Track athletes train for championships, reflect on season  

in Sports

Quincey Reese, Staff Writer

For most Penn-Trafford track and field athletes, the 2017 season has drawn to a close.  A few, however, continue practicing for the WPIAL meet and a possible chance at states.

Head coach Karen Skandera said about eight to 12 athletes are still training.  The athletes who have qualified for the championship meet are as follows: junior Gabby Schlessinger, sophomore Reaghan Panza, sophomore Jake Cardiff, senior Nick Wagner, junior Cam Elma, senior Christian Jantz and junior Nick Stifler. The boys’ 4×4 relay, made up of sophomore Locklin Newman, senior Trevor Momeyer, senior Ryan Panza and Wagner (with junior Tyler Brinko as alternate) also qualified for the meet.

Photo by Rachel Casper
Junior Cam Elma is a WPIAL qualifier in the shot put.

As for states, Skandera believes a few athletes have a chance at competing. She said Wagner, ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL for the 800 meters, Stiffler, ranked No. 2 in high jump and Panza, ranked No. 9 in javelin, are all contenders for this meet.

Skandera added she had to pull junior John Gay out of the WPIAL meet due to a hamstring injury, taking him out of the running for the state meet as well. Otherwise, she said she believed he could qualify for it.

During the regular season, Skandera said three athletes broke school records in their respective events.  Wagner set a new record for the 800 meters, Panza did so for javelin and Gay broke the record for the 100 meters.

Overall, Skandera said the season was relatively good for the boys’ team, given the difficult section the team is placed in.

“The boys we had did pretty well. We are in a tough section, with Norwin and Hempfield in particular. Along with Latrobe, all of their boys’ and girls’ teams have won the WPIAL meet several times, so it makes for challenging competition,” Skandera said. “But, some boys did some nice individual things and worked well as a team.”

She added the girls’ team was not as successful as she would have liked.

“It was disappointing for the girls. We just don’t have a lot of girls willing to commit to track,” Skandera said. “It’s a side-show sport for them. Without people showing up, we can’t have a consistent team.”

Being Skandera’s final year coaching and teaching at P-T, she said she will miss the sport and seeing her athletes improve.

“It’s a fun sport to be a part of. Even if you aren’t winning, it’s exciting to watch kids get better with each meet and get more motivated in their events. I will miss seeing them all PR,” Skandera said.