Searching for gold
Jonathan Dorogy may just have the best week ever.
“That’s the plan,” said the Seneca Valley senior.
Dorogy will play center field tonight for the Raiders when they play Pine-Richland in the WPIAL Class AAAA baseball semifinals at Pullman Park.
This weekend, the sprinter will be competing in three events at the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University.
Rest is not in Dorogy’s vocabulary this spring.
“I’ve adapted to it pretty well,” Dorogy said. “At the beginning (of the spring) it was tough because it was a lot of running between track and baseball. It’s definitely gotten better as the season has gone on.”
Dorogy is seeded 10th in the 100-meter dash in Class AAA based on district meet times. Dorogy’s fastest time this season of 10.74 seconds would put him among the leaders heading into the state meet, which begins Friday and concludes Saturday.
“Going into the 100, I’d love to see the medal stand,” Dorogy said.
Dorogy has the top time in the event this season in Butler County. Right behind him is his teammate, Forrest Barnes.
The two push each other at practice and Barnes is seeded 18th.
“We both are very competitive people,” Dorogy said. “We’re always trying to best each other in practice. Just having a top sprinter like that at practice helps me and helps him.”
Dorogy will also compete in the 200-meter dash in Shippensburg.
“In the indoor season, I placed third (at the state meet), which was surprising because that’s not my best event. I’m a short sprinter,” Dorogy said. “I’d love to see the medal stand in that event, too.”
Dorogy is the 12th seed in the 200.
Dorogy, though, has his eyes trained mostly on the Raiders’ 400-meter relay. In that event, he will team with Barnes, Jordan Brown and Bradley Banks.
Seneca Valley is seeded 12th.
“Seneca Valley has never won a medal in that relay before,” Dorogy said. “I really want to be able to be on the team that does it first.”
Mars junior Lydia Dennis also will be busy this weekend in Shippensburg.
Dennis is seeded sixth in the Class AAA triple jump and eighth in the long jump.
Dennis has struggled with a stress fracture in her leg for most of the season.
Mars girls track and field coach Larry Young said the injury is a non-factor.
“It hasn’t been an issue,” Young said. “She hasn’t talked about it for the last couple of weeks. I haven’t talked about it.”
Dennis has Butler County’s top jump in both events this season.
“She had a good workout (Monday),” Young said. “She seems to be mentally ready to go.”
So to is Mars senior Emily Thomas, who is the ninth seed in the Class AAA discus.
Thomas, though, is throwing the best she has all season, Young said.
“She looked really good in practice,” Young said. “Really good. She did the same thing last year. She really put it together at the end of the season.”
Slippery Rock junior Emily Campbell is also putting it together at the right time.
Campbell finished second in the shot put at the District 10 Class AA meet with a throw of 39 feet, 2½ inches, but is seeded fourth at the PIAA championships.
“I’d be happy to finish third or second,” said Campbell, who placed fifth last year in Shippensburg as a sophomore. “Hopefully I can hit 41 or 42 feet.”
Campbell is definitely the underdog with District 10 winner Rachel DeMaria of West Middlesex, District 11 winner Christine Streisel of Tamaqua and WPIAL winner Kailyn Clancy of Calfornia all seeded ahead of her.
But that’s just the way Campbell likes it.
“There’s more room for me to climb that ladder,” Campbell said. “It just gives me that much more room to improve. It just takes that one big throw and anything can happen.”
All five of Butler’s state qualifiers are in field events. Travis Reed and Stephan Shoemaker will compete in the discus. On the girls side, Julia Baxter qualified in the high jump, Kennedy Evans in the long jump and Ava Bonetti in the shot put.
Notes: Karns City junior Emily Schumacher will compete in both the Class AA 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run. Schumacher broke the school record in the 800 at the District 9 meet with a time of 2 minutes, 19.20 seconds. ... Both the Karns City boys and girls 400-meter relay teams won district titles, the girls breaking their own school record. ... Grove City has the most athletes going to the state meet among local schools with five boys and eight girls. ... Freeport’s Alec Stivers won the WPIAL title in the pole vault at 13 feet, 3 inches. That’s only nine inches off the top seed in Class AA.
