Quarzo becomes Brownsville’s first PIAA girls champion
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Saturday, May 26, 2018 | 12:18 PM
SHIPPENSBURG — Brownsville sophomore Gionna Quarzo decided go for it with one lap remaining in the Class AA 3,200-meter run on Saturday at the PIAA Track and Field Championships.
That’s when she broke away from Loyalsock junior Isabel Sagar and her gamble paid off.
Quarzo won the race by nearly three seconds (10:48.10) and became Brownsville’s first girl to win a PIAA gold medal. Sagar finished 10:51.06.
She also won the WPIAL title with a time of 11:11.16
“I’m very excited because I never would have imagined that I could have won,” Quarzo said. “I was trying to stay behind her because last year I got seventh and I went out really fast, so I decided to tuck in.”
Quarzo changed her strategy during the race.
“I was going to go at the 800, but I figured I’d go on the last lap instead because I didn’t know if she had a good sprint or not.”
Quarzo said she was hoping for a top 3 finish.
“I was thinking third, I never imagined first,” Quarzo said. “I felt good the whole race, the last lap was harder for me, because I can’t sprint. I just tried as hard as I could.”
The first @PIAASports Track and Field Championships is Brownsville sophomore Gionna Quarzo in Class 2A 3200. @TribHSInsider @TribLiveHSSN @Schofield_Trib @CYMIA_Falcons @BAHSAthleticDep
— JP Schofield (@schofield_jp) May 26, 2018
Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.
Tags: Brownsville
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