Apr. 22—The NFL Draft kicks off Thursday evening on the North Shore, and many of the top college football players are ready to hear their names called and have their accomplishments celebrated under the bright national television lights.
Several hours before, many of the area's top track and field athletes hope to also hear their names called and be honored for medal-winning performances at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships at Mt. Pleasant High School.
"The tradition of Westmoreland County track and field shows in the quality of the competition each year," said Kiski Area coach Tom Berzonsky, who saw his boys and girls teams clinch section titles in last week's tri-meet with Knoch and Mars.
"It is so special to be a part of that. That meet with Mars and Knoch was the first one where you had the big consequences and that championship feeling behind it. This is a step up when you are competing for county championships for team or individually. It is one of those meets that definitely leads into the championship season and onto WPIALs."
The WCCA meet is one of the region's longest running track and field events. Boys teams will compete for the 103rd time, whereas this year marks the 46th girls meet.
Kiski Area senior Gianna DeVito enters Thursday's meet hoping to defend her high jump championship.
She claimed last year's title with a top attempt of 5 feet, 5 inches. She hit a personal best of 5-6 at a meet against Plum earlier this season. The school record is 5-7, which also is the WCCA record set by Mt. Pleasant's Kadey Donitzon in 2014.
"Gianna is having a great senior season so far," Berzonsky said. "It started with the indoor season where she was able to medal at the state championships. That gave her a lot of confidence. She has been consistent meet in and meet out. That consistency, we feel, is what leads into that breakthrough performance. She is really primed for these big meets."
Sophomore Alaysia Bell, Berzonsky said, is one of the top triple and long jumpers in the county and WPIAL. She was fourth in the triple at last year's county meet. She hit a personal best 37-5 1/2 in the triple jump at last Saturday's Slippery Rock Invitational.
Also looking to have big county meets for the Cavaliers are senior Kelsi Lott, who ranks 10th in the WPIAL in the girls 3,200 meters, junior Braden Miller (hurdles) and senior Sam Palazio (distance).
Sophomore Nick Anderson is ranked third in the WPIAL in the boys discus.
Burrell coach Faith Remich also holds high goals for her athletes entering the county meet.
"We're coming into counties with a good mindset this year," said Remich, who saw the Bucs girls team earn a section runner-up finish last week.
"We were able to get some medals at the Butler Invite (last Saturday), which hasn't happened recently. The teams are looking forward to getting more medals and seeing how they stack up against the rest of the county. It's a smaller meet, and there are more chances at the podium. That also is driving them. It is a good meet to push yourself in an environment that will allow you to stand out and finish strong."
Sophomore Lily Liotta earned a sixth-place medal in the triple jump at Butler and set a school record (37-3) in placing fourth in the event at the Tri-State Championships on April 11.
"She is jumping extremely well," said Remich, who will see Liotta also compete in the 400 relay.
"Her lowest jumps now were what her best jumps were last year. She got some good experience in her first season, and the standard is higher for her now. There is so much more motivation for her to keep improving."
The WCCA meet record for the girls triple jump is 38-8 set by Greensburg Salem's Julia Howard in 2016.
The Burrell girls 400 relay of Liotta, junior Makiah Buchak, freshman Syndaya Miller and senior Mikayla Coury placed fourth at Butler with a season best of 50.41 seconds.
"They dropped over a half second, which was awesome," Remich said.