It’s only the third year that indoor track and field has been a school-sponsored interscholastic sport at Fox Chapel Area, but the team made it clear that they are on the fast track to breaking even more than the 12 new records they set in 2018.
Jing McCann, a sophomore, got things rolling on January 12, 2019, when she broke the girls’ school record in the shot put Friday evening at a Tri State Track Coaches Association (TSTCA) meet at Hempfield High School. But then, senior Eras Yager quickly broke it the next day at the entire teams’ maiden performance of the season at the meet held at Edinboro University.
“Both of the girls are hard workers and competitors, so it could be a good season of back and forth between those two,” predicts Coach Tom Moul.
In all, seven girls broke five school records at the TSTCA meet.
Senior sprinter Kate Carnevale broke Foxes’ graduate Tricia Panos’ 2014 record in the 60-meters and 200-meters events, while field athlete Zoey Zoschg, a sophomore, tied former student-athlete Meg Kirk’s 2010 record in the high jump. (Both records were set prior to the team becoming an official interscholastic sport.)
The success continued as the Foxes’ fantastic foursome – who won the PIAA cross country championship two years ago and finished fifth year – rekindled their indoor magic and broke their own school record set last season in the 4 x 800. The team is comprised of seniors Sarena Seeger (a Penn State recruit), and Annika Urban, and juniors Brooke Krally and Grace Sisson.
Grace also broke the previous record in the 3,000-meter race.
While the boys did not break any records this time, senior Korey Simmons and freshman Maurice Sampson-Schulter had great outings as sprinters. Korey was a member of last season’s record-setting 1600-meter relay team.
Overall, the indoor program has enjoyed phenomenal growth and has set its own record of sorts, as both the girls’ and boys’ teams now boast their largest-ever memberships.
While the season is just in its infancy, Coach Moul says he hopes the increase in participation will translate into more athletes advancing to the state meet, although it won’t be easy to get there.
“It’s much more difficult to get to states in indoor track than it is in cross country or outdoor track and field because,” he explains. “They take fewer athletes and there are no classifications (AAA, AA, A) so everyone competes together.”
While it’s too early to predict how the entire season will pan out, the teams and their coaches are hoping their first showing is just a small sampling of even greater things to come.