PTFCA track championships: Butler’s Brendan Eicher snags silver, Freeport’s Mackenzie Magness bronze
Brendan Eicher won silver in the PTFCA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday at Penn State University.
The Butler junior’s time of 4:17.50 in the 1 mile came up less than a second short of champion Bobby Franklin (La Salle College), who won in 4:16.67. Entering as the fifth seed, Eicher said his plan was to stick with the top pack early and hang on. But nobody pushed the pace hard early, and Eicher wound up in a late sprint with the top runners, which gave him confidence he could close strong.
“It ended up sort of just being us three (Franklin and State College’s Luke Bradbury, who finished third) after the first three laps and just turned into a kicking race last 200 (meters),” he said via text.
“Just super stoked with this race and excited for nationals and outdoor.”
Eicher’s silver was one of two individual medals for the Golden Tornado, as Jason Wick finished fifth in the boys pole vault with a height of 14 feet, 6 inches. Canon-McMillan’s Connor Rolek won gold with 15-6.
Butler’s boys tied for 18th with 12 points.
Carter Ekas ran a 49.91 in the boys 400-meter run to finish 13. The team’s talented relays came in 10th (4x800 in 8:03.47), 13th (4x400 in 3:26.34) and 14th (4x200 in 1:31.46. Ekas ran on the 4x2 and 4x4 teams.
Eicher and Wick were not the only Butler County medalists.
Freeport’s Mackenzie Magness, a two-time WPIAL and defending PIAA girls pole vault champion, won bronze with a height of 12 feet. Central Bucks West’s Maddie Fuhrmeister won gold with a 13-0.
North Catholic’s Jack Steineman medaled in the 3,000, finishing seventh with a time of 8:30.83.
Other notable local finishes included:
Karns City’s Alex Wilson came in ninth in the boys pole vault (14-0).
Knoch distance runner Carter French finished 12th in the mile (4:28.49), and NC’s Tyler Carroll came in 19th (4:35.69).
Seneca Valley’s Tennyson Voll came in 11th in the girls pole vault (11-0) and Jordan Monteleone finished 11th in the high jump (5-3).
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The Butler boys 4x800-meter relay team of, from left, Ethan Thomas, Mateo Saspe, Logan Rogers and Alex Motonis placed 10th with a time of 8:03.47 in the PTFCA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday, March 1, 2026, at Penn State University. Submitted photo
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Butler's Brendan Eicher finished second in the boys 1-mile with a time of 4:17.50 in the PTFCA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday, March 1, 2026, at Penn State University. Submitted photo
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Butler's Jason Wick finished fifth in the boys pole vault with a height of 14 feet, 6 inches in the PTFCA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday, March 1, 2026, at Penn State University. Submitted photo
