Butler boys persevere, advance to track finals
NORTH HUNTINGDON TWP — The path to a third consecutive WPIAL team championship meet took a few detours for Butler’s boys track and field team Thursday afternoon, but the Golden Tornado still arrived at their destination.
In a Class 3A semifinal held at Norwin High School, Butler defeated the host Knights (81-69), Franklin Regional (116-34) and Connellsville (110-40).
“We fell off in some events, but climbed high in others,” said Butler coach Mike Seybert. “There were 16 teams involved in the playoffs today (around the WPIAL) and 12 of them were eliminated. Four are moving on and we’re one of them.”
The Tornado, two-time defending district champs, will look to make it a 3-peat when they face Seneca Valley, North Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon in the finals Tuesday at West Mifflin High School.
In Thursday’s meet, first place overall went to athletes from either Butler or Norwin in 16 of the 18 events.
The Tornado were without two of their top four runners in the 4x400-meter relay and Norwin took first place by less than two seconds, cutting Butler’s lead to 67-65 with only the javelin and triple jump left to score.
The outcome was decided when Butler’s Ryan Porch and Luke Campbell placed first and second, respectively, in the long jump and Bryce Dryden and Colton Timmons went first and third in the javelin against the Knights. The events were being held simultaneously.
Dryden, a senior, did not originally expect to compete after the meet was moved from Tuesday due to inclement weather.
“I had my AP Statistics exam today,” he said. “I could have rescheduled it, but I had been preparing for it for a year. It took me three hours to complete it.”
After finishing the test, Dryden’s father, Jeffrey, drove his son to Norwin, an hour away.
“When I got here, I had time for a few warm-up throws,” Dryden said. “I ended up throwing 131-8, which is my best this season. I wasn’t expecting that.
“It’s cool to know that my effort helped the team win. I’m happy I was able to get here.”
Several of Butler’s athletes are not 100 percent. Sprinter Landon Lacey is dealing with a sore hamstring, but he placed first in the 100 dash before spending the rest of the day with an ice pack on his leg.
Distance ace Drew Griffith competed with a strained calf muscle. He was forced to leave the 800 run after being cut off and falling to the track, but he won the 1,600 run, 3,200 run and anchored the winning 4x800 relay, which also featured Drew Knight, Zach Slear and Ethan Thomas.
“Running distance events with an injury, it takes its toll physically and mentally,“ said Griffith. ”But I knew what was at stake. We’re going for a third straight championship.“
Another key performance came from Markeis Frazier, who placed second overall in the shot put, but topped Norwin’s Anthony Petrulo, giving Butler five unexpected points in the meet against the Knights.
“We were banged up today, so there wasn’t going to be a lot of (personal records),” Seybert said. “But when it comes to the team, these guys will do anything.
“Norwin’s a good team,” Seybert exclaimed. “They have balance in every event and we had to go toe-to-toe with them.”
Butler 81, Norwin 69
Butler 116, Franklin Regional 34
Butler 110, Connellsville 40
3,200 relay: Butler (Drew Knight, Zach Slear, Ethan Thomas, Drew Griffith) 8:16.62; 110 hurdles: Schiller (N) 16.32; 100 dash: Landon Lacey (B) 11.63; 1,600 run: Drew Griffith (B) 4:33.04; 400 run: Luke Denny (N) 51.10; 400 relay: Butler (Chris Rubcic, David Graef, Grayden Brown, DeShawn Cox) 44.54; 300 hurdles: Jeremiah Francis (N) 42.98; 800 run: Drew Knight (B) 2:04.38; 200 dash: Trey Huha (N) 23.02; 3,200 run: Drew Griffith (B) 9:47.56; 1,600 relay: Norwin 3:29.33
Shot put: Nathan Reese (C) 50-7.75; Discus: Petrulo (N) 135-11; Javelin: Dylan Brooks (C) 152-11; High jump: Isaiah Kline (N) 6-1; Long jump: Ryan Porch (B) 22-5.5; Triple jump: Luke Campbell (B) 42-10; Pole vault: Nicholas Puskar (N) 13-3
