Championship season is upon us. The PIAA state championship is this weekend and we're rolling out previews for all of the hotly contested jumps, throws, and races.
Links You'll Need:
- Performance Lists | Heat Sheets (Scroll to Bottom of Page)
- Meet Schedule
- State Rankings By Classification:
- AA Girls | AAA Girls | AA Boys | AAA Boys
AA Girls Shot
Justley Sharp (Homer Center) won the PTFCA Indoor State Championship a few months ago. This weekend, she'll take a crack at winning her first outdoor state shot put title.
Sharp has put together another stellar season and has been undefeated since Mid-April. She threw 45-0.5 to win the Heritage Conference Championship and followed that with a District 6 Championship last week.
The District 6 Runner-Up, Sasha Garnett (Richland), is up to par with Sharp. She threw two feet less than Sharp at the District 6 Championship. She finished third at last year's PIAA Championship, whereas Sharp finished runner-up. Sharp and Garnett are the only two girls who have thrown further than 40 feet this season.
Mikayla Anderson (Beaver Falls) and Eris Pil (Winchester Thurston) are due for breakouts and may surprise the competition this weekend.
AA Girls Discus
Justley Sharp is strong in the Shot but shines in the Discus. The defending state champ has thrown over 26 feet further than the next 2A competitor. The Bucknell commit should ease her way to another state title.
Evezi Omuyeh (Delco Christian), Skiba Reese (Freeport), Sasha Garnett, and Tiffany Zelmore (Mount Pleasant Area) should compete for second.
Omuyeh has improved by about 9 feet this year and is currently ranked second in 2A, just ahead of Garnett. Garnett has seen similar improvement.
Skiba Reese won the District 7 title and is poised for another strong performance this week. Zelmore finished as the District 7 runner-up but is capable of 120+ foot throws.
AA Girls Javelin
Evelyn Bliss (Union-Allegheny Clarion Valley) was dominant at the District 9 Championship, as she threw a 2A State Leading 155-09. As a result, she enters the PIAA Championship as the Top Seed by a considerable 15 feet. Bliss was the 2022 PIAA Runner-Up.
Belle Bosch (Chestnut Ridge) owned the state's top mark until last week. She has thrown over 150-0 on three separate occasions. Bosch was third at the 2022 PIAA Championship - but she'll set her sights on victory this year.
Morgan Reiner (Milton) performed well to win the District 4 Championship. That was a breakout performance for Reiner, and she'll look to find more space this week.
Mary Grusky (Punxsutawney) and Sophia Mazzoni (Derry) will also be in the mix.