BVA’s track and field success halted

By JEREMY SELLEW

jsellew@yourmvi.com

With its season wiped away with the coronavirus pandemic, it’s a matter of what could have been for the Belle Vernon Area track team.

Both the boys and girls teams had high hopes for WPIAL and PIAA championship appearances, and coach Chris Stasicha was confident it could have been a banner season for his teams and athletes.

“Our girls team was going to be strong again this year,” Stasicha said. “We won the section title the past two seasons. Our biggest loss was Ezra Johnson, who’s now throwing at Duquesne. Though we would have lost some points in the discus and shot, we had one of our strongest female freshman classes. Last year, our girls middle school team was undefeated. We were getting jumpers, sprinters, a hurdler and a distance runner that would have put us over the edge this year.”

With the abrupt cancellation, Hannah Seitzinger saw her senior season come to a close. She would have likely become the first female athlete in school history to make the PIAA championships in all four years of her high school career.

“Hannah probably had the most to lose with the season being canceled,” Stasicha said. “She’s the most talented female runner we’ve ever had at BVA.”

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