Stephanie Madia knows Carole Zajac. OK, Madia doesn't really know Zajac. She simply knows of the former Baldwin star distance runner.
Saturday, Madia will try to put herself in Zajac's company.
The PIAA championship track and field meet is tomorrow and Saturday at Shippensburg University. Madia, a senior, is the favorite to win the PIAA Class AAA 1,600-meter championship for the second year in a row. She is the top seed with a time of 5 minutes, 2.51 seconds.
If Madia wins, she will become only the third girl to win the 1,600 two years in a row in the largest classification. The others were Zajac in 1989-90 and Camp Hill's Mary Rawe in 1975-76.
Zajac is one of the best distance runners in WPIAL history. She went on to win NCAA championships at Villanova and run in the Olympic Trials.
"I've heard a lot about her over the years," Madia said. "To be able to do something like an athlete such as Carole Zajac, it's very exciting."
Madia, who has signed with Notre Dame, won the 1,600 and 3,200 at the WPIAL championships last week. But she dropped out of the 3,200 for the PIAA meet because she believes the 1,600 is her better event.
"The two-mile final [3,200] is on Saturday morning before the mile [1,600]," Madia said. "If you want to concentrate on the mile, it would be difficult to do because you're already going to be tired from the two mile."
Top seeds
Madia is one of only three girls from the WPIAL who are No. 1 seeds in individual events. The others are Indiana's Melissa Stewart (Class AAA discus) and Ringgold's Stephanie Kuhn (Class AAA javelin).
No. 1 boys' seeds from the WPIAL are Hempfield's Matt Evans (Class AAA 800), Shaler's Sam Bair (Class AAA 1,600) and Norwin's Adam Hadbavny (Class AAA discus).
One of the best
It's hard to imagine a better track and field athlete in the country than Donovan Kilmartin of Eagle High School in Eagle, Idaho.
In an invitational last Friday, Kilmartin became only the third athlete in the country this season to clear 17 feet in the pole vault. In the same meet, he high jumped 6-10 and won the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.0. That's unusual because most pole-vaulters do not compete in any other events.
But on top of those three events, Kilmartin also has long jumped 23-11 1/2 this season. His marks in the pole vault, 110 hurdles and long jump easily would make him the No. 1 seed in all three events at the PIAA championship meet.
Semifinal weekend
The WPIAL baseball semifinals used to be played the day after Memorial Day. But for the second time in the past three years, the semifinals this year will be played the weekend before Memorial Day.
WPIAL Executive Director Larry Hanley said the reason for the change is so teams can have their No. 1 pitchers ready for the championship games next Friday at PNC Park. If the semifinals were played Tuesday and a team used its No. 1 pitcher more than five innings, PIAA pitching rules stipulate he couldn't pitch in the title game three days later.
"Plus, you hate to waste a day if we have good weather this weekend," Hanley said.
But with the semifinals being played tomorrow and Saturday, the teams with the best No. 3 pitchers have the best chance at making the title game.
"I'm sure some people will applaud the way we're doing this, and some people won't," Hanley said. "It depends on how many arms a team has."
Vaughns to Clarion
Uniontown basketball guard Terrance Vaughns, a member of the Post-Gazette Fabulous Five, has committed to Clarion University.
Vaughns, 5 feet 11, helped Uniontown to the WPIAL Class AAAA championship this season and also to the PIAA title game. He averaged 18.9 points a game and finished his career with 1,721 points.
He is the third WPIAL senior to choose Clarion. The others are 6-2 West Allegheny guard Frank Torbert and 6-6 Aliquippa forward Marko Joksimovic. Torbert averaged 20.2 points a game as a senior.
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