Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese wins 1,600 in 3-way WPIAL battle at PIAA meet

By: David Bohr
Friday, May 23, 2025 | 9:56 PM

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SHIPPENSBURG – Quaker Valley sophomore Jonah Montagnese has one thing on his sister, senior Cecilia Montagnese, from the PIAA Track and Field Championship on Friday at Seth Grove Stadium.

He has a gold medal compared to his sister’s silver.

“I might have to flex a bit,” Jonah joked.

“I have never won states before, but honestly, it is such a blessing to be competing at this level. I never thought it would happen.”

Montagnese was in a highly competitive race with two other WPIAL runners in the Class 2A 1,600. He ran a 4:11.06 to edge Mohawk senior Jaxon Schoedel (4:11.67) and Freeport senior Michael Braun (4:11.97).

Montagnese said he knew Schoedel and Braun were coming hard down the stretch and he had to finish strong.

“I knew I had to push through because I knew they were right there,” Montagnese said. “I knew I had the lead, and I had to keep the same pace as him. It was great competition.”

Another early winner Friday was Lee Qualk of California, who topped the medal stand in the 2A boys long jump with a leap of 22-10½. Second place was Jackson Sotosky of Conemaugh Township, who had a 22-9¼.

Despite competing in heavy rain, Qualk uncorked his winning leap on his final attempt of the event.

Qualk became the first boy in school history to win a PIAA title and the second athlete at the school to be a PIAA champion. He joins thrower Kailyn Clancy, a two-time 2A shot put winner in 2013-2014.

“What a way to go out,” Qualk said. “Jumping in the rain was tough, but right before my last attempt, it cleared up and I felt I had a little more wind behind me.

“I felt like I was ready to jump my best jump of the day. It was awesome. I could not be happier.”

Qualk said he also wanted to become the first boy in school history to be a state champion.

”That was my goal,” he said.

In the afternoon, Gateway’s Dino Nadarevic claimed the gold medal in a very close 3A boys shot put competition. Holding second place behind Central Valley’s Tyler Ondrusek after the first throw of the finals, Nadarevic hit a winning toss of 58-8½.

Ondrusek ultimately finished third with his 58-7¼ , also on the second throw of the finals. DeLathian Boanes of Grove City finished second after his 58-7½ on his last throw. That meant the difference between first and third was just 1¼ inches.

“I wasn’t surprised that it was close,” Nadarevic said. “I knew it was going to be close, maybe not that close. But the nerves were there since it was that close.”

Nadarevic was the top seed coming in and is also the top seed in Saturday afternoon’s discus event.

“I’m hoping for the same result,” Nadarevic said. “Get that gold medal and go home a double champion. But either way, I’m grateful for the chance to compete here.”

Nadarevic’s career best in outdoor track is a 59-5½, though he has a 60-1 in indoor competition.

John Jablunovsky added another gold medal for the WPIAL by clearing 6-6 on his first attempt to win the 2A boys high jump. He cleared four of his first five heights in one attempt also, faltering only once at 6-4. Second-place Kyleal Cottrell of Bristol finished at 6-5.

Griffin Burnett of South Park snared a bronze medal in the 2A boys javelin with a 179-9. The senior had entered the event seeded 19th.

Another bronze medalist was Jack Bertram of North Allegheny, who was third in the 3A boys 1600 with a 4:07.81.

Other medalists

Among the WPIAL state medalists who earned between fourth and eighth place were three 2A boys discus throwers.

Jonah Pfender of Fort Cherry was fourth with a 166-1 on his last throw of the afternoon. Garret Myers of Springdale was fifth with a 160-1 and Kevin Mahoney of Laurel was sixth with a 157-2.

Javon Johnston of Shady Side Academy was fifth in the 2A boys long jump with a 22-2 ¼.

Charlie Tourledge of Winchester Thurston was seventh in the 2A boys 1,600 with a 4:17.41 while Tyler Biss of Beaver was eighth with a 4:17.89.

In the 3A pole vault, Jenson Gregorich of South Fayette cleared 13-6 in his first attempt to claim the eighth-place medal.

Track qualifiers

The following runners qualified for Saturday’s finals in track events. Other than the aforementioned 1,600, all of Friday’s track events were preliminaries.

In the 3A boys 110 hurdles, three WPIAL runners qualified for the finals. Owen Proskin of Plum had the third-best time with a 14.42. Ryan Schiller of Norwin ran a 14.50 for a sixth seed and Gamaliel Mogire of North Hills snagged the eighth and final spot with a 14.54.

In the 300 hurdles, Aaron Taylor of Canon-McMillian was second with a 38.06 and Aidon Lett of Penn Trafford was eighth with a 39.11.

Kaevon Gardner of New Castle had the second-best qualifying time in the 3A boys 100 dash with a 10.71.

Four local sprinters qualified for the 2A boys 400, including top seed Jerry Davis of Greensburg Central Catholic, who lived up to his top seeding with a 48.32. Other qualifiers were James Irwin of Quaker Valley with a 49.53, Da’Kari Williams of Beaver Falls with a 49.55 and Brady Mayo of Beaver Falls with a 50.24.

DeJuan Croumbles-Boooker entered the 2A boys 100 dash as the fifth seed, but the Neighborhood Academy runner improved his chances with the third-best prelim time of 11.05.

In the 200, Davis was seventh with a 22.86 while Amari Jackson of Beaver was eighth with a 22.95.

Devin Gartley of Quaker Valley was the top seed in the 2A boys 110 hurdles and did qualify for the finals, though with a third-best time of 14.48. He also had the third-best time in the 300 hurdles to qualify for that final with a 39.31.

In the 400 relay, the WPIAL had the top and final qualifier. Beaver had a time of 42.92 to get the top seed for Saturday. Alex Mastoris, Brady Mayo, Jacob Crossland and Jackson ran for Beaver. Meanwhile, the Quaker Valley team of Gartley, James Irwin, Kieran Cain and Winston Clifford was eighth with a 43.42.

Paul Schofield contributed.