WEST MIFFLIN — While many student-athletes use summer to take time off and relax, three West Mifflin track and field standouts used their time to reach the national stage.
Soon-to-be seniors Austin Kurta and Josiah Vidzro and sophomore Bari Turocy recently took part in the in the 2024 National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships, held July 22-28 at Texas A&M’s E.B. Cushing Stadium in Bryan-College Station, Texas.
They attended the meet as part of the Future Stars Athletics Club team. Kurta raced in the 110-meter hurdles and 4x100 relay; Turocy ran the 100-meter dash; and Vidzro ran in both the 400-meter run and the 4x400 relay.
The trio qualified for the National Junior Olympic meet by way of their performances at a regional meet held in New Jersey.
All three agreed: This was the biggest stage they had been on.
“It was way bigger than states,” Vidzro said. “There were so many people there. I met someone who broke two of Usain Bolt’s records. That was crazy. It was a completely different level.”
Kurta added, “It was a whole new experience being down there. I thought states was big, but nationals was something different.”
At regionals, Kurta placed third in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.40 seconds, and his 4x100 team took first with a time of 43.57. Turocy was fourth in the 100 with a finals time of 11.87. Meanwhile, Vidzro was second in the 400 with a finals time of 52.45, and his 4x400 team took second at 3:37.79.
At the national meet, Kurta ran a 17.95 in the 110 hurdles preliminaries, and his 4x100 team ran a 43.12. Vidzro ran a 52.83 in the 400 prelims, and his 4x400 team clocked a 3:33.19. Turocy ran an 11.83 in the 100.
Each of the three said the meet was an eye-opening experience, and one that they could take lessons from heading into their next seasons on the track. It also provided a little bit of motivation.
“Being able to watch the best in the nation run helped me pick up on a few things that I can work on in the offseason,” Kurta said.
Turocy added, “There was a lot more competition. I was racing against some of the best in the country, so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I knew I was going to have to work for it, and it just motivated me to work harder to get back.”
With that in mind, each of the three has goals in mind heading into the 2024-25 school year.
Vidzro, who spent last winter powerlifting and broke the state 16-17 bench press record at 314.2 pounds, wants to continue to drop his times and make the state meet in both indoor and outdoor and break the 400 records. With an offer to Division II Edinboro in hand, he also wants to try and reach the Division I track and field level.
Kurta, who also plays soccer, wants to continue to work harder and continue his track and field career at the college level, as well. With three more years of high school in front of him, Turocy says he’s motivated to work harder to make it back to nationals and to continue to drop his times.