Track Tuesday: Who to watch in the 2022 WPIAL Championships
It’s been less than two months since the WPIAL Track and Field season started and although it seems like there have been two season changes in those weeks, the season is ready to wrap up Wednesday at Slippery Rock University.
At 11 a.m., the individual championships will get underway with 109 athletes representing 18 local teams competing in individual events. Of those 109 local athletes, 10 are freshmen, reaching the pinnacle of WPIAL competition in their first year of eligibility.
In addition, 34 local relay teams will also be participating, so the amount of precious metal returning to Beaver County and western Allegheny County could be significant.
Here are 19 local stars who enter the WPIAL meet having already met the state qualifying standard (SQS) and are local frontrunners to win individual events, along with a short highlight on the top relay teams. All who meet that standard at the WPIAL Championship and finish in the top eight will qualify for the PIAA meet on May 27-28. Athletes can also qualify for the PIAA meet without meeting the SQS by finishing in the top five in Class 2A or top four in Class 3A.
Mia Cochran, Moon, senior ― The Arkansas commit is the defending WPIAL and PIAA champ in the 1600 and 3200 meters. She will enter the meet at Slippery Rock this year as the top seed in three events – the 800, 1600, and 3200. Her times are not just slightly ahead of the competition, either. Her 800 time is eight seconds better than the second fastest time and almost two seconds better than the WPIAL Championship record. Her 3200 time is 31 seconds better than the competition and 11 seconds better than the record. Her 1600 time is only 12 seconds better than the closest competition but is 1.05 seconds off the WPIAL record.
Nora Johns, Quaker Valley, junior ― Building on WPIAL and PIAA gold medals in the 300 hurdles as a sophomore last year, Johns enters the WPIAL as the top seed in the 300 hurdles. She has also qualified in the 100 hurdles and runs the anchor leg in the 400 relay. The Quakers 400 relay team enters the competition as the top seed.
Ty Fluharty, Riverside, senior ― If seeds are to be believed, Fluharty will be having a busy day at Slippery Rock. He runs on the Panthers’ 1600 relay team, which enter the competition as the top seed, and the 3200 relay team, which is seeded second. Individually, Fluharty is seeded second in the 3200 and third in the 1600.
Paige Drake, Central Valley, senior ― Drake, already committed to run at St. Francis, met the qualifying standard in four events. She enters the WPIAL meet seeded third in both the 100 and 200 meters. In the long jump ― a new event for her this year ― she is seeded sixth and is a member of Central Valley’s 400 relay team that is also seeded third.
Donovan Jones, Central Valley, senior ― Jones enters the competition having met the qualifying standard in three events. He enters as the third seed in the 200 and the fourth seed in the long jump and the 100.
Delaney Sturgeon, Ellwood City, freshman ― Sturgeon is one of only two freshmen to enter the competition as the top seed as her high jump of 5-foot-2 ties for the best mark of the year. She will also compete in the pole vault.
Sydney Hale, Riverside, senior ― Hale will enter the WPIAL meet as the top seed in the javelin with a distance of 135-4.
Antonio Votour, OLSH, junior – Votour enters the WPIAL Championships as the top seed in the 110 hurdles.
Jacob Puhalla, Moon, junior – The defending champion in the Class 3A 800 meters, Puhalla enters the competition as the second seed ― but just .18 seconds off the top spot. That should lead to an exciting finish in a half mile race.
Valeria Young, Ambridge, senior ― After finishing fourth in last year’s championships as a junior, Young enters this year’s competition as the second seed with a mark of 126-4, beating the qualifying standard by more than four feet.
Alden Wetzel, Riverside, junior ― Wetzel enters the competition as the second seed in the 400 meters and also runs a leg on the Panthers’ top-seeded 1600 relay team. In addition, Wetzel will be competing in the high jump and the javelin.
Maxwell Hamilton, OLSH, junior ― In the 800 meters, Hamilton is seeded second, having met the qualifying standard.
Teddy McHale, Riverside, senior ― McHale, the defending WPIAL champion, will enter this year’s meet as the third seed with a height of 13-10, four inches more than the qualifying standard and four inches higher than last year’s winning distance.
Tajier Thornton, Aliquippa, senior ― The boys’ Class 2A 100 meter dash will be the most competitive race on the day, based on seedings. A total of eight runners enter the meet having met the state qualifying standard and Thornton joins that speedy field as the fourth seed. He also runs on the Quips 400 relay team that enters the competition as the third seed and will also compete in the 200 meters.
Kaitlyn Eger, West Allegheny, junior ― Eger’s 12-0 height has met the state standard and is seeded fourth. She will also compete in the 100 hurdles.
Ethan Papa, Blackhawk, junior ― Having met the qualifying standard in the 1600 meters, Papa enters the WPIAL Championships as the fourth seed. Papa will also compete in the 3200.
Maddox Mengel, New Brighton, senior ― Mengel is seeded fourth in the 800 meters.
Dominic Flitcraft, Hopewell, junior ― Seeded fourth in both the 1600 and 3200 meters, Flitcraft has met the qualifying standard in the 1600 but needs to improve his time by 2.19 seconds to meet the standard in the 3200.
Matt Essey, Hopewell, junior ― Essey will enter the 100 meters as the eighth seed but has met the state qualifying standard and will advance to the PIAA meet if he repeats that performance. He will also compete in the long jump.
Relay teams ― Of the 34 relay teams, three enter as the top seed ― Quaker Valley girls 400, Quaker Valley girls 3200, and Riverside boys 1600 ― and two others (Aliquippa boys 400 and Central Valley girls 400) have met the qualifying standard and will enter as one of the top three seeds.