The Fox Chapel Area indoor track and field team had a little bit of everything this season – returning top performers, some new multisport athletes, a lot of freshmen, and athletes who broke school records. Now, at the conclusion of the regular season’s meets, where all meets drew about 60 schools each and hundreds of participants, the Foxes will have great representation at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association (TSTCA) championships on February 19.
Just some of the season’s highlights included the boys distance medley relay team (DMR) of Damian Blum, Rowan Gwin, Jordan Gwin, and Jack Lorence breaking the school record a few weeks ago. Anna Troutman also made the history books in the high jump and broke the 60-meter hurdle record. All athletes have qualified for the championships.
The girls DMR team of Laura Carter, Clara Kelley, Maya DiPasquale, and Emily Harajda also will compete at the meet. Head coach Tom Moul believes both the boys and girls relays have a good chance of medaling.
Additionally, the boys 4 x 200 relay (Siheng Chao, Stephen Schrim, Damian Blum, and Gabriel Felman) and the 4 x 800 medley team of Ethan Napolitan, Rowan Gwin, Jordan Gwin, and Jack Lorence will race at the championships. The 4 x 800 team is comprised of the same combination of runners, and they advanced to the PIAA cross country championships in the fall and have a good chance of finishing in the top four.
For the girls, the 4 x 800 relay set a qualifying pace that advanced them (Riley McIntyre, Laura Carter, Emily Harajda, and Gabrielle Kline), as did the 4 x 200 relay featuring Claire Feczko, Katherine Friday, Anna Kintner, and Anna Troutman. They will be joined by the 4 x 400 relay of Maya DiPasquale, Claire Feczko, Katherine Friday, and Gianna Tavolario.
Coach Moul says the athletes all have done well over the course of the season but adds, “This will be a much more competitive meet than the others that came before it, but I think there will be some good opportunities to medal. We have more kids this year who are just natural athletes and we’re really looking forward to seeing what they can do.”
Individual Success
Many of the team’s individual qualifiers come from the relay teams, including Katherine Friday (400-meter dash); Emily Harajda and Madelyn Ivanusic (3,000); and Anna Troutman (60-meter hurdles, high jump). Maya DiPasquale qualified in the high jump, Anna Kintner in the long jump, and Claire Feczko in the triple jump.
For the boys, individual qualifiers are Stephen Schrim (200- and 400-meter dashes), Damian Blum (400-meter dash), and Jack Lorence and Owen Carter (3,000).
Rowan Gwin has been happy to finally get a shot at running indoor track. Last year as a freshman, he didn’t get the chance because of the pandemic. Like many of his teammates, he wants to use his experiences indoors as a springboard for the outdoor season.
“Not having any experience running indoors at this level, I have been very happy with my performance,” says the sophomore. “I want to get my times down as much as possible indoors, so I have a base that is already close to what my personal bests were last year.”
Some of the athletes will take a little break, but not the distance runners, who will continue to add more mileage to their workouts.
“Our distance training is designed to start in December, so we’re still in the building phase,” says coach Moul. “We don’t try to peak for indoor, we try to peak for outdoor.”
Coach Moul continues, “The distance kids, we knew about their success, but really only the senior boys have had indoor experience when they were sophomores. So, it’s all been new to the kids as well as the coaches. We had no idea of what to expect, especially from the jumpers and jumpers standpoint. The girls on the 4 x 200, in particular, have been great individually and as a relay team (Anna Kintner, Claire Feczko, Anna Troutman, and Katherine Friday). That relay could win a medal and they are also within reach of setting a new school record.”
The TSTCA state invitational will follow the championships to cap off the indoor season. A majority of the team then will return for outdoor track and field. Practice begins on March 7 and the first scrimmage is March 15.
