WHITEHALL — Butler's Chesna Tomko, Maggie Welty, Erin LeMay and Liz Simms all had big smiles on their faces when they stepped onto the top perch of the podium to accept their gold medals after the girl's Class AAA 3,200-meter relay race at the WPIAL Track and Field Championships Thursday afternoon.

But something was gnawing at all four of them. A feeling that they could have done better than setting a school record with a time of 9 minutes, 16.62 seconds and wining a WPIAL title.

The Golden Tornado have much bigger goals in a season that has seen their times shrink nearly every time their cleats touch the track.

“It was really exciting, but it was a little disappointing because we were going for this meet record,” said Welty, a senior. “It was very exciting because we got the qualifying time for nationals, so we get to go to that.”

The Tornado really wanted to run 9:12 to get the WPIAL record and even had their sights set on a sub-9:10 time.

“You can't win them all,” said Simms, a junior. “We're not that far away.”

Three of the four runners on the relay team returned from last season when the record was originally set. Tomko, a freshman, is the only newcomer.

“We were nervous we wouldn't have a good team, but Chesna has come in and killed it,” said LeMay, a senior.

Tomko is just happy to help.

“They are all amazingly talented and it's amazing I get to compete with them as a freshman,” Tomko said.

When it comes down to it, a gold medal is a gold medal. There's always next week at the PIAA Track and Field Championships to break more records, Simms said.

“I think it's a big deal because it's the WPIAL meet and everyone is here to run against,” LeMay said. “We still won and showed we're getting better.”

The Butler 3,200 relay team was one of several strong showings by Butler County area athletes:

The Seneca Valley boys 3,200-meter relay team had to overcome some adversity to find itself on top of the podium.

Alex Dixon suffered an injury and was scratched from the relay, but Andrew Balla filled in admirably as the Raiders edged Butler with a time of 7:51.37.

“I didn't know I was running this until (Wednesday),” said Balla, who joined Sam Owori, Luke Bellack and Seth Ketler on the winning team. “I just tried to run as fast as I could.”

Ketler, who also placed second in the 800, said he had no doubt Balla would do just fine.

“I wasn't worried,” Ketler said. “I knew he was a good runner and I believed in him. He had to believe in himself and he obviously did. He got it to me in good position.”

The Raiders relay team had struggled for most of the year until the WPIAL meet.

“Most of the season, we had some tough meets,” Owori said. “We weren't having as good times, so (Thursday) was a good confidence boost.”

Bellack said failing to qualify for the WPIAL team championships gave them a chance to refocus.

“We did a lot of speed training,” he said. “A lot of hard training and mentally getting ready for Thursday.”

Butler senior Noah Beveridge just wanted to defend his title in the Class AAA boys 3,200.

And he did just that with a time of 9:20.09.

It was far off his best time of the year, but that hardly mattered. Winning was his only goal.

“That's what you dream about when you're a freshman, to win WPIAL titles,” Beveridge said. “So for me to get two of them, in maybe my favorite event I'd say, makes me really happy.”

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic sophomore Joe Kearney was as surprised as anyone about his WPIAL boys Class AA title in the long jump.

“I didn't expect to get first,” said Kearney, beaming. “I thought I could be a contender for the top three.”

Kearney, though, was more than that.

He hit a 22 feet, 8 1/2 inches on his final jump to secure first place.

“After my first jump of 22-2 1/2, I knew I had a shot,” Kearney said. “In the finals I was like, 'OK, I have a chance to get first.'”When he hit his final jump, Kearney's reaction was one of shock.“I was like, 'Man, I can't believe I just did that,'” he said.Kearney was in disbelief mostly because North Catholic doesn't have a track, let alone a jumping pit. That made preparation that much more challenging for the Wexford native.“We literally have to run in circles in the parking lot,” Kearney said. “Meets were my practice. That's really hard.”Kearney, though, found ways to train.“I did a lot of speed work for the run-up,” he said. “We could practice a little bit, the small jumps, in grass to get my first step-off, but other than that, that's all I could do.”Kearney had a good day and will be very busy at the PIAA Track and Field Championships over Memorial Day weekend.Kearney finished fourth in the 200-meter dash and ran a leg on the Trojans' 400-meter relay team that finished third.Jacob Wolfrum headlined a slew of runner-up finishers with a Butler school record in the 300 hurdles with a time of 38.73 seconds.He broke the mark previously held by Logan Renwick.Other second-place finishers were Butler's Jack Codispot in the Class AAA pole vault (14-3), Butler's Jena Reinheimer in the Class AAA discus (132-7), the Golden Tornado Class AAA 1,600-meter relay team of Gabrielle Boden, Tomko, Maddie Tonini and Simms (3:54.32), and Sidney Shemanski of Freeport in the Class AAA 800 (2:16.07).For Wolfrum, the school record was the culmination of years of hard work.The senior's best time coming into this year in the event was 42.3.“I don't even have words,” Wolfrum said, a large smile creasing his face. “I finished and I was just so happy I made it to states. When I found out I broke the record, I teared up a little.”