Crowded at the summit

By SAM TALLARICO Eagle Staff Writer

April 28, 2010 Last Updated: April 28, 2010 02:44 PM High School

Butler tops NA, shares crown with SV, Tigers

WEXFORD — In working toward a section title, the Butler boys track and field team had to work a little overtime.

With the sun a distant memory and the moon rising, the Tornado needed 11 points in the final two events to pick up a win over undefeated North Allegheny.

Dylan O'Donnell and Nick Martin grabbed the top two spots in the shot put, meaning Adam Marzullo and Nick Legacy needed only to take a second-place finish in the pole vault to secure the victory.

The two took second and third in the event as the Tornado downed the Tigers 77-73 to finish as co-champions with NA and Seneca Valley.

All three squads, who sport identical 6-1 marks in the section, will advance to the upcoming Class AAA team playoffs.

In the girls meet, the Tigers won the section title with an 83-67 victory over the Tornado in a battle of unbeatens.

Both teams will represent the section in the team playoffs as well.

"The big thing we asked the kids this week was, 'What type of legacy do you want to leave?'" said Butler boys coach Rick Schontz.

"It's all or nothing. If you want to be co-champions of the section and have that number (2010) going up in the gym, you can come in 10, 20, 30 years later and tell you're kids and grandkids that was you," Schontz added.

O'Donnell fired the shot 48 feet, 7½ inches on his final throw to push himself into first place. Martin settled for second with a throw of 46-¾, but they gave Butler eight of the 11 points it needed.

"We told (the athletes) the situation that we needed to win the pole vault and shot put and get one third place to win. ... Nick Legacy came up with one of his big vaults by one foot," Schontz said.

"Coming down the pike, I thought it could go either way," said North Allegheny coach John Neff. "But, Butler's shot putters really stepped up. Ours threw fine, but Butler really, really threw well."

Before the Tornado could get to those last two events, they needed a win in the final track event, the 1,600-meter relay.

Tyler Jaillet, Lance Dugger, Evan Gomez and Eli Christy did their part, winning the event in a time of 3 minutes, 28.15 seconds.

Christy also won the 400 (52.27) and ran with the winning 400 relay.

Surprisingly, Butler won only seven of the 18 events over the Tigers (7-1 overall), so the squad had to pull out a lot of second and third places.

In the girls meet, the Tornado won four field events — Hannah Williams (triple jump, 33-9), Paige Rittelmann (high jump, 5-2), Bri Lumley (shot put, 38-1) and Marina Gracik (javelin, 112-0) — but fell short on the track.

The Tornado girls (6-1) won the 400 and 1,600 relays, but Tara Lowe tied for first in the 100 (12.67) to account for the team's other track win.

"I thought if everything went our way, the way we competed the last few meets, that I had us winning like 78-72, 77-73," said Tornado girls coach Annessa Schnur.

"The good news is if we're in the championship meet, this was the best (North Allegheny) can do, but we have lots of room for improvement," she added.

Jasmine Bailey was on both winning relays, joined by Lowe, Paige Allen and Kaitlyn Wetzel in the 400 relay (50.25) and by Emily Petrak, Trisha Brandt and Olivia Bresnahan in the 1,600 relay (4:10.6).

The section title was the seventh in as many years for Neff, who has continued a decade of dominance for the Tigers (8-0, 7-0).

BoysButler 77, North Allegheny 73Track Events

3,200-meter relay: North Allegheny 8:04.52;

110 hurdles: Carlos Sanchez (B) 15.95;

100 dash: Shivetts (NA) 11.45;

1,600 run: Gil (NA) 4:33.48;

400 dash: Eli Christy (B) 52.27;

400 relay: Butler (Eli Christy, Darius Hightower, Tyler Jaillet, Alston) 45.63;

300-meter hurdles: Luoco (NA) 41.83;

800-meter run: Evan Gomez (B) 2:00.46;

200-meter dash: Shivetts (NA) 23.39;

3,200-meter run: Pain (NA);