SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — Jonah Montagnese winning a PIAA Class 2A title in the 1,600-meter run Friday was as easy as 1-2-3.
Or should that be 3-2-1?
Montagnese sat in third place with 800 meters left and was second with 400 meters to go, but by the time he crossed the finish line he was first.
This golden sophomore from Quaker Valley had to pass up a pair of talented seniors from the WPIAL to do it, too.
In one of the most exciting finishes from Day 1 of the 100th PIAA track and field championships, Montagnese stormed past Freeport’s Michael Braun with two laps to go and then moved in front of Mohawk’s Jaxon Schoedel in the final stretch to capture the title at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium. Montagnese finished in 4:11.06, Schoedel in 4:11.47 and Braun in 4:11.97. It was the same top three finishers as the WPIAL championships a week earlier, only in a different order. In that race, Schoedel was first, Braun second and Montagnese third.
“I didn’t think it was going to happen,” said Montagnese, whose time was a career best. “If you had told me in November that I would end up a state champion, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. But I trust my coaches, my training, and was able to push me through and gave me the best chance I could.”
Montagnese’s final split was 1:01.19. He said he surged in front of Schoedel, last year’s PIAA Class 2A 3,200 champion, with about 200 meters to go, only to see Schoedel catch back up to him. But Montagnese pushed ahead again with about 50 meters left and this time was able to hang on.
“I just gritted my teeth. My legs were burning. My arms were burning. But I was able to edge him out a little bit. And I didn’t think it was going to happen, to be honest,” Montagnese said.
Montagnese also placed in the 800, 3,200 and 3,200 relay at WPIAL’s, and will compete in all three of those events Saturday. That 3,200 relay team, which includes Jackson Pethel, River Capek and Clark LaLomia, won a WPIAL title.
Just before running the 1,600, Montagnese stood on the infield cheering on sisters Cecilia and Lucy, who ran in the final of the Class 2A girls 1,600.
“I was able to cheer them both on,” he said. “It was pretty encouraging to watch them both. Just really setting the tone of what the race was going to be like for me. I’m just happy that I was able to be out here supporting them and get the front row seat on the field.”
A front row seat to watch his sister win a silver medal. Cecilia Montagnese, a senior, finished second after running a personal-best time. Lucy, a freshman, was 21st.
“She got second, so I’ll be able to show off a little bit with the gold,” Jonah said, “but she’ll win something else, I’m sure.”
Nadarevic wins nail-biter
A teen who lived in Bosnia-Herzegovina until he was 10 years old won his first PIAA title Friday. And while Gateway senior Dino Nadarevic has literally come a long way, his win in the Class 3A shot put came by the shortest of margins.
Only 1¼ inches separated the top three finishers in the event. Nadarevic won with a top mark of 58-8½, while Grove City junior DeLathian Barnes was second (58-7½) and Central Valley senior Tyler Ondrusek third (58-7¼).
“The closest competition I’ve been a part of. Very close. Very competitive,” Nadarevic said.
Through the first four of six attempts, Nadarevic owned the top mark of 57-7¼. He then upped that just a little bit in his fifth throw when he went 58-8½. And it’s a good thing he did considering Barnes cranked out his 58-7½ on his final throw.
“It feels amazing,” said Nadarevic, a Duquesne recruit. “I’ve worked very hard for this moment and I’m just enjoying the victory.”
As for celebrating, Nadarevic plans on holding off on that until Saturday after he competes in the discus, where he is the top seed just as he was in the shot put. Nadarevic won WPIAL titles in both events.
Qualk a state champ
Heading into his final jump, California senior Lee Qualk sat in second place in the Class 2A long jump. It turned out Qualk was just saving his best for last. Qualk’s big final leap allowed him to soar into the record books as the first California boy to win a PIAA title.
Qualk’s winning jump of 22 feet, 10½ inches was enough to edge runner-up Jackson Sotosky, a senior from Conemaugh Township who finished second (22-9¼).
“My mindset was to just take it easy because my last two jumps in the final, they weren’t as good. They were actually my two worst jumps of the day,” Qualk said. “I was thinking I had to try something different. Just take it easy and lay back as far as I can without thinking too much about it.”
