BUTLER TWP — It's a time Maggie Welty has had on her mind for the better part of four years.

It's consumed her. Motivated her. Driven her to get better each time the senior's cleats touched the Butler High School track.

The time: 5 minutes, 6.88 seconds. It was a school record in the 1,600-meter run set by Danica Snyder in 2011.

Welty broke the mark Friday night at the Baldwin Invitational, finishing at 5:06.42.

“I don't think I've ever seen her happier,” said Butler girls track and field coach John Williams.

That's because Welty had finally done it after nearly four seasons of trying.

“It's kind of crazy,” Welty said. “It's kind of a relief to get it. Going into the (Baldwin Invitational), I mentally prepared myself to break it. I was running against the best athletes in the WPIAL.”

On the way home from Baldwin High School, Welty received a text message from Snyder congratulating her on the record.

“It's really awesome,” Welty said. “I met her a few times. She texted me that she was so excited for me. It's a really cool feeling. Hopefully I can do that for someone one day.”

Welty, though, has plans to make the 1,600 record pretty hard to break.

Her goal is to notch a time under 5 minutes before the season is over.

“There's always room to get better,” Welty said. “I always feel like I can do better.”

Welty's school record was one of many highlights for both the Butler girls and boys track and field teams at Baldwin.

The Golden Tornado placed first. The Butler boys placed third and the Golden Tornado also won the combined title.

Liz Simms won the 800 with a time of 2:16.80. She finished nearly three seconds ahead of the pack.

“Liz Simms basically ran the 800 by herself,” Williams said. “She had a great race.”

Jena Reinheimer won the discus, uncorking a toss of 137 feet, 7 inches on her final throw in the finals.

Freshman Chesna Tomko continues to make a name for herself, placing second in the 300-meter hurdles and coming home with four medals.

She made a believer out of Mount Lebanon runner Molly Mangan, who has rarely been pushed in the event this season.

“It was neat watching them come down the last 80 meters neck-and-neck,” Williams said. “The Mount Lebo girl was like, 'Who the heck is this freshman?' After the race, she went up to Chesna and said, 'Hello, my name is Molly.'”

For Welty, the success as a team has been just as exciting as her personal triumphs.

“We have a lot of momentum right now,” Welty said.

The Butler girls have the team finals Monday against North Allegheny, Norwin and Hempfield.

The Butler boys are also in the team finals Monday against the same three teams.

Noah Beveridge won the 3,200 with a time of 9:09.15 to help the boys to the third-place finish.

Other highlights:

Seneca Valley's Zach Gehm won the discus with a monster throw of 182-8. He was also third in the javelin and fourth in the shot put.

Moniteau's Kendall Grossman was second in the pole vault (11-0).

Grossman's teammate, Cambrie Campbell, was third in the girls javelin (128-6).