North Allegheny track team builds momentum after invitational success

By: Josh Rizzo
Thursday, April 18, 2019 | 5:37 PM

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North Allegheny’s track and field team left quite an impression on the medal stand in the 3,200-meter event at the Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational.

For the girls’ portion, the Tigers didn’t leave room for many others on the medal stand. Hannah Lindgren, Ally Christy and Jenna Mlecko placed first, second and third.

“I thought those races were dynamite,” North Allegheny coach John Neff said. “All three of them are coming into their own at the right time of the season. Their training is paying off.”

Keeley Mitsuka also won the 1,600, while Dan McGoey won the 3,200 on the boys’ side. McGoey won by a considerable margin, coming in more than 10 seconds in front of the competition.

“Dan is a kid who has had a nice linear trajectory since middle school,” Neff said. “He’s an example of what happens when great talent meets great work ethic and great attitude.”

Lola Akindele was the only North Allegheny female athlete to medal in two events. Akindele placed fifth in the 200 dash and sixth in the 100 dash. On the boys’ side, Donovan Rice placed second in the 110 and 300 hurdles.

The North Allegheny girls placed fourth, while the boys placed sixth.

It’s been a strong start thus far for the Tigers, who swept a dual meet meet with Pine-Richland and North Allegheny last Monday. Both the boys and girls are off to 4-0 starts, including 3-0 a mark in section.

Neff has been pleased with the progress of the Tigers, who lost several stalwarts to graduation.

“I think we haven’t missed a beat,” Neff said. “We did graduate some unbelievable kids last year. We have that mentality of keep training until it’s you turn. The juniors from last year are taking leadership roles. We are getting contributions from underclassmen. I think the team is rounding out nicely.”

North Allegheny wants to make sure that potential continues to nurture itself.

The Tigers have aspirations beyond having a strong regular season.

“We’d like to think we are in the conversation to get back to the finals, team-wise,” Neff said. “As the season wraps up, we are going to sharpen ourselves and try to make a push toward team finals. I think we have quite a few kids in that conversation to get to Shippensburg.”

Tags: North Allegheny