Penn-Trafford’s Colligan takes 6th at WPIAL championships

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, May 17, 2019 | 8:03 PM

Penn-Trafford’s Chris Colligan came up short in his bid for a trip to Shippensburg for the PIAA track and field championships Friday and Saturday.

The Warriors senior finished sixth with a mark of 6 feet, 3 inches in the high jump at the WPIAL Class AAA championships last Thursday at Slippery Rock.

He was seeded second and had cleared 6-5 earlier this season

Colligan tied Uniontown’s Isaiah Melvin for fourth behind Butler’s Sami Taoufik (6-5) and Mt. Lebanon’s Mason Ventrone and Uniontown’s Jayden Thomas, who tied for second with jumps of 6-3. Missed jumps determined the placement.

Penn-Trafford’s Evan McAllister earned a medal but didn’t qualify for states in the javelin.

He placed sixth with a throw of 151 feet, 7 inches. He was seeded eighth at 153-1.

The top four in each Class AAA event punched tickets to states, as well as those in the top eight who met the PIAA’s pre-set qualifying times, heights or distances.

Winning the WPIAL Class AAA pole vault title was the furthest thing on Jo-Michelle Huczko’s mind when she decided to compete on the track team at Franklin Regional this spring.

“I was looking for something fun to do, so I decided to give track a shot,” Huczko said. “It looked a lot of fun and I wanted to try something new.”

So when Huczko qualified for the WPIAL championship, she was just hoping to do her best.

The junior did better than that. She won the title with a jump of 11 feet. Her best this season is 11-2, and she was hoping for 11-6.

After a week and a half of pole vaulting, Huczko said she knew this was the event for her.

“I told myself that this was good,” Huczko said. “It turned out pretty well.

“Winning the title is very awesome. My goal was to qualify for states. Now my goal is to medal. This will be all new to me.”

Huczko will have company at Shippensburg.

Rayne Todero placed second in the triple jump with a leap of 36-5¼.

Norwin senior Jessica Kolesar will be busy at the PIAA meet.

The Cornell commit will be competing in three events after earning four medals at the WPIAL meet.

Kolesar finished second in the 200-meter dash, fourth in the long jump and was a member of the 400-meter relay team that finished fifth and hit the state qualifying mark. The 1,600-meter relay team finished sixth but did not hit the state qualifying mark.

Kolesar ran a 25.57 in the 200 and finished behind Avonworth/Northgate senior Hayden Robinson.

In the long jump she leaped 17 feet, 8 inches.

“I have some work to do,” Kolesar said.

“In the 200, I still haven’t reached my personal record. So I’m not where I want to be. I was happy how it turned out. The long jump I didn’t jump my PR.

“So I have a lot of work to do before next week’s meet. I’ll do some conditioning for the 200 and drill on my technique and landing.”

The other three members of the 400 relay are Emily Brozeski, Kayla Singer and Katelyn Kauffman.

“I have one more chance to win a gold medal,” Kolesar said. “That’s my goal, to give it my best.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Penn-Trafford