Nine members of the Fox Chapel Area High School boys and girls track & field team qualified for the 2025 PIAA Track and Field Championships, which will be held May 23 and 24 at Shippensburg University. Those advancing are seniors David Black (4×800 relay), Maya DiPasquale (4×800 relay), and Ethan Vaughan (4×800 relay and 3,200); juniors Marin Airik (4×800 relay), Claire Conti (discus and shot put), and Michael Costello (4×800 relay); sophomores Nolan Gwin (4×800 relay) and Ceci Ressler (4×800 relay); and freshman Ella Shevchuk (4×800 relay).
Claire captured the WPIAL gold in discus, as well as the bronze medal in the shotput, and Ethan finished second in the 3,200 at WPIALs.
Coach Tom Moul says the boys and girls 4 x 800 relay teams’ performances surpassed his expectations, as they shaved 13 and 12 seconds, respectively, off their previous best times.
While the 4×100 girls relay had a great run, they narrowly missed the state cutoff with a sixth-place finish, yet still set a new school record. Additionally, David Black ran one of his best races of his career in the 3,200, but also just missed advancing to states.
Monster Throw Sets Claire Conti Up for States
Claire admits she has a flair for the dramatic, and what she did at WPIALs proved it. After fouling her first two attempts in the discus, she only had one more throw to make it to the finals.
“I was freaking out after the first two,” admits Claire, a three-time WPIAL qualifier who made her first appearance at states last season as a sophomore. “My coaches were cool though, and after talking with them, I pulled myself out of my panic by thinking I just needed to get to the finals and didn’t have to pressure myself so much. I kept thinking I just needed for the disc to stay in the ring, and I visualized throwing it right down the middle. I was able to do that and qualified for the finals.”
It was her second effort in the finals that resulted in her winning monster throw of 137 feet, securing the gold medal. At the time, she says she thought, “Oh, that was a good throw,” but didn’t know at the time that it would end up being the winning distance.
“Fouling my first two throws and then pulling through in my third in the preliminaries to make it to finals felt amazing,” Claire says. “And then adding a huge PR (personal record) onto that (in the finals) made it even more sweet.”
Claire’s epic comeback showcasing her mental toughness, earned her the No. 2 seed in Pennsylvania heading into state meet.
Ethan’s ‘Weird’ Day
Ethan, a Penn-State Behrend recruit, says his experience in the 3,200 was one of the most unusual races he’s ever run.
“Everyone was running really slowly, even Jack Bertram (who won the title),” Ethan recalls. “It was a really packed race, and the top runners were all bunched up. It was as if no one wanted to be the first to break out and get ahead. In the last 300 meters, I decided it was time to pick up my pace, and then in the last 200, I had a really good kick and passed the guy who was in second place to finish second.”
He was proud of his performance, and also of the boys 4 x 800 relay, which he anchors.
“I have to give credit (for our finish) to David (Black) because he’s a reliable racer and had a great handoff. Nolan Gwin is only a sophomore, but he and Michael Costello really stepped up to drop our time by 13 seconds and get us to states. We went from 8:11 to 7:59.”
Girls ‘Rose to the Occasion’ in 4 x 800
The girls relay team, anchored by Maya, and featuring Marin, Ceci, and Ella, has great toughness and knows what it takes to succeed.
“We rose to the occasion,” Maya says. “We all were nervous, but we weren’t putting too much pressure on ourselves. We just wanted a top eight medal to get us on the podium. We started that race well and ended it well, but I think we can still do better.”
She continues, “Being able to push each other and still be friends, and having a community is something special about track. I will always think of my track experiences for the people I’ve met, not only on our team, but from other schools too … people who I may not have known otherwise.”
Maya, who will run for Case Western Reserve University next season, is also an accomplished soccer player, and was a member of the 2023 team that won the WPIAL Class 4A championship. While she started track as a way to keep in shape for soccer, along the way she developed a passion for running.
Coach Moul praises Maya as a great leader who understands what it takes to succeed. He says, “You just know she would rather pass out before she’ll quit. She’s just good at everything and steady. She’s a workhorse.”
Group Success
Overall, coach Moul was very impressed with what his athletes accomplished throughout the season and at WPIALs.
“I was super pleased,” coach Moul says. “Beforehand, I was thinking about the best case scenario and how many medals we could get. This was on the upper end of what I figured. Things couldn’t have gone much better.”
