Partly cloudy. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable..

Partly cloudy. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable.

SHIPPENSBURG — The Shenango High track and field team had an impressive day at the PIAA track and field championship on Friday.

Will Patton and Emma Callahan, both seniors, were able to grab silver medals in their respective events in the meet, which was held at Shippensburg University.

Patton took second in the Class 2A discus event with a throw of 164-04.

“Obviously, super proud of Will. Medals do not grow on trees,” Shenango coach Chris Vecenie said. “He has to compete in the shot (Saturday) and hopefully he’ll find his way to the medal stand again. As a senior, I hope he gets to do well and enjoy it for a little bit as it’s his last go in a Wildcat uniform.”

Callahan claimed silver in the Class 2A discus event with a throw of 137-0. She grabbed a personal best with the throw and extended the length of the school record she previously claimed.

“That was a great way to start her state trip. She PR’d,” Shenango coach John Montgomery said. “It’s nice to do it with a new PR. She already had the school record, but that just makes it a little farther. That’s going to give her a lot of momentum in shot put. Doing well (Friday) is only going to help her out (Saturday).”

Laurel’s Brady Cooper (eighth in discus) and Neshannock’s Ava Koski (sixth in high jump) and Addi Watts (fourth in javelin) also grabbed medals.

Ellwood City Lincoln freshman Delaney Sturgeon tied for 16th place in the finals of the Class 2A high jump at 4-10.

“I think her and I are both disappointed in the outcome,” Lady Wolverines coach Nate Brown said. “Her performance was good; she’s capable of more than that.

“The problem is, she has done pretty much everything herself this year. I feel with some more dedicated coaching she can go even higher. The PIAA meet is high pressure and it’s the best of the best. Tied for 16th is something to hang your hat on at the end of the day.”

The Wolverines’ Joel Brooks will participate in the Class 2A pole vault on Saturday.

Tori Atkins shined in the preliminary events for the 400 and 200. She placed second in the 400 with a time of 57.84 and qualified in the 200, placing fourth, with a time of 25.98.

“I was just excited she was in and I didn’t split hairs over placing,” Laurel coach Bill Allman said. “To see a freshman respond like she does, it’s like she has ice water in her veins. It wasn’t her best time either in the events today. She came off the track saying what she could better (Saturday). She’s a rare talent; it’s fun to watch her.”

Atkins will be competing in the events on Saturday and discussed what to improve with her sprinting coach, Scott Sauders.

“She got off the 200 and said, ‘I stood straight out of my block. It was almost embarrassing,’” Allman said. “She still just buckled down. Her sprints coach talked to her about how to improve her start tomorrow and she’s excited for the opportunity.”

Cooper grabbed a medal in the discus event. He placed eighth and grabbed a personal record in the event with a throw of 150-11.

“He’s a junior so we’re excited about next year,” Laurel coach Brian Cooper said. “Pretty cool seeing the last couple weeks how he’s performing. It says a lot about his competitiveness and his ability. He had a great finish.”

Kurt Lambright was not able to qualify in the 300 hurdles preliminary event. Lambright had some issues starting off in the hurdles and placed twenty fourth with a time of 46.58.

“He got off track at the beginning of hurdle and he couldn’t get his timing back,” Cooper said. “He did a lot of PRs to get to this point. Got off track right at the beginning so it was hard to recover from. He clipped a couple hurdles right off the start. It just threw his timing right off.”

Michael Pasquarello placed thirteenth in the long jump event with a distance of 20-08.

“He had a great jump, just a couple inches under his PR,” Cooper said. “He had two really great attempts. Great jumps just going against a lot of great competition.”

Johnna Hill placed seventeenth in the javelin event with a throw of 105-05. Hill was seeded sixteenth prior to the state championship.

“It wasn’t her best performance but she came in seeded right around there,” Allmann said. “She battled, blew through an injury at the beginning of the week. It wasn’t a medaling performance but she did a great job.”

Maddy Harding will be representing Laurel on Saturday in the pole vault event during the morning portion of the meet. Harding was seeded 13 out of 19 in the event.

“She’s been working hard all seasons and she’s been peaking in the end,” Allman said. “It’s tough competition but we’re hoping for the best.”

Mohawk’s Natalie Lape, a sophomore, placed 12th in the Class 2A finals in the 1600 in 5:14.91. She will participate Saturday in the 800.

“Natalie had a great race. It was her best time of the season,” Lady Warriors coach Cameron Schirmer said of Lape’s 1600 race. “She’s been working hard to be at this spot. She moved herself up from last season’s seedings. Now she’s gearing up for (Saturday).”

The Lady Warriors’ 1600-meter relay team of Lillian McClain, Ellie Whippo, Natalie Lape and Jordan Radzyminski claimed 18th place in the preliminaries in 4:15.65 and did not advance.

“They all PR’d in their splits,” Schirmer said of the relay team. “That was their best time of the season. They dropped two seconds off their time. That’s all you can ask for is to just keep getting better.”

Mohawk senior Nick Farmer placed 10th in the 110 hurdles in 15.95. He came in ranked 12th and moved up two spots.

“We were really happy with his ability to move up a little bit,” Warriors coach Jared Stratton said. “For him to finish second at the WPIAL meet, it’s been amazing his transformation for him to become one of the best hurdlers at Mohawk.”

Koski took sixth place in the high jump event and tied her personal record of 5-0.

“She’s worked really hard. There’s an example of a kid who doesn’t just show up and rely on just natural ability, which she has a lot of, she does have a lot of natural ability,” Neshannock coach Adam Held said. “Her hard work mirrored with that from day one of this season to where she ended (Friday). It’s the kind of athlete she is combined with the hard work.

