Injuries derail promising season for Shady Side Academy boys track and field team

By: Marty Stewart
Friday, June 28, 2019 | 6:36 PM

Although the Shady Side Academy boys track and field team posted an impressive 5-1 record and made it to the WPIAL Class AA team playoffs, it was a season of high hopes that were swept away by injury.

“There were some disappointments during the season with the biggest being injuries,” SSA coach Adam Janosko said. “We had a state-caliber 400 (meter) relay team this year, one that I thought could have won the WPIAL championship. Both Sam Farner and Dino Tomlin sustained injuries in the same meet. Skyy Moore was out all season, and Brendan Gaffney had a nagging hockey injury.

“On the positive side, I was ecstatic that we made the team playoffs for the first time in 15 years. We won some very close meets against East Allegheny and Trinity Christian. I was proud that, due to injury, some of the guys stepped up into events in which they were not terribly comfortable.”

There were a couple of pleasant surprises for Janosko.

“In Billy Frohlich’s first year on the team, he made it to the PIAA championships in the 300 hurdles,” Janosko said. “His raw athleticism and his willingness to compete in almost any event won him my Coaches Ironman Award. Sophomore Adam Lauer’s consistently running the 3,200 around 9:46 was another win. I knew that he would break the 10-minute mark this season, and he turned it on at the right point in the season and qualified for the state meet.”

Opportunities are plentiful for next year’s team members as Shady Side Academy will lose key contributors in Tomlin, Frohlich, Joey Tomson, Connor Caputo, Nick Lauer, Ryan Jochims, Gaffney and Moore.

Top returning team members are Eddie Faulkner (long jump, triple jump), Mason Tomlin (long jump, triple jump), Zach Conti (400), Farner (100), Lauer (1,600, 3,200), Will Roberson (pole vault) and Jason Williams (high jump).

Points leaders for the season were Faulkner, Lauer and Frohlich.

Tags: Shady Side Academy