The North Allegheny girls track and field team is looking as good as gold.
After falling short last season in their bid for a fourth consecutive WPIAL Class 3A team title, the Tigers are eyeing a return to the top of the medal stand.
“This is as good of a team as I’ve coached in a long time,” said coach John Neff, in his 23rd season.
“I feel good where we are. I don’t know where it’s going to put us. But we are just going to get as good as we can, and we’ll see what happens.”
Bolstered by an elite collection of field athletes and a talented cast of new runners, North Allegheny (3-0) opened the season with lopsided victories over Shaler, North Hills and 2025 WPIAL finalist Butler, winning by an average score of 116-33.
The fast start has come despite heavy losses to graduation, including do-it-all, four-event state qualifier Isabella Costa and a host of top runners.
“There have been a lot of people who have stepped up,” said senior Taylor Neese, the defending WPIAL Class 3A shot put champion.
“Our runners work so hard, and I am very confident in the team filling those spots.”
Neese, a Bucknell recruit, tuned up for her final season by attending the Adidas Indoor Nationals on March 20-22 at Virginia Beach, Va.
She placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 40 feet, 5 inches.
“She looks super,” Neff said. “She is going to have a great senior season.”
Other field standouts for the Tigers are senior Audrey Maxwell, last season’s WPIAL runner-up in the discus; senior Lindsay Breneman, the top pole vaulter in program history and last year’s PIAA third-place finisher; and a pair of WPIAL top-10 finishers in the javelin, sophomore Emma Neese (sixth) and junior Amara Daugherty (eighth).
North Allegheny, edged by Norwin, 83-67, in last year’s WPIAL team finals after winning three in a row from 2022-24, is also making strides in the track events.
Senior Maya Currie is a returning WPIAL medalist in the 400, and sophomore Lola Hood is undefeated in dual meets this season in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles.
Junior Lily Ries and freshman Samantha Strelick, the school’s top cross country runner, are shining in the distance events.
“I’m very happy with how we are,” Neff said. “We lost a lot of good kids to graduation, but we have really filled in the holes nicely, and we’re pretty solid top to bottom.”
The North Allegheny boys also lost a lot to graduation, notably 2025 WPIAL Class 3A 1,600 and 3,200 champion Jack Bertram. Among the returners for the Tigers (2-1) are seniors Sam Cohn (hurdles), Callan Bunger (thrower) and Aidan D’Ericco (high jump) and junior middle-distance runner Wyatt Case.
Freshman Gatik Hirwani is thriving in the 1,600 and 3,200.
“I feel very, very good about where our boys are,” Neff said. “
We are moving in the right direction. It’s going to be a really good year.”
North Allegheny is set to compete in the Butler Invitational on April 18 — the same night as NA’s prom — and the Baldwin Invitational on May 1.
Neese, who will skip the Butler Invite, is eyeing the school’s shot put record of 43-8.75 set by Mandy Schnupp in 1994.
It is one of the oldest marks in the North Allegheny record book. Neese’s personal best is 41-2.
“That really is my biggest goal right now, to beat that school record,” Neese said.
“That is my No. 1 goal.”
The North Allegheny girls can move closer to their team goal when they face section foes Pine-Richland and Fox Chapel on April 21.
A victory will clinch the Tigers a spot in the 16-team WPIAL Class 3A semifinals. From there, four teams advance to the WPIAL team championships May 5.
“It’s going to be a depth year with a lot of girls scoring,” Neff said.
“Down the stretch, those seniors are going to do great. I know that. Those girls are really going to pull the rope.”