The Fox Chapel track and field team will have plenty of high aspirations for the WPIAL Class 3A championships. The Foxes have several athletes who have been steadily building toward meaningful moments in the postseason.
Fox Chapel senior Claire Conti, especially, feels like she has unfinished business. Conti shook off a slow start in the discus, fouling her first two throws, before winning the WPIAL crown last season. She also placed third in the shot put.
Conti has qualified in both events again and will be seeking to qualify for states for the fourth consecutive season. Bringing home a state medal is the only thing missing from Conti’s resume.
“She’s driven by that,” Fox Chapel coach Tom Moul said. “The trick for her is to not affect her in a negative way. She needs to calmly go about her business. She’s been doing it for many years now. Hopefully, the muscle memory will kick in.”
The Foxes had a few other athletes attempting to earn their spot at WPIALs or improve their seed competing at a last-chance meet. Results from that meet were too late for this edition.
The Foxes’ 3,200-meter girls relay team — consisting of Claire Loludice, Bridget Hemingray, Ella Shevchuk and Sydney Kimmons — also punched their ticket to WPIALs. That group found success in the winter, medaling at the state indoor championships.
Shevchuk will have an interesting day at WPIALs. She is scheduled to compete in three relay events, the 400, 1,600 and 3,200.
Two of the members of the 3,200 relay — Loludice and Hemingray — are also seeded to compete in the 3,200 run.
Moul said that Fox Chapel is happy with the progress the team made in the regular season. He is hoping to see more medals come back home after the postseason.
“I always tell the kids that records are nice, but medals last forever,” Moul said. “I’m happy with the team’s progress so far.”