Lauren Michina (Penn Cambria) / Photo by Don Rich
TSTCA Indoor Meet #3
The Tri-State squads return to Edinboro for the third installment of the TSTCA meet, set for Saturday. Plenty of big names are expected to appear. Let's break down some of those you should be keeping an eye on.
GIRLS
South Fayette's Amanda Oliver, PA#1 in the 60 dash, returns to that event this weekend. Oliver is having a great season and would certainly love to carry that state leading spot through another week. Burrell's Nicole Scherer, who has done a lot of winning this season, will be her best competition and that should be a great race for the title and possibly the PA#1 spot. South Fayette's Rachel Schumann and Bentworth's Brenna Cavanaugh are also entered in the 60.
Photo by Phil Grove
There's a strong field in the 60-meter hurdles, featuring Hempfield's Bailey Traczynski, who won the event at the last TSTCA meet. Oakland Catholic's Jayla Ellis, PA#2 in the event will challenge Traczynski, as will North Allegheny's Melina Owens and Canon-McMilan's Chyna Beck.
Ellis and Cavanuagh will both return for the 200 meters, which also features Villa Maria's Grace Brown. But earlier in the day, Brown will contest the 400 meters in an open field that also includes Hempfield's Gabby Holmberg, South Fayette's Rachel Helbling and Oliver, and Scherer.
In the mile, we'll see Greater Latrobe's Maria Cawoski and Anna Ramsey, as well as Marion Center's Taya Whitfield, Fox Chapel's Caelan Miller, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Rylee Kopchak, and Franklin Area's Savanna Carr, among others. Upper St. Clair's Savannah Shaw (PA#1 in the 1600) is in the 800 meters, along with Helbling, Miller, West Allegheny's Maddie Salek, Hempfield's Megan Powell, and Villa Maria's Lexi Siefert. Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Academy is the top seed in the 3000 meter field with Greensburg Salem's Riley Kwiatkowski, Villa Maria's Carlee Constable, Kane Area's Chelsea Hunt, and Kopchak.
The long jump will be an interesting battle between Cavanaugh (PA#5), Ellis (PA#7) and Forest Hills' Zoe Roush (PA#10), as all three will look to make moves on the state leaderboard. Roush is also entered in the triple jump which also includes Penn Cambria's Lauren Michina (PA#5), South Fayette's Courtney Phoennik, Holmberg, and Beck. Hempfield's Molly DeBone is the top seed in the pole vault (she won the event at both TSTCA meets this season).
The shot put will be a solid matchup with Burrell's Elizabeth Weimer, the current PA#3, and Hempfield's Samantha Orie, currently PA#6.
Journey Brown (Meadville) / Photo by Phil Grove
BOYS
Meadville's Journey Brown will return to the track for the first time this season. The reigning outdoor AAA state champ in the 100 meters tore up the football field this fall, running for an incredible 722 yards and ten touchdowns in one game. He recently committed to Penn State to play football, but Brown still has a few track seasons left before that. He's entered in the 60 meters.
Taylor Allderdice's Noah Swaby is PA#2 in the 60 hurdles, but he was second in both of this races in the event this season to NA's Ayden Owens. There's no Owens in the field Saturday and Swaby will look for the win and to better that 8.22 time.
Shenango's Dom Data is the favorite in the 200 meters, a week after running a PA#9 time at YSU. He'll be the one to watch there. He's also entered in the 400 meters, where there will be a good matchup with him and Cathedral Prep's Derek Jones.
Phoenix Myers (Seneca) / Photo by Phil Grove
The distance races are loaded for Saturday. In the mile, the Myers brothers from Seneca---Donovan and Phoenix---are in the field along with Seneca Valley's Sam Owori and Trey Razanauskas, the South Fayette duo of Aaron Pfeil and Sam Snodgrass, and Kiski Area's Eric Kennedy in what could be considered a very open field. The 800 will feature some heavy hitters, headlined by Penn Trafford's Nick Wagner, Penn Hills' Isaiah Bailey, Winchester Thurston's Tristan Forsythe Brookville's Ryan Thrush, and North Allegheny's Zach Ehling. In the 3000 meters is Winchester Thurston's Ben Littman, Seneca Valley's Seth Ketler, Taylor Allderdice's Amadou Diallo and Norwin's Matt O'Neill, among some others.
The high jump should be a battle between Penn Hills' Emmanuel Mitchell (PA#3) and Altoona Area's Daiquan Watson (PA#6) and Ringgold's Sven Rabshal (PA#10). Ringgold's Brian Vandusen (PA#8) is the top seed in the long jump. Penn Hills' Jaden Rouse is the top ranked entry in the triple jump.
In the shot put, Hempfield's Alex Murray, who will look to keep up his strong season. He currently sits at PA#3. South Fayette's Sam Mastro and Cathedral Prep's Nolan Landis are also in the field. Then in the pole vault, look for a matchup between Baldwin's Dave Johnston and Hempfield's Hayden Fox.