Jumping to the top

By JOHN ENRIETTO Eagle Sports Editor

May 11, 2007 Last Updated: May 11, 2007 01:59 PM High School

Butler's Katherine Sylvia is temporarily blinded by her hair during the shot put at Thursday's WPIAL Class AAA Girls Track and Field Team Championships. The Golden Tornado finished third.

2nd-place effort in final event earns crown for Butler boys

WEST MIFFLIN — As Baldwin's Larry Bigante landed on the cushion, his eyes were fixed on the bar.

So were everyone else's.

Bigante had just completed his final attempt of clearing 6 feet, 2 inches in the high jump. If he had succeeded, Baldwin would have finished one-two in the event and won the WPIAL Class AAA Boys Track and Field Team Championship Thursday at West Mifflin High School.

If he failed, Butler would be the champion.

As Bigante landed, the bar wavered. It wriggled loose and fell to the ground — as did the Highlanders.

Butler freshman Logan Renwick held on to second in the high jump with a personal best of 6-0 and the Golden Tornado claimed their first boys team track title since 2001.

"Watching that bar ... I think I saw my life flash before my eyes," Renwick said. "That was unbelievable."

Butler edged Baldwin 77-73. The Tornado also defeated Canon-McMillan 92-58 and Seneca Valley 96-54.

"I'm so happy for our seniors, for everybody," Butler coach Rick Schontz said. "We knew it would come down to second and third and scored invaluable points."

Renwick's second-place finish occurred during the final event of the meet.

"Meets like this never come down to the high jump," Renwick said. "That was weird. I knew where I had to finish, but it didn't affect me any. All you can do is your best.

"I'm glad I was a position to do this, but I didn't win this meet. Our whole team won this meet."

Renwick has been Butler's top scorer all season.

"Logan's had an incredible year," Schontz said. "He knew what he had to do and he did it. But this was a monumental team effort."Renwick was the overall winner in the 110-meter hurdles earlier in the day. Doug Moran won the 100 meters for Butler and Andy Strutt won the pole vault.The Tornado's 400 relay team of Mason McLaughlin, Moran, Casey Piper and Fred Pinto won as well. That same quartet finished second to Baldwin in the 1,600 relay, setting up Renwick's heroics.Butler's girls finished third in their meet, defeating Mt. Lebanon but losing decisively to North Allegheny and team champion Norwin."We did what I thought we'd do," Butler girls coach Rod Harris said. "Norwin and North Allegheny are powerhouses. They have a lot of depth and they have all areas covered."We were missing our top point scorer in Ashley Lotz today, too. She's fighting a bad ankle and didn't place in the long jump. We didn't even enter her in the triple jump."Lea Renwick was Butler's only overall winner in the girls meet, winning the 100 meters. Norwin and North Allegheny combined to win 15 of the 18 events.Seneca Valley's boys finished fourth in the meet, the Raiders' closest decision being an 82-68 loss to Canon-McMillan."We were a decided underdog coming into this meet," Raiders coach Wayne Roccia said. "We tried shuffling some people around, but it didn't work out for us."When you consider how many teams there are in Class AAA track, finishing fourth is a pretty good accomplishment."SV's Tim Miles won the overall shot put and discus Thursday while Chris Cipro won the 3,200 meters

BoysButler 92, Canon-McMillan 58Butler 96, Seneca Valley 54Butler 77, Baldwin 73Canon-McMillan 82, Seneca Valley 68Baldwin 85, Seneca Valley 55Baldwin 80, Canon-McMillan 703,200-meter relay: Baldwin 8:41.18; 110-meter hurdles: Logan Renwick (Butler) 16.04; 100-meter dash: Doug Moran (B) 11.30; 1,600-meter run: T.J. Hobart (Baldwin) 4:21.19; 400-meter dash: Chris Wolfe (Baldwin) 39.54; 400-meter relay: Butler (Mason McLaughlin, Doug Moran, Casey Piper, Fred Pinto) 44.02; 300-meter hurdles: Chris Wolfe (Baldwin) 39.54; 800-meter run: T.J. Hobart (Baldwin) 1:58.34; 200-meter dash: Jeravin Matthews (Canon-McMillan) 22.95; 3,200-meter run: Chris Cipro (Seneca Valley) 9:46.43; 1,600-meter relay: Baldwin 3:24.40High jump: Ian Wild (Baldwin) 6-2; Long jump: Sonny Billingsley (Canon-McMillan) 20-8.25; Triple jump: Ross Gallardy (Canon-McMillan) 44-5.25; Shot put: Tim Miles (Seneca Valley) 50-7; Discus: Tim Miles (Seneca Valley) 151-10; Javelin: Ryan Schleicher (Baldwin) 190-2; Pole vault: Andy Strutt (Butler) 13-0GirlsNorwin 97, Butler 53Norwin 101, Mt. Lebanon 49Norwin 81, North Allegheny 69North Allegheny 101, Butler 49North Allegheny 91, Mt. Lebanon 59Butler 90, Mt. Lebanon 603,200-meter relay: Mt. Lebanon 9:57.59; 100-meter hurdles: Megan Duncan (Norwin) 15.30; 100-meter dash: Lea Renwick (Butler) 13.16; 1,600-meter run: Samantha Carl (Mt. Lebanon) 5:11,74; 400-meter dash: Kelly Langhans (North Allegheny) 56.93; 400-meter relay: Norwin 50.85; 300-meter hurdles: Megan Duncan (Norwin) 44.28; 800-meter run: Kelly Langhans (North Allegheny) 2:16.86; 200-meter dash: Megan Duncan (Norwin) 26.17; 3,200-meter run: Anna Yoney (Norwin) 11:50.74; 1,600-meter relay: Norwin 3:58.24High jump: Maria Nolan (North Allegheny) 5-2; Long jump: Rachel Kalberer (Norwin) 17-4; Triple jump: Maura Higgins (North Allegheny) 35.0.5; Shot put: Jade Hambrick (North Allegheny) 39-6; Discus: Jade Hambrick (North Allegheny) 131-[8; Javelin: Sydney Schwab (North Allegheny) 111-5; Pole vault: Amanda Ponsonby (Norwin) and Kristen Zeleznik (North Allegheny) 10-6

Butler freshman Logan Renwick's second-place finish of 6-feet-0 in the high jump was enough to give the Golden Tornado the boys title Thursday at the WPIAL Class AAA Track and Field Team Championships.

Seneca Valley's Dan Dickey competes in the 300-meter hurdles Thursday at the WPIAL Class AAA Track and Field Team Championships, where the Raiders boys finished fourth.