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Frye loses out on shot at state finals

Courtesy photo Evan Frye was a top 400-meter runner for Bellwood-Antis going into the 2020 season.

Senior salute

The Mirror is recognizing some high school senior spring sports athletes who missed out on their final scholastic seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse effect on thousands of collegiate and high school athletes around the country who had been preparing for a 2020 spring sports season that never got off the ground.

The loss of those hopes and dreams was particularly painful and searing for athletes who were on the cusp of achieving something great this spring.

Bellwood-Antis High School senior sprinting standout Evan Frye fits into that category.

Frye had a solid junior season last year and was on the verge of a breakout season this year, particularly in the 400-meter dash, before it all came tumbling down with the cancellation of all PIAA spring sports on April 9 due to the coronavirus.

He didn’t attempt to hide his sense of disappointment.

“It’s a pretty big bummer,” Frye said. “My goal for this season was to make it to states in the 400. The top three at districts make it to states, and last year, I placed eighth, but my time wasn’t really that far off (the state qualifying time).

“My PR (personal record) was a 53.9 (seconds) last year in the 400, and I was hoping to get it down to a 51 or 50 this year, and that should have gotten me into states,” Frye added. “I really think that I could have done it. It really (stinks) to lose your senior season, especially after setting these goals. I felt that this was going to be my time to show everybody what I could do.”

So did Bellwood-Antis boys track and field coach Nick Lovrich, who expected Frye to become the team’s top sprinter this year, after last year’s graduation of Shawn Wolfe, a 2019 PIAA Class 2A state meet qualifier in the 200 dash.

“Evan really started to come on last season,” Lovrich said. “Last season, we had Shawn Wolfe as a senior on the team, and he was really good. Evan ran many of the same events that Shawn did, and Shawn was kind of our number one guy and Evan was number two. I think that this was going to be Evan’s big year.

“He had a good District 6 meet last year, and he was also a member of our 1600-meter relay team that finished fourth at districts and just missed going to states,” Lovrich added. “I think that this year, Evan was going to have a breakout year.”

Frye, who stands 6-feet-2 and weighs 170 pounds, possesses extraordinary stamina, according to Lovrich.

“He’s one of those kids who has the body of a runner, the way he’s built,” Lovrich said of Frye, who also competed in the 200 and 100-meter dashes for Bellwood. “He has really good speed and really good stamina. He’s really determined and driven, and he doesn’t give up. The 400 dash and the 300-meter hurdles are probably the toughest races that there are, because they are both all-out sprints.

“You have to be mentally strong to be good in those events, and Evan definitely has that mental strength,” Lovrich added. “He wasn’t going to let the race beat him. He had the ability to maintain his speed over a long period of time.”

Frye brought a lot of intangibles to the table at Bellwood-Antis. Lovrich is also the school’s varsity football coach, and noted that Frye was a positive force as a member of the Blue Devils’ special teams unit for the past two seasons.

Last fall, Frye won the football team’s 101-percent award, named in honor of the late former Blue Devils’ player Jerry Potts. That award is voted on by the Bellwood players each season.

“Evan is a great kid,” Lovrich said. “He embraced his role on the football team, as being the best special teams player and the best practice player that he could be, in order to try to make everybody good.”

Frye is a straight-A student in the classroom, and is planning to go on to college at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, where he will run on the track team and major in secondary education. His primary goal is to eventually become a state policeman, and he said that he is studying for a college degree as a backup plan.

Frye was also the president of his 2020 class at Bellwood for all four years after being voted into that office by his classmates as a freshman. This year as a senior, Frye alsoserved as a Special Olympics unified partner who helped some of his fellow Bellwood-Antis classmates who were participating in Special Olympics in the sport of bocce.

“It was really fun,” Frye said. “The team made it to the regional competition at Central High School late this past winter. I learned some stuff, and I’m glad that I did it.”

Frye is also glad that he will have another chance to compete in track as a collegiate sprinter at UPJ.

“I still run just about every day,” Frye said. “I work out, and I keep active, because I know that I have college, and that’s going to be a whole new level. It’s something that keeps me going.”

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