Boys Wins Pine Richland Invite
      With five first places, the Mustangs finished at the top of the 22 team field at the Pine Richland Invitational.  Plum swept the jumping events with Mike Hemmerle winning the triple jump, Jim Vensel the high jump and Justin James the long jump.  Eric Castello threw over 50' to win the shot put.  The 4x400 relay secured the victory with a 3:29 gold medal run. 

Jim Vensel Breaks Record and Named Field MVP
     It wasn't the first time that Jim Vensel anxiously waited as the event officials carefully measured and set the bar for a record breaking high jump attempt.  Jim has narrowly missed the record on several occasion, but this day was different.  On his second attempt at 6 feet and 5 inches, Vensel soared over the bar and into Plum Track & Field history by breaking the 30 year old high jump record. 
  Vensel's second place in the triple jump earned him enough points to claim the field MVP trophy.

Tiffany Tedesco won the 200m as the girls placed sixth.

Girls Sprint Record Book Rewritten
      The girls 100m, 200m and 4x100m schools records were all broken at the WPIAL playoff meet.  Freshman Bria Jay ran a 12.3 in the 100m to break the school record briefly held by senior Tiffany Tedesco.   Jay then recorded at 25.3 to claim the 200m record.  The team of Stef Ramirez, Bria Jay, Diana Garofalo and Tiffany Tedesco also set a new 1x100 relay record with a time of 49.8 seconds.
 

2007 Section 4 Champions
      Congratulations to the Lady Mustangs.  With a convincing win over Oakland Catholic, the girls team finished undefeated in the section and earned Plum's first ever section championship in girls track & field.  The story was the same as it has been throughout the season - outstanding performance in all areas.  Great work girls and good luck in the post-season.

Boys Finish a Close Second to Central Catholic
    Despite an inspiring 4x400 victory to end the meet, the guys came up a few point shy of victory.  When the results were tallied, only four points separated the Plum boys from their goal of a section championship as they were edged out by Central Catholic.  Their second place finish does however earn them entrance into the WPIAL team playoffs.  Good luck guys ... you have much to be proud of.
 

Mars Invitational
      Both teams finished in 6th place in a field of 40+ teams at the Mars Invitational.  Three Mustangs captured first place honors.  Justin James won the long jump with a jump of 22' 7 1/2".  Eric Castello became the first Plum thrower to break 50 feet in quite some time with his first place shot put of 50' 8".  Tiffany Tedesco won the 100m with a school record breaking 12.6 (FAT).  
     The lone second place finish was turned in by the girls 400m relay.  Jim Vensel was a double medalist by finishing third in both the high and triple jump.   Also taking third was Jackie Youra in the high jump,  Zack Taylor in the pole vault and Bria Jay in the 200m.
  

Still Undefeated - Wins over Fox Chapel & Woodland Hills
      Both Plum squads got one step closer to section titles with wins over Fox Chapel and Woodland Hills.  Once again, peak performance from all areas were needed to secure the victories. 
    The girls team had some breakout performances by underclassmen.  The freshman were led by Julie Frank (shot, discus), Beth Kenny (800m long, triple) and Bria Jay (100m, 200m relay). The sophomore point scorers were Emily Ofstun (400m), Lexi Walla (PV), Brittany Amori (3200, 1600), Amber Hills (PV), Ashley Powers (400, triple) and Nicole Nicolette (PV). 
     The boys victory was highlighted by Mike Hemmerle's four first places (110mH, 300mH, triple, relay).  Jim Vensel swept three events (high, long, relay) and Eric Costello two (shot, jav). 
 

 Plum Beats Gateway 
      The Mustangs returned from Gateway with victory and some outstanding performances.  It was the first time in recent memory that both squads defeated the Gateway Gators.  
    The girls were led by Tiffany's Tedesco's school record breaking 100m sprint and Stef Ramirez's sweep of the hurdle events. Ashley Powers, Melissa Molyneaux, Jackie Youra, Bria Jay and Kara Weichler also took first place honors.
    Justin James and Mike Hemmerle won all four of their events while freshman Ndbisi Ezekoye won the 100m with a blistering 11.13.  Jim Vensel came less than an inch away from the school high jump record by clearing 6'4".

Zack Taylor Sets New School Record
      Sophomore Zack Taylor broke Plum's 30 year old pole vault record by a foot at the Tri-State Championships with a vault of 13' 6".

Boys' and Girls' Teams Earn
 Six Medals Each at Tri-States.
see results.
     

Plum sweeps Penn Hills & Highlands
      Both the boys' and girls' team opened the season with wins against section foes Penn Hills and Highlands. (results)  While outstand performances were recorded on the track as well as the field, the freshman class deserves special notice.  The following freshman all captured 1st place finishes:
   Ndbisi Ezekoye - 100m, 4x100
   Steve Galdo - 800m, 4x800, 4x400
   Beth Kenny - 800m 
   Matt Betts - 4x800
   Bria Jay - 4x100
   

Coach, When is my event?
      This is the order of events that is usually followed for dual meets.   Invitationals often run preliminary heats of the high hurdles, 100m , 200m and sometimes other races at the beginning of the meet.

4 X 800 meter relay 
100/110 meter high hurdles
100 meter dash
1600 meter run
4 X 100 meter relay
400 meter dash
300 meter low hurdles
800 meter run
200 meter dash
3200 meter run
4 X 400 meter relay

Returning WPIAL place winners 
      The following Mustangs were place winners in 2006:
    
     Jackie Youra 3rd - High Jump
     Tiffany Tedesco 6th - 100m
     Jim Vensel 8th - High Jump

   Other key returnees to girls' squad include Diana Garofalo and Uche Ezekoye in the sprints, hurdler Steph Ramirez, distance runner Kara Weichler and thrower Melissa Molyneaux.  The 400m relay also looks to be exceptional again this year.

   Returning veterans for the boys' include sprinter / jumper Justin James, distance runner Tony Russo,  jumper / hurdler Mike Hemmerle and hurdler Dave Kalatshoff.  Returning leaders in the field are thrower Eric Castello and pole vaulter Zack Taylor. 

Links to WPIAL rankings
      Boys
      Girls