BUTLER TWP - The rain and wind didn't bother Butler. And the Golden Tornado certainly didn't mind the results.

Butler earned a share of the Butler High Girls Track and Field Invitational team championship for the first time in the event's four-year history Saturday at Art Bernardi Stadium, knotting North Allegheny with 83 points.

Butler and North Allegheny face each other here in a dual meet Tuesday.

"This meet definitely prepared us for that," Tornado high-jumper Kendall Butch said. "That should be quite a showdown."

Butch won the high jump Saturday - edging teammate Sarah Thiebaud - and Tornado freshman Amanda Malecky won the 800 meters.

Those were Butler's two lone champions of the day. But the team placed in plenty of the other events.

"I'm very pleased with our effort," Butler girls track coach Rod Harris said. "This was tough competition and we accounted for ourselves well.

"The weather kept a few teams away, but the teams that came brought their top competitors with them."

The invitational was supposed to be a 24-team meet, but eight teams decided not to show up because of the rainy, windy conditions, which were accompanied by falling temperatures.

With even worse weather forecasted for later in the day, the coaches decided to run only their best athletes, cutting down on heats per event.

"The weekend of the Butler Invitational, the bad weather always seems to show up," Harris said. "Through the cooperation of everyone, though, the meet was a success once again."

Malecky and Butch were not surprised they won their events, based on comparing personal-bests coming in.

"I knew I should be up there," Malecky said. "The 800 is just a good fit for me. The weather didn't bother me at all. You just block it out."

"I can't say enough about Amanda," Harris said. "She never questions anything we ask her to do. She just goes out and does it. She's an amazing young athlete."

Butch and Thiebaud both hit 5 feet, 4 inches in the high jump Saturday.

"With me and Sarah, we had the second and third-best jumps coming in," Butch said. "The girl with the best jump scratched, so we knew we had a chance to do well.

"I didn't hit my personal-best (5 feet, 6 inches), but the approach was a little slippery. I'm just glad we got the team points."

Butler finished second in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays. Thiebaud was runner-up in the triple jump, Tara Maxwell placed in the shot put and discus, Hannah Rekich placed in both hurdle events for the Tornado.

Abby Herrit (800), Amy Achesinski (shot put) and Erin Kelly (javelin) also placed for Butler.

Moniteau and Knoch were other Butler County teams involved in the meet. Haley McFeaters placed second in the 400 meters (1:00.2) and Danielle Patterson was second in the javelin (105 feet, 11 inches) for the Warriors.

Kendra Hall placed seventh in the discus for Moniteau. The Warriors placed sixth in the 4x400 meter relay.

Knoch scored all of its points in the field events. Sarah Cooper was fourth in the discus while Sarah Reppermund and Carol Cress placed fifth in the high jump and shot put, respectively.

Katie Rummel placed sixth in the triple jump for the Knights.

"Katie didn't do as well as she normally does in the triple jump, but that event was right after the 300 hurdles and she was a little tired," Knoch coach Tom Hoffmann said. "It's hard to stay warm and keep loose when your clothes get wet, too.

"We wanted to come up here and get a taste of the competition. It will help us when we return here for WPIAL qualifiers."

Track MVP honors went to Katie Grimm of Penn Hills, who won the 1,600 and 3,200 meter races.

Co-Field MVP awards went to Jordan Veney of Baldwin and Nicole Smith of Erie McDowell. Jordan set a meet record in the shot put and also won the discus. Smith set a meet record in the long jump and also won the triple jump.