First Posted: 3/25/2015
For the first time since 1988, the Pittston Area girls track and field team won the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association District 2 title in 2014. That’s the plan for 2015.
The Patriots will return the majority of the girls from last year’s team, including several individual district champions. Pittston Area won last year’s championship by a comfortable margin over Dallas.
Madison Mimnaugh and Olivia Giambra each won gold at the District 2 championships last season. Those two will be the driving force behind the Patriots’ success this season.
“We’ve been very focused,” Pittston Area coach Joe Struckus said. “They focused all offseason inside and now we’re working hard outside. The seniors have been doing a great job with taking the younger kids under their wings.”
Pittston Area’s girls team will feature 13 seniors.
Throughout the indoor season, Mimnaugh, Mia Cain and Abby Sheerer have been working hard and each have earned wins. Mimnaugh won the 1,600 at the Baptist Bible College High School Invitational in late January. Cain took first in the high jump.
Cain, along with Giambra and Abby Sheerer, finished 3-4-5 at last year’s district championships in the high jump.
“That’s definitely our strength,” Struckus said. “We’re expecting the same thing this year. We have a nice corps of jumpers that will be pretty decent for us.”
Pittston Area is very young when it comes to the sprint portion of the team. The Patriots are without standout Taylor Powers, who is now running for East Stroudsburg. Also, Eastin Ashby and Rhianna Avvisato, a hurdler, will also be missed due to graduation.
Struckus said the team has replacements for last year’s graduates. Senior Jamie Chisdock will lead the sprinters.
“We’ll miss them, but we have the runners to replace them,” Struckus said. “The juniors have been stepping up to take their spots.
“The goal is to repeat. That’s what we’re striving for.”
Pittston Area’s boys track and field team will be without district champion Michael Harth for the upcoming season. Harth, who won the 800 and was a member of the winning 4×400 team at last year’s districts, is now running for Misericordia. Thrower Chuck Poli also graduated.
“We still have a couple of guys who were here with those guys,” coach Jason Mills said. “They are going to have to be leaders. They have to show they younger kids the work ethic.”
The Patriots will welcome back hurdler Colin Tracy, who missed most of last season with a knee injury. Tracy will lead the team in the hurdles, which Mills considers the team’s strongest event. Freshman Nick Barbieri is expected to contribute heavily in the hurdle events.
“Colin isn’t quite back to 100 percent yet,” Mills said. “His rehab has went well, but he has to get back into hurdle shape.”
Pittston Area will also have seniors Angelo Aita, Josh John and Austin Naples leading the runners.
With the loss of Poli, one of Pittston Area’s biggest weaknesses will be the throwing events, Mills said. The team graduated their top five participants in the shotput and the discus. With a strong junior high program, however, Mills expects the throwers to take charge this season.
Mills also said the team will be young in distance events. Junior John McDonald will lead the sprinters.
“I think we are going to get better every meet,” Mills said. “I think we’ll be a much better team at the end of the season. The experience will be big for us. We’re shooting for a winning season, as always.”
Weather has played havoc on the track and field schedules in the Wyoming Valley Conference. Pittston Area will open its season on Monday, April 6 when it hosts Tunkhannock.
