SHIPPENSBURG - Faults. Poor throws and times. Gloom and doom.

That was the fate that befell Butler County athletes at the PIAA Track and Field Championships Friday at Shippensburg University.

"It stunk," said Moniteau junior Alyssa Deal, putting it succinctly.

Of the 19 Butler County individual and relay teams trying to qualify for Saturday's semifinals or finals, only five succeeded.

Of the nine area athletes in finals Friday, only three came away with medals.

Da'Lynn Mills of Seneca Valley and Kendall Butch of Butler placed seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Class AAA high jump (see related story) and Ashley Turici of Seneca Valley placed eighth in the javelin.

But perhaps Deal had the worst day of all local state qualifiers.

Deal struggled in the Class AA 1,600-meter run after placing fifth in the event last year at the state championships. This year, Deal failed to qualify with a time of 5 minutes, 16.01 seconds, three seconds off the qualifying pace.

"I should have done a lot better," Deal said. "I didn't run fast enough."

Deal also failed to qualify for the finals in the 800 and as a member of the Warriors' 1,600-meter relay team.

Deal's state meet might have been sabotaged all the way back in March.

Deal missed a month of the season with a hip injury suffered while running on a treadmill at home between basketball and track season.

"During the winter, I don't run outside. I run inside on a treadmill," Deal said. "For awhile it was getting more and more sore and then finally one day I felt something pop."

The doctor said she had strained her hip flexor and sent her to physical therapy. The therapist initially told her that her season might be over.

But Deal was determined to return. She did and still qualified for the state meet in three events.

"I probably came back too soon, but I didn't care," Deal said. "I wanted to come back and get to states."

She didn't return until a dual meet against Karns City April 20. At that point, she began shaving seconds off her 1,600 time, but not enough to qualify for the finals in a fast field.

"This will motivate me for next year," Deal said. "No more treadmills."

Turici also had a disappointing day, placing eighth in the javelin with a throw of 120 feet, 2 inches, but it was one place lower and more than 10 feet shorter than her effort at the state meet last year.

A strong and swirling wind wreaked havoc with the event, blowing some throws far enough right to take the javelin out of bounds for a fault.

"I was throwing real high today, so the wind was carrying it out of bounds," Turici said. "It was tough."

Turici had an up-and-down season after turning in a solid performance last year as a sophomore. In 2004, she came into the state meet throwing the best she had in her short career. This year, she came in with throws nowhere near her best.

"I didn't do real well this year," Turici said. "I don't know why. Toward the end I did a little better, but I was real inconsistent. I guess I just have to keep practicing."

The disappointments didn't stop there:

The Butler boys 3,200-meter relay team also failed to qualify, running a time of 8:10.39 - five seconds slower than the time they ran last week to win the Class AAA WPIAL title.

Butler's Tara Maxwell didn't place in the Class AAA shot put, finishing ninth for the second straight season.

Moniteau junior Matt Schandelmeier, competing in three events this weekend in his first trip to the state meet, finished 15th in the javelin and didn't place in the shot put, faulting on all three of his throws.

Mars junior Brittany Zaborowski failed to qualify for the finals in the Class AAA 800 for the second straight year, running a time of 2:22.71, which was more than four seconds slower than her time last week at the WPIAL finals and six seconds slower than the time that won her the WPIAL title in the event a year ago.

Despite the slew of disappointments, there were still some success stories and pleasant surprises.

Lacey Cochran is back in the finals and is ready to defend her state title in the Class AA 400-meter run.

The Freeport senior won her heat with a time of 58.38, but her time was only good enough for sixth overall.

"I'm a little more nervous this year," Cochran said. "It's hard being on top. There are a lot of really good girls here."

Cochran, who also advanced in the 200-meter dash by finishing second in her heat, is starting to realize that this is her last go-around at the state meet after three-plus successful seasons.

"We always have fun when we come out here," said Cochran, who placed third in the 400 as a freshman, second as a sophomore and first as a junior. "But I never thought about having more fun because this is my last year. Maybe I should."

Some other notable performances:

Karns City junior Mark Ferguson advanced in both the 110 and 300 hurdles in Class AA. He is the only area athlete to advance to the finals in two events other than Cochran.

Butler freshman Amanda Malecky qualified for the finals in the Class AAA 800-meter run with a time of 2:16.59, which was more than a second faster than the mark that earned her a WPIAL title last week.

Abby Basta of Slippery Rock came into the state meet with small expectations. She left the track Friday with considerably bigger goals.

Basta, a junior, qualified for the semifinals in the Class AA 100-meter hurdles by placing third in her heat with a time of 16.3.

The time wasn't her best, but the results were good enough just the same.

The key for Basta was a change in her warm-up routine. She started early - very early.

"I was waiting four hours for that race," Basta said. "I have a history of not warming up enough before a race, so I started two hours before. I was just so glad it was over so I didn't have to warm up anymore."

Slippery Rock hurdling coach Tom Meling said Basta got off to a slow start out of the block, which cost her precious time. The starter also contributed, making the hurdlers hold in the set position for several seconds before firing the gun.

"I think if we can tighten that up a little bit, that will save two-tenths of a second right there," Meling said. "The important thing was she qualified."

Basta is seeded 13th for the semifinals. To get to the finals, she'll have to jump five spots into the top eight. If she does that, she will leave with a medal around her neck - not bad for a junior who struggled at times in the event last season as she learned it on the fly.

"I don't think she's run the race she is capable of running yet," Meling said. "One fast race and she'll medal."