The Foxes indoor track and field team has been breaking records all season – six in all – and is peaking at just the right time with the Tri-State Track Coaches Association (TSTCA) championships and state championships this weekend.
Currently, seniors Rowan Gwin (3,000 meters and mile), Anna Troutman (high jump), and Mason Miles (shot put), are in good shape to compete in the state championships, but the entire list of contestants will not be formally named until after the TSTCA championships.
New Records
Junior triple jumper Anna Kintner broke her own record this season with a leap of 34’3.5”. In the shot put, Mason had a Goliath throw that broke his previous record by six inches. His new record is 52’.06”.
On the track, Rowan first beat former Foxes runner and current Temple University racer Christian Fitch’s record with a time of 4:20.60 in the 1,600 meters, and then a week later broke his own record by shaving off nearly four seconds to 4:16.94.
Also notable were two new relay teams that broke records this season. In the girls 4 x 200, junior Alyssa Quackenbush, Anna Kintner, Anna Troutman, and freshman Taylor Wilkinson crossed the finish line in 1:51.50. Alyssa says she and her teammates were primed to beat the previous top time in that event.
Alyssa says, “While warming up for the 4 x 200, we talked and joked about potentially breaking the record. We knew it was possible, but none of us thought we were actually going to do it, even while we were running.”
Additionally, the boys distance medley (DMR) relay team of Rowan (1,600), junior Aidan Ortz (400), junior David Black (1,200), and sophomore Michael Costello (800) broke the school’s former record with a time of 10:49.16. Junior Ethan Vaughan has returned to the team after rehabbing from an injury and will join the DMR group for the TSTCA regional championships.
David says the DMR team had a feeling going into the race that it was their day to make history.
“I think everybody did exactly what they needed to do in order to get such a time,” David says. “I was definitely stressed going in because I had never run a 1,200, but I am really happy with how my leg went. I think the experience that everybody’s getting in these races is going to be helpful going into outdoor.”
Mason, who is exploring options to continue competing in college, missed last year’s indoor season due to an injury he suffered in football, but he is now in top form.
“Staying positive and working through my injury was the main focus my junior year,” Miles says. “I knew I wasn’t going to be 100% for track as a junior, so the goal was just to get the most out of it that season. Once I felt 100% after my junior year, I worked hard in the gym and practiced to get to where I was, and also better than before. I knew I was capable of more and the throw I just had was just a small sign of it.”
“We won’t know exactly where everyone stands until the end of the regular season, but overall, I’m pleased so far and we should have good representation at states,” predicts coach Tom Moul. “I believe some of our athletes are capable of doing even better than they already have done so far.”
Two of those athletes are set to continue their careers at the next level. Rowan is an Appalachian State recruit and will run cross country and track there, while Anna Troutman accepted an athletic scholarship to Lehigh University to compete in sprints, hurdles, and the high jump.
The TSTCA championships will be held February 17 at Edinboro University, with the state meet held the next weekend at Penn State.