West Catholic girls look strong on the track

West Catholic enters this spring as the favorite to win the girls' Class AA District 12 track and field title and perhaps the PIAA state championship.

"They should have won last year," said Tim hickey, the Swenson sprinters and hurdlers coach. "If they can get on the bus and get to the meet, they should win. They're just flat-out loaded. They're the overwhelming favorites."

Less than a month ago, the Burrs won the PTFCA girls' indoor state championship at Penn State, scoring 49 points and finishing ahead of second-place Notre Dame Academy (37 points) and third-place Chester (24).

In the victory, West Catholic's 4x200-meter relay team of Jada Steward, Chante Moore, Caela Williams and Michelle Davis recorded the nation's second-fastest time for the indoor season at 1 minute, 40.01 seconds, Burrs coach Eric Young said.

That time shattered West's own record of 1:40.23 set in 2005.

"They don't have one outstanding runner. They have five or six of them," said Ron Lopresti, president of the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches' Association. "They're good all the way through. They do not have a weak link."

Davis and Moore are juniors. Steward is a sophomore, and Williams is a freshman. All four also combined to run the country's No. 3 indoor time (3:48.75) in the 4x400 relay at the National Scholastic Championships in New York on March 12 through 14, Young said.

All four runners also compete individually. Moore and Davis finished one-two, respectively, in the indoor 400 state championship.

Last spring, Davis and Moore finished second and fourth, respectively, in the 200 at the Class AA outdoor state meet, losing to Swenson's Shanae Bailey. West Catholic finished third at states with 43 points behind Swenson (52 points) and Lewisburg (51.5).

Young, recently named the PTFCA indoor track and field coach of the year, said the Burrs will compete in three Catholic League dual meets before running the Penn Relays on April 22 through April 24.

"Swenson set the mark last year," Young said. "Now, we're trying to emulate what they did."

Around the area, defending Class AAA state champion Abington returns junior hurdler Leah Nugent, who won the District 1 titles in the 100 and 300 hurdles last spring and also captured the 300-meter hurdle state title.