It was a huge bounce back for Qualk, who placed 19th in the event last year. Qualk’s strong senior season also saw him win a second straight WPIAL title while also setting a PR (23-5½) in winning the Baldwin Invitational.
“I really wanted to take home gold today. That was the goal,” he said. “From all the way back to when I hit 23 feet at Baldwin, my goal was to come to states and win it all. So it really means a lot to me.”
Qualk doubles as a football star who was one of the most productive running backs in the WPIAL last season when he led the district in rushing during the regular season and finished with 2,145 yards and 36 touchdowns overall. Qualk hopes to compete in track and field in college, saying Penn State and Michigan continue to show interest.
Ligonier Valley’s JJ gets the W
John Jablunovsky is happy history didn’t repeat itself.
A senior at Ligonier Valley, Jablunovsky was the runner-up in the Class 2A high jump at the WPIAL championships his junior year before struggling at the PIAA championships, where he finished 16th. And while Jablunovsky once again was the runner-up at WPIAL’s last week, his PIAA experience came with a much happier finish — a PR and a title.
Jablunovsky used a career-best jump of 6-6 to claim gold. He previously had not jumped higher than 6-4 all season. Kyleal Cottrell, a junior from Bristol, was second with a top jump of 6-5.
“It feels great, especially with how my year went last year,” Jablunovsky said. “Coming in after placing second at districts, that definitely pissed me off a little bit. And then coming to states and not doing great, placing 16th, that definitely set my mind straight and made me want to work harder for this year.”
Like Qualk, Jablunovsky was a 1,000-yard running back in football last season, leading Ligonier Valley with 1,243 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns.
Fort Chery DQ’d
A disqualification in preliminaries cost Fort Cherry’s 400 relay team a shot at repeating as Class 2A champions.
Fort Cherry owned a large lead as the final lap neared, but in what was a case of terrible luck, the tape that marks the beginning and ending of the exchange zone blew away in Fort Cherry’s lane. That forced the team’s anchor, junior Matt Sieg, to basically guess as to where he should take the baton. He guessed wrong, and the team was disqualified.
“We got DQ’ed,” Sieg said. “All of our tape blew away and we had to guess. Got out a little too early and missed the zone.”
Sieg said his team told an official about what happened, but were told, “it’s been happening all day.” It was a disappointing end for a team that won a WPIAL title just a week earlier. Sieg was joined on it by Joey Barna, Shane Cornali and Eli Salvini. Sieg and Cornali both ran on the team that won state gold a season ago.
“It’s crushing. We wanted to come home with another title,” said Sieg, a Penn State football commit who said he will not run track his senior year, meaning Friday’s race was his last.
Scoop comes up short
The fastest kid in the WPIAL was hoping to become the fastest kid in the state this weekend. Unfortunately for Woodland Hills junior Scoop Smith, he won’t get the opportunity to run in the final of the Class 3A 100 after failing to advance out of Friday’s preliminaries.
Smith, who ran a 10.72 last week to win his second consecutive WPIAL title, finished third in his preliminary heat after running a time of 10.95. That put him at No. 15 overall, with the top eight qualifiers moving onto the final.
Could this have been Smith’s final track meet? Quite possibly. Smith will play college football and has said he could be an early enrollee at whichever school he chooses, meaning he would miss his senior track season.
New Castle senior Kaevon Gardner had better luck Friday. He placed second in the Class 3A 100 preliminaries courtesy of a time of 10.71. Only State College senior Jesse Myers (10.65) ran faster. No WPIAL runner advanced to the final of the Class 3A 200.
Neighborhood Academy senior DeJuan Croumbles-Booker and Beth-Center junior Deakyn DeHoet both qualified for the Class 2A 100 final. Croumbles-Booker, the WPIAL champion, ran the No. 3 qualifying time (11.05) and DeHoet was sixth (11.14). And in the 200, Greensburg Central Catholic junior Jerry Davis and Beaver senior Amari Jackson moved onto the final. Davis was No. 7 in qualifiers (22.86) and Jackson was eighth (22.95).
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.