Friday, 4/15: 14th Greater Latrobe Wildcat & 28th Hempfield Lady Spartans Invitational (@ Latrobe)
All eyes will be on the javelin at Latrobe on Friday. It's there where you'll see the season debut of Madison Wiltrout of Connellsville. The junior broke the national high school record in the event last year as a sophomore and we're all waiting to see that the second half of her prep career has in store. She had major surgery last June, so this will be the first chance that we will get to see how the rehab has come along.
There's a lot going on elsewhere, too. Hempfield's Gina Cuneo will look to improve on her PA#4 5-4 in the high jump. Her teammate Gabby Holmberg will be favored in the long jump that also includes DuBois's Dayna Desalve.
In the girls' pole vault, Hempfield's Molly DeBone will make her invitational debut, looking to make an nice jump in the state rankings.
In the hurdles, look out for Hempfield's Bailey Traczynski in the 100 and 300. She's PA#5 in the high hurdles. In the 400, Hempfield's Holmberg is the top seed. Woodland Hill's Raven Russell will be one to watch in the 100 and 200 sprints.
The 800 should be a nice battle between Homer Center's Mandy McElheny and Franklin Regional's Katja Kochvar. Then in the 1600, Franklin Regional's Bria McMahon and Southmoreland's Kaylee Farino will square off.
On the boys' side, the throws should be exciting. The Hempfield duo of Dom Marshall and Alex Murray will look to go 1-2 in the shot put and discus. In the javelin, Hempfield's Hayden Fox will look to build off his PA#4 188-6 in the event from a dual meet last week.
The hurdles should be exciting with some big names set to toe the line. Kiski's Jace Roundtree, Hempfield's Seth Spino, and North Allegheny's Ayden Owens will all double in the high hurdles and the intermediate hurdles and they'll look to make a nice impact on the state rankings.
Some of the North Allegheny distance talents will make their invitational debuts on Friday. In the 1600, look for Jacob Stupak will be the top seed, and his teammate Marc Migliozzi will open up in the 3200 meters as the top seed.