Time well spent
BUTLER TWP — Jon Dorogy missed his first baseball game of the year on Tuesday to compete with the Seneca Valley track and field team in the WPIAL Class AAA Northern Qualifier at Art Bernardi Stadium.
“Baseball is still my priority,” said Dorogy. “This meet was the only way I could get to WPIALs for track. My baseball coach was OK with it, so it was a good situation.”
He made sure the time was well spent.
The senior center fielder — and part-time sprinter — set a school record while winning the 100-meter dash in a time of 10.74 seconds, helped the Raiders' 400 relay team to victory and finished second in the 200 dash.
Dorogy was happy to officially put his name in the Seneca Valley record book.
“I questionably had it before with a stopwatch time, but now there's no disputing,” he explained. “I was excited about that.”
Friend and teammate Forrest Barnes previously held the SV mark at 10.76 and will undoubtedly attempt to take the record back during the WPIAL Championships on Thursday, May 16 at Baldwin High School.
The top-eight finishers from each event moved on to WPIALs and Barnes was just a step behind Dorogy in the 100 to finish second with a time of 10.90.
Barnes was third in the 200 and competed with Dorogy, Jordan Brown and Bradley Banks in SV's 400 relay victory in a time of 42.93.
Dorogy typically isn't available at practice because of his baseball duties, but the relay team finds time to work on the transition between legs.
“You have to have good chemistry. You have to make sure the handoffs are crisp,” said Barnes. “You've seen a lot of cases a relay team has four fantastic guys, but loses a race because they're not fundamentally sound.
“We're just hoping by next week we actually get it 100 percent right for the first time and continue to build our success if we go to the state level.”
Barnes has set simple, but lofty goals for next week's district competition.
“I want to be a WPIAL champion in the 4 by 100, the 100 and the 200,” he said. “If I do fall short, hopefully I do just enough to get to the state meet.”
He's far from the only one shooting for a WPIAL title and trip to states.
Butler's Stephen Shoemaker and Anthony Yurkovich each claimed a victory Tuesday. Shoemaker hurled the javelin 170 feet, 2 inches, while Yurkovich topped the triple jump field with a mark of 44-3. Butler's Tyler Roudybush and Jacob Zaludek were third and fourth, respectively, behind Yurkovich.
Butler's Travis Reed settled for second in the shot put and discus, where the Golden Tornado advanced three athletes apiece. Cole Campbell sneaked in with a pair of eighth-place finishes, while Derek Gengler (seventh, shot put) and Jake Lenhart (sixth, discus) also moved on.
“We were exceptionally happy in the triple jump, the shot put and discus — we got all three guys in. They did a good job,” said Butler boys coach Rick Schontz. “The 4 by 800 relay ran their best time of the year, so we're exactly where we want to be going into next week. That's what we try to do every meet, just keep progressing forward, getting better and better.”
Butler's Ava Bonetti led a strong showing from county throwers in the shot put (first, 39-5 1/2) and discus (second, 124-0).Butler, Seneca Valley, Mars and Knoch were just four of the 21 schools competing, but produced nine of 16 qualifiers in the shot put and discus. Mars' Emily Thomas and Butler's Kalynn Callihan will join Bonetti at districts in both throwing events.Butler girls coach Annessa Steele believes Bonetti can be a contender at the WPIAL meet.“She has really high potential in the discus. She's had some huge throws this year that would definitely win the WPIAL,” said Steele. “If she can get it straightened out, she definitely has a chance.”Knoch's Rachel Kroneberg (sixth) and Miranda McCune (eighth) were both among the discus qualifiers and the Knights' top individual performances came from Katie Bozzo (fourth, 300 hurdles) and Jared Geist (fifth, long jump).Mars' Lydia Dennis enjoyed a stellar performance with a victory in the triple jump (37-8 3/4) and took second in the long jump (18-4).Mars' Alec Battin and SV's Dan Cashdollar were part of a seven-way tie for tops in the pole vault at 12-3.Butler's Paige Allen clocked a personal-best in the 100 dash prelims (12.55) and ran a 12.59 in the finals, where she took second.Personal-best marks are always welcomed, but the coaches' primary concern was to advance as many athletes as possible to WPIALs.“Everyone is just trying to qualify to live to fight another day,” said Mars boys coach Dale Boring. “Especially for the kids who didn't think they were going to make it, that's almost like qualifying for the state championship. It's a big deal.”SV coach Ray Peaco was pleased with his team's showing.“We're very, very excited. We had 52 kids who met the standard to come to this meet and we still have 32 individuals, many of them doing multiple events,” he explained. “There were very few disappointments. It was a great night and we're looking forward to next week.”
