Upper St. Clair runner has exhilarating experience at WPIALs
Exhilaration described Sadie Tomczyk’s mood after she won her second gold medal during the WPIAL Class 3A track and field championships.
After winning the 100-meter dash in I2.25 seconds, the Upper St. Clair junior dug deep and edged rival Plum’s Gabrielle Layne for the gold medal in the 200-meter dash. Tomczyk clocked a 25.13 time, a scant 0.10 ahead of Layne.
“It was a close race,” Tomczyk said. “I was really excited and a little bit relieved.
Tomczyk expected a “back-and-forth” race because she has raced Layne often in outdoor as well as indoor meets. The pair bring out the best in each other.
“I love racing against her,” she said. “When we race against each other, I know we’re both going to run fast times. It’s the excitement of racing her that I like.”
Tomczyk admitted she wasn’t confident of victory.
“I really didn’t think I got it until I looked up and saw it was like by 0.1,” she said.
Tomczyk, however, had faith in her training. In the shorter event, she relies on her speed. The longer race requires stamina and strength. So during the offseason, she lifts and works with Jeff Moyer, the owner of DC Sports Training in Bethel Park.
“Mostly upper body work because the most important part of the race is your arms,” she said. “Especially at the end of the race your are really using your arms.”
In addition to weightlifting, Tomczyk has also dedicated practices to perfecting her explosion out of the blocks.
“I like making sure my starts are good, because that’s something I’ve definitely struggled with too,” she said. “So just working on those two things, my workouts and staying in shape, have made a difference.
“The 200 is a longer race also, and it’s just like, I I feel like the first 100 of my 200 is in the first half of it is definitely my strongest. For me, the 200 is all about maintaining it through to the end, and through the finish, just using my arms. So I try to focus mainly on that and that’s definitely been the difference.”
Tomczyk preferred the 200 in her career but this year she has taken a liking to the shorter distance. They’re both equal she said but the 100, like the 200, requires a bit of tweaking as she heads into the PIAA championships set for May 23-24 at Shippensburg University.
“My start,” she said. “I got out kind of slow in the beginning of my final. I had a catch up and I was able to pull away at the end, but I just feel like I just needed to work on my start and get that down better.”
At states, Tomczyk hopes to lower her times. She said she’d “definitely love” to go sub 25 again in the 200 and to break 12 seconds in the 100.
“That was my all-time goal this year,” she said. “There was a little bit of a head wind (at WPIALs) so it made it a little difficult. Who knows, maybe at states I can meet that goal.”
Tomczyk was not the only Upper St. Clair athlete to experience success at the WPIAL championships.
Anna Engleman, who also competed in the long jump and pole vault, captured the gold medal in the triple jump. Her winning leap measured 37 feet, 11.75 inches.
USC’s 4×100 relay team, anchored by Tomczyk, took third place. Noor El Nokali, Avery Bayer, Jameson Tisdale and Tomczyk submitted a 48.85 time for the bronze medal.
Additionally, Tayla Kurzawa took third in the high jump and sixth in the triple jump; Carter Kashak was eighth in the 800-meter run while Meredith Rhodes duplicated that showing in the 3200.
Anna Engleman of Upper St. Clair demonstrates her jumping ability during the WPIAL Class 3A track and field championships. She won the triple jump event.