South Fayette girls golden in WPIAL track
The South Fayette 3200 relay team of Emily Sinton, Siya Joshi, Angela Zeng and Nina DiMartini coasted to victory in 9:18.66, a new school record.
Gold was the color of the day for South Fayette during the WPIAL Class 3A track and field championships held May 14 at Slippery Rock University.
The 3,200-meter team of Emily Sinton, Nina DiMartini, Siya Joshi and Angela Zeng as well as hurdler Delaney Schumaker captured gold medals and qualified for the PIAA state championships to be held May 23-24 at Shippensburg University.
A junior, Schumaker was a two-time winner. She finished first in the 100 meters as well as the 300 intermediate hurdles.
While she ran a “near perfect” race in winning the 100 in 14.45, 0.17 ahead of Norwin’s Brandi Brozeski, Schumaker needed a strong finish to overtake Pine-Richland’s Abby Satina in the final 10 meters. Schumaker finished in 43.13 seconds, 0.25 seconds ahead of Satina.
“The 100 was close to a perfect race because I was .01 off my personal record,” Schumaker said. “I was happy with my time because I have been consistent.”
Compared to the 100, Schumaker added that the 300 was harder.
“You are tired at the end and you are just trying to get to the finish line,” she said. “The last hurdle is the lid and I got through it. I just kept telling myself that I could do it.”
Schumaker wasn’t so certain, especially after a shaky start.
“I had a couple stutters on the first two hurdles but I focused on my race. I knew there was good competition so I had to stick with the girls and continue through it.”
For Schumaker, the longer hurdles are a mental game.
“The 100 is super quick. Very technical,” she said. “If you hit one (a hurdle), it messes up your steps but in the 300 you have time to adjust and recover. You think more in the 300 because there is more time.”
As she raced around the track, Schumaker could not help but think about her older sister.
Melana Schumaker was a WPIAL champion in the pole vault before going on to compete at Youngstown State University. She was in the grandstands watching the competition.
“Melana’s been such an inspiration,” Schumaker said. “It was so awesome that I got to watch her win WPIALs and now she got to watch me. It’s a super fun experience. Melana was so dedicated and so hard working. I think I got that from being her little sister.”
Schumaker know has larger aspirations. She plans to make finals at states and perhaps duplicate her efforts from the winter indoor season where she finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles.
“So, a pretty big goal is to medal in outdoor at states, too,” she said. “It’s more exciting because I have two races to do that.”
The 3,200-meter team was thrilled with its victory.
The foursome breezed to victory in 9:18.66, which was six minutes faster than second-place Seneca Valley and more than seven minutes better than North Allegheny. It was also a new school record.
“We got second last year so we came back to get first this year,” said DiMartini, who led off the relay, clocking a 2:20.02.
Other top performances submitted by South Fayette athletes included:
* Micaella Schuler, seventh, 100 meters, 12.83
* Emily Sinton, fourth, 800 run 2:18.25
* Siya Joshi, fifth, 800 run 2:19.37
* Angela Zeng, third, mile 4:59.13
* Madeline Stock, sixth, mile, 5:17.73
* Griffin Martin, fourth, 3200 9:23.99
* Evan Dawson, seventh 1600 4:24.31
* Jenson Gregorich, second pole vault, 14-06