Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) handed out its first team trophies of the 2024 spring season on Tuesday evening at the WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Girls’ Track & Field Team Championships, held at West Mifflin High School and Confluence Financial Partners Stadium on the campus of Peters Township Middle School. For the third consecutive season, North Allegheny emerged as the Class 3A champion and Quaker Valley captured the Class 2A title.
North Allegheny is up to 14 WPIAL team championships in girls’ track & field, which draws even with Butler for the most all-time. The Tigers previously won in 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2022, and 2023.
Quaker Valley sits third all-time in WPIAL girls’ track & field team titles with its 10th. The Quakers also were champions in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2022, and 2023.
CLASS 3A RECAP
North Allegheny continued its reign of Class 3A in WPIAL girls’ track & field, winning the team title with victories over Norwin (78-72), Mt. Lebanon (81-69), and North Catholic (113-31) at West Mifflin High School. The Tigers won five of the 18 events and collected seven second-place finishes.
North Allegheny (13-0, 6-0 Section III) took an early lead by winning the 4x800-meter relay, crossing the line in 9:24.49. Its only other win in a running event came in the 3,200-meter run, with Erin McGoey and Eva Kynaston placing 1-2 after posting respective times of 11:18.15 and 11:21.31.
The Tigers took the top three positions in the shot put, with Jamie Frisco’s toss of 37-09.00 besting teammates Taylor Neese (35-05.00) and Lauren Burks (33-09.00). North Allegheny also produced winners in the pole vault with Sophia Aglietti (11-00.00) and discus with Audrey Maxwell (113-01.00).
Norwin (10-1, 5-0 Section I) defeated Mt. Lebanon (85-65) and North Catholic (120-30) in dual meets to claim the runner-up spot. The Knights won the most events on the day, with a total of eight first-place finishes.
Melani Schmidt brought home three of Norwin’s event wins, taking the 100-meter dash (12.33), 400-meter dash (57.19), and 200-meter dash (25.12). Brandi Brozeski added a trio of victories in the 100-meter hurdles (15.00), triple jump (36-03.50), and high jump (5-00.25). The Knights also won the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:59.30, and the javelin with Alexis Heller’s toss of 117-04.00.
Mt. Lebanon (9-2, 5-0 Section VI) collected four event wins to defeat North Catholic (116-34), with Logan St. John Kletter taking two of them in the 1,600-meter run (4:46.70) and 800-meter run (2:17.23). The Blue Devils also were victorious in the 4x100-meter relay (50.30) and 300-meter hurdles with Megan Cain (45.78).
North Catholic (7-3, 5-0 Section IV) finished first in the long jump, as Aniela Balog hit a mark of 18-05.75.
CLASS 2A RECAP
Quaker Valley topped the Class 2A quartet in WPIAL girls’ track & field for the third straight year, defeating Fort Cherry (79-71), Knoch (85-65), and Shenango (102-48) at Confluence Financial Partners Stadium on the campus of Peters Township Middle School. The Quakers placed first in eight of the 18 events to keep hold of the title.
Quaker Valley (15-0, 7-0 Section III) won the first three events of the day, with Rose Pocasangre taking her first of two victories in the 100-meter hurdles after clocking in at 16.83 seconds. The Quakers won the 4x800-meter relay (10:02.34) and the 100-meter dash with Kwilai Korto (12.68) for the early lead, with Pocasangre later adding her second triumph in the 300-meter hurdles (49.05).
The Quaker Valley 4x100-meter relay team was victorious with a time of 50.10 seconds. Jay Olawaiye won the triple jump for the Quakers with a leap of 38-01.50, and Mia Gartley took the high jump with a mark of 5-04.00. Evie Rosselli cleared 11-02.00 in the pole vault to share the top spot.
Fort Cherry (12-1, 7-0 Section V) claimed dual meet wins over Knoch (76-74) and Shenango (83-67) to finish as runner-up. The Rangers won four events, with Ava Menzies netting first in the 400-meter dash (1:01.96) and 200-meter dash (26.37). Raney Staub was victorious in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:27.85, and the 4x400-meter relay team crossed the line first in 4:12.64.
Knoch (13-2, 7-0 Section IV) topped Shenango (81-69), thanks in part to four individual wins. The Knights saw Ava Santora sweep the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs with respective times of 5:20.47 and 11:57.19. Karlee Buterbaugh topped the javelin field with a toss of 120-00.00, and Kara Fennell shared the top spot in pole vault by clearing 11-02.00.
Shenango (10-3, 7-0 Section I) won three events on the day. Zoe Bupp was victorious in the shot put (38-01.00) and discus (116-11.00), while Sara Roe bested the field in the long jump (17-09.50).
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