TSTCA Track & Field Championships (at Edinboro University)
The teams of the Tri State Track and Field Coaches Association lost one of their three regular meets this season due to inclement weather. That should make the TSTCA Champs meet even more important for a good number of western PA's finest athletes looking to grab a coveted state berth.
GIRLS
Molly DeBone of Hempfield (7) will look to improve on her season best 11-9 on Saturday (Photo by Don Rich)
FIELD: Julia Howard of Greensburg Salem has consistently been on top of her game this season. She sits at PA#3 in the triple jump and PA#8 in the long jump, and she'll enter Saturday's meet in Edinboro as the top seed in both jumps. Look for another strong effort out of Howard as she shoots for a couple TSTCA titles. In the long jump Seton-LaSalle's Raja Rutherford and Penn Hills' Jayla Ellis will look to provide a challenge to her. Olivia Rowe of Oakland Catholic (PA#11) will go for the upset in the triple jump.
Molly DeBone of Hempfield (7) returns to Edinboro as the top seed having cleared 11-9 earlier this season. Cassandra Phelan of Laurel Highlands and Nada Buntic of McDowell will look to make it a good compeititon.
The shot put will be a good battle between PA#5 Maura Kimmel of Moniteau and PA#7 Samantha Orie of Hempfield (7). In the high jump, Hempfield's Gina Cuneo will square off with Trinity's Jamie Handra. All in all, the field events are packed with great showdowns.
SPRINTS/HURDLES: In the 60 dash, we'll get a race between four girls who have gone under 8 seconds this season. Rutherford of Seton-LaSalle is the top seed, but Amanda Oliver of South Fayette, Emily Horstman of Butler, and Plum's Ashley Amato will make it a virtual toss up. In the hurdlers, Ellis and Amato will race once again. This will be round three between those two. Amato won round one at TSTCA #2, but Ellis got the win at TSTCA #3. Who will take the TSTCA championship?
Then in the 200, it will be a reprise between the some of the top girls from the 60 dash. Rutherford, Oliver, and Horstman will see each other once more in this race, which should also be close. Central Valley's Maiah Yakello comes in as the top seed in the 400 meter dash.
DISTANCE: The mile will be one of the premiere events of the day, featuring Madeleine Davison. Davison is coming off a great race at Spire where she took control of the race early on a put up a 4:54 1600 meters. After Davison, there's a strong group of runners, including Villa Maria's Claire Brown, Mount Lebanon's Kelsey Potts, and Oakland Catholic's Lauren Finikiotis.
Mount Lebanon's Claire Dougherty enters the TSTCA Champs as the top seed in the 800 (Photo by Phil Grove)
Mount Lebanon's Claire Dougherty comes in as the top seed in the 800. Dougherty has had a solid season already and she'll look to keep it up this weekend. Megan Powell of Hempfield will look to give her a run for her money in the 8.
In the 3000 meters features some top talent as well. Vincentian Academy's Marianne Abdalah, Peters Township's Chloe Grzyb, Eden Christian's Lauren Gronbeck, Greenburg Salem's Riley Kwiatkowski, and North Hills' Ava Pietrzyk are all in the field, as many of these girls look to solidfy a spot in the state meet with a week to go.
BOYS
What does Jordan Geist have in store this weekend? (Photo by Phil Grove)
FIELD: Another weekend, another chance for Jordan Geist to break his own state record. The Knoch junior has been on a tear this season, as you probably already know. Certainly all eyes will be on him as we look to find out just how much farther Geist can throw. Hempfield's Dom Marshall, Saint Marys Area's Tom Bojalad, Knoch's Brennan McTighe, among others surely make this the must watch event of the weekend.
It's been a popular refrain in previews this year, but we'll say it again: McDowell's Caleb Sanford is favored in the pole vault. A fun year is western PA pole vaulting continues this weekend as Sanford takes on Hempfield's Hayden Fox and Adam Gamber. West Mifflin's Micah Watts is the long jump's top seed. McDowell's Matt Kelly will look to give him a run, though.
AJ Byham of Meadville is the heavy favorite in the high jump, coming in with a PR a full eight inches better than the next closest. He went 6-5 last, week, but Byham's 6-8 from the first TSTCA meet is a PA#2. Geoffrey Cohen of Winchester Thurston will be the top seed in the triple jump.
SPRINTS/HURDLES: We'll get another matchup between the states #2 and #3 ranked hurdles, Jace Roundtree of Kiski and Pat Kimball of Mount Lebanon. Meadville's Journey Brown (PA#4) will look to build on a solid season. He'll be challenged by Watts of West Mifflin and Antwan Brooks of Aliquippa.
The 200 meters is a toss up between Cathedral Prep teammates Dominic Frisina and John Orlando. Watts in the third of his three events, looking to break up the Prep party. Frisina and Orlando are also in the 400 meters with Brookville's Ryan Thrush and Hempfield's Brent Zabrosky.
Mike Kolor will battle Penn Trafford's Nick Wagner in what should be a fast 800 at TSTCA Champs (Photo by Phil Grove)
DISTANCE: Mike Kolor's been all around the northeast this indoor season. He's come away with some very solid results against some strong compeititon. But he'll head to Edinboro on Saturday for what should be a great race between him and Penn Trafford's Nick Wagner. In the mile, Eric Kennedy of Kiski and Logan Caruso of Bradford will go head-to-head as the race's two top seeds.
The 3000 meter field is deep with a handful of guys with states aspirations. With the right kind of race, we could see a bunch of sub-9 performances pop off. Winchester Thurston's Will Loevner and Peters Township's Nick Wolk lead the field. Loevner is coming off a huge 3200 meter race at Spire, while Wolk is fresh off a sick double at last week's TSTCA where he ran a 9:04 3K after a 4:26 mile. Plum's Jake Susalla and North Allegheny's Marc Migliozzi, along with Mercyhurst's Noah Curtin round out a very solid field.