SHIPPENSBURG — With the pressure that comes with the PIAA Track and Field Championships, Knoch coach Wess Brahler wasn't the least bit worried about Adam Tuzikow.

"Adam is a very special athlete," said Brahler. "I had him as a ninth-grade basketball player and you could tell there was something special about him.

"He rises to the occasion. The bigger the occasion, the more he shines."

Tuzikow, a junior, placed third in the boys Class AAA shot put with a personal-best 54 feet at Shippensburg University Saturday.

Tuzikow had set a PR at the WPIAL Championships May 20 with a toss of 52-6Z\x.

"We were all pleasantly surprised," said Brahler. "We felt he had a good shot at medaling, maybe fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth place. He stepped up to the circle and let loose."

Tuzikow was in second place by 2¾ inches after the throw. Blake Davenport of Kennett would go on to win the event with a throw of 55-7½.

"You go to the state meet and a lot of athletes tense up, but Adam was relaxed," said Brahler. "And, he's only a junior. The two guys that finished ahead of him were seniors.

Which leaves Tuzikow with plenty of time to improve, which Brahler believes he will.

"He realizes he needs to spend time in the weight room," Brahler noted. "He needs to get in some shot meets and keep working on his technique."

His best throw leaves him second all-time at Knoch, just 9½ inches behind Mike Crouch (1983). Tuzikow is the Knights' first boys state medalist since Nick Novotny was sixth in the long jump in 2002.

Five other Butler County area athletes earned medals on Saturday by placing in the top eight spots.

• Grove City's Jake Kildoo placed fourth in the Class AAA boys 3,200 with a school-record time of 9:09.41, just missing the National Honor Roll time of 9:06.0

"What a drop," said Grove City coach Mickey Hardenburg. "He came with his best time of 9:27 and ran a smart race, a tactical race and a beautiful time."

Kildoo broke the school mark previously held by Mike McWilliams.

• Grove City's Hana Casalnova placed fifth in the girls' 800 with a time of 2:12.87.

"The field this year was incredible," Hardenburg said. "The times were amazing. Going in we wanted to get through Friday and she did and ran a 2:14. Then, she comes back and runs a 2:128. Just phenomenal.

"She tucked in behind the leader and hung on as long as she could. You hope she had something left the last 100 and she did," Hardenburg added.

This year marked the fourth consecutive year Casalnova earned a state medal, the first two coming in Class AA.

As a freshman, she placed sixth in the 400 (59.22) and missed another with a ninth-place showing in the 800 (2:19.10), then was sixth in the 800 (2:16.99) as a sophomore.

Having been bumped up to Class AAA as a junior, Casalnova was third in the 800 (2:13.0) before this year's medal.

• Two places behind Casalnova was Seneca Valley's Erin Lopresti, who had placed ninth, ninth and 11th in the Class AAA girls 800 the previous three years at states before finally breaking through, clocking in at 2:13.38.

"We've been telling her for years to get out early and get out strong and she did that," said Seneca Valley coach Ray Peaco. "She set a school record at the WPIAL finals and she set it again.

"She ran a smart race, strong and didn't get boxed in," Peaco added.

• Seneca Valley sprinter PJ Blinn, the WPIAL Class AAA 100-meter champion, was seventh with a time of 10.85, 20 seconds behind champion Tyler Smith of Norristown.

"He ran even better than we could have thought," said Peaco. "He had a 10.85 at Baldwin, but with the Fully Automated Timing, this was the best time he had."

Blinn had run a 10.97 in Friday's preliminaries, then came back with a 11.07 in Saturday morning's semifinals.

• Dylan Bilka, also of Seneca Valley, placed eighth in the Class AAA boys pole vault, clearing a 13-6.

"If you ask Dylan, he'd say it was an average attempt," said Peaco. "He's gone 14-6 and he went 13-6, but there was a bit of a breeze and it definitely affected the pole vaulters."

Butler's Adam Marzullo also had a 13-6, but finished in a 12th-place tie.

• There were two other top-10 performances on Saturday.

Freeport's Darius Frantz tied for ninth in the Class AA boys high jump, clearing 6-2 while the Butler girls 3,200 relay team of Trisha Brandt, Emily Petrak, Katresa Savisky and Danica Snyder was 10th in Class AAA with a time of 9:21.02.

The nine schools ahead of Butler all made the National Honor Roll (9:18.0).

• In Class AA, Slippery Rock's Jessica Bennett was 16th in the girls' 3,200 (11:3.01), Freeport's Bronte Soul was 16th in the girls' triple jump (34-6), Moniteau's Nathan Guterry was 17th in the boys' discus (133-4) and Union's Lepha Logue 23rd in the girls' triple jump (33-3½).

Butler's Matt Slamecka and Will Nesbitt made quick work in reaching the PIAA Class AAA Boys Doubles Championships semifinals, but had to settle for fourth place at the Hershey Racquet Club this past weekend.On Friday, Slamecka, a senior, and Nesbitt, a sophomore, defeated James Ayer and Gabe Steerman of Central 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round, then dispatched Gavin Studner and Ryan Devin of Radnor 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.In the Saturday morning semifinal, the Tornado duo lost to Chris Borden and Blake Gregory of State College 7-5, 6-4.In the third-place consolation final that afternoon, Slamecka and Nesbitt fell 7-6 (3), 6-4 to top-seeded Dylan Kady and Norman Patton of Council Rock South.Borden and Gregory, the District 6 champions, went on to win the state championship 6-4, 6-3 over Shankar Rajupet and Brad Portnoy of Fox Chapel, who were the WPIAL champions.Slamecka and Nesbitt were members of Butler's PIAA Class AAA team champions, which it claimed the previous weekend.