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Saturday, April 12, 2025, TRIB-LIVE
Fox Chapel track and field coach Tom Moul is happy he doesn’t have to feed his young runners to the wolves once invitational season starts.
In addition to entering athletes into the Butler Invitational, which is the kickoff to the big invitationals and an event a lot of schools use to measure where their athletes are, Fox Chapel will enter a lot of freshman and sophomore runners into the Ray Peaco Invitational on April 17 at Seneca Valley.
“We love that meet,” Moul said. “There are about 12-15 schools who compete there. We have an opportunity to send young, developmental kids there without throwing them to the wolves right away. We also have kids that are ready for the Butler Invite, and they look forward to that one.”
Freshman Carter Fincher has flashed potential for the Foxes early this season. During a dual meet with Shaler, Fincher won the 110 and 300 hurdles. He finished the 110 hurdles in 18.35 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 47.90.
“He came out during the indoor season,” Moul said. “He has some good technique and athleticism and loves the sport.”
Sophomore Madison Cook also picked up a pair of wins for Fox Chapel on the girls side, winning the 100 with a time of 17.63 and the 300 with a time of 49.67, just ahead of senior teammate Alyssa Quackenbush, who finished in 49.61.
Another freshman, Jane Weber, won the 400 dash with a time of 1:30.93 and competed in the high jump with a leap of 4 feet, 2 inches.
“We’ve had a lot of PRs so far this season on the track,” Moul said. “There’s been nothing too earth shattering. Our top kids have been building themselves into shape.”
Moul said he will be excited to see his top distance runners compete in Butler. Ethan Vaughan and David Black had a strong cross country season.
Moul said he likes the setup for the races at the Butler Invite.
“The 3,200-meter race for the distance kids is my favorite at Butler,” Moul said. “It’s under the lights, and I know my kids are chomping at the bit for it. They will also be in the 4×800 relay, which is one of the first events of the day. The 1,600 run is in the middle.”
Moul said he also expects Fox Chapel to be competitive in the 400 relay on the girls side. Anna Kintner, Ella Shevchuk and Taylor Wilkinson will join Quackenbush in the relay.