeds at the PIAA championships. Quaker Valley athletes are seeded first in six events, three more than any other school in either classification.
Quaker Valley boys occupy the No. 1 spot in four events and the girls two. Davin Gartley (110-meter hurdles) and Clark LaLomia (800) are seeded first on the boys side, as are the 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams. For the girls, Cecilia Montagnese (1,600) and Mimi Thiero (high jump) both earned top seeds.
In all, seven boys and nine girls from Quaker Valley qualified in individual events. The other boys were James Irwin (400), Jonah Montagnese (800, 1,600, 3,200), Jackson Pethel (800), Xander Vescio (110 hurdles) and Winston Clifford (high jump). Gartley will also compete in the 300 hurdles. Cecilia Montagnese also qualified in the 800 and 3,200. Joining her and Thiero as girls qualifiers are Kwilai Karto (100, 200), Lucy Montagnese (1,600, 3,200), Evie Rosselli (100 hurdles, pole vault), Rose Pocasangre (300 hurdles), Vanessa Pickett (long jump), Jay Olawaiye (triple jump) and Sarah Minard (pole vault). The girls’ 400 relay team qualified, as well.
Of course, simply being the No. 1 seed doesn’t guarantee a title. While Quaker Valley athletes earned nine gold medals at the WPIAL championships, none has captured a PIAA gold medal since Nora Johns captured back-to-back titles in the Class 2A 300 hurdles in 2021 and 2022. Quaker Valley won its last PIAA gold on the boys side when L.J. Westwood took home the 800 title and the Quakers claimed the 3,200 relay title in 2012.
Other WPIAL No. 1’s
Gateway’s Dino Nadarevic might be the first Bosnian-born athlete to win a WPIAL track and field title, but he’s definitely the only WPIAL Class 3A athlete to earn a No. 1 seed. Nadarevic is the top seed in both the shot put and discus. No Class 3A girl from the district is seeded first in any event.
Jaxon Schoedel of Mohawk is the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A 1,600 and 3,200. He’s the defending champion in the 3,200. Also in Class 2A boys, Greensburg Central Catholic’s Jerry Davis is seeded first in the 400 and Brentwood’s Daysaun Spencer is first in the triple jump.
In Class 2A girls, Laurel’s Tori Atkins owns the top time in the 400. Eden Christian’s Lara DeFazio (long jump) and Winchester Thurston’s Alexis Bansah (triple jump) earned No. 1 seeds, as did North Catholic’s 400 relay team.
Mazzoni to be pushed
No WPIAL athlete has performed as well on the national level as Derry’s Sophia Mazzoni, a three-time WPIAL javelin champ who won a national title in the event last summer. An Auburn recruit, Mazzoni claimed the PIAA Class 2A javelin title a season ago, but repeating as state champion won’t be easy now that Derry is competing in Class 3A.
Mazzoni, a senior, enters her final meet wearing a Derry uniform as the No. 3 seed in the Class 3A javelin. Her winning throw of 156 feet at the WPIAL championships placed Mazzoni just behind District 11 champion Makayla Keck of Blue Mountain (162-8) and District 1 champion Ava Flicker of Perkiomen Valley (158-9). Knoch’s Karlee Buterbaugh (148-9) is fourth.
Mazzoni had a winning throw of 161-10 at last year’s PIAA championships, which is a personal record. Only two girls in WPIAL history have thrown farther. Her best this season was the 160-10 she threw to win the Butler Invitational. Keck’s career best is 162-8 and Flicker’s is 164-5, so someone hitting a big PR might make all the difference when the event is contested Saturday.
Quick study
Beaver’s Brady Mayo is known best athletically for his success in basketball and football. Mayo never won any district or state titles in those sports, but he could win one in the sport he decided to add to his to-do list his senior year.
Mayo, the second-leading scorer in WPIAL basketball last season, is the No. 3 seed in the Class 2A 400, this after finishing as the runner-up to Davis at the WPIAL championships. Davis is the No. 1 seed (48.32), while West Catholic’s Shymir Bevins is No. 2 (48.85).
Mayo ran a 49.16 at the WPIAL championships, smashing his previous career best by more than a second. Mayo ran some his freshman season but focused on baseball each spring before giving up the sport this season. Mayo will play basketball at Slippery Rock after previously committing to Bucknell for football.
Returning champs
Of the 10 WPIAL athletes to win titles in individual events last year, only three are back to try to defend titles. They are Schoedel (Class 2A boys 3,200), Mazzoni (Class 3A girls javelin) and Atkins (Class 2A girls 400). Also returning are the Fort Cherry boys 400 relay team that won Class 2A gold last year. The Rangers are the No. 2 seed.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.