The following includes the winner of each event and athletes from Butler, Knoch, Mars and Seneca Valley who placed in the top eight at Tuesday's WPIAL Class AAA Northern Individual Qualifer at Art Bernardi Stadium.Boys3,200 relay: 1-North Allegheny (Matt McGoey, Seamus Love, Scott Seel, Michael Becich) 8:05.95, 2-Seneca Valley (Bryce Benjamin, Brett Foster, Mike Kolor, Andrew Mascio) 8:07.00, 3-Butler (Jordan Cratty, Josh Rader, Sean Rundle, Jeromee Geibel) 8:11.10, 6-Knoch (Don Bierhals, Luke Brewer, Alex Cetnar, Alex Slomer) 8:36.57; 110 hurdles: 1-Brandon Mitchell (FC) 14.62, 3-Ori Rinaman (Ma) 15.08; 100 dash: 1-Jon Dorogy (SV) 10.74, 2-Forrest Barnes (SV) 10.90; 1,600 run: 1-Ethan Martin (FC) 4:28.35, 5-Scott Slaney (Ma) 4:29.77; 400 run: 1-Torey Doaty (CC) 49.84, 4-Bradley Banks (SV) 50.59, 8-Chris Smith (Ma) 52.9; 400 relay: 1-Seneca Valley (Bradley Banks, Forrest Barnes, Jordan Brown, Jon Dorogy) 42.93, 6-Butler (Jake Alston, Robert Burdine, Canan Roskovski, Tyler Roudybush) 44.50; 300 hurdles: 1-Torey Doaty (CC) 39.03, 4-Sonny Zangaro (Ma) 40.50; 800 run: 1-Michael Becich (NA) 1:58.2, 4-Brett Foster (SV) 1:59.68, 6-Stefan Carlsson (Kn) 2:00.38; 200 dash: 1-Kyle Shivetts (NA) 23.33, 2-Jon Dorogy (SV) 22.39, 3-Forrest Barnes (SV) 22.43; 3,200 run: 1-Ethan Martin (FC) 9:33.68; 1,600 relay: 1-Fox Chapel (Sean Chitambo, Travis Eckman, Elias Graca, Mike Mawhinney) 3:27.76, 4-Mars (Chris Smith, Sonny Zangaro, Ori Rinaman, Scott Slaney) 3:35.19, 6-Knoch (Don Bierhals, Alex Campbell, Luke Brewer, Alex Cetnar) 3:26.28, 7-Butler (Jake Alston, Robert Burdine, Jordan Cratty, Jeromee Geibel) 3:37.06Shot put: 1-Joe Ollio (CC) 49-7 1/2, 2-Travis Reed (Bu) 49-6, 5-Dean Ketterer (SV) 46-6, 6-Brennan McTighe (Kn) 44-3, 7-Derek Gengler (Bu) 43-5 1/4, 8-Cole Campbell (Bu) 43-5; Discus: 1-Noah Shulman (Ha) 159-0, T2-Travis Reed (Bu) 151-0, T2-Mitch McPeek (SV) 151-0, 6-Jake Lenhart (Bu) 133-0, T8-Dean Ketterer (SV) 128-7, T8-Cole Campbell (Bu) 128-7; Javelin: 1-Stephen Shoemaker (Bu) 170-2, 7-Levi Shearer (Kn) 147-6, 8-Mitch McPeek (SV) 145-8; High jump: 1-Brian Papich (FC) 5-9; Long jump: 1-Shafer Swann (CC) 22-4 3/4, 5-Jared Geist (Kn) 20-4 1/4, 7-Tyler Roudybush (Bu) 20-2; Triple jump: 1-Anthony Yurkovich (Bu) 44-3, 3-Tyler Roudybush (Bu) 42-7 3/4, 4-Jacob Zaludek (Bu) 42-6, 5-Tory Wrice (SV) 42-1 1/2, 6-Garrett Trettel (Kn) 41-7 3/4; Pole vault: T1-Ben Schweiger (NA), David