Andrea Genesi will take her talents in the pole vault to Saint Francis University, to continue her athletic career and continue her education. Andrea is the daughter of John and Stella Genesi.
Genesi has been an outstanding pole vaulter for the Bellwood-Antis girls team, especially during the past two years. In 2002, Andrea placed fifth in the pole vault at the PIAA State Track and Field Meet at Shippensburg University. This year, she won her specialty, the pole vault, in nine of 11 dual meets, won the Bellwood-Antis Invitational and Mountain Conference Meet and was second at the West Central Coaches Meet. At Districts, The Lady Blue Devils got a one-two finish, with Andrea winning and teammate Ashley Smith finishing second. Genesi also provided points in many of the long jump competitions as well.
“Andrea has been wonderful to have around for four years,” said head girls track coach Julie Roseborough. “She works hard all the time and has been very consistent. We just knew every meet there were points for us in the pole vault. I think she will continue to improve at St. Francis. They have a good vault coach and Andrea has a good background. Rudy (coach Bilka) is very technically sound. He is very correct and is active in pole vault camps. She has a good start from him. They won’t have to go back and teach her a lot of the basics.”
Andrea was a member of the Mountain Conference Track and Field All-Star squad and was the top conference pole vaulter in points scored with 36. At the 2003 PIAA State Track and Field meet, Andrea vaulted the same height as the fourth-through eighth place medalists, but when misses were counted at lower heights, she finished ninth, missing a medal by one vault.
“Andrea is a good kid. I think she will come in here and do a good job,” said Saint Francis head track and field coach Scott Catone. “We had a senior vault for us this year who set the school and conference record at 12 feet. We also have a junior who did 11-6 and two good freshmen. We have a strong program in womens’ pole vaulting at St. Francis. Neither the senior nor the junior did any pole vaulting in high school.
“Andrea comes in here with a good knowledge of pole vaulting. She already has a comfort level and with the girls we have returning, she won’t be pushed right away. Andrea can ease into college level competition. The bottom line is, if she can work as hard as this year’s pole vaulters have done, by the time Andrea is a senior, we expect her to hold the school and conference records in the pole vault.”
Coach Catone explained that Saint Francis University tries to do a good job in recruiting local women and that the team is staring to excel. The females don’t have to move out of state or travel long distances to get a good mixture of athletics and education, or skimp on one to get the other. “Women from Western Pennsylvania don’t have to go far away from home or sacrifice academics for athletics. They have tha availability of both right here at Saint Francis. We look for the talented kid that with good attitude and coaching, by the time they are seniors we feel will be capable of competing against and beating others who may have gone to larger schools or gone a long way from their homes. Plus they know they will have received a great education as well. We look forward to having Anrea Genesi here on campus.”
