Kiski Area high jumper DeVito striving to soar higher as WPIAL meet approaches

By: Michael Love
Friday, April 26, 2024 | 7:46 PM

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Gianna DeVito leapt to a top height of 5 feet, 2 1/2 inches in the high jump at the Lady Spartans Invitational on April 13 at Latrobe Memorial Stadium.

She finished second that day, and the height, a career-best for the Kiski Area sophomore, ranks fourth on the Kiski Area all-time list.

“I felt good that day,” DeVito said. “It was pretty windy, but I felt warm, and I prepared well for it.”

DeVito continues to make her move in the high jump, and she has found herself among the best of the best at various dual meets and invitationals.

“Gianna is just gaining more experience, and with that experience, she is more and more confident,” Kiski Area jumps coach Jen Mitchell said. “She learned a lot in her first year (on varsity). She’s been consistently able to tackle some of those higher jumps, especially on her first attempt. The potential is there to keep adding on to what she’s already achieved.

“For her, just like any other jumper, it’s the day, it’s the weather, it’s the mindset. I don’t think we’ve seen her highest jump this year, and there’s still a lot of the season left.”

DeVito started track and field in seventh grade and began to find her niches in the sport. She also credits parkour for giving her that foundation.

“I just loved jumping around,” she said. “I would go to Steel City Parkour in Export about once a week. It’s a few minutes from my house. It was a lot of fun.”

DeVito’s height (5-foot-11) and her agility and jumping ability — they also have served her well in volleyball and basketball with the Cavaliers — made the high jump a natural fit for her.

DeVito got a jump on the outdoor season with two indoor meets in mid February.

With basketball as her main sport in the winter — she was named to the Valley News Dispatch all-star third team for the 2023-24 season — indoor track competitions took a back seat. The basketball season ended Feb. 9, and the next day, going in cold, she was jumping at a Tri-State Track Coaches Association meet at Edinboro.

Her top attempt of 5-0 1/4 earned her a spot at the following week’s Tri-State Championships back at Edinboro. Her best leap at the championships, 4-11 1/4, was not the height she was looking for, but it was good enough to land her in sixth overall.

“I always wanted to do the indoor meets, but I was always busy with basketball,” she said. “But whenever I got the chance, I knew I was going to do it. I went in raw and a little nervous to that first meet, but I felt I did OK. At the championships, I felt I could’ve gotten that last height. But for not having much work before that, I was happy.

“Those meets gave me some confidence going into the outdoor season because I didn’t think I was going to do well enough to place.”

DeVito entered the outdoor season hoping to improve on her top height of 4-11 as a freshman.

She jumped 4-10 in taking second at the Altoona Igloo Invitational on April 6, one week before landing her season best at the Lady Spartan Invite.

At Butler, she took eighth with a top jump of 5-1.

On Thursday at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association meet, she cleared the bar at 5-0 1/2 to again earn a silver medal and help the Kiski Area girls finish fifth in the team standings.

“Two of my friends who throw (Erica Shamburg in the discus and Natavia Wilson in the discus and shot) placed, and I was really happy for them,” DeVito said. “They were so excited to be there. On the bus, there were like 13 medals. We all did really well, and I am happy about that.”

DeVito, who also competes in the triple jump and long jump, said a clear goal for her is to compete at WPIALs after not qualifying last year.

She also hopes to crack the 5-3 mark by the end of the season and is confident she can get there.

Last year’s WPIAL champion in Class 3A recorded a 5-5, and the top returning high jumper, bronze medalist Grace Nichols from Butler, reached 5-4.

The girls school record in the high jump is 5-7 set in 31 years ago by Beth Antonikas. Sarah Cappo cleared 5-4 in 2007, and Jaime McCluskie recorded a 5-3 also in 1993.

The WPIAL record for Class 3A is 5-9 set in 2011.

“That is insane,” DeVito said. “That is so high.”

DeVito said she and her Cavaliers jumping teammates, including senior Ben Young, continue to work on the little things to be at their best for upcoming invitationals as well as Tuesday’s WPIAL team semifinals where both Kiski Area teams will compete at Norwin at 3 p.m.

“I am working on form, timing, and my approach,” DeVito said. “The other day at practice, Ben and I were doing these drills where we would run at a certain angle to give us more momentum. There are a lot of things to put together. There’s always something to work on.”

Mitchell said the jumping crew is a close-knit group, and DeVito benefits from the leadership Young shows to her and all of the younger jumpers.

“Ben is awesome,” Mitchell said.

“He is one of a kind. With being the only jumps coach at Kiski, he is willing to step in and instruct in the high jump when I am over coaching the long jumpers and triple jumpers. Ben and Gianna are very similar in personality. They are very light-hearted. They don’t get stressed about a lot of things. They know what they can do and are confident jumpers.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Kiski Area