Penn Hills notebook: Late-season invitationals critical for track team

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, April 17, 2022 | 10:01 AM

Having the Tri-State Track Coaches Association Meet pushed back due to weather wasn’t necessarily a deterrent for Penn Hills track coach Lee Zelkowitz.

The Indians were instead provided with a unique opportunity to improve. On April 13, Penn Hills competed in a triangular with Gateway and Plum before heading into the TSTCA meet, which was hosted by West Mifflin on Thursday.

“This actually ends up working out better,” Zelkowitz said. “When you go to states, you have to run well in the prelims on Friday before you go out and run fast in the finals on Saturday. It’s a good experience for the kids.”

Being able to get strong competition in at the invites is vital. Most of Penn Hills’ events have been hand-timed thus far. Going to compete in a big event allows the Indians to judge where they are with computer scoring.

The dual meet season is difficult for the Indians, who have low numbers in certain events and can’t compete with some of the bigger teams.

“I think a lot of coaches make the mistake of focusing too much on who wins the section,” Zelkowitz said. “That’s not what gets you to states. The big invites are where you run the fastest. That’s where you see the best competition and how you measure yourself.”

Zelkowitz said several of his athletes have already hit WPIAL qualifying standards in events, but he hasn’t submitted any yet. He wants to wait to see what times are in events that aren’t hand-timed before turning any in.

Penn Hills’ only returning state qualifier from last season is Angelo Allen, who earned All-State honors in the shot put last season.

Penn Hills’ girls 1,600-meter relay team medaled at WPIALs last season and returns all four members.

Sophomores Caroline McDevitt and Maliah Powell, along with juniors Larissa Lockridge and Mylah Falk, ran 4:08.45 at WPIALs last season to finish eighth.

Zelkowitz said he has high hopes for the boys’ 400 and 1,600 relay teams as well. However, the Indians have eight athletes capable of running the event and haven’t come up with the perfect combination yet.

Zelkowitz thinks the invites will go a long way to determining which athletes will compete in those two events.

WPIAL accepts forfeits

The WPIAL on April 13 formally accepted Penn Hills’ request to not play Kiski Area in the school’s two section meetings in softball.

Under WPIAL bylaws, the league could have disciplined the Indians for voluntarily forfeiting, but it declined to take action against Penn Hills in this instance. WPIAL executive director Amy Schueneman said the WPIAL board will draft and publish written repercussions as a deterrent for future forfeits by any member school.

Penn Hills had decided not to play the Cavaliers in any sports for the rest of the school year after an incident at a middle school volleyball match in March. Members of the Indians volleyball team alleged Kiski Area fans made racist comments and gestures toward members of the team.

Kiski Area has investigated the incident and found no evidence to support the accusations.

Softball was the only spring sport where the two teams were placed in the same section. Penn Hills’ baseball team also had a nonsection game with Kiski that was canceled.

Tags: Penn Hills