JACKSON TWP — It's difficult to determine which Ray Peaco was more moved by — who his teams dedicated their performance to or the end result.

The longtime Seneca Valley track and field coach stayed away from NexTier Stadium for a few weeks following the death of his wife, Marcie, earlier this month.

He made his return last week and was on hand Tuesday as both the boys and girls teams had a chance to make the upcoming WPIAL team playoffs with wins over rival Butler.

What ensued was an inspiring collective performance. SV's girls took down the two-time defending district champions 86-64 to claim a share of the Section 3 title. The boys defeated Butler 90-60 to claim the second and final postseason spot from the section.

“I took some time off to mourn the death of my wife,” said Peaco, who struggled to fight back tears. “But I followed how the teams were doing. I heard how enthusiastic the kids were. Words can't express what they have done this year.

“The only thing that would make this better is if Marcie were here to see it.”

SV senior Luke Smith won the boys 300 hurdles and was part of the winning 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.

“Coach Peaco has been coaching here for 30-some years,” said Smith, “and Mrs. Peaco was the right-hand woman of the program. They put so much work in. Today was for him, for her.”

SV's girls, who finish the regular season tied with Butler and North Allegheny with 5-1 records, were fast out of the gate.

“We knew they were going to be a formidable opponent,” said Butler coach John Williams. “There's no surprises between us, but they won the first six events. That put us in a hole that's tough to come back from.”

Senior Lauren Chappell earned one of those early victories, breaking the school record in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15 seconds.

“I think it is as much mental as physical with Lauren right now,” said SV assistant coach Gar Bercury. “She's competing with a lot more confidence right now.”

And then there was Rylie Smith, a sophomore who was part of four victories for SV's girls — 100, 400, 200 and 4x100 relay, prompting Bercury to refer to the efforts as “a helluva day.”

“I thought it would be close,” Peaco said of the girls meet. “We were going to have to bring our A-game, but our kids took it to a level you can't measure.”

Chappell also claimed first place in the long jump while Lizzy White won the 1,600 and 800 for the Raiders.

Like SV, Butler's boys (4-2) had a chance to advance with a win. But Golden Tornado coach Mike Seybert saw the intangibles surrounding the meet residing with the Raiders.

“We were prepared, but not at the level needed to compete with Seneca Valley today,” he said. “I told our guys before the meet that we were going to see who wanted it more and right from the start, the energy was higher on the other side. That team was sky-high today.”

Sam Owori (1,600, 800) and Seth Ketler (400, javelin) both won two individual events for SV.

Senior Jack Codispot did his part for Butler, winning the pole vault with a school-record height of 15-6.

Last season, it was the Tornado defeating the visiting Raiders for the right to go to the playoffs.

“That was a tough pill to swallow,” said Smith. “We weren't going to let them come in here and beat us.”

The WPIAL team playoffs begin Tuesday.

“Those are two really good teams we beat here today,” said Bercury. “They did this for Ray and I couldn't be more proud of the effort. We're going to be a tough out.”

Girls

Seneca Valley 86, Butler 64

3,200 relay: Seneca Valley 9:45.59; 100 hurdles: Lauren Chappell (SV) 15.0; 100 dash: Rylie Smith (SV) 12.94; 1,600 run: Lizzy White (SV) 5:26.39; 400 run: Rylie Smith (SV) 59.23; 400 relay: Seneca Valley (Natalie Murtagh, Rylie Smith, Ryann Rawls, Corin Trejchel) 50.85; 300 hurdles: Anna Baxter (B) 46.56; 800 run: Lizzy White (SV) 2:29.81; 200 dash: Rylie Smith (SV) 27.28; 3,200 run: Megan Aaron (SV) 12:08.92; 1,600 relay: Butler 4:08.41

Shot put: Seneca Valley 33-10; Discus: Sarayne Forbes (B) 101-11; Javelin: Autumn Pettinato (B) 114-7; High jump: Ali Altman (B) 5-1; Long jump: Lauren Chappell (SV) 16-2½; Triple jump: Lucy Link (B) 32-11¾; Pole vault: Seneca Valley 10-6

Boys

Seneca Valley 90, Butler 60

3,200 relay: Seneca Valley 8:20.39; 110 hurdles: Byron Manchester (B) 15.43; 100 dash: Ryan Marcella (B) 11.3; 1,600 run: Sam Owori (SV) 4:36.38; 400 run: Seth Ketler (SV) 51.74; 400 relay: Seneca Valley (Luke Smith, Tyler Yurich, Nic Cook, Gavin Thomas) 43.52; 300 hurdles: Luke Smith (SV) 40.21; 800 run: Sam Owori (SV) 2:05.32; 200 dash: Tyler Yurich (SV) 23.1; 3,200 run: Connor Volk-Klos (SV) 10:07.07; 1,600 relay: Seneca Valley (Sam Owori, Luke Smith, Aiden Kutchma, Seth Ketler) 3:28.0

Shot put: Dennis Goodwine (B) 47-7; Discus: Jacob Pomykata (B) 112-9; Javelin: Seth Ketler (SV) 148-8; High jump: Sami Taoufik (B) 5-11; Long jump: Gavin Thomas (SV) 22-5½; Triple jump: Zack Duda (SV) 43-9; Pole vault: Jack Codispot (B) 15-6