SLIPPERY ROCK — They say records are made to be broken. CJ Singleton and Tristan McGarrah picked a good day to do just that.

At the WPIAL Class 3A championship track and field meet Wednesday, the Butler seniors turned in record-breaking performances at Slippery Rock University.

Singleton won the boys 1,600-meter run with a time of four minutes, 9.95 seconds to top the previous WPIAL meet record by .75 seconds, while McGarrah's first-place effort of 15 feet, seven inches bettered Butler's standard in the event by an inch.

The performances came on a day when Butler dominated the meet, earning eight gold medals.

"We're just so proud of these guys," said Butler boys coach Mike Seybert. "This senior class is ridiculous. It's been a fun ride."

Singleton, who also won the 3,200 run later in the day (9:05.81), had come painfully close to winning the 1,600 last year, coming in second by just .12 seconds.

"I wanted it last year, but didn't run my best," he said. "I wanted to break the WPIAL record today."

His opening lap proved it as he took a sizable lead before the first 400 meters had been covered.

"I felt really good with 400 meters to go, but I felt good at that point in the race here last year. I've been working on my speed with a lot of shorter reps, just trying to keep my legs fresh."

McGarrah's previous-best height in the pole vault was 15-3. He cleared four more inches Wednesday to beat Jack Codispot's school standard of 15-6.

"I always seem to perform better at the big meets," McGarrah said. "When I cleared it today, looked up and saw that bar still there, it's a feeling that's hard to describe."

Butler's 4x800 relay team of Raine Gratzmiller, Carson Knight, Sage Vavro and Ryder Kriley began the day with Butler's first win, taking the event in 7:56.26.

"We were hoping to get a good seed time for states and we did that," Vavro said. "Now we're going for the school record of 7:39.

Guinness Brown took home two individual wins in the 200 and 400.

He won the 100 here last year, but decided to compete in two relays this time instead of one.

"We looked at my time in the 100 this season and decided before today that I had a better chance in the 200," Brown said. "Last year was definitely a little more enjoyable for me. I didn't have all the expectations from people. Now, everyone expects me to be great and if I'm not, it's like: "'What's wrong?'

"I had some mental hurdles to get over, but we got through it."

Brown was part of Butler's 4x100 team that did not finish due to a bad exchange, but he returned for the 4x400 and teamed with Kriley, Brayden Young and Lucas Slear for another win.

Tyler Rekich continued the superb showing from Butler's seniors when he won the long jump with a leap of 22-9.25

"I was ranked second coming in, so I thought I had a good chance," he said. "Then I go 17-something on my first jump, which is not good. Luckily, I found the board."

Butler's girls were highlighted by senior Megan Penrod's win in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 125-11.

"With one throw left, I was in fifth place," she said. "I'm not competing in college, so I knew that could be the last throw of my career. Jackson Williams (Butler throwing coach) gave me a look after it landed and I just knew it was good."

"Talk about answering the bell," exclaimed Butler head coach John Williams of Penrod's last attempt. "Megan is the kind of girl you want on your team. She doesn't restrict herself to just one sport. She plays something in every season — volleyball, basketball and track."

Class 2A

North Catholic's Trevor Paschall won four gold medals here last year. He was limited to one Wednesday, but not for lack of effort. He won the 100 dash, but remained out for the rest of the meet after pulling his hamstring.

"It happened just as I was finishing the 100," he said. "I'm not sure if I will be able to compete at states."

The Trojans' Luke Mager joined Paschall atop the medal podium, topping the field in the 200 dash at 22.91.

"The 200 is definitely my best event," he said. "I was hoping to go between 22.7 and 22.9. There's a lot of competition on our team and it pushes you to keep getting better."

North's girls also earned a gold medal thanks to Tehya Dave's win in the 100 dash. Surprisingly, this is the senior's first year of varsity track. She starred for North's girls soccer team and will play that sport at Cleveland State.

"I ran one year in middle school and did well. Friends (namely Paschall) kept trying to get me to join and I finally did, thinking I should try something different with it being my senior year.

"I knew I could compete, but my coaches and teammates have really helped me."

Following are the Butler County athletes who earned a medal by placing in the top eight at Wednesday's WPIAL Track and Field Championships, held at Slippery Rock University. The top four finishers in Class 3A and top five in Class 2A automatically qualify for the state championship meet.

