Butler County track and field all-stars: Meet the 2025 athletes of the year, first team, honorable mentions
Excelling as a freshman brings with it expectations. Mackenzie Magness did not wilt under that pressure — she flourished.
In 2024, Magness won a WPIAL Class 2A title in the pole vault. This spring, the Freeport sophomore raised the bar even higher, winning another district crown before earning a state championship May 24 at Shippensburg University with a height of 12 feet.
The campaign yielded a pair of school records for Magness — 12-4 in the pole vault, which won her WPIAL gold, and 17-8¾ in the long jump. Her collective effort made Magness a unanimous pick for Butler Eagle Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
“It was a lot for me to handle at once,” Magness said regarding the flurry of achievements. “But I’m extremely happy with what I was able to do.
“There’s so many talented girls in the county, and I am super-appreciative for this honor.”
Her desire for continued improvement is evident this summer. She recently returned from a pole vault camp at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, will attend a similar camp in Louisville in July and is training for a decathlon, scheduled for August in Ohio.
The pole vault is obviously her best event, but Magness also has potential in the jumping events. She earned WPIAL medals in the long and triple jump this year.
“I got a lot of work in for the jumps during the indoor season over the winter,” she said. “It helped me become more explosive.”
With one performance, Butler’s 4x400-meter relay team reached legendary status.
The scene was the WPIAL Class 3A Championships at Slippery Rock University in May. Up until then, the Golden Tornado had turned in very good times in the event.
Regan Peth, Aaron Stebick, Jace Gratzmiller and Carter Ekas teamed up to rewrite three record books. Their time of 3 minutes, 17.49 seconds broke the school standard, district meet record and Butler County’s all-time record.
The team went on to place sixth at the state meet, the only squad from Western Pa. to medal in the event.
All four runners have been voted Boys Track and Field Athletes of the Year.
“The guys had been running so well throughout the year, but you still want to see improvement every time out,” Butler coach Mike Seybert said. “We were hoping to break the school record, but to get the WPIAL record, too, they exceeded our hopes.”
Gratzmiller was injured for part of the year.
“When he came back, it was good to see and I knew he was going to be strong for us,” said Stebick, the one senior of the group who is headed to compete at Westminster College. “We had a great time this season. It felt amazing to achieve something big with my friends.”
Butler had a bevy of runners to choose from for the relay.
“We had nine kids under 51 seconds in the open 400, which is unheard of,” Seybert said. “It’s the deepest group we’ve ever had at Butler. You literally could have flip-flopped our 4x1 and 4x4 teams.”
Butler’s 4x100 team of Grayden Brown, Logan Ekas, Chris Rubcic and Kevin Shriver also won a WPIAL title with a school-record and all-time Butler County-best effort of 41.85.
Following are the other athletes who made the Eagle’s first team, followed by honorable mentions, listed alphabetically.
Returned from a torn hamstring suffered during the indoor season to run on North's 4x100-meter relay team that won WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A titles. The state crown came with a school and Butler County record time of 48.06 seconds. She also earned district medals in the 100 and 200 dash.
College: Duquesne
Qualified for the state meet in the 400 by placing fourth in the WPIAL, then earned a PIAA medal in the event with an eighth-place finish. Also medaled in the 200 dash at WPIALs. Finished the season with Butler County's best time in the 400 at 57.01 seconds and graduated with school records in the 400 and 200 (25.90).
A member of the Trojanettes' 4x100 relay team that won district and state titles, closing the season with a Butler County all-time best effort of 48.06 seconds. Qualified for states by placing fifth in the WPIAL in the Class 2A triple jump. Also helped North place second in the 4x400 relay at WPIALs and fourth in the state.
College: Davidson
Earned a berth in the state meet in three individual events after WPIAL efforts in the 100 (fifth), 200 (fourth) and long jump (third).
Placed third in the state in the long jump and was the anchor of North's 4x100 relay team that won WPIAL and state titles. Had Butler County's top time this season in the 100 (12.31) and 200 (25.27).
Won a WPIAL Class 2A title in the 100 hurdles before finishing second in the state. Also qualified for the state meet by placing fifth in the district in the 300 hurdles. Ran a leg on the WPIAL and PIAA championship 4x100 relay. Finished the season with the county's best time in the 100 hurdles at 14.93.
Her best event is the high jump, and she delivered with a WPIAL Class 3A title and fourth place in the state. Finished the year with Butler County's top height in the event at 5-6. Also earned a WPIAL medal in the long jump.
Captured a District 10 Class 3A title in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.40, which put her in Butler County's top five for the season. Also medaled at districts with a fourth-place finish in the 300 hurdles and helped the Rockets' 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams medal in D10.
College: Grove City
Closed her high school career with a banner season, winning WPIAL Class 3A titles in the long jump and pole vault. Placed seventh in the state in the pole vault. Her 19-2.5 in the long jump broke the Butler County-area's all-time record by 4 inches. Was a member of the 4x100 relay team that set a new school standard at 48.92.
College: Westminster
Adraya Baxter, sr., hurdles, Butler; Phoebe Brandon, so., sprints/jumps, Karns City; Karlee Buterbaugh, sr., throws, Knoch; Autumn Christie, so., javelin, Slippery Rock; Aubrey Erdos, sr., pole vault, Seneca Valley; Kara Fennell, sr., jumps/pole vault, Knoch; Maddee Fischer, sr., sprints, Seneca Valley; Aubrey Popp, jr., sprints, Seneca Valley; Jocie Slesinski, sr., sprints, Butler; Augelina Williams, fr., sprints, Seneca Valley; Izzy Yuhouse, so., sprints, Seneca Valley
Won a District 9 Class 2A title in the 800 run, then capped his high school career by going 1:59.96 to crack Butler County’s top five this season. Was named first team all-conference in the event.
Was runner-up in WPIAL Class 2A in the 1,600 and 3,200. Placed second in the state in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600. Broke his own school record in both events this year and ranks third and fourth on Butler County’s all-time honor roll with times of 9:02.25 and 4:11.97, respectively.
College: Penn State
Broke his own school record in the pole vault several times this season, graduating with a best effort of 15-3. Won a District 9 Class 2A crown in the event and placed runner-up in the state. Was named first team all-conference.
College: Slippery Rock
For the second straight year, he finished the season ranked in Butler County’s top five in all three jumps, including tops in the high jump at 6-7. Earned three WPIAL medals, including first place in the high jump.
Earned a WPIAL Class 3A title in the 400 with a time of 48.99, the best effort in Butler County this spring. Also placed second in the WPIAL in the 200 and had the county’s best finish in that event at 22.11.
College: Slippery Rock
Nicco Baggetta, so., javelin, Butler; Grayden Brown, sr., sprints, Butler; Logan Ekas, jr., sprints, Butler; Austin Friedline, jr., sprints/hurdles, Knoch; Dustin Joyce, sr., jumps, Slippery Rock; Chris Rubcic, sr., sprints, Butler; Kevin Shriver, so., sprints, Butler; Logan Skibinski, jr., sprints, Union/A-C Valley; Zachary Slear, sr., middle distance, Butler; Jack Steineman, fr., distance, North Catholic; Alex Wilson, so., pole vault, Karns City
