What do you get when a freshman phenom and sophomore sensation get together?
One of the most-anticipated races of the WPIAL track and field championships.
Two young distance stars will go head-to-head Thursday at Slippery Rock when Peters Township freshman Katie Froelich and South Fayette sophomore Angela Zeng battle it out for the Class 3A 1,600-meter title.
The two own the fastest times in the state this season, per MileSplit. Froelich has run the race in 4 minutes, 48.01 seconds and Zeng in 4:49.12. The runners rank among the top seven in WPIAL history in the event, according to track historian Jim Faiella, and Froelich’s time ranks second nationally among freshmen.
Froelich has narrowly defeated Zeng in the mile twice in recent months. The pair finished 1-2 at both the PTFCA state indoor championships (Froelich ran a 4:47.42 and Zeng 4:47.82) and again at the Baldwin Invitational (Froelich went 4:49.61 and Zeng 4:50.72).
Froelich (10:23.07) and Zeng (10:44.40) are also the top two seeds in the 3,200, an event in which Froelich is ranked No. 2 in the state.
Three-peats
Winning two gold medals was great, but Greensburg Central Catholic’s Jerry Davis and Freeport’s Mackenzie Magness are now aiming for three-peats.
Davis is the two-time defending boys Class 2A champion in the 400 and Magness the two-time defending girls Class 2A pole vault champion. Both also won PIAA titles last season.
Davis and Magness are seeded No. 1 in those events and could break WPIAL championship records. Davis, who has run a season-best 49.19, might shatter his own record of 48.32 from last season. Magness has vaulted a PR of 12 feet, 7 inches this season (No. 7 in WPIAL history), which is also the championship record set by Waynesburg’s Taylor Shriver in 2019.
No boy has three-peated in the 400 since Rochester’s Derek Moye from 2005-07. Moye went on to play football at Penn State and later spent some time in the NFL. Magness will attempt to become the first girl to win three consecutive pole vault titles since Hempfield’s Larissa Debich (2010-12).
• One boys relay team is actually seeking a four-peat. That would be Quaker Valley’s 3,200 team, which is trying to become the first relay team to claim four consecutive titles since the Quakers won five straight from 2008-12. The Quakers’ 1,600 relay team is hunting a three-peat.
• Three other Class 2A relay teams will attempt to three-peat — the Fort Cherry boys in the 400, the North Catholic girls in the 400 and the Shady Side Academy girls in the 3,200. North Catholic, which won the Class 3A title in 2024, ran a 47.71 earlier this season. Only six teams in WPIAL history have gone faster.
Double-doubles
Upper St. Clair’s Sadie Tomczyk, West Allegheny’s Grace Fritzman and South Fayette’s Delaney Schumaker had big performances at last year’s Class 3A girls championships.
After winning a pair of individual titles last year, the three will try to do it again.
Tomczyk (100 and 200), Fritzman (1,600 and 3,200) and Schumaker (100 hurdles and 300 hurdles) will shoot for double-doubles. No Class 3A girl has doubled in the 100 and 200 two years in a row since Penn Hills’ Iman Wilkerson in 2010-11 and none has done it in both hurdle events since Hempfield’s Maddie Holmberg in 2013-14.
A win by Tomczyk in the 100 would give Upper St. Clair a title in the event for the fifth time in six years. While Tomczyk is the No. 1 seed in the 100, she’s not in the 200, where Moon’s Rachel Stepp is seeded first. Stepp is the defending champion in the 400, and only two girls in WPIAL history have run faster times.
Schumaker could have her hands full in both races, with Hempfield’s Madison Altman and Mt. Lebanon’s Lily Cramer among those expected to provide some stiff competition.
However, Fritzman has the toughest road ahead, as she is seeded fifth in the 1,600 and ninth in the 3,200.
Get in the fast lane
A slew of boys have posted some outstanding times in the 100 this spring, which should make for some action-packed runs in both Class 3A and 2A.
Four runners have gone sub-10.7 — Latrobe’s Preston Miller (10.55) and Gateway’s Jayden Stammer (10.65) in Class 3A and New Brighton’s Jeziah Montanez (10.60) and Beth-Center’s Deakyn DeHoet (10.62) in Class 2A. Meet records could go down in both events. The record-holders are Canon-McMillan’s Austyn Winkleblech (10.62 in 2023) and Aliquippa’s M.J. Devonshire (10.67 in 2019).
The Class 3A race is very intriguing despite the absence of Woodland Hills’ Scoop Smith, the two-time defending champ who graduated early to start his football career at Miami (Ohio). Another football star could earn the title of “Fastest Man in the WPIAL,” as McKeesport speedster and Georgia recruit Kemon Spell ran a personal-record 10.81 this season.
Miller is the No. 2 seed in the Class 3A 200, while DeHoet and Quaker Valley’s Kieran Cain are the co-top seeds in the Class 2A 200.
Jumping for gold
The jumping events should be tightly contested overall and could produce some meet records.
• Shady Side Academy sophomore Javon Johnston is the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A triple jump (48-8) and long jump (23-4). The meet records are owned by New Brighton’s Anthony Milliner (47-7 ½ in 2017) and North Catholic’s Joe Kearney (23-5 in 2019).
• Seneca Valley’s Dakari Payne is the defending Class 3A boys champion in the high jump. And while he’s seeded eighth in that event, he’s No. 1 in both the triple jump (46-9 ½) and long jump (23-5). Payne’s competitors in the triple jump include Gateway’s Daysaun Spencer, who won WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A titles at Brentwood a season ago, and defending WPIAL Class 3A champion Brody Diehl of North Hills.
• The Class 3A girls high jump should be quite competitive. The field includes Franklin Regional’s Jamie Kociela, Trinity’s Ella Sammel and Seneca Valley’s Jordan Monteleone. Kociela (5-8) and Sammel (5-7 ½) are ranked No. 1 and 3 in the state. Monteleone (5-5) is the reigning champion. The meet record of 5-9 was set by Penn Hills’ India McCoy in 2011.
• In Class 2A, Quaker Valley’s Mimi Thiero (high jump) and Winchester Thurston’s Alexis Bansah (triple jump) are back to defend titles. Thiero, a Maryland basketball recruit, is the No. 2 seed in the high jump and No. 3 in the triple jump. Bansah, No. 3 all-time in the WPIAL, is seeded first in the triple jump and third in the long jump. Teammate DaShae Cochran is No. 2 in the long jump and No. 1 in the 400.
4 for 4?
If an athlete is to win four titles, there’s a good chance Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese will be the one to do it.
It could be a meet filled with gold for Montagnese, arguably the WPIAL’s top boys distance runner.
Montagnese is the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A 800, 1,600 and 3,200. He ranks No. 1 in the state in the 1,600 (4:10.77) and is third in the 3,200 (8:56.16), marks that would both set WPIAL championship meet records.
Additionally, Montagnese will run a leg on Quaker Valley’s 3,200 relay team, the No. 3 seed. Last season, he helped the Quakers win in a meet record time of 7:51.89.
Defending champions
Quite a few other athletes will also look for repeat titles, a list that includes …
Class 3A boys: Canon-McMillan’s Aaron Taylor (300 hurdles).
Class 2A boys: Apollo-Ridge’s Jayden McCray (javelin).
Class 3A girls: North Allegheny’s Taylor Neese (shot put) and Fox Chapel’s Claire Conti (discus).
Class 2A girls: North Catholic’s Audra Lazzara (100 hurdles), Laurel’s Alexis Geiwitz (shot put) and Fort Cherry’s Sophia Holmes (javelin).