Class 3A

Boys

3,200 relay: 1-Butler (Gratzmiller, Knight, Vavro, Kriley) 7:56.26

110 hurdles: 4-Presley Ornelas (B) 15.58; 5-Jonathon Price (SV) 15.62; 6-Isaac Wetzel (F) 15.63

100 dash: 3-Tyler Yurich (SV) 11.07; 8-Brayden Young (B) 11.50

1,600 run: 1-CJ Singleton (B) 4:09.95; 2-Luke Simpson (SV) 4:20.11; 3-Sage Vavro (B) 4:21.67

400 run: 1-Guinness Brown (B) 48.66; 3-Lucas Slear (B) 50.06; 5-Jacob Thompson (M) 50.91

400 relay: 3-Seneca Valley (Yurich, Craver, Fountain, Ross) 43.12

300 hurdles: 3-Isaac Wetzel (F) 41.01

800 run: 2-CJ Singleton (B) 1:52.17; 3-Luke Simpson (SV) 1:54.70; 4-Ryder Kriley (B) 1:55.09

200 dash: 1-Guinness Brown (B) 22.09

3,200 run: 1-CJ Singleton (B) 9:05.81; 3-Drew Griffith (B) 9:12.27

1,600 relay: 1-Butler (Kriley, Young, Slear, Brown) 3:20.74; 3-Mars (Mayer, D'Angelo, Thompson, Stevenson) 3:25.79; 8-Seneca Valley (Foulkrod, Simpson, Rich, Correa) 3:31.01

Shot put: 4-Alex Cotton (K) 48-6.5

Discus: 3-Jacob Pomykata (B) 151-1; 8-Alex Cotton (K) 138-0

Javelin: 4-Eric Ristey (SV) 158-8; 7-Tyler Rekich (B) 152-7

Long jump: 1-Tyler Rekich (B) 22-9.25; 4-Jonathon Price (SV) 21-5; 8-Tyler Yurich (SV) 21-1

Triple jump: 2-Jonathon Price (SV) 44-5.5; 7-Jeremiah Laslavic (SV) 41-11.75

Pole vault: 1-Tristan McGarrah (B) 15-7; 6-Ryan Bernardi (B) 12-9

Girls

3,200 relay: 7-Mars (Mayer, Wu, Wilson, Clark) 9:57.31

100 hurdles: 3-Lauren Campion (M) 16.03; 7-Maddy Berger (SV) 16.64

1,600 relay: 8-Mars (Wilson, Mayer, Clark, Duker) 4:09.51

Shot put: 2-Madison Hunt (K) 37-3.5; 6-Megan Penrod (B) 34-4.25

Discus: 5-Carlie Baker (B) 107-0; 6-Reese Skiba (F) 105-5

Javelin: 1-Megan Penrod (B) 125-11

Long jump: 2-Alli Morrow (B) 17-5; 4-Aubrey Rock (B) 17-1

Triple jump: 3-Megan Baggetta (B) 36-8.75

Pole vault: 7-Madison Monahan (SV) 11-0

Class 2A

Boys

3,200 relay: 8-North Catholic (Harmanos, Weakland, Lepore, West) 8:47.36

100 dash: 1-Trevor Paschall (NC) 10.87; 3-Luke Mager (NC) 11.46; 4-Jack Fennell (NC) 11.48

400 relay: 5-North Catholic (Arrington, Fennell, Mager, Camody) 44.26

300 hurdles: 6-Luke Baker (NC) 42.98

200 dash: 1-Luke Mager (NC) 22.91

3,200 run: 5-Owen Schessler (NC) 9:57.54

Girls

100 dash: 1-Tehya Dave (NC) 12.70

1,600 run: 3-Grace Lazzara (NC) 5:24.75

400 run: 2-Tehya Dave (NC) 58.39

400 relay: 5-North Catholic (Dave, Cresta, Cerconne, Iaquinta) 51.43

800 run: 7-Grace Lazzara (NC) 2:29.86

200 dash: 2-Tehya Dave (NC) 26.24

3,200 run: 7-Alaina Hicks (NC) 12:01.45

1,600 relay: 8-North Catholic (Daphne, Lazzara, Schlegel, Weiland) 4:19.90

Long jump: 4-Aniela Balog (NC) 16-8.25; 8-Ava Smith (NC) 16-0.25

Triple jump: 3-Ava Smith (NC) 34-11.75