COACH TALK: Ellwood City and Riverside Track Seasons Underway

The area track and field seasons are underway!  Ellwood City has new and returning athletes looking to fill voids while the Riverside track and field program will feature a strong duo of female runners and a boys program looking to continue to grow and progress.

ELLWOOD CITY TRACK & FIELD:

The Ellwood City Co-Ed Track & Field team lost very few athletes last year and picked up some talent this winter. The team will be looking for great team and individual performances as it begins in spring season, its second on the new stadium track surface.

“Fans should be ready to see some big official PR’s (Personal Records) from athletes this year. Everyone has gotten faster, stronger, and springier since the 2023 season,” says head coach Nathan Brown.

Brown expects the boys to be more competitive on both the team and individual level, but sees room for improvement.

“We still don’t have the numbers I’d like to see,” says Brown.

The boys are led by seniors Colten Crizer, Darius Custer, Nick Franitti, Aydin Kline, Evan Magill, Wyatt McLaughlin, Shane Tillia, Ryan Turner, Nathan Williams, and Nick Wise.

The girls side is almost identical according to Brown.

“Despite the quantity, we make up for it in quality of athlete and coachability.”

Junior jumper Delaney Sturgeon returns for the girls and has some impressive individual performances under her belt.

Both teams will turn to new athletes to fill voids left by last years graduates.

“Many of our younger athletes are still finding their niche so it’s too early to say but I have faith they will have a big role on this team.”

The Wolverines will be in a difficult section according to its coach but will bring energy and excitement to its 2024 meets. Ellwood City is joined in its section with rival Riverside.

“We don’t back down from hard meets and teams with great talent,” concludes Brown. “We are in arguably one of the best AA sections in the WPIAL so all adversity is welcome to us. We have only grown in numbers and bettered our talents.”

After a handful of early season meets, the Ellwood City Track & Field team will turn its focus to the Beaver County Championships on April 13th.

RIVERSIDE GIRLS TRACK & FIELD:

The Riverside Girls Track & Field team will feature a larger and deeper team than last year and will look to the continued contributions of talented seniors Lexi Fluharty and Brooke Wissinger.

“Absolutely they will be leading the team in points for their distance combo,” says head coach Deb Evans. “The diligent duo constantly battle for all the distance they will be greatly missed after this year.”

“The team is deep, they are very hard working,” adds Evans.

Christina Valencia, an outstanding athlete and willing to do what she can for the team, is able to run myriad of distances from the 100 to the mile when needed according to Evans.

“We are very grateful to have her.”

Carlee Crawford returns in the throws along with Olivia Reed, Delana Fox, and Tess Rosenberger. The team is expecting some great assistance from Freshman Brooklyn Sinclair, who is really showing improvements quickly.

“Abby George, Gabby Clinger, Riley Sizer and Sinclair are progressing nicely and should be making a nice showing this year,” adds Evans.

The team has strong possibilities this year according to its coach.  The team reached impressive heights in 2023 and finished in third place in the 2023 WPIAL Class 2A Track & Field quarterfinals.

“Once again, with the distance duo and contributions from our season seniors along with this new young team I expect we should be very competitive and the level of success we have previously seen.”

Senior Emma Thellman has been able to return this year. She is typically a pole vaulter but Evans says she dropped in points to high jump and running. Isabella Delasandro will be assisting in the 4 x 8 and mid distance and most certainly be of great importance according to Evans.

Crawford who will be assisting in the throws is currently on injured reserve.

“The team as a whole are hard working and willing to come out of their comfort zones when asked,” says Evans.

The Beaver County Championships are hosted at Riverside High School on Saturday, April 13th and fans should be sure to show for that one as Riverside should be making a showing on and off the field.  Fluharty and Sturgeon each earned 1st place finishes at the 2023 MAC Championships.

“We’re hoping for some more record-breaking events to be shown on and off the track,” concludes Evans.

RIVERSIDE BOYS TRACK AND FIELD:

While the girls boast a larger team than last year, the Riverside Boys Track & Field team featured a smaller and younger team, and will look to build the roster and continue progressing.

The team gained a few high jumpers and long jumpers that are only juniors and a few freshman distance runners are showing promise according to third year head coach Chelsea Kordecki.

Reece Sullivan is back for his final year pole vaulting and is joined by juniors Devin Montileone on the track and Carson Emerick in the field to form a formidable trio for the Panthers.

Sullivan posted a 4th place finish in the pole vault while Emerick placed 5th in the discuss in the PIAA Championships last season.

Montileone has improved tremendously over the cross county season according to Kordecki.

“We’re very excited to see how the three will do,” says Kordecki.

All three are looking to take the trip back to Shippensburg this year.

The Panthers team (3-4 Overall last year) will look to improve in each event and put forth the best effort possible.

“Our goal is always to make it to the team finals, but we recognize we’re in one of the toughest conferences in the area. We do not shy away from the challenge and practice and prepare to excel in each event to get us there again.”

The Panthers have a great group of talented student athletes and Kordecki adds that each meet is another chance to beat the previous times, distances, and heights.

“We will be competitive with each team we face and will make teams put in the work to beat us,” says Kordecki. “Our entire section has teams that we focus on to do our best and never ease up or get too confident about beating. Anything can happen in a race, relay, field event, etc. that can swing the meet in a different direction.”