Brown Out
BUTLER TWP — Two years ago, Guinness Brown competed at the Butler Track and Field Invitational.
Not much stood out for the then-freshman on Butler's boys squad. In fact, the only thing he recalls is teammate Cade Gratzmiller having to push someone who had gotten in his way during the 4x400 relay.
He's sure to remember Friday's event more clearly.
Brown won the 100-meter dash, 200, 400 and ran the anchor leg on the Golden Tornado's winning 4x400 relay squad. He was named the event's Track MVP for his efforts and helped Butler claim the team championship with a dominating 91 points.
Hampton placed second with 47 points.
Brown's first finals race of the afternoon was his most impressive effort, at least according to the Invite's record book. His time of 10.84 seconds in the 100 dash tied Brentwood's Davon Moore for the fastest time in the 56-year history of the event.
“What were the chances of that?” Brown asked after breaking the record. He then cracked a smile and admitted: “I was hoping to get at least one record today.”
He almost got two more. Later in the day, Brown finished the 400 in 49.01 seconds, just .73 seconds from the standard. His 200 time of 22.08 came up .29 short.Earlier this season, Brown ran the 100 in 10.54 seconds, the best time in the state this spring.“We held a speed camp in August and he ran the 200 in 22.3 and all that work was done on his own,” said Butler sprint coach Fred Pinto. “We knew he was going to be really fast, especially in the 100 and 200, but his times so far are something else.”Between now and the state championship meet in late May, Brown is hoping to fine-tune his efforts.“I'm looking to get some help from my coaches with my blocks, getting faster starts down because I'm definitely not the best at that,” Brown said.Doing that just may be what separates Brown from the rest of the pack.“Getting faster out of the blocks can be a difference of a couple tenths of a second,” said Pinto. “In the 100, that's huge.”Brown's teammates in the 4x400 included CJ Singleton, Skyler Vavro and Lucas Slear.The Invite's 3,200 record proved no match for Singleton, whose first-place time of 9:09.42 was over four seconds faster than Zach Kinne of North Allegheny ran in 2019.“Obviously, I wanted to win, but I was hoping to go faster,” said Singleton. “The 3,200 has always been my best event, but lately, maybe it's the 1,600. I still have a goal of going 8:55 by the end of the season.”
Brown and Singleton led an effort by Butler's boys that was, in one respect, over a year in the making.“We expected all of this to happen last year and the season was canceled,” said Butler coach Mike Seybert. “So there's been a buildup to get back to this. The kids are so hungry and you saw it with some of them, like CJ, who wanted to run about 10 seconds faster than he did.”Singleton encountered a headwind on the front straightaway that undoubtedly affected his time. North Catholic junior and Cranberry Township resident Trevor Paschall ran into it in the 100 and 200. He placed second behind Brown in both events.“The wind was wicked, was hitting you right in the face,” he said. “Considering that, I'm absolutely happy with my times.”Moniteau senior David Stamm is on a roll with his throws in the javelin. In a meet against Clarion-Limestone Thursday, he managed a personal-best 169 feet, nine inches.He topped that Friday with a heave of 172-7.“My best throw as a sophomore (in 2019) was 146 feet,” Stamm said. “I started this season in a rut, but I'm gaining momentum. It seems I'm getting better and better every week.”
