Shady Side Academy track logs medal-worthy PIAA appearance

By: Marty Stewart
Friday, June 21, 2019 | 5:14 PM

The Shady Side Academy girls track team ended its season at the PIAA championships last month.

“It was a very exciting season,” coach Paul Bodnarchuk said. “Especially in the WPIAL and PIAA championships.”

With the help of captains Sophia McMahon, Gabby White and Aya Youssef, the team finished the dual-meet season 5-1 in Section 4-AA, good for second-place. The second-place finish also qualified the team for the WPIAL team playoffs for the first time since 2010, and they made it to the semifinals.

“The team was very excited to have moved into and competed in the playoffs once again,” Bodnarchuk said. “Besides the team playoff competition at Riverside High School, a solid number of girls also competed in other postseason meets as well: the Pine Richland Invitational, the Baldwin Invitational and the Section 4-AA individual championship meet that we hosted.”

At the WPIAL individual championship meet, SSA sent athletes in six events to Slippery Rock. Melissa Riggins took first-place finishes in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs and qualified for the state meet, and Maya Groff finished in a three-way tie for sixth in the pole vault. The 1,600 relay team of Gabby Hill-Junke, Youssef, Krystyna Rytel and Riggins took second and qualified for the state meet. Karen Linares-Mendoza earned a ninth-place finish in the 3,200, and the 400 relay team of Jordyn Harris, Brooklynne Lowry, Hill-Junke and White finished 11th.

In the PIAA championships at Shippensburg, Riggins took two gold medals and set the state record in the 800 with a time of 2 minutes, 8.86 seconds. The 1,600 relay team came from behind to finish third and set the school record by running 4:04.63.

In the team competition, the girls finished fifth.

“As in years past, the team is losing a very talented class of seniors and hopes to fill their shoes with girls on the team from this year and a new incoming class of track and field athletes for the 2020 season,” Bodnarchuk said. “They will be missed, and all the coaches wish them all the best of luck in the future.

“The 2019 season was marked by energy, excitement, dedication and hard work — all key ingredients in any team’s success. A lot of our success was also due to the hard work of assistant coaches Adam Janosko (distance), Pam Boehm (sprint/relay), Kristi Cooper (hurdles), Ryan Logue (shot put and discus), Rick Villani (javelin) and Brian Squires (pole vault).

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