There are a couple of things rivals should know about Pine-Richland High School senior Terhea Doaty.

The first is that Doaty is an outstanding individual, but watch out if she's mad.

	Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Pine-Richland's Terhea Doaty won two hurdles events at the Mars Invitational last Friday. Click photo for larger image.

Last year at the WPIAL Class AAA track championships, Doaty didn't run her best race in the 100-meter hurdles and was edged out for first place by Moon's Layne Baggett. Doaty was so mad at herself that she went out and blistered the field in winning the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.

"I sort of took out my frustrations in that race," she said.

Doaty also learned a valuable lesson from the experience: "Anybody can have a great race against you," she said. "I go into every race thinking I've got to run my best to win."

The other thing about Doaty is that the longer the race, the stronger she gets. That's why Pine-Richland girls' coach Don Thomas said he believes Doaty's best race in college will be the 400-meter hurdles.

Doaty placed seventh in the 60-meter hurdles at the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association indoor championships in February.

"That race is too short," she said. "I was just getting started when it was ending. People who beat me indoors, I've beaten this spring."

Despite the poor weather conditions of mid-April, Doaty is the premier female hurdler in the WPIAL. In the Post-Gazette's recent track honor roll, she had the fastest time in the 100 hurdlers at 14.7 seconds and the eighth best in the 300 hurdles at 46.73.

She won both events at the Mars Invitational last Friday and earned the meet's track MVP award.

"It [her specialty] really varies. Some days I like the 100s and some days it's the 300s," she said. "I do know that if I don't do as well as I think I should in the 100s that makes me go after the 300s that much more."

She said she sort of wishes she were competing in the Baldwin Invitational tomorrow -- Pine-Richland will participate in its own invitational -- so she could go against all of the best hurdlers in the WPIAL.

"I'll try to run times [at the Pine-Richland Invitational] that are better than any at Baldwin, so I will be competing against them," she said.

With the WPIAL track qualifiers coming up next week and the WPIAL Class AAA championships May 17, Doaty will go against the best in the area soon enough.

She said her starts in the 100 hurdles, the weakest part of her race, have improved.

Doaty is also more relaxed. While she hasn't made a decision on a college, she is leaning toward Louisville. Central Michigan and Penn State are also still in the picture.

She has also had a good time being on the same team as younger sister Taylor, a freshman sprinter.

They both run legs on Pine-Richland's 1,600-meter relay.

Like her older sister, Taylor Doaty is a versatile athlete who has run the 100, 200, 400 and on the 400- and 1,600-meter relays for Pine-Richland. Thomas said the Rams' 1,600 relay could make some noise at the WPIAL championships if everybody gets healthy.

Terhea Doaty, meanwhile, would like to end her high school track career with a flurry and a couple of PIAA medals.

She placed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles at the PIAA meet at Shippensburg University last season, but admitted to being a little overwhelmed by the atmosphere there.

"It's not like any other meet you run in with all the people and I think it [the scene] got to me. I was really nervous," she said.

"This year, I know what to expect. It's my last year and I'm just going to go out and go for it. That's been my attitude."