With breakout hurdler, good roster numbers, Penn Hills track ready for successful season

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, April 2, 2023 | 11:01 AM

Achan Green doesn’t think about the timing anymore. The Penn Hills junior hurdler knows when he’s on the track, he is able to tackle each step with the right approach.

Before last season, Green didn’t do the hurdles much. However, whenever Green gave the event a go, he qualified for the WPIAL Class 3A championships.

During the meet at Slippery Rock University, Green finished the 110 hurdles in 16.12 seconds and placed ninth, missing out on the finals by 0.13 seconds. With his form in tow, Green believes he can have another strong season this year.

“(Timing) comes naturally for me,” Green said. “I don’t really focus on that now. I put so much work into timing that everything is where it’s supposed to be now.”

The Penn Hills track team is hoping that everyone can feel so comfortable in their assigned events. The Indians return one state qualifier from last season in Julian Dugger, who qualified in the high jump. Dugger didn’t compete in the state meet due to a conflict with another sport.

Lee Zelkowitz was happy to see over 60 athletes out for the team between boys and girls.

“I think Achan Green is going to surprise some people in the hurdles this year,” Zelkowitz said. “If Cam Thomas can get over a nagging hamstring injury, he should have a good season. He was really starting to come along in indoor before an injury hindered him. We have a lot of good athletes out from the basketball and football team. I think we can put some good relays together.”

Green didn’t start doing the hurdles until he was in high school. He said that has been running track since he was a kid growing up in Jamaica. He moved to Penn Hills during his freshman year.

When he started to do hurdles for the first time as a sophomore, he had to battle with some nerves.

“I was nervous,” Green said. “Especially at WPIALs, I think I was the youngest one there. I was nervous.”

Green had a strong race in the 60-meter race at the TSTCA Indoor Championship meet at Edinboro in February. He placed third with a time of 8.82 seconds.

“I made major improvements with working to get faster and stronger,” Green siad. “That made me a little bit better this year. Even during indoors, that helped me a lot.”

Penn Hills, which was scheduled to open with a tri-meet against Central Catholic and Woodland Hills on March 29, is hoping that a number of Penn Hills athletes will contend to earn spots in the WPIAL and PIAA meets.

“We’ve had a nice two-and-a-half, three weeks of practice,” Zelkowitz said. “The kids are working hard and the weather hasn’t been terrible. All the kids are hanging in there. Sometimes in the past, when we did harder workouts, they wouldn’t come back. These kids have been resilient.”

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