Solid leadership, freshmen surprises spark Chartiers Valley girls track

By: Ted Sarneso
Sunday, May 24, 2026 | 11:01 AM

The last time the Chartiers Valley girls track and field team saw playoff action was 2019.

With such a long postseason absence, it was going to take the right mix to get the Colts back into the playoffs, and the 2026 squad found the right mixture.

A combination of strong leadership from the upperclassmen and the fire and spark from a number of freshmen to propelled Chartiers Valley to 5-1 record and a second-place finish in Section 7-3A.

“The team was more eager to get better this year,” said coach Lori Poe. “The leadership from our veteran athletes came through in a big way. We didn’t really have to worry about underclassmen not knowing what to do or being nervous because the upperclassmen were there helping them all the time.”

The Colts and the rest of their section didn’t face one or two opponents at a time, like in a tri-meet, but they had one big section meet near the end of the year to decide the title.

It is extremely tough to prepare for such a meet because each athlete has to feel great that day and be on top of their game. It’s a huge detriment when teams are missing key contributors due to any host of reasons.

“You have to compete for every place because it matters when you’re going against six other teams,” said Poe. “You might get fourth place in the 100, but it could be first against another team.”

Chartiers Valley entered the WPIAL team semifinals going up against Belle Vernon, Kiski Area, North Allegheny and Plum at North Allegheny on April 28.

The Colts wound up finishing second to powerhouse North Allegheny. Although they did not advance, they had some terrific finishes.

One of the most impressive was a first-place finish by the 400-meter relay team of senior Cheyenne Jones, juniors Brooklyn Horr and Jasmin Lewis and freshman Chloe Doyle. They posted a time of 49.45, edging out North Allegheny for the top spot by 0.41 seconds.

“Relays in competitions like that you get five points when you win or you get nothing, so that was a big win,” Poe said. “That was a great experience for them. They really came together as a team and we had a good core group of senior leaders that pushed the team to do well.”

The Colts were led by seniors Lilly Carlson, Sophie Kanownik, Cheyenne Jones, Katie Hansen, Gia Kwasniewski and Kelsie Thiel.

Carlson was the only one on the girls side who qualified for states, doing so in the discus at the WPIAL meet May 13th at Slippery Rock University.

She was seeded third going into the event and finished fourth with a throw of 119-feet, 3 inches. Earlier in the season, she smashed the school record for discus. The previous mark of 120-11 was set in 2003 and Carlson exceed that with a toss of 123-9.

A lot of track and field athletes start out saying they want to compete in a specific event. For instance, Carlson was all about javelin when she first started, but as her performance in discus got better, that’s were she wanted to focus.

Toward the end of this season, however, she was on the bubble of making the WPIAL meet in javelin and went into a last chance meet seeded 23rd. She qualified for the WPIALs with a top 20 finish and recorded her best throw of the season with an 111-08, good for 12th place.

“She was our top javelin thrower, so we had her in meets, but she just wasn’t loving it,” said Poe. “Towards the end, she was like, ‘I don’t care if I make it,’ and we were like, ‘But you’re right there.’ There was no pressure that day. She knew she got into states with discus and was like, ‘Hey, whatever happens, happens’. She just went out, had fun and did well.”

Kanownik made it to states for the Chartiers Valley cross country team and was a very solid distance runner for the track team. She ran the mile, two-mile, 800 meters and was a part of the 3,200 relay.

“She had a great season, just missed qualifying in WPIALs for the 3,200,” Poe said. “She finished at the last chance meet with a personal record as far as her time and did a good job being our anchor in our distance events.”

Jones ran in all three relays for the Colts, which is rare and something new for Poe.

“She came to me when the season started and said, ‘I really don’t like running the individual events. I want to feel like I’m contributing to something. I like the relays better,’” remembered Poe. “You rarely have a kid who wants to run all three relays. It will be hard missing Cheyenne’s leadership and ability. She’ll be very hard to replace next year.”

Thiel placed fifth in the high jump at the WPIAL team championships with a height of 4 feet, 8 inches.

Hansen was the team’s top 800-meter runner, led off the 3,200 relay and occasionally helped out in the 1,600 relay as well. Kwasniewski ran the mile, the two-mile, 800 and the 3,200 relay.

