ON
TO WPIAL TEAM FINALS
No contest
Butler girls, SV boys
cruise in track semifinals
May 3, 2017 High School Track & Field 0 Comments
Seth
Ketler, center, heads for the finish line and victory in the boys 1,600 meters
Tuesday. The Raiders advanced to Monday's AAA team finals at Baldwin.
DAVE PRELOSKY/ BUTLER EAGLE
JACKSON TWP — As Butler girls track and
field coach John Williams put it, “This was not a record-breaking day.”
No, it wasn't.
Seneca Valley's NexTier Stadium hosted a
WPIAL Class AAA boys and girls team semifinal meet Tuesday amid temperatures in
the low-50s and gusty winds.
School records were safe, but this was
simply about survival.
Butler's girls accomplished that, defeating
Latrobe (105-45), Kiski Area (118-32) and West Allegheny (127-23) to advance to
Monday's team championship meet.
Joining them at Baldwin High School's Cibek
Stadium will be Seneca Valley's boys, who overwhelmed New Castle (110-40),
Latrobe (94-56) and Kiski Area (132-18).
“It wasn't the best weather, but our main
objective was to move on to the next round,” said Williams. “We survived the
weather and stayed healthy and we're happy about that.”
Out of its three opponents, Butler figured
to get the stiffest test from Latrobe. The Golden Tornado received a boost in
that matchup early in the meet when Jena Reinheimer, Taylor Jackson and Alyssa
Eyth finished 1-2-3 in the discus against the Wildcats.
“That was a big start to the meet for us,
going 9-0 in that event,” said Williams. “We had people step up today.”
Another key victory came in the first track
event of the day. In a battle of the first- and third-ranked 4x800 relay squads
in the WPIAL, respectively, Butler again topped Latrobe. The Golden Tornado's
quartet in the event included Alexis Leech, Erin LeMay, Maggie Welty and Liz
Simms.
Butler had a pair of overall
double-individual winners — Leech in the 400 run and 200 dash and Reinheimer in
the shot put and discus.
Not that it was a surprise, but Seneca's
boys were dominant in throwing events.
Ryan DeBoer won the shot put in all three
meets while Zach Gehm did the same in the discus. Jack Cook, Jake Stebbins and
Josh Panizales also helped the Raiders crush their competition.
Butler's
Maggie Welty heads to victory in the 1,600 meters during the WPIAL Class AAA
team semifinal meet Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at Seneca Valley. The Golden Tornado
girls easily advanced to Monday's finals at Baldwin.
DAVE PRELOSKY/ BUTLER EAGLE
“Our throwers have been a mainstay all
season long,” said SV coach Ray Peaco. “They've done a wonderful job.
“Latrobe, New Castle and Kiski, they all
have great athletes,” added Peaco, “but they just couldn't match our depth.”
Seneca Valley will get a chance to avenge a
76-74 defeat to North Allegheny in early April. Both teams will be involved in
Monday's team finals.
“It's awesome for us to get another shot at
them,” said SV's Michael Warchola, who won the 300 hurdles Tuesday. “We believe
we can beat them and that's been our plan all season.”
“It's so difficult to get to the (WPIAL
title meet),” said Peaco. “You can't take it for granted.”
Boys
Seneca Valley 94, Latrobe 56
Seneca Valley 110, New Castle 40
Seneca Valley 132, Kiski Area 18
3,200 relay: Seneca Valley (Seth Ketler,
Alex Dixon, Sam Owori, Luke Bellack) 8:26.95; 110 hurdles: Sams (NC) 15.77; 100
dash: Hall (NC) 11.76; 1,600 run: Seth Ketler (SV) 4:50.57; 400 run: Williams
(L) 50.56; 400 relay: Latrobe 44.09; 300 hurdles: Michael Warchola (SV) 42.95;
800 run: Sam Owori (SV) 2:04.69; 200 dash: Williams (L) 23.5; 3,200 run: Trey
Razanauskas (SV) 10:10.17; 1,600 relay: Latrobe
Shot put: Ryan DeBoer (SV) 48-6; Discus:
Zach Gehm (SV) 151-2; Javelin: Butler (L) 180-8; High jump: Burnett (NC) 6-0;
Long jump: Colecchi (KA) 19-10.25; Triple jump: Butler (L) 40-8; Pole vault:
Alex Fischer (SV) 11-6
Girls
Butler 105, Latrobe 45
Butler 118, Kiski Area 32
Butler 127, West Allegheny 23
3,200 relay: Butler (Alexis Leech, Erin
LeMay, Maggie Welty, Liz Simms) 9:39.59; 100 hurdles: Tabetha Wilbert (B)
17.29; 100 dash: Shana Hoy (B) 13.42; 1,600 run: Maggie Welty (B) 5:36.55; 400
run: Alexis Leech (B) 58.02; 400 relay: Butler (Savannah Miller, Maggie Hohn,
Maddie Glew, Shana Hoy) 51.59; 300 hurdles: Harris (KA) 50.19; 800 run: Liz
Simms (B) 2:21.22; 200 dash: Alexis Leech (B) 26.95; 3,200 run: Green (L)
12:30.48; 1,600 relay: Latrobe 4:07.07
Shot put: Jena Reinheimer (B) 37-11; Discus:
Jena Reinheimer (B) 122-10; Javelin: Bates (West Allegheny) 112-8; High jump:
Wetzel (L) 5-0; Long jump: Vasinko (L) 15-1.25; Triple jump: Vasinko (L)
33-4.75; Pole vault: Taylor Weaver (B) 11-0