A pair of field athletes from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart claimed medals Friday to highlight the West Hills contingent’s efforts during the first day of competition at the PIAA Track and Field Championships.
Tre Moses and Owen Wasko, a pair of juniors from OLSH, placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Class 2A boys javelin competition, held at Seth Grove Stadium on the campus of Shippensburg University.
Moses, who placed fourth at the WPIAL meet a week ago, posted a school-record throw of 181 feet, 9 inches, more than 18 feet farther than his WPIAL mark.
Wasko, who won the WPIAL title with a toss of 178-11, fell a little short of that with a throw of 176-11 Friday. But it was still good enough to take home some hardware.
Moses also competed in the discus Friday, where he placed 29th with a toss of 115-9.
OLSH’s 4×800 girls relay team is scheduled to compete Saturday.
In the Class 3A portion of the meet, Moon Area sophomore Rachel Stepp continued her red-hot spring, as she qualified for Saturday’s finals in both the 200- and 400-meter races with outstanding efforts in Friday’s preliminary heats.
Stepp fought through rain and chilly temperatures to finish third among all runners in the 200 with a time of 24.73 seconds. Amirah Nesmith of Cheltenham was the top qualifier with a time of 24.21.
That’s the same time that Stepp posted to win the 200 at last week’s WPIAL meet.
Stepp, who won last week’s WPIAL 400 title in 54.93, posted a time of 55.05 to place second among all 400 qualifiers Friday.
Cedar Crest’s Kaddel Howard, the two-time defending 400 champion at the state meet, was the top qualifier with a time of 54.37.
Several other Moon athletes competed during Friday’s first day of competition but none medaled. The top eight finishers in each event are awarded medals.
Alena Taylor finished 17th in the 300 hurdles with a time of 45.02, a tick faster than the 45.05 mark that enabled her to place fourth in last week’s WPIAL meet.
The Tigers’ 4×400 girls relay quartet of Maria Depner, Elise Ashcroft, Alena Taylor and Sonya Taylor wound up 23rd among 32 teams with a time of 4:06.63. Easton Area was the top qualifier with a time of 3:52.51.
On the boys side, Jared Moyer finished 29th among 32 entrants in the 300 hurdles with a time of 40.97. He placed fourth at the WPIAL meet in 39.85.
The Tigers’ 4×400 relay group of Samuel Herrera, Marcus McGill, Moyer and Evan Senkevich placed 12th among the 32 teams competing, finishing four spots away from qualifying for Saturday’s finals. Moon’s time was 3:23.64 and the final qualifier was Penn Wood, which finished in 3:22.84.
In addition to Stepp, three other Tigers are scheduled to compete Saturday in Sonya Taylor and Herrera, who will run the 800 in the girls and boys races, respectively, and Nathan Kustra, who will compete in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter wheelchair events.
Moon coach Andrew Parshall, who took the largest contingent of Moon athletes to the PIAA meet in the 25 years that he’s been coaching, said he was thrilled to see the boys on the 4×400 relay group finish their standout careers with a 12th-place finish. He also liked what he saw from the Tigers girls group.
“Our underclassmen girls showed they are hungry to return for future medals,” he said. “And it was nice to send both Elise Ashcroft and Maria Depner out on a high note running at states.”
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