JEFFERSON TWP — Jordan Geist has proven he is a great thrower.

He's also a pretty good tightrope walker, it seems.

The Knoch senior is balancing on one now between the discus, shot put, peaking too early, not peaking enough and yet still putting on a show in his last PIAA track and field championship meet, which begins Friday at Shippensburg University.

“We're trying something this year we've never done before,” Geist said. “Peak for the discus, but not for the shot put. That's very difficult to do.”

Geist is seeded first in both the shot and the discus by wide margins.

His seed throw of 73 feet, 10¾ inches in the shot is more than 20 feet better than the second seed. His seed throw of 208-7 in the discus is more than 30 feet farther than the thrower seeded No. 2.

Geist won't be throwing the discus after Saturday afternoon. Instead, his sole focus will be on the shot put and the national meet in June.

That's where he wants to peak.

That's not to say Geist will be going through the motions this weekend.

Quite the contrary. Geist has some lofty goals.

“He'd like to get state meet records,” said Judy Geist, Jordan's mother and throwing coach at Knoch. “But mainly, to have fun, to take everything in and make as many memories as he can.”

Geist plans on doing just that.

“That's been kind of the momly advice,” Jordan said, chuckling. “It's kind of bittersweet. The state meet has been awesome the last four years. The times I will be throwing the 12-pound shot and the throwing the 1.6 (kilogram) discus are numbered. I'm going to soak it all in a little.”

Other Butler County athletes to watch at the state track meet this weekend:

The Butler girls have a slew of potential medalists in the Class AAA meet.

Tornado junior Jena Reinheimer is seeded third in the discus and seventh in the shot put, senior Alexis Leech is seeded fifth in the 400, senior Taylor Weaver is seeded sixth in the pole vault and the Butler 1,600-meter relay team is seeded third.

“We have a chance to score some points and grab some medals,” said Butler girls track and field coach John Williams. “I like our chances.”

Particularly in the 1,600 relay where the quartet of Maddie Tonini, Liz Simms, Shana Hoy and Leech already hold the school record at 3 minutes, 53.05 seconds.

They want to break it again.

“They are capable of it,” Williams said. “In the state meet, you have to have such focus. If you can keep focus, you can be very successful.”

Three of the four runners on the relay return from a trip to the state meet last season.

It wasn't the best journey.

“The so-called bloody nose they got last year gave them some experience,” Williams said.

The Seneca Valley 3,200-meter relay team of Alex Dixon, Seth Ketler, Luke Bellack and Sam Owori is the second seed in Class AAA, but is more than three seconds off the pace of No. 1 seed Central Bucks West.

The Raiders also have the eighth-seeded 1,600 relay team. Members of that team are Bellack, Dixon, Matt Krol and Parker Laughlin.

A pair of freshman are seeded in the top eight in their events.

Freeport's Sidney Shemanski, fresh off a school-record run of 2:19.96 in the 800 and a gold medal at the WPIAL championships, is seeded fourth in the Class AA girls meet.

Knoch's Hannah Rowe, who jumped 5-4 to win the WPIAL high jump title last week, sits as a sixth-seed in the Class AAA.

Shemanski is aware the competition at the state meet will be steep.

“It's definitely going to be a lot harder with more girls and better times,” Shemanski said. “I'm going to have to pick it up and get my time down even more.”

Shemanski will have familiar faces with her on the trip, especially one teammate in particular.

Her stepsister, senior Kim Mixon, will run legs on the Yellowjackets' 3,200 and 1,600 relay teams.

“She's amazing,” Shemanski said of Mixon. “She's been cheering me on and pushing me hard this whole track season.”

Rowe has only been competing in the high jump for a little more than two months.

Freeport senior Rob Reichenbaugh is seeded fourth in the Class AA boys 800.

“I'm just hoping to medal this year,” Reichenbaugh said. “I fell a little short last year. I just want to go out and run my (personal best) and see what happens.”

Reichenbaugh will also run on Freeport's 3,200 relay team, which is seeded ninth.

Moniteau's Jake Patton will have a busy state track meet.

Patton will compete in the 110 and 300 hurdles as well as run a leg of the Warriors' 1,600 relay team.

Slippery Rock senior Brady Dalton had a tough road to the state meet, batting illness and a hamstring issue toward the end of the season.

But Dalton won District 10 titles in both hurdle events.

While she is seeded 19th in the 300 hurdles and 20th in the 100 hurdles in Class AAA, Dalton believes if she runs her best she could get on the medal stand.

“I'm focusing more this week on speed work and mechanical stuff,” Dalton said. “I'm going to try to get a sub-15 in the 100 and hopefully I can focus and run a really, really good race.”