5 things to watch at Saturday’s PIAA girls track and field championships

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, May 25, 2019 | 9:00 AM

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It’s Day 2 of the PIAA track and field championships at Shippensburg’s Seth Grove Stadium. WPIAL athletes had a rare Day 1 performance, as no girls claimed gold medals. That should change Saturday. Here are five things to watch at the Class AA and AAA girls championships:

Quarzo repeat

The first event of the day is the Class AA girls 3,200-meter run. The returning champion is Brownsville junior Gionna Quarzo. Her winning time in 2018 was 10 minutes, 48.19 seconds. She enters Saturday’s race with an even better time of 10:34.35. She’s the only runner seeded under the 11-minute mark. She could challenge the PIAA record of 10:31.85 set in 2008 by Central Cambria’s Carly Seymour.

Looking for multiple golds

A couple WPIAL sophomore girls — Shady Side Academy’s Melissa Riggins and South Park’s Maddie Raymond — have a shot at winning two gold medals. Riggins looks to repeat in the 800 and 1,600. Raymond is running in the 100, 200 and 1,600 relay.

Looking to finish strong

Hempfield senior Mackenna Orie and South Park senior Maura Huwalt didn’t live up to their lofty standards on Day 1. Orie finished third in the Class AAA shout put, while Huwalt placed second in the Class AA discus and third in the javelin. Huwalt was seeded No. 1 in the javelin. Both have chance at redemption. Orie is throwing the discus in Class AAA and Huwalt the shot put in Class AA.

Time to sky

Waynesburg sophomore Taylor Shriver broke the WPIAL pole vault record in Class AA last week. Now she’s looking to win her first PIAA title and challenge for the meet record. Shriver is seeded No. 1 after clearing 12 feet, 7 inches. She’ll be pushed by Loyalsock Township senior Hailey Zurich, who has cleared 12-6 ¼.

Fast 100

The Class AAA 100 semifinal features five WPIAL runners and one City League girl. The WPIAL girls are Avonworth/Northgate senior Hayden Robinson, Latrobe junior Faith Mucci, North Allegheny junior Casey Burton, Woodland Hills sophomore Lilly Ballard and Fox Chapel senior Kate Carnevale. Obama senior Raven Haston will represent the City League.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Avonworth, Brownsville, Hempfield, Latrobe, Obama Academy, Shady Side Academy, South Park, Waynesburg