PINE TWP — The members of the Seneca Valley boys 3,200-meter relay team didn't expect much when they arrived at the Pine-Richland Invitational Friday afternoon.

As the “B” team, their one goal was to simply go out and each run their personal best times.

Not only did Aidan Domencic, Tyler Mill, Cam Hoss and Justin Domencic do just that, they also reached a spot on the awards stand they never thought possible.

First place.

The “B” team turned in an A-plus.

“This is a true 'B' team and we were still able to go out and get a win,” said Aidan Domencic, a senior. “It's really cool to be able to do that.”

The team was gunning to break 8 minutes and 30 seconds. They did — by a lot — finishing with a time of 8:25.23.

Justin Domencic was the key to that effort. The sophomore cut more than seven seconds off his previous best split time.

“Credit to Justin,” Tyler Mill said. “It was crazy. Insane. He was super nervous, but he just killed it.”

Justin Domencic said he didn't feel like he was running at his best throughout his anchor leg.

Until he crossed the finish line and glanced at the time.

“The whole time I was just worried about getting passed,” Justin said. “I held my place and finished hard.”

The 3,200 relay kicked off a strong day and night at the Pine-Richland invite for Seneca Valley.

The Raiders had four winners, broke three meet records — sort of — and perhaps set the tone for Monday, when both the boys and girls teams compete for a WPIAL Class AAA team championship.

Seth Ketler, a team captain, won the 800 easily with a time of 1 minute, 57.0 seconds. He said that race was the best he had felt all season.

He also said he was proud of the way his teammates performed.

“That gives us a lot of confidence going into Monday,” Ketler said.

It was also a big day for Gavin Thomas.

The Seneca Valley junior ran the anchor leg of the Raiders' winning 400-meter relay team — along with Kaan Nyman, Tyler Yurich and Nic Cook — that finished in 43.12 seconds.

Luke Smith, who usually ran the first leg of the relay, was ill and did not complete. Nyman took his place.

“When I crossed the line, I knew we had a good time,” Thomas said. “We were hoping to break 43 today, but we won.”

Thomas also finished second in the long jump and briefly held the meet record at 22 feet, 9½ inches before it was broken 10 minutes later.

Still, his effort was a school record, breaking his own mark of 22-6½.

“By a half-inch,” Thomas said, smiling. “It stings a little bit, but it was still good and my best.”

Seneca Valley's Sam Owori and Connor Volk-Klos also broke meet records in the 1,600, but were bested by North Allegheny's Zach Kinne.

Owori placed second with a time of 4:17.98 and Volk-Klos third at 4:18.62.

“That was by far the best time in my life,” Volk-Klos said.

Volk-Klos said he and Owori push each other in meets — to a certain point.

“It's great pushing each other, but we're so used to running against each other at this point that it's like running against ourselves. We're good friends and it's great we're doing this.”

Owori said he and Volk-Klos ran a slower pace at the start of the 1,600 and then kicked hard late.

“We were all sprinting at the end,” Owori said.

“We're in much better shape now than we were at the beginning of the season,” Volk-Klos added. “We're so much stronger now.”

Seneca Valley boys and girls track and field coach Ray Peaco hopes the strength his team showed Friday carries over into Monday.

Lauren Chappell was also a winner for the Raiders' girls, claiming a victory in the 100 hurdles in a photo finish.

“We're not beating anyone up today,” he said. “Our big prize is Monday. Monday is everything for us. I know some schools don't put as much credence on the team title, but North Allegheny, Seneca Valley and Butler, we always do. We're always in the same section beating each other up, but this is good for our program.”