Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese steals show at WPIAL meet

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, May 24, 2026 | 11:01 AM

Purchase Photo Options

Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese dominated as is his custom.

A junior running phenom, Montagnese was the star of the show as a four-time titlist at the WPIAL Class 2A track and field championships May 14 at Slippery Rock University.

Montagnese finished first in the boys 800-meter (1:56.77), 1,600 (4:17.15) and 3,200 (9:10.60) and ran a leg on the Quakers’ winning 3,200 relay team.

“I am super proud of what I was able to do,” he said. “I’ve been training really hard and this was a huge focus of the season, so it felt great to go out there and be able to get it done. My main focus was on winning the races rather than running my fastest time, but I did break the meet record in the 3,200.

“Hopefully I can take this momentum into the state meet and help the team defend our state championship.”

Montagnese, who runs 50 to 60 miles per week or about eight miles a day, was the No. 1 seed in Class 2A in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. He ranks No. 1 in the state in the 1,600 and third in the 3,200.

Additionally, QV’s 3,200 relay team was the No. 3 seed for the WPIAL meet and 2026 marked the fourth consecutive season that the Quakers have won the event at the district level.

Montagnese competed in the relay with seniors River Capek and Ryan Kempton and freshman Henry Howard, who produced a winning time of 8:10.47.

“Jonah Montagnese had one of the most impressive performances of the meet, winning WPIAL titles in three individual events,” QV coach Jared Jones said. “He also anchored the boys 4-by-800 relay team with River Capek, Henry Howard and Ryan Kempton, which also captured a WPIAL championship.”

Quaker Valley finished with a myriad of outstanding individual showings throughout the day. The Quakers earned an incredible 51 WPIAL medals at the meet and qualified numerous athletes for the PIAA championships May 22-23 at Shippensburg University.

Competitors placing in the top eight in each event earned WPIAL medals; the top five finishers qualified for the state meet.

“Competing at the WPIAL championship meet is an accomplishment in itself,” Jones said, “and our athletes represented Quaker Valley extremely well against some of the top competition in the state.”

Xander Vescio, a senior, took second place in the 300 hurdles (40.69), third in the 110 hurdles and sixth in the long jump.

Kempton ended up sixth in the 1,600, eighth in the 800 and tacked on a ninth-place showing in the 3,200.

Kieran Cain, a junior, was the runner-up in the 200 in 21.75 seconds and placed fourth in the 100.

Senior Aiden Dwyer garnered fifth in the high jump and eighth in the triple jump.

Third-place medals were presented to junior Hugo Castellini in the 300 hurdles, whose 40.69 tied Vescio’s time, and Capek in the 800.

Sophomore Eli Walker secured sixth place in the pole vault while Connor Dwyer ended up eighth in the high jump. Nicholas Winnowski, a senior, also corralled eighth place in the javelin.

One final highlight for the boys team was the effort displayed by the 1,600-meter relayers, who placed second in 3:28.46.

Connor West, a freshman, and the three C’s — Capek, Castellini and Cain — represented the Quakers in the race.

In the girls meet, Evie Rosselli won the 100-meter hurdles event in a dramatic photo finish to highlight the Quaker Valley results.

Rosselli, a junior, recorded a time of 14.76 to narrowly edge North Catholic’s Audra Lazzara (17.78) at the finish line.

Rosselli also cleared 11 feet in the pole vault to land in second place.

Senior Mimi Thiero repeated as the girls high jump champion, winning with a height of 5 feet, 4 inches. Thiero also placed fifth in the triple jump.

Another senior, Mia Gartley, was a triple medalist in individual events, securing second place in the 800 in 2:19.38, fifth in the 1,600 and sixth in the high jump.

Rose Pocasangre, a junior, and sophomore Lucy Montagnese were double medalists for the Quakers.

Pocasangre earned the runner-up position in the 300 hurdles in 46.64 and placed seventh in the 100 hurdles. Montagnese was the runner-up in the 3,200 in 11:05.66 and took seventh in the 1,600.

Three other leading performances were turned in by junior Maggie Doz, who ran to fourth place in the 3,200, and freshmen Ciara McHenry and Alexis Kempton, who finished in a five-way tie for sixth in the pole vault.

All three QV relay teams were medalists sparked by freshman Kallie McCune, Doz, Montagnese and Gartley in the 3,200. The QV girls placed second in 9:45.20.

The 400 and 1,600 relay teams both captured fourth place. The 400 team consisted of junior Maddie Gatehouse, Rosselli, freshman Barrett Renner and Pocasangre.

McCune, Thiero, freshman Abby Yates and Pocasangre ran in the 1,600 relay.

Tags: Quaker Valley