Momentum keeps building for Quaker Valley girls track team

By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, April 21, 2024 | 11:01 AM

The Quaker Valley track and field program is thriving.

Big time.

The QV girls team has won the past two WPIAL Class 2A championships.

The Quakers defended their title with ease last year at the WPIAL finals at Peters Township, rolling past Winchester Thurston, Knoch and Derry.

The QV girls took first place in 11 of the 18 events and had eight individual titlists, including Ellie Cain in both the 800- and 1,600-meter runs.

Cain won the 800 in 2:21.40 and the 1,600 in 5:29.83 but said it took a team effort to claim a second consecutive team title.

“We all worked really hard to get to the WPIAL championships in the first place,” Cain said. “We also could not have won without the help of our coaches pushing us at practice every day and just being supportive in general.

“My expectations are high for (this) year. I think we are going to be very strong again.”

By the looks of their early results, Cain’s expectations will be met and the QV girls will be a force in 2024.

The Quakers have been led in the early going by the one-two punch of Cain, a senior, in the 200-, 800- and 1,600-meter events, and Jay Olawaiye, a junior, in the long and triple jumps.

“The girls track team has been doing great,” Cain said. “As of right now (April 17), we are still undefeated. I think our team is going to continue to have a lot of future success because of the hard work that everyone puts in.

“However, it will definitely be a challenge because of the talent on so many of the other teams in the WPIAL.”

QV was scheduled to compete in its first outdoor invitational April 19 at Butler.

“I am very excited for that,” Cain said prior to the invite. “My season has been going pretty well. I have one indoor school record and I am hoping to get an outdoor one as well.”

Olawaiye’s triple jump of 39-5.5 last year was a school record along with the No. 1 distance in the state at that time for 2A girls.

“Every girl works hard in practice and contributes to our success,” Olawaiye said. “They are all wonderful people, and I’m so excited to run another track season with them.”

Olawaiye is a two-sport standout. She competes at No. 1 singles in girls tennis in the fall.

Olawaiye and Cain are complemented by a host of talented teammates on the track team, including juniors Kwilai Karto (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles), Amelia Pribic (javelin, 100 hurdles) and Sarah Minard (pole vault), freshman Rose Pocasangre (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles) and sophomore Mia Gartley (high jump, 300 hurdles).

Peak conditioning is key for the Quakers for 2024, according to Karto.

“The expectation is to come into (this) season further conditioned in order to achieve even more than the past two years,” she said. “I look forward to seeing new faces at the track and continuing old friendships. We have an incredible team and an exciting year ahead of us.”

One of Minard’s goals last season was to break the school record in the pole vault. She actually shattered it twice at the team championships, eventually clearing 10-2.

“I really wanted to beat the school record or get a personal record in the double digits,” said Minard, a former gymnast. “I did track as a freshman. It was a lot different from (last) season, but I enjoyed them both equally. I made a lot of close bonds, which made meets and invites a ton of fun.”

There are plenty of up-and-coming competitors to go around on the QV girls squad.

Others looking to contribute to another championship run include juniors Vanessa Pickett (100, 200), Olivia Jordan (100, 200, long jump), Cecelia Montagnese (800), Emily Bablak (800) and Mia Fusco (1,600), seniors Lizzie Szuba (400), Grace Waller (400, shot put) and Kate Hines (3,200) and sophomores Zora Washington (100) and Parker Barnes (400).

“I’m confident we can have a really impressive season,” Montagnese said.

More athletes on the girls team are sophomores Oumou Thiero (high jump), Emma Currier (triple jump), Clara Herman (javelin) and May Galas (javelin, shot put), seniors Kathryn Main (high jump), Spencer Elliot (long jump, triple jump), Julia Garvic (discus) and Deja Keo (discus, javelin), along with juniors Sienna Albano (discus) and Shy Cameron (javelin, shot put).

This year’s top freshmen include Pocasangre, Maddie Gatehouse (100, 200), Kennedy O’Neill (800, pole vault), Kate Steinfurth (1,600, 3,200), Maggie Doz (3,200), Alex Polce (long jump, triple jump), Anna Fuener (long jump), Tiya Simgh (long jump, triple jump), Hanna Stein (discus, javelin, shot put) and Maura Calhoun (javelin, shot put), among others.

And all three relay units also have gotten off to fast starts in 2024.