BUTLER TWP — A lot of great individual and team performances were undoubtedly lost when the spring sports season was canceled last year.

Also falling victim to the pandemic was Butler's yearly track and field meet against Seneca Valley. In recent years, either a playoff spot or playoff positioning seemed on the line for both boys and girls teams involved.

That was the case when the Golden Tornado and Raiders met for the first time in two years Tuesday at Art Bernardi Stadium.

Both Butler squads and SV's boys had already clinched berths into the upcoming WPIAL team tournament, while SV's girls needed a win to extend their season.

The Golden Tornado proved too strong, however, in both cases. Butler's boys defeated SV 108-42 and the girls dispatched the Raiders 92-58.

Thanks to Tuesday's efforts, both Golden Tornado squads earned section championships with undefeated records at 6-0.

“I hear it's been 14 years since our boys won a section title,” said Butler boys coach Mike Seybert. “We have to verify that, but it's been a while.”

Seybert looked to his distance runners to set the tone in the first event.

“We wanted to get those five points right off the bat, so we stuck our four fastest kids in the 4x8 relay,” he said of the quartet of Raine Gratzmiller, Lucas Slear, Skyler Vavro and CJ Singleton, which won the event with a time of eight minutes, 6.29 seconds.

“Our time and Seneca's time today are the two fastest times in the WPIAL.”

Vavro was a sophomore in 2019 when the Raiders defeated Butler, keeping the Tornado from competing for a WPIAL team title.

“It feels good to get by Seneca today,” he said. “We got by (North Allegheny) this year, too. I think we can win it all, that's what we're going for.”

Butler sprinter Guinness Brown put up another dominating effort, winning the 100, 200 and 400.

CJ Singleton won the 1,600 and 3,200 runs and Landon Kretzer placed first in the discus and javelin.

“We want to be the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and hopefully, we'll get home-track advantage,” said Seybert.

SV coach Ray Peaco knew his boys had an uphill climb, especially without star hurdler Aiden Kutchma and sprinter Tyler Yurich, both of whom are nursing injuries.

“It was next man up for us today and some kids did well,” said Peaco. “When you're entering a big meet without some of your top guys, it makes it really tough.

“Both of those guys should be back for the team semifinals (next Tuesday). Maybe we can get to the final four and have some fun there. It will be a tough road to hoe, though, because Butler is really, really good.”

The Raiders' Matt Laslavic won the high jump and triple jump.

Butler's girls won the section championship for the fifth straight year. The Golden Tornado hope to win a fourth straight WPIAL crown next month.

“Having what we did last year and not being able to compete, any chance we get to come out, we're gonna go,” said Butler girls coach John Williams.

Alli Morrow led the way for the Tornado, winning the 100, 200, long jump and helping the 4x100 to victory.

Butler earned several sweeps in the field events.

“When you're trying to get to that total of 76 (points) and you can score nine in one event, that's huge,” Williams said. “Alexia Mechling (5-4 in high jump) and Megan Baggetta (36-9¼ in triple jump) both had personal bests today.”

“I'm very proud of our girls,” Peaco said. “We've been battling injuries, contact tracing and quarantines like everyone else, but our girls are resilient. They wanted to move on, but Butler is so strong everywhere.”

For the Raiders, Ruthie Hughes (3,200), Zoe Simpson (800) and Gabby Kutchma (1,600) each won individually and were on the winning 4x800 relay team.”

BoysButler 108, Seneca Valley 423,200 relay: Butler (Raine Gratzmiller, Lucas Slear, Skyler Vavro, CJ Singleton) 8:06.29; 110 hurdles: Byron Manchester (B); 100 dash: Guinness Brown (B) 11.09; 1,600 run: CJ Singleton (B) 4:41.54; 400 run: Guinness Brown (B) 49.50; 400 relay: Seneca Valley (Brandon Ross, Dan Fountain, Nolan Dworek, Wyatt Craver) 45.05; 300 hurdles: Presley Ornelas (B) 40.69; 800 run: Skyler Vavro (B) 2:05.96; 200 dash: Guinness Brown (B); 3,200 run: CJ Singleton (B) 10:28.59; 1,600 relay: Seneca Valley (Fountain, Correa, Rich, Foulkrod) 3:38.77Shot put: Jake Ritzert (B) 46-2½; Discus: Landon Kretzer (B) 139-3; Javelin: Landon Kretzer (B) 169-3; High jump: Matt Laslavic (SV) 6-1; Long jump: Brayden Young (B) 21-9; Triple jump: Matt Laslavic (SV) 43-1; Pole vault: Tristan McGarrah (B) 14-0

GirlsButler 92, Seneca Valley 583,200 relay: Seneca Valley (Lauryn Young, Ruthie Hughes, Gabby Kutchma, Zoe Simpson) 10:05.26; 100 hurdles: Emma Lehman (B) 16.04; 100 dash: Alli Morrow (B) 13.0; 1,600 run: Gabby Kutchma (SV) 5:28.35; 400 run: Rylie Smith (SV) 58.74; 400 relay: Butler (Lehman, Morrow, J.Forbes, Timmons) 50.42; 300 hurdles: Emma Lehman (B) 48.67; 800 run: Zoe Simpson (SV) 2:33.82; 200 dash: Alli Morrow (B) 26.48; 3,200 run: Ruthie Hughes (SV) 12:25.77; 1,600 relay: Butler 4:15.96Shot put: Kenna Jackson (B) 33-2; Discus: Sarayne Forbes (B) 113-7; Javelin: Lillian Karchut (SV) 104-8; High jump: Alexia Mechling (B) 5-4; Long jump: Alli Morrow (B) 16-6½; Triple jump: Megan Baggetta (B) 36-9¼; Pole vault: Kiersten Belt (SV) 11-0