Kelly (PR), Brett Neugebauer (NA), Alec Battin (Ma), Noah Thayer (Bl), Dan Cashdollar (SV), Joey Kelly (PR) 12-3, 8-Nikolai Peterson (Bu) 12-0Girls3,200 relay: 1-North Allegheny (Lena Walton, Madeline Nellis, Alex Gambill, Madeleine Davison) 9:43.57, 5-Knoch (Ashlyn Carlsson, Mandy Hunt, Mandi Moxie, Lauren Karenbauer) 10:03.92, 6-Butler (Tori Sawheny, Macy Stalnaker, Alexis Swiergol, Rachel Weyand) 1:08.74, 7-Seneca Valley (Becky Paine, Taryn Latsko, Emma Sledge, Emily Cekella) 10:11.52; 100 hurdles: 1-Kat Quigley (PR) 15.22, 5-Katelyn Stebbins (SV) 16.01; 100 dash: 1-Taylor McCorkle (OC) 12.05, 2-Paige Allen (Bu) 12.59; 1,600 run: 1-Brianna Schwartz (Sh) 5:15.75, 5-Tori Sawhney (Bu) 5:28.01, 8-Emily Seibert (SV) 5:32.05; 400 run: 1-Nicole Rich (NA) 59.49, 4-Erica Hans (Ma) 1:00.56, 6-Victoria Love (SV) 1:00.96; 400 relay: 1-North Allegheny (Megan Guzzardi, Claire Fiffik, Nicole Rich, Carlianna Cottone) 49.97, 7-Seneca Valley (Taylor Horsley, Shaniece Blackburn, Nicole Polaske, Sara Balzer) 52.84; 300 hurdles: 1-Amanda Spencer (Ha), 4-Katie Bozzo (Kn) 47.23, 5-Sabrina Edwards (Ma) 48.06, 6-Katie Gutmann (SV) 48.21; 800 run: 1-Gina Alm (Ha) 2:19.52, 6-Kayla King (Ma) 2:22.89; 200 dash: 1-Taylor McCorkle (OC) 25.32, 7-Nicole Cress (Kn) 27.95; 3,200 run: 1-Shannon Malone (NH) 11:13.50, 5-Angela Mignanelli (SV) 11:43.47, 6-Katie Lutz (SV) 11:49.70, 8-Alexis Swiergol (Bu) 11:53.37; 1,600 relay: 1-Hampton (Gina Alm, Sarah Cook, Lauren Neugebauer-Wagner, Amanda Spencer) 3:58.74, 3-Mars (Teah Amato, Lydia Dennis, Sabrina Edwards, Lexi Funderlich) 4:08.70, 7-Seneca Valley (Sarah Foster, Maria Lecce, Victoria Love, Mikayla Psenick) 4:16.13, 8-Knoch (Katie Bozzo, Ashlyn Carlsson, Emily Robb, Jessica Wise) 4:17.52Shot put: 1-Ava Bonetti (Bu) 39-5 1/2, 2-Emily Thomas (Ma) 35-8 1/4, 4-Kalynn Callihan (Bu) 33-10 1/4, 8-Kelci Yale (SV) 32-2 1/2; Discus: 1-Rachel Boody (Sh) 125-4, 2-Ava Bonetti (Bu) 124-0, 3-Emily Thomas (Ma) 120-6, 6-Rachel Kroneberg (Kn) 99-0, 7-Kalynn Callihan (Bu) 97-10, 8-Miranda McCune (Kn) 95-8; Javelin: 1-Ashley Leto (NA) 117-2, 5-Abbie Trzeciak (SV) 110-6; High jump: 1-Sophia Esposito (Mo) 5-0, 7-Julia Baxter (Bu) 5-0; Long jump: 1-Shatori Walker-Kimbrough (Ho) 18-9, 2-Lydia Dennis (Ma) 18-4, 6-Kennedy Evans (Bu) 16-5; Triple jump: 1-Lydia Dennis (Ma) 37-8 3/4, 6-Katelyn Stebbins (SV) 34-8 1/2; Pole vault: 1-Brooke Mancuso (NA) 10-0, 5-Becky Arturo (Bu) 9-3
