Defending champ Fort Cherry aiming for another strong showing at county meet
Fort Cherry track coach Ben Maxin can still recall the moment he found out his girls won the team title at last year’s Washington-Greene County meet.
“I just remember Peters Township coach Justin Pinto coming up and telling me that we won the whole thing,” Maxin said. “In my 20-plus years coaching I don’t remember a (Class) 2A school outscoring Trinity, Peters Township and Canon-Mac.”
It was a pretty big upset for the Rangers to beat the larger schools and a major moment to cherish.
They haven’t slowed down, having won a section title and the Chartiers-Houston Invitational this year.
They’ll look to put forth another strong performance at the annual County meet Friday at AHN Field in Canonsburg.
“I told them they were the queens of the county last year,” Maxin said. “To outscore all those Triple-A teams and do as awesome as they did was one of the biggest highlights of last season.”
This year started on a positive note before the first race was run, because for the first time in the 22 years of the program Fort Cherry has its own track.
The track was installed as part of renovations to Jim Garry Stadium over the summer.
“It’s really been a blessing,” Maxin said. “Having what we had, which was bare bones, for two decades and now having what we have, I kind of pinch myself everyday whenever I walk down to track practice. It’s not getting old and something I’m appreciative of. It’s great for the kids. They love it and we love it as coaches.”
The Fort Cherry boys and girls both made good use of the new facility. Both made the team playoffs and the girls went 8-0 to win the section title.
The WPIAL team playoffs begin on Tuesday.
Fort Cherry has three girls returning as defending champions at the County meet. Julie Klose won shot put, Sophia Holmes took javelin and Bella Bianchini was victorious in the 800-meter run.
All three have been key to the Rangers’ success again this season.
“Bella, Sophia and Julie have been big points getters for us,” Maxin said. “Sophia and Julie in the throws with javelin, shot put and discus and Bella is a utility person that we can put in anywhere from the 100, 200, 400, 800 or relays. She can kill it in any one of those events.”
Brooke Cornali has been the top jumper for the Rangers. Emily Frankovich, a distance runner, who was a state medalist graduated, but her younger, Lydia Frankovich, has stepped into her role and done well.
She’s part of what Maxin described as the strength of the girls team. Their core of middle to long distance runners.
“We have good depth in our 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 range,” Maxin said. “We have five or six girls that are really tough. We can kind of mix them around in different events and they can do damage for us in the section meets.”
Several key contributors to the boys team like Jonah Pfender, Shane Cornali and Matt Sieg graduated, but a pair of sprinters, Eli Savini and Joey Barna, have been buoying in the team.
Maxin nicknamed Salvini and Barna as “the lightning duo” for their quick times in the dashes.
“They’re both qualified pretty high up on the list for (Class 2A) WPIALs in both the 100 and 200,” Maxin said. “They make up two legs of the 400 relay too, which is one of the top seeds in the WPIAL. The 400 relay won WPIALs last year at Slippery Rock and are back firing on all cylinders again.”
Christian Yanosko was another strong performer in the hurdles, but suffered a hamstring injury and is out for the County meet. Maxin said its likely that his season is over.
The Washington-Greene meet is one of the final big events before the WPIAL championships, so Fort Cherry is looking forward to once again testing itself against the best in the local area.
“You go into the County meet, with all of those bigger schools, and it’s a step up,” Maxin said. “It shows you where you’re at when you line up with the big dogs and go after them. It’s the perfect time of the season to do it too with WPIALs coming up. We always challenge them to put their stamp on the meet and they’ve responded well the last couple of years.”