Versatility, commitment let Izzy Costa shine in multiple events for North Allegheny track

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, April 13, 2024 | 11:01 AM

North Allegheny’s Izzy Costa had an upset stomach but was still was warming up for the long jump after running the 100 and 400 meters in a dual meet at Butler.

It was just then that the PA announcer called all 200-meter runners to the track. Costa had considered sitting out that event but at the last minute took off across the infield headed for the starting line.

“I wasn’t going to run it,” said the junior, “but I heard we were down in points, so I just kind of ran over there in my long jump spikes and tried to run it.”

Costa ran and won the 200. It was her second victory of the day after a win in the 100 meters, and the North Allegheny girls went on to win the section meet with ease. The 200-meter victory showed one of the attributes her coaches praise the most — and it’s not her speed.

It’s her commitment.

“She’s got great athleticism, but that alone doesn’t make a champion,” North Allegheny coach John Neff said. “You have to buy in and be willing to come every day and embrace everything you’re taught and try to make strides. She does. And she really draws a lot of friends from the team. She’s all in.”

Costa, whose first name is Isabella, is the latest in a line of multi-skilled athlete on North Allegheny’s track team. She’s a reigning WPIAL champion in the 400 meters and won a bronze medal in the long jump last year. The Tigers started this spring a little thinner at the short sprints, so Costa has added those events, too.

“I think of the 100 as a warm-up for my 400,” Costa said. “I have to do good in my warm-up to do good in my race.”

And then she fits in the long jump and 200 meters or contributes to a relay. Her coaches are quick to say not everyone can do what she does and be good at everything.

“A kid has to be able to totally shift gears,” Neff said. “Some kids hold back in an event because they know another event is coming up. Izzy doesn’t do that. She runs every event like she’s done for the day. She always finds a way to muster a little more. Our great ones over the years have always done that same thing.”

Costa’s versatility isn’t limited to one sport. She also played on the NA girls soccer team that reached the WPIAL finals and state semifinals in the fall. Club soccer was on her schedule growing up, but Costa said she gave it up to focus on track.

At times she will high jump and said the jumping events are her least nerve-wracking. But she hardly looked nervous a year ago when she won the WPIAL title in the 400 by more than half a second.

She finished in 57.3 seconds and hopes to break the 57-second barrier.

“The 400 will always have a special place in my heart even though it’s the hardest and hurts the most,” she said.

Her target in the long jump is 18 feet, 5 inches, a distance she reached April 10 at Butler on a jump she fouled. However, Costa said one of NA’s assistants, Mihaela Tripon, a former Pitt coach, believes she can go even farther.

“She thinks I can jump 19,” Costa said.

Costa’s coaches say she’s become a student of the sport and doesn’t rely only on athleticism. She tweaked her long jump approach this spring by borrowing an idea from U.S. Olympian Tara Davis-Woodhall.

She now starts slower to go faster.

“When you build up your velocity, you jump farther,” Costa said. “So I definitely wanted to try it.”

Longtime assistant Lisa Wheeler has coached North Allegheny jumpers since 1997. She has seen countless athletes bounce between track and field events, yet says Costa is special.

“Our coaching staff says we wish all kids could compete every day the way Izzy does,” Wheeler said. “She always steps up to the challenge. She’s intelligent and she has a calmness to her. I can rant and rave to pump her up, but she’s even keeled. And when it comes time to compete, she competes.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: North Allegheny