“I hope a lot of other kids in my program see this. She’s already making plans to go to summer camps and do strength condition. As a ninth grader; being her, I hope my others see that and say, ‘I’m going to do that as well.’”

Watts grabbed fourth place in the javelin event. She had a throw of 130-03, a school record.

“She was just a natural at it,” Held said of Watts’ throwing ability. “Every meet she was throwing a little bit further. We got to last years WPIAL championship, she got second and made it out here and came up short making the final. That was a goal she set if she made it back here.”

Neleh Nogay came up short in the preliminary rounds for the 100 and 200 dash. Nogay placed 22nd in the 100 with a time of 13.13 and placed 14th in the 200 with a time of 26.77.

“She’s a senior, this is her last meet. We’re going to miss her for sure,” Held said. “She’s a great athlete as evidenced by any sport she plays for our school whether it be softball, basketball or track, her athleticism carries through. She’s had a great run with us and three times making it out here is great. No doubt it would’ve been four with the season that didn’t exist because of COVID. Wish her luck moving forward.”

Aaralyn Nogay will be the lone competitor for Neshannock on Saturday. Nogay will be competing in the triple jump event during the afternoon portion of the meet.

“(She’s) working hard with coach Ed Frye. They have a good relationship,” Held said. “It’s tough in the sense that the time with her is limited because she does do two spring sports. I think they kind of balance that and work with her when he can. Hopefully, things go well tomorrow. It looks like early on there might be some weather but hopefully clear up before that event starts.”

Maria Owens, New Castle’s standout jumper, placed 17th in the triple jump event with a distance of 36-06.25.

“She didn’t have her best day (Friday),” New Castle coach Joe Cowart said. “She just missed getting in the final and we would’ve liked to see her advance.”

Owens is set to compete in the high jump event during the morning portion of the meet and the long jump in the afternoon portion. Cowart commented she is looking forward to those events.

“(Saturday), she high jumps at 9 (a.m.) and long jumping at 12:30 (p.m.). That’s about par for the course for the bigger meets,” Cowart said. “Hopefully, she’ll really get after it in the long jump (Saturday) afternoon. We think long jump is her best event. She certainly has been hitting her stride in the triple jump, too. She’s just going to focus on one event at a time. She’s ready to get after it.”

Rachel Callahan placed 11th in the discus event with a throw of 96-10.

“She’s only a freshman so she still has pole vault and she’s got three more years of throwing discus and making it back to state,” Montgomery said. “You can’t beat the experience of throwing in state and throwing with her sister. It was great for her. It’s a family affair because their dad’s their coach. They move as a group, workout as a group and they get along great and they’re a great group to be around.”

Shenango’s 400 relay team of David McClean, Hayden Morgan, Tyler Morosky and Justin Stephenson didn’t qualify. They placed 17th with a time of 44.43.

“It had clean exchanges and got the baton around at the state meet,” Vecenie said. “Everything really tightened up so 44.4 was 17th and you had to get 43.7 to qualify. Still a solid race.”

The Wildcats’ 1600 relay team of Brody McQuiston, Thomas Presnar, Tyler Morosky and Dalton Peters came up short to qualify in the preliminary round. The relay team placed 13th with a time of 3:31.57.

“Almost a season best,” Vecenie said. “We had a tough job in lane eight. They ran themselves into the race. I think they were seeded 22nd and ran all the way to 13. I think there are a lot of positives to focus on.”

Tyler Morosky fell short in the preliminaries for the 300 hurdles. Morosky placed 15th with a time of 42.02.

“Strong race. He ran really well for 220 meters,” Vecenie said. “Struggled with some momentum there. I thought he ran competitively and I’m really proud of him.”

The younger Callahan is set to compete in the pole vault event during the morning portion of events on Saturday while the older Callahan is competing in the shot put alongside teammate Maria Bryant.

The 3200 relay team of Dalton Peters, Thomas Presnar, Connor Jeffcoat, Anthony Mancino also are set to compete on Saturday. Patton and Colton Ferrucci will be throwing shot put during the afternoon portion of the meet on Saturday.

Brandon Stuck was set to compete in the discus and shot put events but was denied that opportunity after suffering an injury during practice.

“He had an unfortunate injury over the week. It took place on Thursday at practice,” Vecenie said. “He was just spinning in the discus circle and caught his foot on the ring. He damaged a couple ligaments, luckily nothing broke in his foot, but the orthopedic doctor wouldn’t allow him to compete.”

Union’s Antonio Faraone will participate in the Class 2A shot put Saturday.

Wilmington senior Lindsey Martineau qualified for the finals Saturday in the 100 hurdles and the 300 hurdles. Martineau won her heat in the 100 hurdles, finishing in 15.37. She posted her best time of the season in the 300 hurdles, notching a time of 46.78.

“Lindsey did a great job in the 100 hurdles,” Lady Greyhounds coach J.R. McFarland said. “There’s great competition down here (at the state meet). “We really expected her to make the finals, which she did. She came in seeded ninth in the 300 hurdles, now she’s seeded seventh.

“It’s always nail biting time when you’re in the finals. You want to get through those and make the finals. We’re very proud of what she has done all season long.”

Wilmington’s Willum Sheffler and Solomon Glavach will compete in the boys pole vault on Saturday.

“We’re looking for a great performance out of both of those guys,” McFarland said.

Cody W. Pattison is a sports writer at the New Castle News. Email him at cpattison@ncnewsonline.com.

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