Chartiers Valley track puts together successful season despite major hurdle

By: Ted Sarneso
Sunday, May 25, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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A writer without a pen, a warrior without a sword — actors can’t perform without their tools.

So, what would one make of a track team without a track?

Athletes on the Chartiers Valley track and field team will say they did a lot of work to achieve personal bests and take pride in sending six individual athletes and three relay teams to the WPIAL individual championships May 14 at Slippery Rock University.

“As a coaching staff, we thought about how much better our kids would have been if they had the use of their own facilities this year,” said coach Lori Poe. “Would it have made a difference? I don’t know.

“When we were able to utilize another school’s track, the kids were so excited and they took advantage of the time they had and worked really hard. They were able to roll with the punches and never used it as an excuse.”

“We were one of the most resilient teams,” said senior pole vaulter Domi Crowley. “With no track, we were working a lot on concrete, in the pool and taking a lot of bus rides to find places to train.”

Crowley was the top performer for the Colts at WPIALs. He took home a gold medal in the boys pole vault with a vault of 14 feet, 9 inches. That set a school record, as he broke his previous mark by 6 inches.

“I was atop the leaderboard in pole vault two or three weeks before, but then I took a little tumble,” said Crowley. “I got back into my old stride, into the swing of things again, and getting that gold was a testament to my hard work.”

“Domi’s progressed every year,” said Poe. “He’s a total student of the pole vault and does so much in the offseason, studies pole vault, works at a lot of pole vault places that have opened up and does a lot of work on his own. He always wants to get better, wants to be challenged.”

The next challenge for Crowley is to clear 15 feet, and he was aiming to do so at the state competition at Shippensburg University on May 23.

“I know I can clear it,” he said.

Junior Lilly Carlson also had a fine afternoon as she set a new personal best with a toss of 114-8 in the discus, which put her in seventh place, just short of qualifying for states.

“She’s the type of athlete that likes the bigger meets, the bigger competitions, having spectators and everything, and so that atmosphere helped her perform better,” said Poe.

It was a weird couple of years for Carlson, as last year she did very well in the javelin and poorly in the discus, but this year she was better in discus and her javelin fell off.

“She worked hard all year,” said Poe. “She was grasping a little bit more about spin and when she needed to be faster or slower and all the different aspects, and I think it all came together for her. I think she’ll rebound and be better in both in her senior season next year.”

What Poe really admired about Carlson was her leadership to bring along an up-and-coming shot-putter in sophomore Desiree Weinberg, who placed 17th with a toss of 31-5.

“Desiree was the last to make it in, and she was so nervous,” said Poe. “But Lily told her, ‘Last year I was one of the last to get in and look where I am this year. You can be that next year.’ That was so great to see.”

Another young performer for the Colts who will look to build upon her results for next year is sophomore Jasmin Lewis. She placed 17th in both the 100m with a time of 13.17 and the long jump with a mark of 16-5.5.

“I think she was disappointed in her performance in the long jump at WPIALs because she was seeded third going into the championship,” said Poe. “She expected more, but she’s a young jumper not having the pit to jump in.”

Lewis was seeded so high going in because at a last chance meet Chartiers Valley had a week before WPIALs, she broke a 20-year-old team record in the long jump.

The record was previously set by Dana Ventrone with a jump of 18-3 in 2003 and Lewis cleared it by an inch, posting an 18-4 jump.

“She hasn’t gotten to see her potential yet because we weren’t able to work on the hitch kick, where you’re running and jumping into the air,” said Poe “She’s jumping straight out but has a lot of room to improve and progress.”

For senior Lily Nixon, her season did not end as she expected.

All year, the senior was consistently clearing 5-1 in the high jump, but at WPIALs, she fell short of her mark, being only able to clear 4-9. A small reason for her dip could be how long she sat waiting to compete.

“We got there at 9 in the morning and her competition didn’t start until the early evening, so she sat a long time,” said Poe. “Another part of her performance could be due to it being her final year, so there was some emotion going into it. But with all she endured this season, with no pit to jump into, her consistently hitting 5-1 was great to see.”

Poe will miss the leadership both Nixon and Crowley showcased this season.

“Lily will be missed because she’s somebody who can help someone get their steps right in the long and triple jump and tell them what they’re doing wrong,” Poe said. “She brought so much more than just her athletic ability.

“Domi’s leadership was more evident through his ability to get the kids excited and up for the meets. It was also a huge for them to see how he handled his success, how he went about his business with class and poise. All the attributes he brought went a long way with the other kids.”

As for the Colts’ three relay teams, the girls 3,200-meter team of Katie Hansen, Sophie Kanownik, Gia Kwatniewski and Cheyenne Jones finished 16th with a time of 10:20.46.

The girls 400 team set a season-best time with a 50.02 and finished 11th. The quartet included Brooklyn Hill, Hevin Harvard, Jones and Lewis.

Earlier in the year, Poe mentioned that for the girls 400 team to reach the podium, or even win its event, it had to run an almost perfect race, because in the 400, any slight hiccup can be costly.

At WPIALs, the 400 quartet had a few bobbles here and there, but Poe thought they ran a phenomenal race.

“I was standing near the second hand-off watching pole vaulting,” said Poe. “I watched as Jasmin handed off to Hevin and Jasmin did a face plant as she barley got the baton to Hevin. The competition was so great that day. We needed to be at or near perfect and we came up short.”

The boys 3,200 team made some mental mistakes in its attempt to try to reach the podium.

Chartiers Valley’s third and fourth runners were neck and neck with Trinity, but they got overanxious and passed the Hillers in the first 200.

“I was like, ‘Are we going to be strong enough to hold on?’” Poe said. “There’s always pressure for athletes to perform and they get so hyped that you have to hope they have the control to not take it out so fast, stay in control and run their race. They ran well, but just got caught up in the big moment.”

The group of Eric Wilson, Brady Laughlin, Nicholas Nadolny and Liam Gallocher posted a time of 8:18.78 and finished 11th.

It was a successful season for the Colts, considering they weren’t able to have their own track completed before the season, but Poe is excited to get back next year and see what her team can do with a full year training on its home track.

“We did a lot of out-of-the-box thinking with our training,” Poe said. “A lot of work in the pool for the pole vaulters and distance runners, makeshift pads and pit for the jumpers. So we learned some new techniques that we’ll definitely continue with next year.

“You can see the track is nearly completed, and it’s so beautiful. The kids will appreciate it more than the average team because they haven’t had it for two years. We’re all very excited.”

Tags: Chartiers Valley