Mt. Lebanon runner-up in WPIAL team track championships
Mt. Lebanon grabbed the runner-up trophy during the WPIAL Class 3A girls track and field team championship meet held recently at West Mifflin stadium.
North Allegheny won the team title. The Tigers toppled the Blue Devils, 81-69, as well as Norwin, 89-61, and Hempfield, 97-53, in the quadrangular final.
“The girls worked very hard and came together throughout the season to earn WPIAL runner-up honors,” said Lebo track coach Oscar Shutt. “The team focused on improving at practice each week and it showed in the results.”
The Lebo girls captured the Section VI title with an undefeated record of 6-0. The section featured Upper St. Clair (5-1), Baldwin, Bethel Park, Thomas Jefferson, Peters Township and West Mifflin.
The Blue Devils reached the finals by emerging as the winner of one of the four semifinal meets. They defeated Butler, 81-69, Knoch, 113-39, Blackhawk, 132-18, and New Castle, 135-15.
In addition to hard work, Shurr said his team “had amazing senior leadership and a number of freshmen who were surprising contributors.”
Freshman Tamsin Holliday emerged as one of the top-ranked runners in the 1600- and 3200-meter runs for the WPIAL meet.
Lily Cramer, Lauren Krebs and Lucy Tang not only competed well in the hurdles, the seniors also contributed to the relays. Shutt said the 4×100 and 4×400 relays had been “very strong” all season.
Carmela Guillen, Krebs, Dina Simovski, and Cramer comprised the 4×100 at the WPIAL team finals while Ava Mylen, Krebs, Tang, and Cramer made up the 4×400.
Additionally, Keira Kraemer has begun to return to the form that enabled her to dominate the indoor season. She finished third in the state in the triple jump but nursed an injury throughout the early part of the season, which began in March.
With a trophy in hand, the Blue Devils anticipated a strong showing at the individual WPIAL track and field championships held May 13 at Slippery Rock University.
(Results were too late for publication in this edition of The Almanac.)
“It is exciting that we had representatives in nearly every event at the WPIAL meet,” Shutt said. “We hoped to get some relays through to the state meet as well as the three in the hurdles, plus Keira and Tamsin and maybe a few others.”
The PIAA track and field championships are scheduled for May 22-23 at Seth Grove Stadium on the Shippensburg University campus.
South Fayette
Norwin reached the track team finals by edging South Fayette in the semifinals. The two teams had tied, 75-75, in head-to-head competition but the Knights emerged as the final entrant based on total points, 329-309, scored in the meet, which also featured Upper St. Clair and Connellsville.
The Lady Lions won their sixth straight section banner with a 6-0 record. The Section VII division included runner-up Chartiers Valley (5-1), Canon-McMillan, Moon, West Allegheny, Trinity and Montour.
“Our program has been really blessed over the past decade or so with great athletes that have committed to our program and philosophies, and, in my mind, I have the best coaching staff in the WPIAL,” said head coach Scott Litwinovich.
The Lady Lions certainly have the best hurdler. Delaney Schumaker had a strong spring heading into the WPIAL championships to defend her titles.
Schumacher showed her prowess as she led the Lady Lions to the team title during the 61st annual Butler Invitational held in mid-April. She was responsible for 24.5 of her team’s 58 points. She set the meet record in winning the 300-meter hurdles in 42.96. She also captured gold in the 100 hurdles with a 14.50 time.
“Delaney certainly carried the day,” said Litwinovich. “She was really tuned in for her 300 race, and it certainly showed. In her 100, she continues to run smoothly and confidently.”
Litwinovich sees little variations in Schumaker’s technique. She “tweaked” her start and “executed” as well as he has seen in her races but her steadiness is what enables her to succeed.
“In terms of differences (from last year), there really aren’t many,” said Litwinovich. “She’s certainly stronger after another year of strength training. But, her consistency in all aspects has really allowed her to maintain her high level of achievement.”
Angela Zeng is another achiever. The WPIAL cross country champion won the 1600-meter run at Butler and helped the 4×800 relay secure gold.
As far as the rest of the meet, on the girls side,
“Our girls distance runners continue to carry a heavy load for the team,” Litwinovich said. “We have been blessed with a group of girls that continuously set a very high bar for themselves. This allows for great competition, but also great training sessions. They are all so versatile and can really compete in most events from the 400m and up.”
South Fayette emerged in the throwing events as Lauren Biernacki tossed the javelin 118 feet. The measurement was a personal record for the sophomore.
Several South Fayette boys enjoyed success at the Butler Invitational.
Luke Sinton ran the first ever sub 50 second 400m (49.97s) in our program history.
“That was a big deal for him and set himself up for a great postseason,” Litwinovich remarked.
Litwinovich added that Neil Joshi has come on strong in the jumps while Evan Dawson and Griff Martin continue to pace the distance squad. Among the team’s top throwers are Elijah Rexrode and Evan Early. All were expected to perform well at the WPIAL championships.