BALDWIN — When Seneca Valley coach Wayne Roccia announced he would make this his final season, his athletes wanted to make sure he would be leaving in style.

A trip to the WPIAL team championships for the boys team was a nice start, but things kept snowballing from there.

At the WPIAL Class AAA Track and Field Championships Thursday at Baldwin High School, Roccia saw three of his athletes win titles and will be sending a total of 23 athletes — including relay alternates — to next weekend's PIAA Championships.

Da'Lynn Mills won the girls high jump (5-foot-2), Jen Boyd the girls long jump (17-2C\v) and Conor Barrett the boys high jump (6-5).

Mills also placed third as a member of the 400 relay (49.95 seconds) and fourth in the 200 (25.88) while Boyd was second in the triple jump (36-¼) and tied for fourth in the high jump (5-0).

Butler's Ashley Lotz (girls triple jump) and Knoch's Carol Cress (girls shot put) were the other area champions.

The top four finishers in each event advance to Shippensburg while No's. 5-8 must meet the qualifying standard to advance.

"Absolutely, this was a fantastic meet," said Roccia, who was one of two coaches recognized and received the meet's Lifetime Achievement Award. "I said all year I couldn't pick a better way to go out.

"This is the most kids we've ever taken to the state meet. I'm looking forward to the meet next week," Roccia added.

Mills grabbed her title early, when the rain was still a bit of a factor.

"We were out at 5-4. No one was expecting to be out at that time," said Mills, who placed second last year and third at states in the event. "You had (Hopewell's) Becky Novacek, Ashley Lotz. With the rain and the track breaking up, it was a little tough."

Barrett agreed.

"Yeah, there were a lot of guys slipping. The track surface was a little bad ... but I was feeling pretty good. I got my steps down well," he said.

Boyd set a personal best in the long jump this season, breaking the 17-foot barrier, something she hadn't done since last year.

"It was my last jump," said Boyd, a junior, who has already accepted a scholarship to play volleyball at Ball State University.

"I just wanted to go out and attack the board. Coach told me to go for it. Last year, I was lucky to make it in the long jump. This year, it's different," Boyd added.

Lotz, who competed for Class AA Riverside last year, will be the Tornado girls' lone representative, but gives the team a serious triple threat.

Lotz also placed second in the high jump (5-2) and third in the long jump (16-11½).

"It feels good to get these," said Lotz after winning her second- and third-place medals early on. "There's still the state meet and that's when you really want those medals, but I'll take second and third."

Last year with the Panthers, Lotz placed second in the triple jump and third in both the long and triple jumps, advancing to the state meet in all three events. She was seventh at the PIAA in the high jump.

"I love the fact I'm pushed more (in Class AAA)," said Lotz. "It makes me feel I've earned it more."

When Lotz added a WPIAL title in the triple jump later in the meet, that was an added bonus.

"I definitely did not expect that, especially being hurt all season," said Lotz, who was slowed by an ankle injury this season. "I didn't know if I would jump. The coaches said it was my decision. After the high jump, I realized my ankle was not hurting, so I might as well keep going. I wasn't going to hurt it any more," she added.

Lotz might be the lone Tornado girl, but Butler suffered from just coming up short despite strong performances.

"I was very, very pleased," said Butler girls coach Rod Harris. "A lot of the girls who came here had a long shot. Tess Crispin set a (personal record) in the 1,600 by two seconds and finished seventh. That wasn't good enough, but it doesn't matter. There were a lot of good runners in there. The 1,600 relay set a PR by two seconds (4:08.08). We came out of the second heat to place in the fast heat.

"And Lea Renwick, a senior sprinter, ran a 12.72 in the 100 and the qualifying standard was 12.7. Two-hundredths of a second. That's a hard one to swallow. She's a captain and a leader on and off the track. It's unfortunate, but she had a great senior year and a big point scorer."

Carol Cress, oddly enough, was Knoch's only athlete — male or female — to advance to the state meet and she proved that timing was everything."It's been my goal all year to hit 40 feet and I finally did it," said Cress, whose previous best this season was 38-11."It's been rough. You have your good days and your bad days. I was really excited today. My adrenaline was going. After the first throw, I felt I really wanted to go," Cress added.Other state qualifiers included the Seneca Valley girls' 3,200 relay team of Megan Powell, Kate Kelly, Emily Wolfarth and Erin Lopresti (third), Lopresti in the 800 (fourth) and the rest of the 400 relay with Mills, Jenny Jergel, Aly Triscuit and Logan Gamelier.The Raiders' boys team had a second-place showing by junior Chris Cipro who lost by just 0.13 seconds to Central Catholic's Scott VanKooten, third place by the 1,600 relay (Mitch McGrew, Kevan Kelleher, Chris Eden, Dan Dickey) and fourth places by Frank Campisino in the 200 and Tim Miles in the shot put (a school-record 54-7Z\x).Butler's 1,600 relay team (second) and 400 relay team (fourth) were made up of the same foursome — Doug Moran, Casey Piper, Fred Pinto and Mason McLaughlin.The number 4 was significant for the Tornado boys as they grabbed the fourth-place spot in four consecutive races — Doug Moran in the 100, Rob Miller in the 1,600, Mason McLaughlin in the 400 and the 400 relay."The guys who got through had decent chances to go to states, especially in the sprints because there are so many decent guys," said Butler boys coach Rick Schontz."The 4x400 relay had an excellent PR by four seconds and the 4x100 we should see them run a little faster. ... Those guys in the relays, three of the four are seniors and it was nice to see two of them make it in individual events too," he added.Roccia, who was appreciative and humbled by his award at the finals, is even more excited about his athletes' results and the thought of what they can do at the PIAA Championships."This is the most WPIAL champions we've had and came a whisker away from another (with Cipro)," said Roccia. "I'm thrilled how well it all came together."