A-K Valley athletes earn podium finishes at WPIAL track and field championships

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, May 20, 2018 | 12:03 AM

Kate Carnevale was on the treadmill Saturday morning, already focused intently on the 2019 high school track and field season.

The Fox Chapel junior came about as close as one can to qualifying for the PIAA championships in her 100- and 200-meter dash events at Thursday's WPIAL Class AAA finals at Baldwin.

The top four in each Class AAA event automatically qualify for states, as well as those in the top eight who equaled or surpassed the qualifying standard set by the PIAA.

Carnevale hoped to go faster than her 12.50-second seed time in the 100. The 12.50 also was the state-qualifying standard.

She finished fifth overall, one spot away from an automatic state bid, and just six hundredths of a second away from the qualifying mark at 12.56.

Carnevale was seventh in the 200 (26.01), 10 hundredths of a second from the qualifying standard (25.91).

“Yeah, I was really disappointed about it,” said Carnevale, who battled through injury again this season and missed three meets because of it. “I was three races behind where I was last year. I think if I had a couple more races in me, I could've made it, but those things happen, and I know I have to train even harder and get ready for next year.

“Coach (Justin) Patterson told me to not dwell too much on (the close calls) and that my best is yet to come.”

Despite not reaching her goal of a trip to states this year, Carnevale added a pair of medals to her resume. The top eight in each event for Class AAA and AA were honored on the medals podium.

A number of athletes from the Alle-Kiski Valley came close to PIAA qualifying marks but still were able to have their efforts result in medals.

Also in Class AAA, Kiski Area's Kierra Shreffler captured a pair of WPIAL medals with a sixth in the 1,600 run (5:17.80) and an eighth in the 3,200 (11:34.84), and Plum junior Madeline Monick placed seventh in the 100 hurdles (15.53).

In girls AA, Leechburg's Mackenzie Fello turned in an eighth-place performance in the 100 (13.12), and the Burrell girls 1,600 relay of Megan Malits, Faith Remich, Madi Walsh and Kaylen Sharrow teamed to take sixth in a time of 4:16.44.

Deer Lakes' Emily Mischen was seventh in the shot put (34 feet), and Burrell's Hannah Koziarski went 9-6 in the pole vault to finish sixth.

Koziarski and fifth-place finisher Abbey Westcott from Mohawk cleared 9-6, but Westcott produced her successful height one attempt earlier than Koziarski, thus earning fifth.

“Some events were so close and competitive,” Burrell coach Steven White said. “Hannah did a great job.”

Freeport's Austin Kemp snagged a pair of medals in the boys Class AA meet.

He threw 44-8 in the shot put and took sixth, just 6 inches from fifith, and he tossed the discus 140-9.

Yellowjackets teammate Alec Parker placed seventh in the 800 (2:04.38), Riverview's Ben Barnes was sixth in the 3,200 (10:10.99), Valley's Brandon Fieder took seventh in the 110 hurdles (15.94) and Riverview's Cal Fisher was eighth in the high jump (5-8).

The Raiders' quartet of Barnes, Ryan Cecil, Michael Komaniak and Ben Swenson combined to finish sixth overall in the 3,200 relay (8:32.11).

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.