Shriver headlines H-S All-Area Girls Track & Field Team
Waynesburg Central senior Taylor Shriver soars over the bar in her third attempt at 11 feet in the 2021 PIAA Class AA Individual Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium. Shriver won PIAA and WPIAL gold in the pole vault to share Most Outstanding Overall Performer honors. (Photo by Jim Downey)
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Waynesburg Central’s Taylor Shriver hands off the baton to teammate Brenna Benke in the third leg of the 400 relay at the 2021 PIAA Individual Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Waynesburg Central senior Taylor Shriver receives instruction from pole vault coach Butch Brunell (third from left) during the 2021 PIAA Class AA Individual Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Waynesburg Central senior Taylor Shriver slides over the bar for her gold medal-winning height at 13 feet in the 2021 PIAA Class AA Individual Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Waynesburg Central senior Taylor Shriver (right) smiles after receiving the gold medal for winning the pole vault in the 2021 PIAA Class AA Individual Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.
Brownsville sophomore Jolena Quarzo, Waynesburg Central senior Taylor Shriver, California senior Makayla Boda and Belle Vernon senior Grace Henderson headline a strong contingent of female athletes on the 2021 Herald-Standard Girls All-Area Track & Field Team.
3,200 relay: Belle Vernon.
100 high hurdles: Makayla Boda, California.
Honorable mention: Grace Bosnic, Connellsville; Annika Tajc, Laurel Highlands; Gianna Grillo, California; Cassidy Cole, Mount Pleasant.
100: Emily Sanders, Albert Gallatin.
Honorable mention: Makayla Slack, Southmoreland; Aziya Dade, Brownsville.
1,600: Jolena Quarzo, Brownsville.
Honorable mention: Hope Trimmer, Uniontown; Grace Henderson, Belle Vernon.
400: Ashlyn Basinger, Waynesburg Central.
Honorable mention: Sterling Scott, Laurel Highlands; Brooke Barner, West Greene; Ella Boothe, Beth-Center; Kendall Shaporka, Frazier.
400 relay: Waynesburg Central.
Honorable mention: Brownsville, Ringgold, Belle Vernon.
300 intermediate hurdles: Makayla Boda, California.
Honorable mention: Emily Sanders, Albert Gallatin; Jordan Dean, Waynesburg Central.
800: Jolena Quarzo, Brownsville.
Honorable mention: Grace Henderson, Belle Vernon.
200: Ashlyn Basinger, Waynesburg Central; Angelina Massey, Ringgold.
Honorable mention: Brooke Barner, West Greene; Emily Sanders, Albert Gallatin.
3,200: Jolena Quarzo, Brownsville.
Honorable mention: Anastasia Georgagis, California; Grace Henderson, Belle Vernon.
1,600 relay: Belle Vernon.
Discus: Mia Pierce, Laurel Highlands.
Honorable mention: Isabella Roebuck, Connellsville; Alexis Jacobs, Southmoreland; Tiffany Zelmore, Mount Pleasant.
Shot put: Alexis Jacobs, Southmoreland.
Javelin: Meghan Tennant, Bentworth.
Honorable mention: Jordyn Cruse, California.
High jump: Grace Henderson, Belle Vernon; Francesca Scaramucci, Belle Vernon.
Honorable mention: Ella Ciez, Laurel Highlands; Annika Tajc, Laurel Highlands; Abigail Tikey, Connellsville; Kaitlyn Havrilesko, Albert Gallatin.
Triple jump: Olivia Cernuto, Southmoreland.
Honorable mention: Francesca Scaramucci, Belle Vernon; Gianna Anderson, Belle Vernon; Angelina Massey, Ringgold; Paige Myers, Elizabeth Forward; Malaree Duggan-Hudock, Brownsville.
Long jump: Olivia Cernuto, Southmoreland.
Honorable mention: Francesca Scaramucci, Belle Vernon; Gianna Anderson, Belle Vernon.
Pole vault: Taylor Shriver, Waynesburg Central.
Most Outstanding Overall Performers: Grace Henderson, Belle Vernon; Makayla Boda, California; Jolena Quarzo, Brownsville; Taylor Shriver, Waynesburg Central.
Class AAA Most Outstanding Field Performer: Francesca Scaramucci, Belle Vernon.
Class AAA Most Outstanding Track Performer: Emily Sanders, Albert Gallatin.
Class AA Most Outstanding Field Performer: Olivia Cernuto, Southmoreland.
Class AA Most Outstanding Track Performer: Ashlyn Basinger, Waynesburg Central.
