The wait is over. It is officially PTFCA Championship Week. With an action-packed meet on deck - we want to ensure you're as prepared as we are.
Throughout the week, we will release event-by-event previews of the action and what you can expect on Sunday. Today we have previews of the 60 Hurdles, 60 Dash, 200m and 400m. Make sure to click through to each event to read event-by-event previews of the action.
60 Hurdles | 60 Dash | 200m | 400m
60 Hurdles Preview
by Karlon Nixon
The Girls
Macaela Walker from Oxford Area enters the PTFCA Championship as the #1 seed in the girls' 60-meter hurdles but will also compete in the 60-meter dash. If anyone is up for the challenge, Walker will deliver. At the PTFCA Track and Field Carnival, Walker set a personal best in both events (8.75 & 7.67) on her way to completing the double. Walker is the only girl in the field with two sub-9 performances this season. Challenging Walker will be Rose Kuchera (Canon McMillan), the PIAA 100-meter hurdle runner-up from 2022. Kuchera has been very active this indoor season, competing in six meets with five invitational wins and only one defeat in the 60-meter hurdles. Kuchera ran her first sub-9 in the 60-meter hurdles last weekend at the TSTCA Championships, running an 8.96 over a challenging field of competitors.
Olivia Smiarowska from Archbishop Ryan is peaking when it counts the most. The senior posted a season-best of 9.11 at the DVGTCA Meet of Champions, winning the event over a stout field featuring six PTFCA Track and Field qualifiers.
Keturah Darwon from West Chester and Aubrey Leneweaver from Haverford Township have been 2 of the most consistent hurdlers this season, posting 9.13 and 9.14 efforts this season. They are capable of challenging anyone in the field.
Maggie Scalzo (Easton), Avery Elliott (Episcopal Academy), Megan Cain (Mount Lebanon), and Damira Allen (Chester) all look to make a name for themselves in the 60-meter hurdles.
With hurdlers clearing six hurdles per round and three rounds of hurdling on the way, anything is possible in the girls' 60-meter hurdles.
The Boys
The boys' 60-meter hurdles will see a changing of the guard in 2023. Six of the eight medalists have graduated from the 2022 indoor season. Anthony Collins (Harry S Truman) finished 8th last year in the 60-meter hurdles but now is the #1 seed with a time of 8.20. Collins has had impressive wins this season at the Garden State Invitational and the Alvernia Holiday Classic this year. On his heels will be Antonio Votour from OLSH, who has run 8.21 this year only, .01 behind Collins. Votour enters the meet with the most races run this season at fourteen in the 60-meter hurdles and has won the YSU Invite #2, TSTCA #3 & #4, and the TSTCA Indoor Championships.
Aiden Dibuono from Somerset joins Collins as the 2nd returning medalist from the 2022 PTFCA Championships. Dibuono won the Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational, TSTCA Meet #2, and the State College Invitational this season. Look for Dibuono to be in the race with Collins and Votour.
Logan Anderson from General McLane and Josef Book from East Juniata will also challenge the field. Anderson holds a season-best of 8.31; in that race, he finished 2nd to Dibuono by .01. Book has picked up three invitational wins this season, winning the State College Invitational, Susquehanna Invitational, and the River Hawk Invitational with a season-best of 8.36.
12 of the 24 PTFCA finalists have run 8.50 or faster. Managing the rounds and staying focused will determine which athlete will prevail in this race to the finish.