Despite bumpy performance, Butler boys 4x800 the standard at WPIAL track and field championships
SLIPPERY ROCK — Butler wasn’t at its best, but it was still better than anyone else.
The Golden Tornado’s 4x800-meter relay — made up of seniors Logan Rogers and Ethan Thomas, junior Alex Motonis and freshman Landon Slear — posted a winning time of 8:03.31 at Thursday’s WPIAL Class 3A Individual Track and Field Championships, narrowly beating out North Hills (8:03.86).
The same Butler quartet ran a 7:50 last week at the district’s team championships and was favored heading into Slippery Rock University’s Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
“Today, the time’s irrelevant. It’s where you place at the districts, and they battled,” longtime Golden Tornado coach Mike Seybert said. “All four of them had to run their best for this particular day, and they fought back. If you have a leg that didn’t make up and run a good race, then they would’ve fallen back (to) second-, third- or fourth-place, but they did not wanna leave here not being district champs.”
The effort was far from a no-doubter. Butler fell behind early on and had to work its way back.
“It started out not exactly how we expected or how we talked about,” Thomas said. “One of our guys, Logan, lead-off, wasn’t feeling his best today, but we worked with what we had. It was really windy. It was kinda a struggle the whole time, but we came back and won.”
Rogers recently shook off a cold, “but it really took a toll on my body,” he said. He cut back some on training this week and made sure to get extra sleep.
Slear, the relay’s second leg, posted a blazing 54-second first lap. He admitted his final 150 meters were tough, but he knew the effort was required to get back into it.
“I went out so fast,” Slear said. “But I knew today was the day I needed to just go after it. … I went and I saw four teams ahead of me. I was like, ‘We can win this.’ And I just went after it the first lap.”
The athletes had to deal with rain, wind and temperatures in the 40s, conditions that are “a little demoralizing when you get your stuff off and have to go out in that cold,” Motonis said.
“Not only is the weather affecting when you’re running, it’s affecting what you’re thinking before the race,” Slear said. “You wanna do the best you can, but you also know that this wind and the rain and the cold is gonna get to you. … I think our time would’ve been a lot better today if the weather would’ve been better, but we went out and gave our best effort — and that’s what we needed to do to win the WPIAL championship.”
Though the plan wasn’t to be behind as long as they were, the Golden Tornado used having someone in front of them as a tactic.
“The big thing we kinda stress is, ‘Get behind someone for most (of it),’” Thomas said. “Because we have a longer race — it’s not like a sprint, and you’re over — so if you can get behind someone … and let them break the wind for you, that’s kinda our game plan.”
“When you’re running into the wind with nobody blocking, you’re using way more energy,” Seybert said.
Butler moves on to the PIAA Track and Field Championships, which will be held at Shippensburg University on May 22-23.
Here are some other highlights from Thursday’s WPIAL Class 2A and 3A individual track and field championships:
- Freeport’s Mackenzie Magness earned her third consecutive Class 3A pole vault crown, clearing 12-0. She also medaled in the long jump (17-1.5) with a fifth-place finish to qualify for states and was on the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams that finished second and fifth, respectively, to also make states. On the girls’ side in Class 3A, Seneca Valley’s Tennyson Voll earned a gold medal with a height of 12-0, as well.
- Seneca Valley’s Audrey Wolfe won the Class 3A girls javelin with a throw of 140-5. She’d finished fifth in the same event each of the past two seasons. Teammate Addie Weaver was runner-up with a 132-8 effort.
- North Catholic’s Audra Lazzara (14.78) was the Class 2A 100-meter hurdles runner-up by two-hundredths of a second. Quaker Valley’s Evie Rosselli (14.76) crossed the finish line first.
- North Catholic’s Logan Schade placed second by one-thousandth of a second in the Class 2A boys 400 meters. Greensburg Central Catholic’s Jerry Davis just barely beat out Schade, the Trojanettes’ leading rusher on the gridiron last season.
