The WPIAL track and field season is underway, with the first section meets taking place on Tuesday. There are plenty of storylines to watch, with three individual state champions and several returning from Fort Cherry’s PIAA champion relay team in the 4x100-meter relay.

There’s also plenty of talent that moved on. Butler’s Drew Griffith, widely considered to be the top distance runner in WPIAL history, graduated and is now at Notre Dame. The top female distance runner, Mt. Lebanon’s Logan St. John Kletter, also graduated and currently runs at North Carolina. In fact, just two WPIAL Class 3A girls individual champions will return to defend their titles.

The Class 2A and Class 3A team championships will both be held on May 6, with the Class 2A meet at Peters Township and the Class 3A team meet at West Mifflin. The individual championships will be held May 14 at Slippery Rock University.

Here’s a look at what to watch for in this season’s WPIAL track and field season:

Class 3A boys

The post-Griffith era begins in the largest boys classification, as there will be a new champion in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter run for the first time since 2022. Last year, Griffith became the first WPIAL runner ever to defend the title in both the mile and two-mile races. He then went on to win both state titles.

Besides distance, one of the more interesting storylines in Class 3A boys this season will be the sprinters, as both of the top runners in the 100-meter dash, Woodland Hills’ Scoop Smith and Canon-McMillan’s Colton Dean, will return to race once again. Smith, a junior listed at 5-foot-7, has received Division I attention for football and had plenty of basketball success, leading Woodland Hills to the Class 6A playoffs. He bested Dean in the 100, 10.64 seconds to 10.74, but Dean, a Penn track signee, went on to win both the 200 and the 300 hurdles.

Central Catholic’s Elijah Faulkner is the defending champion in the long jump with a leap of 22 feet, 9 inches. Faulkner is committed to play running back at UMass. His fellow Central Catholic football teammate Xxavier Thomas, a Penn State signee, finished third in the event and could look to one-up his teammate in both Vikings’ senior years. Indiana’s Stanford Webb, who finished second last year, is also a senior.

Pole vault champion Zachary Noble of Trinity and javelin champion Logan Kerstetter of Penn-Trafford are also seniors looking to repeat as WPIAL champions.

Butler is the reigning team champion, though it graduated its champion in both distance races (Griffith), long jump champion Orein McBride-Cager, and triple jump champion Ayden Davis. But given that Butler has won the team title in three of the last four years, the Golden Tornado should be competitive again.

Class 2A boys

Two state champions return in Class 2A, as Mohawk’s Jaxon Schoedel and several members of Fort Cherry’s 4x100 relay return. Schoedel won the WPIAL championships in both the 1600 and 3200, including setting a WPIAL Class 2A record in the 3200, then went on to win the 3200 state meet. He finished second in the 1600 last year, won the WPIAL Class 1A cross country championship, and committed to run at Penn State in November.

Fellow future Penn Stater Matt Sieg, a Post-Gazette Fab 22 football selection, is the key to that Fort Cherry relay team, though he’s only a junior. Fellow football teammate Shane Cornali, now a senior, also returns. Half of the relay graduated, as Tegan Henke and Dylan Wudkwych are now in college, but Sieg and Cornali are the final two legs.

Neighborhood Academy senior DeJuan Croumbles is the defending champion in the 100. Greensburg Central Catholic junior Jerry Davis won the 400 as a sophomore last year. Quaker Valley senior Davin Gartley, brother of top Class 2A girls jumper Mia Gartley, is hoping to win the 110 hurdles. Both Davis and Gartley recorded the fastest time in the WPIAL last season, regardless of classification.

Top regular season rusher Lee Qualk of California is the defending long jump champion. South Side Beaver’s Mateja Pavlovich is the returning javelin champ and also competes in the shot put and the discus. Both are seniors.

Quaker Valley won the team meet last year, winning both the 4x400 and 4x800 relays.

Class 3A girls

Class 3A girls is by far the most wide-open classification, as there are guaranteed to be new people atop the WPIAL podium in May in all but two events. St. John Kletter wasn’t the only champion to graduate, as Canon-McMillan’s Rose Kuchera won the 100 hurdles, long jump, and triple jump. Kuchera now competes at Duquesne. South Fayette sprinter Olivia Renk, who won both the 100 and 200, is now at Saint Francis.

The only two returning champions both compete in field sports. Butler’s Aubrey Rock, a senior, won the pole vault last year with a jump of 12 feet. Javelin champion Abby Tucker, a senior at Canon-McMillan, will play volleyball at West Virginia once her track and field career is done.

But Tucker will be pushed by another javelin champion, as Class 2A champion Sophia Mazzoni of Derry will move up to Class 3A this year. Mazzoni, a senior committed to Auburn, is already No. 4 all-time in WPIAL history with a top throw of 161 feet, 10 inches. Her throw of 159 feet at last year’s WPIAL meet was a championship record, and she went on to not only win the PIAA title, but the national title for her age group. Her winning throw last year was 30 feet longer than Tucker’s title-winner in Class 3A.

North Allegheny’s aptly named Mackenzie Winning won the 400 as a junior last year, but she will not defend her title. Winning is now enrolled at IMG Academy in Florida.

North Allegheny won the team title last year, narrowly defeating Norwin and Mt. Lebanon.

Class 2A girls

Laurel’s Tori Atkins is back for her senior season, and she’s looking to make history. She’s won three consecutive WPIAL championships in both the 200 and 400 races and could become the first WPIAL runner ever to win both races in four consecutive years. Atkins also won the PIAA 400 race.

Mohawk senior Ellie Whippo is a strong cross country runner who won both the 100 and 300 hurdles last year. She joins plenty of returning talent in the jumps, as champions Mia Gartley (high jump, Quaker Valley), Carlynton’s Clare Ruffing (long jump) and Quaker Valley’s Jay Olawaiye (triple jump) all return. Gartley is just a junior, but she’s already the two-time defending champion in the high jump.

Trinity Christian senior Eilidh Edgar won the 800 last year. Freeport’s Mackenzie Magness won the pole vault as a freshman and could defend her title three more times by the time her high school career is done.

Shenango duo Rachel Callahan and Anna McKinley are the returning champions in the field sports. Callahan, a senior, won the discus last year with a throw of 119 feet, 1 inch. McKinley, a sophomore, won the shot put with a throw of 39 feet, 11 inches.

Quaker Valley won the team title last year, narrowly defeating Fort Cherry and Knoch.

First Published: March 25, 2025, 8:28 p.m.
Updated: March 26, 2025, 1:45 a.m.