A line from a 1980 Bob Seger hit best described Moon's track and field team on Tuesday.

They were young and strong and they were running, against the wind.

Heavy wind gusts toppled hurdles in mid-race and even flipped the high jump mat at one point, but the Tigers battled through the elements to pick up wins at home over Hopewell, 89-52 in boys and 86-64 in girls, in the first meet of Section 7-AAA competiton.

The wins put Moon on the path toward continued success, as the boys chase a fourth section title in five years, while the girls aim for a 22nd playoff berth in the 25th year under head coach Nick Bulat.

"The girls section is very competitve, while the boys section, West Allegheny and New Castle are probably the two best teams," Bulat said, assessing the competiton.

"We think we can give all the teams in our section a meet, and we have the same goal we have every year. Try to finish first or second in the section and get into the playoffs."

The boys got off to a sweeping start, winning 11 of the 16 events (pole vault was not contested), on the way to the victory.

Junior Ray Fisher, a state qualifier in the 200-meter run last year, took that event in 22.83, while sophomore Robert Parise won the 400- (57.61) and junior Ryan Mischler won both the 800- (2:17.11) and 1,600-meter (5:02.39) races.

"Ray did well for us today in the 100, 200 and the 4x100," Bulat said. "But he also runs the 400 and he also long jumps for us, though he didn't do either of those today."

Fisher's performance helped the 4x100 relay to a first-place finish in 45.01, while the 4x800 team won in 9:27.16. Freshman Ibrahima Balde also won on the track Tuesday, taking the 300-meter hurdles in 44.76.

In the field events, sophomore Vincent Colaianni won the triple jump with a distance of 38'2", while the Tigers swept the throwing events.

Senior Jordan Bryan was the top javelin thrower at 149'7", while Andrew Brown, a junior, threw the shot put, 40'6 1/2". Junior Bobby Kownacki won the discus at an even 136 feet, drawing praise from his head coach.

"That's a real good throw for this time of year and these conditions," Bulat said.

For the girls, defending WPIAL champion Layne Baggett was her usual self, winning both the 100- (15.52) and the 300-meter (50.14) hurdle events, despite the crossing wind during the event.

The junior was the lone individual winner on the track, though the 4x800 relay team also won in 11:10.21.

"We can rely on (Baggett) to win both hurdles, and she was penciled in for a few other events that we ended up not needing her for," Bulat said.

Moon's strength lies in its depth on the girls side, however, as the team has 71 team members, including 27 returning letterwinners. That depth usually allows the Tigers to not have a shortcoming in points, even when they don't win a particular event.

"Look at someone like Alexis Thomas, a freshman," Bulat said. "She took three second-place finishes in the 100, 200 and 400. The two kids that beat her for Hopewell are state-caliber kids, so she's done a real nice job."

"Paige Bedner did a real nice job in the 400, 800 and (4x800) relay and Kristen Ray, as well, in the distance events. We have even more runners that, because of injury, didn't compete today. They'll give us more depth.

The Tigers were also strong in the field events, taking second and third in each of the throwing events and sweeping the jumps. Junior Tori Pritchard won the long jump at 16'0" and the triple jump at 34'6", while another junior, Kellee Kovach, won the high jump at 4'6".

The girls did compete at the pole vault, with the top performance coming from Moon freshman Alicia Fouse. With a vault of 8'0", the Tigers now have a reliable point scorer in the most specialized of track events.