BUTLER TWP — Forget about titles. Forget about gold.

Forget about everything.

Easier said than done for the Butler boys and girls track and field teams. A potentially landmark season was taken away by COVID-19 and the cancellation of high school spring sports for 2020.

“You can go all the way back to cross country in the fall, the success of the winter indoor season ... Everything was geared for this spring and outdoor,” Butler boys track coach Mike Seybert said.

“Now it's not going to happen.”

Butler's boys indoor team won the Tri-State Track and Field Coaches Association championship. The Golden Tornado's indoor boys and girls teams combined to break more than 10 school records this winter.

Tornado girls track and field coach John Williams echoed Seybert's frustration.

“This was a great team that was only going to get stronger and deeper,” Williams said. “We had help coming from other winter sports athletes.”

Basketball player Mason Montag would have contributed in the high jump and javelin. Hoop teammate Charlie Kreinbucher would have helped out in the jumps and running events.

Girls basketball player Ali Altman would have joined the jumps. Emma Stewart, a cheerleader, also runs the 4x100 relay, the 100 meters and competes in the long jump.

At least, she would have.

Butler's girls were going after their fourth consecutive WPIAL track and field championship. The boys were gunning for their first WPIAL team crown since 2007.

“This was the team,” Seybert said. “Potentially, it was there.”

So were a lot of other possibilities:

The boys 4x400 meter relay team was closing in on a school record that's stood for 50 years.

Guinness Brown was a WPIAL contender in the 400 meters.

Sami Taoufik — who high-jumped 6 feet, 8 inches in indoor — was looking to win the boys state championship, hit seven feet in that event and break the state record.

Andrew Kline and Tristan McGarrah are WPIAL contenders in the pole vault and were chasing Jack Codispot's school record this spring.

Anna Baxter was chasing the school record in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles.

Autumn Pettinato was aiming to crack Butler's all-time top 10 in the javelin.

Heidi Bednarz was looking to be a WPIAL medalist in the pole vault.

The girls 4x400 and 4x800 meter relays were chasing WPIAL titles.

Those are only a few examples of pursuits and goals that have been knocked out of existence.

“I wanted to break those outdoor (hurdle) records someday,” Baxter said. “I was training for it, striving for it. I was hoping to get the chance.”

Butler's 300-hurdle record is 43.9 seconds. Baxter has hit the low 45's. The 100-hurdle mark is 15.3 seconds. She's hit the 16's there.

“Definitely in the neighborhood,” she said. “We'll never know.”

Isaiah Seybert joined Byron Manchester, Brown and a number of fourth options — Alex Karenbauer, Lucas Slear, Sage Vavro and Tyler Kennedy — on the boys 4x400 relay.

“A knee injury stopped me last year,” said Seybert, a senior. “We had a big indoor season and we've been taking long runs (during the pandemic) to stay in condition.

“We had a real shot to win the WPIAL as a team. We were probably the favorite. I would have been in favor of anything (some type of shortened season) just to see it through.”

Many of Butler's track and field seniors will compete in college. Baxter is going to Duquesne. Taoufik is headed to Penn State. Pettinato and Chelsey Kabel are going to Clarion, Seybert and Bednarz to Slippery Rock.

Karenbauer is headed to California-San Diego. They all have a future in the sport.They're just not ending their high school careers as they anticipated.“I wanted to be part of that record-breaking 4x400 team,” Karenbauer said. “Fifty years is a long time. We were on pace to break it, go on to the state meet and take our chances there.”Also a softball player, Pettinato runs on the Tornado girls 4x800 relay and throws the javelin. She lost two seasons this spring.“I was gonna crack the school's top 10 list in the javelin this year,” Pettinato said. “That would have meant a lot to me.“This track team is like my second family. Us winning four WPIAL titles in four years would have been a huge deal.”Despite being a senior, Bednarz is only in her second year of competing in the pole vault. Her last competition — the TSTFCA indoor championships — resulted in her personal-best vault.“This (halted season) is a huge blow,” Bednarz said. “I can't really practice the pole vault on my own. All I can do is work out, get some running in.“A senior class winning four WPIAL team titles in a sport is such a rare accomplishment. Not getting a chance to compete that this way ... I mean, I know it's for the best. It's the smart thing. It still hurts.”Like so many teammates, Bednarz has had to refocus her goals.“Now I'm going after vaulting 12 feet in college,” she said.Pettinato may wind up competing in softball and track at Clarion.“I have a deal with the softball coach,” she said. “I've played softball all my life. If I find myself missing it too much next spring, I can come out for the team my sophomore year.”In the meantime, it's hard not to dwell on such a promising season lost.“I feel badly for our juniors, too,” Coach Williams said. “Division I college prospects are always on the radar, but there's Division II, III, NAIA — a lot of opportunities out there.“No season takes away that bridge year for a lot of college prospects that age. It's cold, just cold.”Coach Seybert agreed.“We had it all lined up. It just stinks,” he said.