Most Outstanding Coaching Staff: Class AAA, Belle Vernon (Chris Stasicha); Class AA, Waynesburg Central (Dave Fowler).
NOTES: The high school track & field season resumed after a year hiatus in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. … Local female athletes won 24 WPIAL medals (2 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze) and six PIAA medals (2 gold). … Jolena Quarzo kept the WPIAL and PIAA Class AA gold medals in the 3,200 in the family after her older sister did the same in 2019. … Quarzo’s winning time in the state meet (10:30.93) fell about five seconds shy of her sister’s record-setting mark in 2019. … Quarzo also placed fourth in the 1,600 at the state meet. … The Brownsville sophomore won the 3,200 at the district meet and took silver in the 1,600. … Quarzo won the 3,200 at the 47th annual Baldwin Invitational, and swept the two distance races in the Section 6-AA Championship. … Quarzo broke three county meet records with first-place finishes in the 1,600, 800 and 3,200, and won Track MVP honors with 30½ points. … Shriver needed the third attempt at her opening height of 11 feet in both the WPIAL and PIAA meets. … Shriver had three attempts at 13-4¼, but fell short to clear the height for the PIAA meet record. … Shriver won gold in the Section 6-AA meet and silver at Baldwin. … Shriver joined Benke, Reagan Carlson and Basinger to win the silver medal in the WPIAL Class AA 400 relay. … Boda won silver medals in the 100 high and 300 intermediate hurdles at the WPIAL championship, and did so with a queasy stomach after the bus ride to Slippery Rock. … The California senior capped her career with her first state medal after she finished fourth in the 300 intermediate hurdles. … Boda missed qualifying for the 100 intermediate hurdles final at the PIAA championship by a mere .02 seconds. … Boda placed first in the 100 high and 300 intermediate hurdles and fourth in the long jump at the Section 6-AA Championship. … Henderson was a solid point-getter, generally with first-place finishes, for the Lady Leopards in the 3,200, 800, 1,600 and high jump, and as a member of the 3,200 relay. … Henderson was seventh (right behind Trimmer) in the 1,600 at the WPIAL Class AAA championships. She placed sixth in the high jump and was 10th in the 800 … Cernuto’s first varsity track season was successful with two WPIAL medals (silver in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump) and two PIAA medals (fifth place in the triple and long jumps). … Cernuto advanced to WPIAL tournaments in soccer and basketball. … Basinger won bronze in the 400 and placed sixth in the 200 in the WPIAL Class AA finals. … Basinger won the 100, 200 and 400 in the Section 6-AA meet. … Pierce finished fifth in the discus at the WPIAL Class AAA meet. … Pierce edged Connellsville’s Isabella Roebuck for Field MVP honors at the county meet. … Sanders finished fourth in the 300 intermediate hurdles in the WPIAL Class AAA finals and was 14th in the state meet. The senior won county titles in the 300 intermediate hurdles, 100 and 200, and also qualified in the 100 at the WPIAL meet. … Grillo joined Boda on the WPIAL medal stand after finishing seventh in the 100 high hurdles. … Brownsville’s 400 relay placed eighth in the district meet. … Scaramucci qualified for all three jumps at the WPIAL Class AAA meet, placing second in the high jump for her lone medal. … The sophomore tied for 10th in the high jump at the state meet. … Georgagis (1,600) and Dean (300 intermediate hurdles) just missed the podium in the WPIAL Class AA meet with ninth-place finishes. … Southmoreland’s Alexis Jacobs (5, discus; 3, shot put), Mount Pleasant’s Tiffany Zelmore (7, discus), Bentworth’s Meghan Tennant (7, javelin), and California’s Jordyn Cruse (8, javelin) also medaled in the WPIAL Class AA final. … Cruse’s first javelin was ruled ineligible for use, but her grandmother came through with delivery of an acceptable javelin. … Duggan-Hudock secured the Lady Falcons’ first medal in the pole vault at the county meet with her fifth-place finish. The sophomore won the county title in the triple jump. … Stasicha and his staff led Belle Vernon to an undefeated Section 2-AAA season and into the program’s first appearance in the WPIAL Class AAA team championship. … Fowler and the Waynesburg staff completed an undefeated Section 6-AA season and a berth into the team playoffs. … The Connellsville, Mount Pleasant and Brownsville girls finished second in their respective sections to qualify for the WPIAL team playoffs. … Laurel Highlands won the girls team title at the FCCA Track & Field Championships.