Rachel Stepp went into last year’s PIAA Track and Field Championships with little in the way of expectations and not a whole lot of confidence.
Track and field was still somewhat new to Stepp, who as a Moon Area freshman at the time also was involved in lacrosse in addition to running the 400 meters for the Tigers track and field team.
“I went into (the state meet) not really expecting to do well,” recalled Stepp, who wound up bringing home a fifth-place medal. “I didn’t think I belonged with those girls because they were so fast.”
It’s safe to say the Tigers’ standout sophomore certainly belongs now.
Stepp enters this year’s PIAA state meet with the third-fastest time in both the 400 meters and the 200 meters, and she’ll put her skills on display Friday and Saturday at Seth Grove Stadium on the campus of Shippensburg University.
Stepp is one of nine Moon athletes competing in the Class 3A portion of this year’s event. In addition, six athletes from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart will look to earn medals in the Class 2A portion of the two-day meet.
Also scheduled to compete individual events for Moon are Sonya Taylor (800), Alena Taylor (300 hurdles), Samuel Herrera (800) and Jared Moyer (300 hurdles). Nathan Kustra will compete in the wheelchair division’s 100-, 220- and 400-meter races. In addition, the Tigers’ 4×400 girls relay team, which features both Taylor sisters as well as Maria Depner, is scheduled to race, as is Moon’s 4×400 boys quartet of Evan Senkevich, Marcus McGill, Herrera and Moyer.
It’s the largest contingent of Tigers to participate in a state track and field meet during coach Andrew Parshall’s 25 years at the helm.
OLSH will be represented in the Class 2A meet by WPIAL champion Owen Wasko (javelin), Tre Moses (javelin and discus) and the girls 4×800 team of Lindsay Bressler, Charlotte Gauntner, Eva Crofford and Hannah Hayes.
Stepp is coming off a banner day at the WPIAL meet earlier this month, when she posted wins in both the 200 and 400 races and also helped Moon’s 4×400 relay team capture a third-place finish and earn a berth in this weekend’s PIAA meet.
At the WPIAL meet, Stepp posted a time of 54.93 seconds in the 400 to easily outdistance second-place finisher Gracie Reed of Indiana Area. The 200 was a different story, as she came from behind to edge defending champion Sadie Tomczyk of Upper St. Clair with a time of 24.21. Tomczyk finished in 24.33.
Parshall said Stepp’s late-race heroics came as no surprise.
“She’s humble but she’s also fiercely competitive,” Parshall said of Stepp. “She doesn’t want to lose.
“She has that determination to come from behind and finish a race.”
Parshall said in last year’s WPIAL 400, Stepp was in fourth place entering the final curve “and then she started picking runners off.” In this year’s 200, Parshall said, the top-seeded Tomczyk got off to a fast start but Stepp chased her down and passed her in the final 50 meters to win.
Parshall said he first became aware of Stepp’s potential when she was competing in various sports at the middle school level. He said that well-rounded experience helped her once she began focusing more closely on track.
Stepp agreed that participating in other sports might have been a help rather than a hindrance.
“I mostly played team sports growing up,” she said. “I started in track when I was 11 or 12 because everybody did it at that point. I had natural athleticism from the other sports I played, like basketball, and I think I was able to translate that speed to track.”
Because she competed in other sports at the same time she was getting involved in track, she said that helped keep her from getting burned out on track and maintaining her love of the sport. That hasn’t waned; she began training with a club last year, running a few meets during the summer, and she’ll continue a similar regimen this summer.
Parshall said only a small handful of girls have won the WPIAL Class 3A 400 as freshmen. Once he saw that, he decided to add the 200-meter race to her schedule this season. She hasn’t disappointed, as evidenced by her performance at the WPIAL meet.
“For her to repeat (in the 400) as a sophomore and to add the 200 (gold medal) to it is pretty impressive,” he said. “I would definitely say we’re pleased with what she’s done this year.”
Parshall said if Stepp runs her “normal” race in the 400 during Friday’s preliminary heats, she should reach Saturday’s final. But he said she’ll need to come close to her personal best to make the finals of the 200 because of the stellar field of sprinters. The top seed in that race is Kaddel Howard of Cedar Crest, who also is a two-defending state champion in the 400.
Stepp is coming off a personal record in the 200 at the WPIAL meet, lowering her best time from 24.54 to 24.21. She said her competition had something to do with that.
“I didn’t expect to PR by that much,” she said earlier this week. “But Sadie (Tomczyk) is great competition. She’s so fast.”
That was Stepp’s impression of the field entering last year’s PIAA meet. This year’s field is no different, but Stepp is in a different place now.
“This year, having a lot more experience, I can go in knowing I can execute a good race,” she said. “I can go in with confidence because of the way I’ve been preparing.”
Stepp said she tries not to put pressure on herself when competing in meets like the PIAA championships. “I try to think, ‘Whatever happens, happens,’” she said. “But there’s definitely pressure. And it serves as great motivation.
“The big meets are where some girls run their best because of all the expectations. I try to think of this is any other race – something fun and exciting to do. And an opportunity to do my best.”
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