Moncavage, Pyle look to defend state titles

May 24—Katie Moncavage and Camryn Pyle are hoping to scale the top of the medal stand at Shippensburg University once again.

Both runners are set to pursue repeat state titles during this weekend's PIAA Track & Field Championships at Seth Grove Stadium. Southern Columbia's Moncavage and Midd-West's Pyle are just two of many girls athletes from the Valley who are eyeing gold medals.

However, defending their state titles won't come easy for either athlete as both face some lofty competition that will look to dethrone them.

Despite being a back-to-back state champion in the 800-meter run, Moncavage is the second seed in the event at 2 minutes, 15.94 seconds. Trinity Christian's Eilidh Edgar is the only runner seeded ahead of her at 2:14.76.

Moncavage earned the top seed in the 1,600 meters at 5:03.75. The Tigers senior and Bucknell commit is seeking to improve upon a seventh-place showing at states last season.

"Last year the 800 was more of my main focus," Moncavage said at the Blue Jay Classic at Central Columbia earlier this month. "But this year I'm really trying to get that mile time down, too."

Pyle enters the weekend as the top seed in the 300-intermediate hurdles, where won the state title last year in 44.80 seconds. Pyle is also seeded ninth in the 100-meter hurdles, where she took seventh last season.

Pyle will face fierce competition in both events from Central Columbia's Ava Rebuck, who took home two state silvers in the hurdles last season. Milton's Mackenzie Lopez will also run the 300s. Lopez is seeded fifth in the event.

Overall, Lopez will take part in three events at Shippensburg. She is the second seed in the javelin at 134 feet. Derry's Sophia Mazzoni is the top seed at 159 feet. Lopez, who will throw at the University of Dayton next season, was seventh last season. She also helped the Black Panthers' 4x100 relay team punch its ticket to the state meet.

Warrior Run is bringing a sizable contingent to Shippensburg after two of its relays qualified for states. The Defenders' 4x800 squad of Natalie Hall, Sienna Dunkleberger, Claire Dufrene and Raygun Lust set a district record with a time of 9:27.93, slotting it as the top seed by about 7 seconds.

The Defenders are also sending their 4x400 team to Shippensburg. The quartet of Hall, Dufrene, Lust and Callie Ulmer helped Warrior Run to the fourth seed at states. Lust and Dufrene are primed to being home individual medals, as well. Lust is the fourth seed in the 400. Dufrene is second behind Moncavage in the 1,600 at 5:06.03. Dufrene and Hall will also run in the 800.

Aurora Cieslukowski is seeking to place higher on the medal stand after she was fourth with a height of 11 feet, 6 inches last season. The U.S. Naval Academy pledge is ranked third at 12 feet.

Mount Carmel's Liv Kopitsky will throw in two state events — the shot put and discus. Kopitsky is seeded eighth in the shot put (38-7) and ninth in the discus (114-8).

Other 2A state qualifiers are Southern Columbia's Quinn Johnston (javelin), and Greenwood's Julianna Wise (100) and Bekah Brinser (300 intermediate hurdles).

Class 3A

Selinsgrove sprinter Carly Aument is seeking to end her career with a pair of state medals. The Penn State recruit is seeded sixth in the 100 (12.07) and seventh in the 200 (24.66). Last season, Aument was eliminated in the preliminaries by 0.01 seconds in both events.

Aument's teammates, Shakiya Stapleton and Abby Parise, will join her at Shippensburg. Stapleton won the shot put title at districts last week and is the seventh seed at the state meet.

After being sidelined most of the year with an injury, Parise qualified for states in the long jump as the District 4 champion. Parise is seeded 15th in the event at 17-8 3/4.

"Honestly, it was tougher mentally because I didn't really know what I could do coming back," Parise said. "I think really the mental part was what it was."

Selinsgrove's cross-river rival, Shikellamy, also looks to claim a couple of medals. The Braves' 4x100 squad, which consists of Jilly Deivert, Lily Persing, Emma Koontz and Elli Ronk, is ranked seventh at 48.51 after breaking a district record that had been in place since 1986. The same four athletes will also run in the 4x400.

Deivert, Persing, Koontz and Ronk helped the Shikellamy girls soccer team reach the state semifinals in the fall, so they've been in high-pressure situations before.

"I think it's just the undoubted teammate title that we can have for each other," Ronk said. "Knowing that we're always there for each other, and we just have each other's backs and trusts. It just carries through the year, and I think it shows."

Individually, Ronk is the eighth seed in the 400 at 57.32, while Deivert is ranked 11th in the 100 at 12.27. The Braves also have district champion pole vaulter Aly Bingaman in the medal hunt.

Lewisburg will send a sizable contingent to the state meet. Caroline Blakeslee will run in both the 200 and 400. In the distance events, Jenna Binney will run in the 1,600, while Baylee Espinosa will take part in the 3,200. Binney and Espinosa, along with Lauren Schwartz and Katherine Batkowski, are set to compete in the 4x800 after taking the district title last week.

The Green Dragons' lone state qualifier in a field event, sophomore Teagan Osunde, will throw the javelin at states for the second consecutive year. After not medalling last season, Osunde is seeded fifth in the event at 136 feet.

"I like that I already have a year of districts and states in my pocket," Osunde said. "I feel more comfortable with where I'm gonna be throwing at states, and I feel like that plays in my favor because of less nerves and just more adrenaline."

Shamokin will send two athletes to states in Carly Nye (triple jump) and Alexis Bressi (800), while Danville's lone state qualifier is Victoria Bartholomew (3,200).