(Local medalists in each event)
Class 3A Boys
(4 qualify for PIAAs)
4x800 relay: 1-Butler (E. Thomas, L. Rogers, L. Slear, A. Motonis)
100 meters: 6-Austin Friedline (K), 10.99
1,600 meters: 3-Brendan Eicher (B), 4:16.76; 4-Colton Rearick (M), 4:21.02; 5-Carter French (K), 4:22.67
400 meters: 2-Carter Ekas (B), 48.75
400 meters (wheelchair): 2-Mitchell Everly (SV), 1:31.42
4x100 relay: 3-Butler (L. Ekas, K. Shriver, I. Miller, C. Ekas)
300-meter hurdles: 8-Austin Friedline (K), 40.40
200 meters: 4-Kevin Shriver (B), 22.13
3,200 meters: 6-Brendan Eicher (B), 9:33.28
4x400 relay: 2-Butler (M. Saspe, I. Miller, L. Slear, C. Ekas), 3:20.55
High jump: 7-Dakari Payne (SV), 6-1
Triple jump: 4-Dakari Payne (SV), 45-3.75; 5-Eddie Strong (SV), 45-3
Javelin: 2-Reese Fatur (SV), 170-2; 3-Andrew Mejia (SV), 168-8; 6-Tyson Pino (B), 166-7
Pole vault: 2-Jason Wick (B), 14-9
Class 3A Girls
(4 qualify for PIAAs)
4x100 relay: 4-Seneca Valley (A. Popp, K. Skeen, A. Bokash, I. Yuhouse), 50.22; 5-Butler (H. Swidzinski, H. Schlobohm, R. Jack, R. Blystone), 50.32
High jump: 3-Jordan Monteleone (SV), 5-3; 7-Gracyn Vardy (B) 5-1
Long jump: 2-Kate Skeen (SV), 18-3.25
Discus: 8-Julianna Lockwood (B), 107-10
Javelin: 1-Audrey Wolfe (SV), 140-5; 2-Addie Weaver (SV), 132-8; 8-Neah Ewing (K), 118-2
Pole vault: 1-Tennyson Voll (SV), 12-0; 4-Halle Swidzinski (B), 10-6
Class 2A Boys
(5 qualify for PIAAs)
100 meters: 2-Jack Kandravy (NC), 10.81
1,600 meters: 2-Jack Steineman (NC), 4:18.31; 5-Tyler Carroll (NC), 4:21.64
400 meters: 2-Logan Schade (NC), 48.970
4x100 relay: 2-North Catholic (J. Kandravy, L. Schade, R. Snyder, W. Waskiewicz), 43.28
200 meters: 7-Jack Kandravy (NC), 23.02; 8-Logan Schade (NC), 23.28
3,200 meters: 2-Jack Steieneman (NC), 9:24.49; 7-Tyler Carroll (NC), 9:39.97
Long jump: 4-Jack Kandravy (NC), 21-8
Class 2A Girls
(5 qualify for PIAAs)
4x800 relay: 4-North Catholic (M. Killian, M. Meeuf, A. Puhalla, A. Morris), 10:02.14
100-meter hurdles: 2-Audra Lazzara (NC), 14.78; 6-Cecelia Schlegel (NC), 15.96
100 meters: 2-Anna Lazzara (NC); 12.11; 6-Callie Kandravy (NC), 12.71; 8-Madelyn Primer (NC), 12.86
1,600 meters: 6-Sydney Dunn (NC), 5:11.92
400 meters: 6-Alexa Stoltz (NC), 59.69
4x100 relay: 2-Freeport (P. Cene, M. Conger, M. Magness, M. Sleppy), 50.25
800 meters: 6-Maggie Killian (NC), 2:26.44
200 meters: 4-Anna Lazzara (NC), 25.42; 5-Alana Eiler (NC), 25.64; 8-Madelyn Primer (NC), 27.26
3,200 meters: 7-Madeline Meet (NC), 11:43.04
4x400 relay: 1-North Catholic (E. Elier, M. Heinbach, A. Stoltz, A. Lazzara), 4:03.53; 5-Freeport (P. Bhat, M. Sleppy, M. Magness, P. Cene), 4:11.24
Long jump: 2-Callie Kandravy (NC), 17-8.5; 5-Mackenzie Magness (F) 17-1.5; 6-Anna Lazzara (NC), 16-11.75
Javelin: 2-Alana Eiler (NC), 112-8
Pole vault: 1-Mackenzie Magness (F), 12-0
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Butler’s Kevin Shriver celebrates at the finish line as he sees he qualifies for state in the boys 200-meter race with a time of 22.13 during the WPIAL Track and Field Championships held Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Slippery Rock University's Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Jason Wick places second in the boys pole vault with a height of 14-09 during the WPIAL Track and Field Championships held Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Slippery Rock University's Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic’s Audra Lazarra places first in the girls 100-meter hurdles during the WPIAL Track and Field Championships held Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Slippery Rock University's Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Butler’s Logan Rogers, right, hands the baton to Landon Slear during the boys 4x800-meter relay, and Butler went on to win with a time of 8:03.31 in the Class 3A race at the WPIAL Track and Field Championships on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Slippery Rock University’s Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
