Bethel Park’s Artemis Conaboy picks up where she left off last season

By: Ray Fisher
Saturday, April 20, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Artemis Conaboy’s favorite track and field event is the 400-meter dash.

“I love the length of the race and the how anyone can win and catch up at different points of the race,” said the athletic Bethel Park senior.

Well, Conaboy picked up where she left off last season at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association outdoor championship April 13 at West Mifflin.

She actually did better than last year when she placed second in the 400-meter event. This year, Conaboy, who holds multiple school records, won the girls 400 in 58.56.

“I was very pleased with Artemis’ race,” Bethel Park coach Mark Jacobs said. “The wind was brutal, so running super fast times was going to be difficult, but her time was a great start to the season.

“That was actually her first open 400 of the year. She had a long indoor season and combining that with the bad weather we had for our first few meets, we decided it was best to not push her too soon. With it being her first open of the season, her time was very impressive, and I think it will continue to drop. Another top finish at WPIALs and qualifying for states are the goals for Artemis.”

Jacobs believes Conaboy will end her awe-inspiring track career with celebrity status; she will be recognized as the best female sprinter in school history.

Conaboy has competed indoors for three years and outdoors for four. She has exceptional sprint speed and stamina and has been named a team captain three times.

“My (outdoor) track season is off to a good start,” Conaboy said. “I’m hoping this year to get stronger and faster alongside my teammates and hopefully PR in my main events. I’m definitely hoping to break the 200-meter school record, as well, since I was close last year but unable to attain it.

“My indoor season, unfortunately, wasn’t as successful as I had hoped. I was plagued by a lot of illnesses and still managed to qualify for states but was unable to go because I got covid that week. My indoor season not being as successful as I wanted definitely pushed me into working very hard between indoor and outdoor in order to hit the marks I wanted for outdoors this year.”

Conaboy broke outdoor school records in 2023 in the 100 (12.76) and 400 (57.71) and holds records in two individual indoor events — the 200 (26,97) and 400 (59.55). Conaboy also helped break two 1,600-meter relay marks, along with Jenna Lang, Sadie Orie and Lauren Heh in last year’s outdoor season and indoors in 2022 with Lang, Maddie Sellati and Katie Krol-Schaus.

“Katie, Lauren and Maddie have all since graduated,” said Conaboy, who plans to attend Seton Hill in the fall to compete in track and study secondary English education.

Conaboy is a two-sport standout for the Black Hawks, having played soccer her “whole life” and throughout high school.

“Artemis is an amazingly hard worker who is always striving to improve on her abilities,” Jacobs said. “She is an excellent soccer player and has been a team captain for both track and soccer.

“She has a great understanding of what it takes to be a great runner. She knows when it is time to push herself at practice and when it is time to back off and rest her body.”

Bethel Park’s girls team had three other individual medalists at the Tri-State meet including junior Ella Milliken, who placed second in the discus (108-5) and sixth in the shot put (30-1).

“Ella has been putting in a lot of hard work including all the way back to the fall,” Jacobs said. “During the indoor season, she decided to try a more technical spin technique for shot put. It has had its bumps along the road, but it is starting to become more consistent. I feel the sky’s the limit for Ella this year in both throws.

“I was pleased to see how well she competed in such a big meet with still a relatively new technique. Her result in the discus was very impressive with the high winds. You miss slightly in that kind of wind, and your disc will not go far. The fact she got her best throw of the season, in that wind, was an impressive feat. She has not gotten a chance to throw in nice weather, so I look forward to her getting that opportunity and seeing how far she can let it fly.”

Keira Griffiths, a junior, captured third place in the javelin (119-2), and Julia Hoppe, a senior, placed sixth in the pole vault competition.

“Keira’s throw, just like Ella’s, was even more impressive with the high winds,” Jacobs said. “I don’t want to say we were waiting for this meet for her, but throwing at West Mifflin and their artificial surface is a big advantage when most areas of grass are muddy and wet.

“I had hoped she would get a good throw off and she did; a 12-foot improvement on her previous best throw ever is no joke.”

It was a day of personal-best performances for Hoppe, BP’s pole vault specialist.

“I had a feeling Julia would get a new personal record but I was not expecting multiple new personal bests,” Jacobs said. “She has had a good last month of practice, basically since we got outside, and I knew it was only a matter of time. We were hoping for 10 feet and a medal going into the meet but getting 10 feet, 7 inches was an added bonus.

“We had talked before that when she got 10 feet, she would probably get the next height after that, and she certainly did. I’m very happy for her and all the girls.”

The girls 3,200 relayers, consisting of Conaboy, Lang and freshmen Iyonna Sloan and Gillian Uhl, finished fourth at the Tri-State invite in 54.97. Lang, who is a senior, narrowly missed out on a medal in the 800 with a ninth-place showing.

Bethel Park’s other leading competitors at West Mifflin were freshmen Sloan (400) and Francesca Balkovec (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles), and seniors Grace Lindblom (javelin) and Samantha Downing (shot put, discus).

Others looking to make an impact this season include juniors Addison Gurganos (200, long jump), Talia Jackson (200) and Nicole Rhodes (pole vault), sophomores Catherine Carberry (800, 1,600), Makayla O’Neill (100 hurdles) and Lilly Christian (pole vault), and senior Alexandra Burt (1,600).

Along with Sloan and Balkovic, top freshman prospects on the girls team include Elaine Flaherty (200, 400, long jump, triple jump), Kenley Crawford (100), Lily Yester (100 hurdles) and Uhl (1,600).

Devine leads Bethel Park boys

Jumping specialist Martin Devine earned the early season spotlight for the Bethel Park boys team.

The junior field competitor landed in fourth place in both the high jump (5-11) and long jump (21-0.25) events at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association outdoor meet.

Sophomore Brady McCarthy also placed sixth in the pole vault (12-7) for the Black Hawks.

Other leading competitors included juniors Matt Gerber (pole vault), Denzel Meyers (shot put) and Alex Dziezgowski (discus); senior Connor Karabinos (high jump); and sophomore Mason Neiport (javelin).

More Bethel Park athletes looking to make their presence felt in 2024 include juniors Marcus Sterling (200), Jackson Friday (300 hurdles) and Fin O’Neill (200, 400, 800); McCarthy (high jump, triple jump); freshmen Holden Bartleit (200, 400) and Colin Uhl (400, pole vault) ;and seniors Cayden Lodge (800, 1,600) and Mason Tims (110 hurdles, 300 hurdles).

The sophomore class is well-represented on the team with the likes of Jack Lester (100), Kahanualo Kuewa (100), Caden Coates (100), Youssef Benrabia (200), Connor Moorhead (200), Noah Rauch (800), Sam Hoppe (1,600), Evan Devine (high jump, long jump), Santino LaMolinare (discus, shot put) and David Dennison (high jump), among others.

Keep an eye also on Karabinos (long jump), Gerber (triple jump), senior Tommy Bova (javelin), junior Max Sellati (shot put) and freshman prospects Mitchell McGrail (100), Alex Crowe (110 hurdles) and Matt Martin (javelin).

Tags: Bethel Park