Riverside Boys Track & Field Finishes 2nd Overall In WPIAL Team Championships

A fifth straight WPIAL Championship eluded Riverside on Wednesday as the Panthers boys track and field team finished a close second place in the 2022 WPIAL Class 2A Team Championships at Peters Township High School.

The Panthers fell to Shenango after nipping Greensburg Central Catholic, 79-71, and defeating South Park 101.50-48.50

Shenango clinched its first ever title by winning the 1,600-meter relay to edge Riverside. The Wildcats defeated the Panthers 80-70 to earn its championship.

“I am very proud of the effort each athlete put into the season to get us back to the championship,” said head coach Chelsea Kordecki.

Alden Wetzel helped to score big in sprinting events, Ty Fluharty was the major contributor in the distance races, and Teddy McHale dominated the jumps according to Kordecki.

Wetzel finished in first place in the 100m and 400m dash while McHale took first place in the triple jump and long jump events. Fluharty finished first in the 1600m and second place in the 3200m for the Panthers.

“We could not have scored how we did without seniors Brody Barton, Caleb Kendra, Isaac Menendez, and Noah Zelch, and many other athletes either,” added Kordecki.

The end result was not what the head coach had hoped for, but Kordecki says runner-up is a commendable accomplishment.

Looking ahead to individual qualifiers this week, Riverside hopes to send a 4×800 and 4×400 relay team to Shippensburg.

“Teddy McHale and Reece Ash will be vying for a spot in the top 5 for pole vault,” says Kordecki. “Alden Wetzel and Ty Fluharty will also have a busy day at qualifying along with Caleb Kendra and Joe Reed.”

The Riverside boys have had plenty of recent WPIAL success, having won the prior four titles and now still have seven of the last 15 championships.

For the girls, the Panthers were on the losing end of all three meets in its team championships.

“We picked the wrong day to have an off day,” said coach Royann Winfield. “You will not win the WPIAL Team Championship unless you do your best which we did not.”

Quaker Valley took home the Class AA championship.

Despite the setback, the coach is still proud of the team effort.

“We had an outstanding year being undefeated section champs and also winning the Beaver County Championships”

The distance duos of Alexis Fluharty and Brooke Wissinger were outstanding according to Winfield.

“They both ran four distance events in the heat and ran very strong.”

Fluharty finished second in both the 1600m and 3200m run while Wissinger finished third in each event.

Callie Wetzel was very good as well, earning a personal best in the 200 with a time of 27.44.

“We are looking forward to the individual championships Wednesday,” says Winfield. “Every girl that has qualified has a chance at a medal.”

Riverside has five girls who Winfield feels have a good chance at advancing to the state championships.

The WPIAL AA & AAA Boys & Girls Track & Field Individual championships are Wednesday, May 18th at Slippery Rock University.

VIEW FULL BOYS CLASS-AA RESULTS:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kcs_FQOQDjykCkRi1-xBIaDmorFj4MPu/view

VIEW FULL GIRLS CLASS-AA RESULTS:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VAzXY71DPV3VzN6u4vORt6rv5PPyyvH6/view