SHIPPENSBURG — One throw can make all the difference at the PIAATrack and Field Championships.

In the Class AAA girls javelin event Friday at Shippensburg University, Seneca Valley's Ashley Turici found herself right in the middle of a trio of competitors, each looking to win the title.

Kiski Area's Leah Ulizio had a throw of 139 feet, 11 inches to lead the event in the final round. Turici, the WPIALchampion and the No. 2 seed heading into the state finals, cranked out a 144-1 on her final throw to take the lead.

But Lorraine Hill of Chambersburg, the defending champion, had a toss of 157-4 on her final attempt to win the event.

Still, for Turici, her feat was almost as amazing.

"That's a new school record and puts her on the National High School Federation Honor Roll," said Seneca Valley coach Wayne Roccia. "That's pretty awesome. One-forty is the mark to get on the list, and that's an elite list to get on."

Turici's teammate, junior Da'Lynn Mills, was tied for third place in the girls high jump, clearing 5-4. She also qualified for Saturday's semifinals in the 200-meter run with a time of 25.66 seconds, winning her heat in the process.

"It was a very exciting meet for her," said Roccia. "She jumped as well as, if not better than, the second-place winner (Hopewell's Becky Novacek).

"It was a tremendous effort, an improvement over last year's state meet," he added.

"She had a real good practice (Thursday). There was nice weather," said Raiders coach Dan Sample, who works with the jumpers. "She didn't have any misses and I felt good going into (Friday), then it was raining.

"A lot of kids were going out at 4-10 and I thought, 'Whoa, what's going on?' Becky missed at 5-0 and (Butler's) Kendall (Butch) missed and Da'Lynn made hers and I felt good she got that one."

With only a handful of field events decided on Friday, the only other girls medalist was Grove City's Kristy Woods in the Class AA shot put. Her throw of 125-1 was good enough for sixth place.

In the track events, Moniteau's Alyssa Deal and Amy Gladd advanced in the 1,600 and 800 meters, respectively. Deal was second in her heat with a time of 5:07.09 and had the third-fastest time overall. Deal knocked almost seven seconds off her fastest time this season.

Gladd had a school-record time of 2:19.82 to move onto Saturday's final.

"We're thrilled with Alyssa's position for (Saturday)," said Moniteau coach Sue Scialabba. "We're excited and we'll rest her up.

"Amy ran her race perfectly. She was in the second heat and we knew the times ... (Saturday), she'll go for it. She's the ninth seed right now and she saved something, too. She's not exhausted, so she should have some fun,"Scialabba added.

Gladd also has the triple jump, which could help her in the 800.

"She'll focus on the 800, but the triple jump will help keep her mind off the 800," Scialabba noted.

The Mars 3,200 relay team of Julie Utz, Stephanie Yeo, Brittany Morgan and Brittany Zaborowski also advanced, recording a time of 9:31.50, bettering the school record they set at the WPIALChampionships May 18.

The relay is the only Butler County area relay team, boys or girls, to advance.

Slippery Rock's Abby Basta advanced to Saturday morning's semifinals in the Class AA 100 hurdles (15.99).

In the Class AA boys javelin, three Butler County area athletes were medalists. Grove City's Tim Gruber was second with a throw of 183-4 while Freeport's Brian Zimmerman was third (181-5) and Moniteau's Matt Schandelmeier was eighth (170-2).

"Last year, Brian didn't reach the finals," said Freeport throwing coach John Gaillot. "This year, we wanted to make the finals, then make the top five.

"Brian threw one about 190 feet, but fouled. Basically, I told him to go for it. You've already reached your goal (to make the final round),"Gaillot added.

Schandelmeier earned another medal, this time placing fourth in the shot put (53-9), while teammate Ryan Protzman was fifth (52-11). Karns City's Steve Black tied for fifth in the Class AA boys pole vault (13-0).

In the track events, Karns City's Mark Ferguson advanced in both hurdles events. He won his 110 hurdles heat with a time of 15.18 and was second in his 300 hurdles heat with a time of 39.68.

Summit Academy's lone representative, Terrance Burton, turned in a time of 23.04 in the 200 and will compete in Saturday morning's semifinals.