BALDWIN — Kyle Reeping made a name for himself on Thursday — and he picked the best place in Western Pennsylvania to do it.

At the WPIAL Class AAA Track and Field Championships, the Knoch senior won the 800-meter run in dramatic fashion. He was also the anchor of the runner-up 3,200-meter relay team and the fourth place 1,600 relay team, both of which qualified for the PIAAChampionships.

The area's other champion was Seneca Valley's Ashley Turici, who won the girls javelin with a throw of 136 feet, 3 inches.

The top four placewinners automatically advance to next Friday and Saturday's state championship meet at Shippensburg University while those placing fifth through eighth must meet the state's qualifying standard.

Reeping ran a 1:58.8 in winning the 800, coming back from seventh place in the final straightaway in front of a very appreciative crowd.

The 3,200 relay team, which consists of Reeping, Artie Black, Ben Hutterer and Brian Tackett, finished with a time of 8:12.59 behind Baldwin's 8:12.0. The 1,600 relay team, made up of Reeping, Joel Berger, Kevin Flaherty and Luke Tabacchi, also moved on with a time of 3:25.32

"Kyle finally took over today," said Knoch boys coach Wess Brahler. "He rose to the occasion."

In the 800, Reeping had taken the lead down the front straightaway of the first lap before falling back in the pack. He surged over the final 100 meters to retake the lead before the finish line.

"There was a group ahead of me, then one runner (Justin Kurd of Franklin Regional) in front of those guys.

"I could tell everyone went out way too fast on the first lap. I held back and then came back," he added.

Reeping credits Brahler for helping the team peak at just the right time. Reeping is trying to surpass his personal best of 1:57.6 from two years ago. Even in the 1,600 relay, the time was a school record, besting the old mark of 3:26.27.

"We were seeded eighth coming in," said Brahler. "I didn't expect that. This is the best Knoch has ever done at the WPIAL."

The 3,200 relay just missed another title, but they'll have another shot to break the 8-minute mark at states.

"Our splits were not the greatest and Ben Hutterer had been sick for a few days," said Brahler. "Kyle anchored with a 1:56 to pull us back in. He had a 55-second split on the first lap. That was a little fast, but he showed guts and that he wanted to win."

Turici set a personal best in the javelin and had a feeling that distance could hold up.

"I was pretty confident once I got the (136-3), a little concerned but not too much," said Turici.

"Ashley was in charge and won convincingly," said Seneca Valley coach Wayne Roccia. "She's six inches from the school record. I'm really excited where she is."

Two Raider teammates, Da'Lynn Mills and Jen Boyd, also had big meets as each qualified for the state meet in two events.

Mills was second in the high jump (5-4) and fourth in the 200 (26.17), while Boyd was second in the triple jump (36-2¼) and third in the long jump (16-9).

"I was pretty pleased with my 200, since it's only just my third meet. I ran it the meet right before qualifiers," said Mills. "The high jump, I expected to go to states. I had a hard time at 5-4, but I wanted to do my best."

"It's one of those things where we could put Da'Lynn in six or seven events," said Roccia on her new role in the 200. "We thought that would be a good spot for her."

Other runner-up performances included the Mars girls 3,200 relay team of Julie Utz, Brittany Morgan, Stephanie Yeo and Brittany Zaborowski, who set a personal best time of 9:35.54, about four seconds behind Upper St. Clair.

"Stephanie really had a great time," said Mars coach Tim Tyler. "Her time was six seconds faster than she ever ran before. That was another school record (set last season at 9:37.43). I thought they'd get closer."

The Seneca Valley boys 1,600 relay team of Dan Dickey, Mitch McGrew, Kevan Kelleher and Dan Stanley also placed second with a time of 3:24.65.Harold Dunn of Butler placed second in the boys javelin (182-6). Other Tornado qualifiers were Brian McCandless, who was third in the high jump (6-3); Mike Martin, who was third in the triple jump (43-4) and Matt Celestin, who was fourth in the long jump (21-1½).Knoch's Bill Elliott also advanced to states with a fourth-place finish in the boys shot put (52-4½) while Butler's Andy Strutt was sixth in the pole vault but met the standard of 14-0 to move on to Shippensburg."Andy at 14 feet was a great job," said Butler coach Rick Schontz. "He set two PR's this week. He was at 13 feet last week. Coach (C.J.) Morganti's strategy to get him on a longer pole (15 feet) paid off"On the girls side, other qualifiers included Butler's Kendall Butch, who placed third in the triple jump (35-10¼) and tied for fourth in the high jump (5-2).Butch did not qualify in the pole vault, having passed over the first two heights before failing to clear any of her three attempts at 10-3.Butler's Amanda Malecky placed third in the 800 (2:18.5).<B>Notes:</B> The state meet will be held next Friday and Saturday. ... The lone record broken Thursday was by Norwin's Megan Duncan, whose 55.9 in the 400 broke Butler's Annessa Schnur's mark of 56.12, set in 1998.