Butler boys topple rival NA on track
BUTLER TWP — It was all hands on deck for the Butler track and field team Wednesday at Art Bernardi Stadium.
North Allegheny was in town, after all.
“There’s a lot at stake in this meet, a lot on the line,” Butler boys coach Mike Seybert said. “There’s the (WPIAL) team playoffs, getting a higher seed in that tournament, being able to host a (playoff) meet.
“We train and practice hard all year for days like today.”
The Golden Tornado athletes responded with an 87-63 boys victory over the Tigers.
Drew Griffith ran the anchor leg of the winning 4x800 relay, the first event on the track. He went on to win the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter races as well. Landon Lacey ran the 100 meters for the first time this season and finished just ahead of teammate David Graef. Lacey won the 200 as well.
“I’m never all that good out of the blocks,” Lacey said. “I’m better in the 200 and 400 because my top-end speed is my strength. But we were covered in the 400 today, so I took the 100.
“I didn’t think I’d win after that bad start. I was happy to be able to nose that one out.”
Aaron Stebick won ther 400 for the Golden Tornado.
“Aaron definitely had his back,” Seybert said of Lacey.
Ayden Davis won the triple jump despite tweaking his ankle in lacrosse the night before. The Tornado swept the relay events as well.
“This is always a big meet when these two schools get together,” Griffith said. “We’ve been two of the dominant teams in the WPIAL for a while now. It’s an important meet and we treat it that way.”
While Butler’s boys have been winning the WPIAL meet in recent years, North Allegheny’s girls are two-time defending champions. The Tornado gave the Tigers a battle before succumbing by an 84-66 score.
“We know how good they are and that this would be a challenge,” Butler girls coach John Williams said. “But if we were going down, we were going down fighting.”
Lauren Bowden won both hurdle events for Butler. Jocie Slesinski (high jump), Aubrey Rock (long jump), Audrey Sansom (triple jump) and Evie Paserba (javelin) won field events for the Tornado.
Slesinski set a personal best in the high jump at 5 feer, 1 inch. Five minutes later, she anchored the winning 4x100 relay.
“That was an impressive effort,” Williams said.
“There’s usually a bit of a break between those two events and I was able to do that,” Slesinski said. “It felt good to be able to win both.
“I’m surprised we’re staying close to (NA) so far. We’re taking a shot at them and that’s the kind of team we have.”
Boys
Butler 87, North Allegheny 63
4x800-Butler 8:20.87; 110H-S.Cohn (NA) 16.93; 100-Landon Lacey (B) 11.18; 1,600-Drew Griffith (B) 4:24.81, 4x100-Butler 42.89; 400-Aaron Stebick (B) 50.98; 300H-Lowman (NA) 41.06; 800-Drew Griffith (B) 1:54.34; 200-Landon Lacey (B) 22.24; 3,200-Drew Griffith (B) 9:37.08; 4x400: Butler 3:29.88
High jump-Orein McBride-Cager (B) 6-5; Long jump-Nick Humphries (NA) 22-0.25; Triple jump-Ayden Davis (B) 41-5; Shot put-Yatchenko (NA) 45-6; Discus-Yatchenko (NA) 117-1; Javelin-Nico Baggetta (B) 145-1; Pole vault-Zach Duckworth (NA) 13-1
Girls
North Allegheny 84, Butler 66
4x800-North Allegheny 9:52.33; 100H-Lauren Bowden (B) 16.67; 100-I.Costa (NA) 12.64; 1,600-Kynaston (NA) 5:17.92; 4x100-Butler 50.27; 400-Lurrie (NA) 57.93; 300H-Lauren Bowden (B) 45.30; 800-K.Lucas (NA) 2:19.98; 200-Costa (NA) 26.63; 3,200-Kynasta (NA) 11:24.98; 4x400-Butler 4:09.33
High jump-Jocie Slesinski 5-1; Long jump-Aubrey Rock (B) 17-9; Triple jump-Audrey Sansom (B) 34-0; Shot put-Frisco (NA) 34-11; Discus-Maxwell (NA) 97-0; Javelin-Evie Paserba (B) 110-5; Pole vault-Lindsay Breneman (NA) 12-1
