Moon Area High School’s Track and Field team delivered an impressive showing at their pre-championship season meets, a scrimmage at Quaker Valley against Quaker Valley, a meet at Pine Richland against Pine Richland and Avon worth, and another meet at Montour against Montour and Canon McMillan.
In a series of standout performances that already count toward WPIAL qualifying standards with numerous personal records set across all event groups, the pre-championship season competition proved to be a strong indicator of Moon’s potential this spring.
Leading the way was Rachel Stepp, making school history in the 200-meter dash. Stepped crossed the line at 24.96 seconds, breaking the previous record set in 2023 and establishing herself as one of the top sprinters to keep an eye on this season.
In the jumping pits, Ellen Senkevich had an amazing day, recording three personal records across all jumps. Her high jump cleared 5 feet, 3 inches, placing her one inch under the school record. Out of three strong attempts, Senkevich came close to that mark, being in reach of the record in upcoming meets.
Noah Koepfer, pole vaulter, recorded a personal record of 13 feet, 6 inches. Koepfer nearly made the record books as well, just missing three attempts at 14 feet, 2 inches. That height would have broken one of the program’s longest-standing school records.
As the last meet before the championship season, the team competed at Chartiers Valley during the spring break against Chartiers Valley, Trinity, Montour, and Canon McMillan. The following Saturday, Moon competed at the TSTCA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, placing 3rd overall for girls and 2nd overall for boys.
Significant performances were done by Sonya Taylor, placing fourth in the 1600-meter run, Rachel Stepp winning the 400-meter run, Alena Taylor placing second in the 300-meter hurdles, our 4×400 meter relay win, performances by Ellen Senkevich in the triple and high jump, and Maria Depner leading the way for our throws.
On the boy’s side, Jared Moyer placed in both 110 and 300-meter hurdles, Marcus placed second in the 100-meter dash finals and the 400-meter dash, Evan Senkevich placed fifth in the 400-meter dash, Sam Herrera finished third in the 800-meter run, Nathan Kustra had great performances in the 100, 200, and 400-meter wheel chair dashes, and to rise up to second place, the boys 4×400-meter relay won. Moon’s teams’ finishes were both the highest in school history at the TSTCA Outdoor Championship. Congrats Tigers!
This past week, Moon boys placed as the Section 7 Championship runner up, against the section teams: South Fayette, Chartiers Valley, Canon McMillan, Trinity, and Montour, with a 5-1 record, moving forward into the WPIAL team playoffs. The Moon girls and boys’ teams put up a good fight at the Butler Invitational this past Saturday, with an early start to lots of rain.
Transitioning to a new practice location due to football field construction, all practices are held at a nearby trail or the P3R Complex’s Track as athletes prepare for the MAC Championships at Shenango. Goodluck tigers!