“Gia carried a lot of loads on the distance side of things,” said Poe. “Both she and Katie will be missed. They are hard to replace.”

Jones, Kwasniewski, Hansen and Kanownik were instrumental in the Colts’ relay teams having another strong year.

That quartet ran the 3,200 relay to a fifth-place finish (10:08.50) in the WPIAL team championships. They struggled at the individual competition, posting a time of 10:28.76, which placed them 16th.

Jones helped guide the 1,600 relay team to 10th-place finish at the individual championships with a time of 4:15.01.

Joining her were a pair of juniors in Apryl Baldish and Alivia Silverman and Doyle, the freshman.

Doyle was the anchor on that 1,600 relay and went into the 400 meters seeded 19th and came out placing 12th with a time of 1:01.52.

“For a freshman to be an anchor leg, she handled that pressure really well,” said Poe. “She only ran that a few times this year, only running it in that section meet, the playoff and the last chance meet to try and get into WPIALs. You never know how the pressure is going to affect freshmen, but it didn’t faze her at all. She was a nice surprise.”

Doyle wasn’t the only freshman to contribute to the Colts’ success this year.

Bianca Karcz placed in the 300-hurdles at WPIALs, posting a time of 47 seconds, and made the podium with an eighth-place finish. Because there are no 300-hurdles in middle school, it’s safe to say she’s transitioned to high school track very well.

She placed second (16.23) in the 100-meter hurdles and ran a 48.13 in the 300-meter hurdles at the team championships.

Dylan Frycklund placed eighth in the 3,200 meters at the team championships with a time of 13:29.93. Kanownik (12:26.00) and Kwasniewski (12:44.84) placed second and fourth, respectively, in that same race.

Once this year’s crop of seniors graduate, there are still plenty of athletes the Colts can count on for next year.

“We’ll have a group of leaders next year that are going to want to emulate the leaders they had this year and do as well as they did in competitions,” said Poe.

Junior Jasmin Lewis was solid in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. In the WPIAL team championships, she placed second in the 100-meter with a time of 12.79 and took the top spot in the 200-meter with a run of 26.10.

Lewis went into the WPIAL meet seeded eighth. She just missed getting out of the semifinals, but it was her second or third fastest time all season.

She finished her season strong in the long jump after having a near-nightmare experience last year. Because of how she did last year, Lewis wasn’t confident going into the meet, but she broke her own school record at the last chance meet with a mark of 18-4.25 and that helped her mentally get over what happened last year.

Lewis came in seeded second overall in the long jump and finished sixth with a distance of 17-03.

“I know she wanted to finish higher, but I had to tell her, ‘Hey, you didn’t even make the finals last year, but you made the finals this year and whatever you do from here on out is icing on the cake,’” said Poe. “I think the weight of being ranked second as a sophomore was a little too much, but this year she could handle it.”

Juniors Alivia Silberman and Brooklyn Horr also did well in the triple jump.

Silberman placed 16th with a distance of 34-3 and Horr finished 17th with a jump of 33-8.

Horr got hurt in the triple jump and couldn’t run in the 400 relay in the individual competition. Freshman Alyssa Wormack stepped into that spot and the group finished seventh.

Junior Desiree Weinberg qualified for the finals in shot put in both the indoor and outdoor track seasons, just as she did last year. She finished fifth at the WPIAL team championships this year with a throw of 31-0. She didn’t place in the individual championships, but Poe expects her to make the podium next year.

Sophomore Isabella D’Eramo also had a strong year in the javelin, and Poe is looking for big things from her next season.

“Bella started coming on in the javelin and shot put this year and making it to WPIALs was a big accomplishment. She should do well,” said Poe.

One overlooked factor for how well the team performed this year was having their own track after years of construction forced the team to train away from school and to find out of the box training methods.

“It was an easier season to not have as many obstacles as we had last year,” said Poe. “It’s a beautiful track. Very fast, very soft. We had a few meets where kids were breaking some of their school’s records. It wasn’t taken for granted this year and our kids took advantage.”

Tags: Chartiers Valley