Quaker Valley distance ace Jonah Montagnese adds PIAA 3,200 gold to trophy case

TribLive TribLive Sat, May 23, 2026 • 06:59 PM

Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese gives a thumbs up before winning the 3,200 during the PIAA Class 2A Track and Field Championships on Saturday at Shippensburg University. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)

Quaker Valley distance standout Jonah Montagnese came into the PIAA Class 2A 3,200-meter run as the top seed by a wide margin.

And by the end of the race, Montagnese found himself in a similar spot.

A junior, Montagnese followed up Friday’s triumph in the 1,600 by taking top honors in the 3,200. His time of 9 minutes, 11.23 seconds was more than six seconds faster than Elk Lake’s Kendel Jones, who ran a 9:17.54.

“I feel like I was probably a heavier favorite in the two mile. That’s probably my better event,” said Montagnese, who had the fastest qualifying time by 13 seconds. “Taking the confidence from the win yesterday added a little bit of extra confidence for me today, just kind of knowing I have the ability and strength and that I can kind of put myself out there and do something that would hopefully result in the win.”

The win by Montagnese was his fourth in two years at the PIAA championships. He claimed titles in the 1,600 and the 3,200 relay his sophomore season when he also finished fourth in the 3,200 and sixth in the 800.

While Montagnese won all four of those events at the WPIAL championships, he settled for a split at the PIAA championships. He finished second in the 800 on Saturday, while the 3,200 relay team placed seventh.