The unseasonably warm weather allowed some local high school track and field athletes to train outdoors this week. But come Sunday, many of the state’s best will head back indoors for the biggest meet of the season.
A large contingent of WPIAL athletes will converge on Penn State this weekend for the PTFCA Indoor State Championships. The event returns after a one-year hiatus. Due to COVID-19, it was not held in 2021.
“It’s pretty big,” said Butler senior sprinter Guinness Brown. “I’ve been working hard. I’m excited to see where I rank.”
Brown, a Duke recruit, is one of several athletes from the WPIAL who will enter the event as No. 1 seeds. Seeds are determined by times/marks achieved up to this point of the indoor season. Brown is the top seed in the 400-meter dash. He ran a time of 49.06 in a meet at Youngstown State earlier this month. Brown will also compete in the 200, as well as the 800 and 1,600 relays.
Unlike the PIAA championships in the spring, which are split into two classes, all schools, regardless of size, compete in one division at the indoor championships. That will allow Brown to race against friend and rival Trevor Paschall of North Catholic, a North Carolina recruit who will run the 200, as well as the 60-meter dash. Paschall won the 200 at last year’s PIAA Class 2A championships. Brown and Paschall finished 1-2 in the 400 at last Saturday’s TSTCA championships at Edinboro.
Like Brown, Greensburg Central Catholic’s Corinn Brewer is a senior who has already made a college commitment. Brewer will compete in the heptathlon and pole vault at Notre Dame. And also like Brown, Brewer has never won a state title, something she could do Sunday when she competes in the pole vault and 60-meter hurdles.
“This is definitely very big,” said Brewer. “This is the first time I’m going to indoor states. There’s no pressure. I’ve already gotten into Notre Dame. I’m just focusing on getting some PRs.”
Brewer has gone 11 feet, 10 inches in the pole vault and 9.83 in the 60 hurdles this season.
A lot of eyes will be on Moon senior Mia Cochran, the top seed in the 3,000. Cochran, an Arkansas recruit, won PIAA Class 3A titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 during last year’s outdoor season. Brownsville junior Jolena Quarzo will also run in the 3,000. Like Cochran, Quarzo claimed a PIAA 3,200 title last year. Quarzo’s came in Class 2A.
Another WPIAL girl seeded first is Shenango senior Emma Callahan, an Iowa signee who threw the shot put 50 feet, ¾ inches at a meet this month. It’s the second-longest throw in the country this season.
Penn Hills senior and Seton Hill recruit Angelo Allen is the top seed in the shot put.
Statewide, some of the top athletes to watch will be Archbishop Wood senior Gary Martin (mile) and Spring Grove sophomore Laila Campbell (60, 200). Martin, a Virginia recruit, is one of the top distance runners in the country. Campbell is a sophomore who captured PIAA Class 3A titles in the 100 and 200 her freshman season.
“It’s definitely really good,” Brewer said of the field she will compete against Sunday. “Two girls have jumped 13 [feet in the pole vault] and one is a freshman, which is crazy.”
The South Fayette girls and Butler boys will aim for team titles after claiming them at the TSTCA championships. Competing for South Fayette in individual events will be senior Melana Schumaker (200, pole vault), sophomore Olivia Renk (60, 200), senior Amanda Marquis (400), senior Lauren Iagnemma (mile) and junior Grace Howard (high jump, long jump). The Lions will also have a team competing in the 800 relay. Schumaker, Renk and Marquis were members of the school’s 400 relay team that won a PIAA Class 3A title last spring. Schumaker is a Youngstown State recruit.
Along with Brown, Butler athletes competing in individual events will be senior Presley Ornelas (60), C.J. Singleton (mile), senior Tyler Rekich (high jump, long jump) and senior Tristan McGarrah (pole vault). It could be a busy weekend for Singleton, a Notre Dame track recruit who also plays on the Butler basketball team. Butler plays at Central Catholic in Friday’s WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals.
“Our coach is really hoping for the team title, so that’s what we’re striving for,” Brown said. “We feel we have some really good relays. We’ve got C.J. in the mile. I think we can definitely win the team title.”
With the outdoor season nearing, a strong finish to the indoor season could give a lot of athletes loads of momentum moving forward.
“[Winning a title] would mean a lot,” Brewer said. “All of the divisions are combined, so it’s not just Double-A. Winning would be great, and it would give me a great push going into the outdoor season.”
Brad Everett: beverett@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BREAL412.
First Published: February 23, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
