Butler girls track wins own invitational for 6th straight
April 23, 2022 Last Updated: April
22, 2022 10:49 PM High School
Butler’s girls track and
field team captured its sixth straight championship at the Butler Invitational.
Derek Pyda/Butler Eagle
Butler's Emma Lehman
competes in the 300-meter hurdles at Friday's Butler Invitational. Lehman
placed sixth in the event, fourth in the 100 hurdles and ran a leg on the
winning 4x100 relay team to help the Golden Tornado win their own invite. Seb
Foltz/Butler Eagle
BUTLER TWP — As
four-time defending WPIAL champion, the Butler girls track and field team does
not often taste defeat and Thursday’s loss to section rival North Allegheny was
a bitter pill to swallow.
The Golden Tornado had
a perfect response at Art Bernardi Stadium Friday afternoon.
Megan Baggetta won the
triple jump, Alli Morrow the long jump and the 4x100-meter relay team sprinted
to another victory as Butler claimed its sixth straight team championship at
the 20th annual Butler Track and Field Invitational.
The Tornado totaled 83
points, with Norwin placing second (75½) and Grove City third (39).
“There was some
emotion for the girls to get through today,” said Butler coach John Williams.
“We’re not used to that (losing) and I didn’t know what to expect. But we know
we’ve got competitors and this is a big-meet atmosphere.
“It’s great to see us
get that (championship) belt.”
Morrow teamed with
Chloe Weiland, Emma Lehman and Aubrey Rock to win the 400 relay with a time of
50.75. Mt. Lebanon was a close second at 50.94.
Lehman and Morrow were
part of Butler’s quartet that won here last year.
“I ran the second leg
(Friday) and when I got the baton from Chloe, we were about right where we
should’ve been,” Morrow said. “A couple of the other teams had trouble with
that first handoff and we gained some space there.
“Our goal was to go
south of 51 (seconds) and we did that. After running yesterday in a big meet,
my legs are exhausted, but we take a lot of pride in this meet. It’s always
good when we can wear the Butler name well on our shirt.”
Morrow had enough gas
left in the tank to later earn first place in the long jump with a leap of 17
feet, 10 inches.
“I didn’t compete in
the long jump at the start of the season because of a knee injury and jumping
is about the worst thing you can do to your knees,” she said.
Without much work in
the event this season, Morrow was pleased with her effort.
“I didn’t beat my
personal best (17-10¾), but I’ve competed in eight events the last two days. I
have to be happy with it.”
Baggetta continued her
strong junior season. At the beginning of the month, she broke the school
record in the triple jump with a distance of 38-5½. She went 37-3 Friday to win
the invite title.
The top three in the
event were separated by just ¾ of an inch. Obama Academy’s Leslie Manson was
runner-up at 37-2¾ and Baggetta’s teammate, Aubrey Rock, came in third at
37-2¼.
“This meet provides
good competition and with the biggest meets of the year coming up, it shows you
where everybody else is at,” said Baggetta, who was grateful the weather
improved from the snow showers earlier in the week. Friday’s meet was held with
temperatures in the mid-60s.
“Personally, I like it
to be about 75 degrees, but I can’t complain about this. It’s almost ideal.”
The only other Butler
County athlete to win was Knoch sophomore Madison Hunt, who grabbed first place
in the shot put with a throw of 35-4½.
“I’m a lot stronger
than I was last year and came in here thinking I could win,” Hunt said. “Then I
saw all the flights (60 throwers) there were and I told myself that I had to be
realistic.
“I’m very happy to
win.”
Hunt’s best effort in
the event is 37-4, achieved last week.
“I want to get to
states and hit 40 feet this season,” she said.
The Butler Boys
Invitational will be held Saturday.
Following are the
Butler County athletes who earned a medal by placing in the top eight at
Friday's Butler Girls Track and Field Invitational.
3,200 relay: 3-Butler
(Madison McGarrah, Aubree Tack, Krislyn Green, Jen Cichra) 10:04.41; 100 hurdles: 4-Emma Lehman (B) 15.89; 100 dash: 2-Tehya Dave (NC) 12.84, 3-Alli Morrow
(B) 12.97, 7-Audrey Kura (SR) 13.33; 400 run: 7-Morgan Duker (Mars) 1:01.63; 400 relay: 1-Butler (Chloe Weiland, Alli Morrow, Emma
Lehman, Aubrey Rock) 50.75, 7-Karns City (Ashley Fox, Natalie Hess, McKenna
Martin, Rossi McMillen) 52.39; 300 hurdles: 6-Emma Lehman (B) 48.28, 7-Lauren Bowden (B) 49.04; 800 run: 6-Jen Cichra (B) 2:25.29; 200 dash: 6-Audrey Kura (SR) 26.95; 1,600 relay: 8-Butler (Adraya Baxter, Avalon Deitz, Jen
Cichra, Ari Morrow) 4:20.73
Shot put: 1-Madison
Hunt (K) 35-4½, 5-Abby Kitchen (B) 32-0; Discus: 4-Reese Skiba (F) 104-0, 5-Carlie Baker
(B) 100-2; Javelin: 3-Megan
Penrod (B) 116-1, 4-Karlee Buterbaugh (K) 115-9, 5-Ashley Fox (KC) 111-0; High jump: 2-Gianna Bedel (SR) 5-1, 6-Channing
Popovich (B) 4-11, 7-Katie Ban (B) 4-11; Long jump: 1-Alli Morrow (B) 17-10, 5-Aubrey Rock (B)
17-2; Triple jump: 1-Megan
Baggetta (B) 37-3, 3-Aubrey Rock (B) 37-2¼