If anyone in WPIAL track circles hasn’t heard about Latrobe sophomore sprinter Preston Miller, that is going to change.
Miller put on quite a show at the 33rd annual Lady Spartan/22 annual Wildcat Invitational track meet Friday at Latrobe’s Memorial Stadium.
He won the 100-meter dash, tying the meet record of 10.99 seconds in the preliminaries and then breaking it with a 10.93 in the finals. He also won the 200 (22.4) and was the lead-off runner in the winning 400-meter relay team. His teammates were A.J. Yeboah, Bryce Hoke and Adam Piper.
Miller wasn’t the only athlete to have a good day despite the cool, damp weather. A record 31 teams competed late into the night. The last races did not occur until 10:30 p.m.
Conemaugh Township’s Jackson Sotosky won three events: high jump. triple jump and long jump. Hempfield senior Madison Altman won the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, and Penn-Trafford senior Ekoulus Lett won the 110 hurdles. His twin brother Aidon edged him in the 300 hurdles.
West Allegheny’s Grace Fritzman swept the 1,600 and 3,200 runs.
Miller, who is an outstanding ice hockey player, got a little playful motivation from former junior high sprint coach Emily Vasilko, who joked with him prior to his preliminary race.
“It feels nice to run again because I was injured last year,” Miller said. “It was fun to post some good times.
“Coach E pushed all throughout my junior high career. I just had to go out and show it. She helped me out a lot. She is the reason I’m here.”
Altman had a solid day in winning both of her races.
“I am grateful that I got to run,” Altman said. “There are definitely things I can improve on to run better, but today was pretty good despite the weather.”
Two of the top javelin throwers in the WPIAL and PIAA – Derry senior Sophia Mazzoni and Penn-Trafford senior Logan Kerstetter – had no problem winning. Mazzoni threw a season-best 146 feet and Kerstetter’s throw was 169-10.
Kerstetter’s teammate, senior Jake McGhee, won the 1,600 (4:24.31) and 800.
Belle Vernon’s Ryan Kent won the discus (142-3).
Kiski Area won the boys 3,200-meter relay and Latrobe won the girls 3,200 meter relay.
North Allegheny had five field winners. Isabella Costa won the long jump (17-4) by an inch over Hempfield’s Allison DeMatt (17-3). Lindsay Breneman won the pole vault (12-1), Jack Yatchenko took the shot put, Taylor Neese claimed the shot put (37-10) and Audrey Maxwell won the discus. Costa also won the 400.
DeMatt came back to win the triple jump (35-7) and placed third in the high jump. Hempfield’s Chasnee Smith won the 800.
Also winning were Greensburg Central Catholic junior Jerry Davis (400), Mt. Pleasant’s Gage Sowers (pole vault), Conemaugh Township’s Izzy Slezak (100) and Indiana freshman Gracie Reed (200).