May 7, 2015 4 min read

WEST MIFFLIN – South Fayette’s girls track team became a force in WPIAL Class AA under former head coach Joe Winans, capturing back-to-back WPIAL titles on the strength of a number of individual qualifiers.

Despite the program’s move up to Class AAA this spring, expectations remained high for new head coach Scott Litwinovich.

Injuries cost the Lions a shot at another team title, but junior Tori Valachovic would not let an injury prevent her from returning to the WPIAL Track & Field Individual Championships next Thursday.

Valachovic, who finished fourth in the 100 hurdles in WPIAL Class AA last year, developed tendinitis in her right foot – forcing her to ride an elliptical or a stationary bike for almost three weeks to stay in shape.

The ailment forced her to miss the WPIAL team playoffs, but she returned last week for the Baldwin Invitational with a plan to prepare for the WPIAL Class AAA Individual Track & Field Southern Qualifiers. It was worth the wait.

Valachovic finished second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 47.69 to qualify for next week’s individual championships. She also ran the second leg of the Lions’ 1,600-meter relay team that took first place Thursday at West Mifflin High School.

“I’ve been lagging with my times because of the injury, but I wanted to run through it,” Valachovic said with a large bag of ice wrapped around her right foot. “The doctors told me that running on it won’t cause any long-term damage, so that’s all I needed to hear. I just wanted to run well enough to qualify. I couldn’t push it to the extreme.”

She certainly did not lag at the beginning of both races. In the 300 hurdles, Valachovic led through 150 meters with a quick burst out of the blocks and leapt over every hurdle with precision. She fell behind in the final stretch as Canon-McMillan’s Lexi Vidonish finished first.

“She’s probably, hands down, the hardest-working kid on our team, and she’s incredibly unselfish,” said Litwinovich, who coached previously at Waynesburg. “I’m so happy that she was able to run today. Wherever we need to put her, we know she’ll be ready.”

South Fayette senior Mitch Valko, who will run at Harvard Unversity next year, could not complete the 100 hurdles after aggravating a hamstring injury. The Lions had several qualifiers, most notably, freshman Rachel Helbling in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.76.

“Rachel is a very special talent. I’m lucky enough to have her now that I’m the coach,” Litwinovich said. “I’ve been nothing but impressed. For a freshman to do what she’s doing, I don’t know what the ceiling is.”

Canon-McMillan continued to display its strength in the field events with a second-place finish by Eddie Cottrill in the shot put and third-place finish by Jordan Smith in the javelin with a throw of 162-3.

It was a vast improvement from his performance the past few weeks with throws in the 150s. He was almost five feet away from his personal best, but was pleased with returning to the championships.

“I’ve been getting really low numbers, so it’s nice to finally get back to 160,” Smith said. “I know I can throw hard, but me and (assistant coach Lance Vallee) worked on steps and fundamentals. If you have bad form, it won’t go anywhere.”

Other qualifiers for C-M include Vidonish and Chyna Beck in the 100 hurdles; the boys’ 3,200-meter relay team (8:19.50); Josh Lacks in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles; Haley Yenchik, first in the pole vault (9 feet); and Danielle Williams took second in the javelin.

Peters Township also had a strong showing. Nick Wolk took first place in the 1,600-meter run by beating Ethan Linderman of C-M by 0.02, and Laura Ehrenberger finished third in the 400-meter dash.

Chloe Grzyb continued to display her versatility for the Indians by qualifying in three events, including the 1,600-meter run (5:21.03), 3,200-meter relay as the third leg and the 3,200-meter run.

Her goal was to return to the championships in the 1,600-meter run after she missed making a trip to the PIAA championships last year by 0.2 seconds.

“That number was on my mind today,” Grzyb said of 0.2 seconds. “It feels good to make it back and I can’t wait to get back to Baldwin and hopefully make it to states.”