Apr 25, 2015 7 min read

McMURRAY – Lance Vallee vividly remembers the frustration Zane Zebrasky felt during the 2007 track season. Vallee, Canon-McMillan’s throws coach, was attempting to develop Zebrasky, the Big Macs’ quarterback, into a championship-caliber javelin thrower.

Improvement was slow but steady. Zebrasky could throw a football 70 yards, but the javelin did not come easily. As a senior in 2008, he was throwing in the 170s leading up to the WPIAL Championships.

Patience led to an unforgettable performance on the WPIAL’s biggest stage. Zebrasky set a Class AAA record with a throw of 200-1.

Vallee sees many similarities in his latest apprentice, junior Jordan Smith, who also is a quarterback.

Smith finished 15th at the WPIAL Individual Track & Field Championships last spring but has steadily improved this season – reaching 166-0 – and he established himself as the top thrower in the area Saturday afternoon at Peters Township High School.

Smith took first place in the javelin at the Washington-Greene County Coaches Track & Field Championships with a throw of 154-4, defeating runner-up Scott Strnisa of Fort Cherry by more than 12 feet.

“Zane struggled in his first year as a junior,” Vallee said. “Jordan is the same way. It’s a totally different throw. For me, it’s about easing them into trusting the move. That’s what we’re working on with Jordan. They’ve been trained to throw to a target and I’m teaching them to throw over the target.”

Competitors began throwing the javelin early Saturday morning with temperatures in the low-40s and the wind blowing slightly across the runway. Those conditions and a lack of practice produced a distance Smith was not happy with. His first throw, however, was enough to win.

Rain this spring has prevented the Big Macs’ athletes from throwing the javelin in practice. Vallee has turned to having the competitors throw arrows on the football field to work on form and feet placement.

The lack of practice showed with Smith dipping his shoulder and lacking speed during his final steps.

“I placed first today, but I personally know I could have done better,” Smith said. “I’m upset with myself, but first place is first place. My throw was good enough for the meet, but I’m still not happy with it. It wasn’t the greatest day.”

It was enough to help Canon-McMillan claim its latest Class AAA team title at the meet with 183 points – 97 more than second-place Peters Township. The Big Macs’ throwers played a major role in the team’s success.

Eddie Cottrill took fourth in the shot put (44-6), Shane Danyo finished first in the discus (136-5) and David Duffey, who won the boys’ field most valuable athlete with a title in the pole vault, took fourth in the javelin.

Duffey won the pole vault with a height of 13-0 – almost two feet higher than teammate Jacob Higgins.

Vallee wants Smith to get his arm extended more and to establish a faster finish. The goal is to claim another javelin title for Canon-McMillan to follow in the footsteps of Zebrasky and Mira Carrozza, who is now a standout at South Florida.

“Zane obviously still has the javelin record, and last year Alec Rideout got the record here in the discus,” Smith said. “Those two are great and there have been a lot of strong throwers here. I want to be like that, too. I want to be one of those guys the younger kids look up to. We have great throwers and we all want to be like them. That’s just a goal of ours.”

It can be agreed that the spring has not been kind to track athletes, what with the cold temperatures, rain and even sleet.

It’s been particular difficult on the pole vaulters, who might face the most danger because of the nature of the vent.

But Haley Yenchik, a senior at Canon-McMillan, is handling it well. Yenchik had decent weather to vault yesterday and took advantage, winning the event with a 10-6 effort. It was the second straight year she won this event.

“It’s been tough,” she said. “When your hands get cold, they get stiff. It’s hard to hold the pole vault.”

Yenchik finished up a gymnastic career with the Gym Dandys and will be heading the Penn State Behrend.

“I was in gymnastics for 15 years,” she said. “I started when I was 3. I used to have a lot of energy, but now, not as much.”

Canon-McMillan senior Ethan Linderman earned most valuable track athlete after winning the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.

In the 1,600, Linderman ran a personal best of 4:26.87 to edge Nick Wolk of Peters Township and defeated Waynesburg’s Sean Hilverding by just more than two seconds. Linderman decided to sit out the 3,200-meter relay to defend the gold medals he won in both events as a junior.

“I went into the mile fresh, which is a good feeling,” Linderman said. “I knew Hilverding would be there in the two mile and I outkicked him last year by a hair. He’s an amazing runner and I knew it’d be neck-and-neck again.”

Hilverding led for the first 3,100 meters until Linderman pull out to lane two, opened up his stride and sped past the Waynesburg senior for the win. He also defeated Wolk by 0.01, speeding down the track for another gold medal.

“I thought I’d pick up the pace a little big, so I put in a little move against him,” Linderman said. “For the finish, I didn’t realize he was so close to me. I guess we were kicking, and it was as close as I expected.”

C-M also had wins with Strosko in the 800 run, the 3,200 relay that defeated Peters Township by five seconds and Caden Meier, who took first place in the long jump with a personal best of 21-2.

Ringgold’s Mayson Atkinson continued his strong senior season with a vitory in the 300-meter hurdles Saturday, defeating Max Livingood of McGuffey with a time of 42.01.

Atkinson also ran the first leg of the Rams’ first-place 400-meter relay team, which included CJ Franks, Octavus Vassar and Brenden Small. The group finished with a time of 45.14 – defeating Peters Township by 0.05.

“It was nice to come out here and grab first place,” Atkinson said. “It wasn’t my best time in the hurdles, but it was enough to get the win. We did well in the relay, but I messed up the hand-off. Luckily, Octavus and Brenden made up for it by finishing strong.”

Seth Martin also took first place in the one-mile run (4:58.61) for the Rams, who will compete in the WPIAL Class AAA team playoffs Tuesday.

Peters Township’s Ryan Ponchione, who was a standout for the Indians’ PIAA championship soccer team last fall, took first place in the 110 hurdles by defeating Livingood by 0.02. The Indians’ 1600-meter relay team of Ponchione, Zach Rile, Matt Dekman and Luca Pugliano also captured a gold medal. … Waynesburg captured its first gold medal of the day when senior Hunter Cenname won the boys’ triple jump – going 40-7 1/2 to defeat second-place AJ Myers of Chartiers-Houston. … Carly Johns of Peters Township won the 400 with a time of 1:03.22. She mised last season with a foot injury. “I’m making up for lost time,” she said.