Valley’s James impresses in debut track and field season

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, April 26, 2018 | 12:03 AM

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Before this spring, track and field wasn't on the radar of Valley sophomore DeAisha James.

Basketball, softball and volleyball were sports more to her liking.

“Someone told me I should try track because of how fast I am,” James said. “I am pretty excited to be where I'm at for my first season.”

James continued to impress in her inaugural campaign with the Vikings girls squad. She won the 100-meter dash (13.45 seconds) and the long jump (15 feet, 4½ inches) and took second in the 200 (28.59) at Wednesday's Allegheny Interscholastic Conference (Section 7-AA) meet at Freeport High School.

The meet brought together the 10 section programs after a month of dual-, tri- and quad-meet competition.

In addition to Valley, Apollo-Ridge, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Freeport, Leechburg, Riverview, Shady Side Academy and Springdale were represented at Wednesday's meet.

“It's kind of like a family reunion,” James said.

Wind, chilly temperatures and a passing shower or two tempered most of the times, heights and distances, but Freeport coach John Gaillot said the competitive spirit among the teams was high for the fourth annual event.

“In the A-K Valley, we have a lot of competitors,” said Gaillot, also the meet's manager. “It's nice to watch the section's best go head-to-head. The weather wasn't the greatest, but everyone still gave great efforts.”

Several athletes were double winners.

Riverview's Adam Walker won the pole vault and the triple jump and placed second in the long jump for the second year in a row.

Walker leaped 41-7 in the triple, edging teammate Sean Abraham by one-half inch.

“Adam and Sean are great friends and great teammates,” Riverview jumps coach Bob Kariotis said. “They have a bit of a rivalry. There's pride involved. But they cheer each other on. When one hits a big jump, the other one is hootin' and hollering.”

Valley's Jared Buzzell won both the 200 and 400, while Shady Side's Michael Tomlin, the son of Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, captured the 100 dash and 110 hurdles and was a part of the winning 400 relay.

In the throws, Freeport's Austin Kemp tossed 139-2 to win the discus, and he added a victory in the shot put.

Kaylen Sharrow (100 and 300 hurdles) was a double winner on the girls side for section champion Burrell. She also teamed with Megan Malits, Madi Walsh and Faith Remich to win the mile relay.

“Several teams had one or two meets already this week, and there were some tired legs out there,” said Burrell coach Steve White, whose Bucs also competed Monday against Freeport and Tuesday against Deer Lakes.

“But there were gutsy performances all around. ”

Shady Side Academy freshman Melissa Riggins burst onto the scene earlier this season, and she continued her strong campaign Wednesday with wins in the 800 and triple jump while helping bring home a first-place finish with the 3,200 relay.

Deer Lakes owned the girls throws as Emily Mischen took the shot put, Makenzie Spence won the discus, and Alex Stump captured the javelin. Mischen was fifth in the shot at WPIALs last year, while Spence was eighth in the discus.

“We came out today and did what we needed to do to pick up some wins,” said Mischen, one of the top shot put throwers in Class AA. “We were pretty successful to pull a lot of points throughout the season.”

The Lancers girls squad will be a part of the WPIAL Class AA team semifinals next Tuesday. The pairings and sites are expected to be released Thursday.

Burrell defeated Deer Lakes on Tuesday to wrap up the section championship as the Bucs attempt to win back-to-back WPIAL team titles.

The Riverview boys won the section crown with a 9-0 mark. The Raiders defeated Freeport (8-1), 78-72, in a close head-to-head matchup to decide the title.

Athletes from the section also are pointing to several invitationals such as Mars on Friday, Westmoreland County Coaches on Saturday and Pine-Richland on May 4, as well as a couple of last-chance meets, to bolster their standing on the performance lists for the WPIAL meet May 17 at Baldwin.

Michael Love is Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Freeport, Leechburg, Riverview, Shady Side Academy, Springdale, Valley