Magness, Morgante push each other
Freshmen put on a show for gold in girls pole vault
Mackenzie Magness has nevercompeted for a WPIAL or PIAA title.
That does not mean, however, that one or both may not end up on the mantel of the Freeport freshman in the next few weeks.
Magness showed everyone what she was capable of on Saturday at the Tri-State Track Coaches’ Association meet at West Mifflin High School when she and fellow frosh Aleah Morgante of Grove City put on a show in the pole vault pit. The two went back and forth until, finally, Morgante went 12 feet, 1 inch to win the event and leave Magness with silver.
“We’ve gone against each other since we were in seventh grade,” Magness said. “I know her very well. We’re always competing against each other. It’s always headto-head with her since we’re both freshmen.”
Bothhave competed at the national level and both could certainly be in contention for district titles next month. Magness will compete in Class 2A in the WPIAL finals, while Morgante will be in the Class 2A District 10 meet.
That means the two could see each other at Shippensburg with a PIAA Class 2A championship on the line.
“It really is awesome to have that competition,” Magness said. “It pushes us both. It doesn’t matter what heights we get. It’s just that we’re pushing each other and clearing these heights that’s awesome.”
Magness was credited with a vault of 11 feet, 7 inches, but when the officials measured it out, they found that she had cleared only 11-5. As it turned out there was a dip in the middle of the crossbar atop the stanchions, which meant that she didn’t clear that particular height.
Her goal in the early part of the season has been to get beyond 11 feet, 6 inches, which is the current Yellowjackets school record.
“We’ve been really focused on this 11-7 and trying to get over 11-6 because 11-6 is the school record right now,” Magness said. “We’re trying to get something higher and this happened earlier in the season, too.”
Though she didn’t get a measured school record, even the 11-5 vault is a clarion call to the rest of the WPIAL. Beaver’s Elizabeth Michael, who won the title last year at Slippery Rock, went only 10-6 in the finals and her seed was 10-10. The top seed last year was Laurel alum Maddy Harding, who went 11-2.
Her 11-5 would have placed her fifth in the state last year as well.
“I just have to stay consistent and going for it on first attempts and stay consistent in 11-6, 11-7, in that area,” Magness said. “That consistency is just really what you need to do at WPIALs and I have to do that throughout the whole season.”
Even so, she’s not just happy breaking the state outdoor record.
“At the beginning of indoor season, I PR’ed with 116 and I want to get to 12,” Magness said. “I want to get over 12 by states or whenever it will come.”
As Magness tried to better her position heading into her first finals, Penn Hills senior Achan Green is trying to erase the 2023 meet completely from his memory. A year ago, he pulled up in the 110 hurdles with a hamstring tear and did not finish his preliminary race.
This season, however, the Indians sprinter is on the comeback trail and pulled away late to win the 110 hurdles with a 15.27-second heat t beat General McLane’s Logan Anderson by 0.14 seconds. He could not pull off the sweep as he finished 0.74 seconds behind South Fayette’s Michael Gimigliano in the 300 hurdles with a 40.80m but he’s getting there.
“Thank God we had indoors,” Green said. “I wasn’t where I should have been in indoors, but it helped me get loaded back up for the season.”
South Fayette senior Olivia Renk finished third in both the 100- and 200-meter runs in the Class 3A finals in 2023.
This time around at TSTCA, she gave an indicator she’s among the favorites once again as she won both with a 12.03 to take the 100 and a 25.16 for the 200 title, beating Upper St. Clair sophomore Sadie Tomczyk each time.
“I felt really good. With there being a headwind, I just had to realize that everyone else was in the same situation I was,” Renk said. “I feel like I got a good start and I was trying to hold on.”
Renk ran the 100 in 12.09 seconds and the 200 in 25.06 in last year’s WPIAL finals. But despite clear skies, the blustery conditions made runningdown the stretch a chore formost of the competitors.
“It’s really difficult.” Renk said. “It gets in your head a little bit, but I just tried to remind myself that everyone is running in the same conditions that I am.”
Though the TSTCA meet is one of the first big meets of the season, it was notable for who wasn’t there as much as for who attended.
Seniors Logan St. John Kletter of Mt. Lebanon, Drew Griffith of Butler and Ringgold’s Ryan Pajak, did not compete for various reasons even though their schools were in attendance. Defending WPIAL Class 3A boys and girls team champions North Allegheny as well as reigning Class 2A boys champion Greensburg Central Catholic and Class 2A girls winner Quaker Valley also did not compete.
Even without Griffith, Butler won the boys title, while South Fayette, thanks to Renk’s two wins, took the girls half.