A sprained ankle slowed Emily Horstman down.

Nobody stopped her.

The Butler High School graduate — headed to Slippery Rock University — posted the best times in Butler County girls track and field in 2016 in the 100 and 200 meters. She also ran on the Golden Tornado's 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams, also the fastest in the county.

“It was tiring at times and sometimes I ran through some pain,” Horstman said. “But I wanted to be there for my team.”

Horstman suffered a sprained ankle during the Butler Invitational in April. Sue said it didn't feel close to 100 percent again until the PIAA meet.

In the meantime, she won the 100 and 200 meters at the WPIAL meet and ran a leg of Butler's winning 4x400 relay at that meet. She placed sixth in the state in the 100, seventh in the 200.

“Emily was exceptional this year,” Butler coach John Williams said. “To lead the county in multiple events is impressive. Track and field in Butler County is definitely on the rise.

“She had numerous (college) options on where to go. Slippery Rock has an excellent physical therapy program and that's what she wants. It's a good level for her to go, too. She can be competitive right away.”

Butler shined in the sprint events as a team, topping the county in the 400 and 800 meters as well as all three relays. Alexis Leech, a junior, ran the 400 in 57.33 seconds and freshman Liz Simms topped the 800 runners with a mark of 2:15.31.

“Liz is less than a second off Katie Butler's school record in the 800 and Alexis is about two seconds off Annessa Steele's mark in the 400,” Williams pointed out. “It comes down to hard work and having talented kids.”

Moniteau knows about that.

The Warriors' Maura Kimmel easily topped the county in the discus and shot put. She won the PIAA title in the discus with a throw of 146 feet, 7 inches — 22 feet farther than county runner-up and Moniteau teammate Brittany Lindsay.

Kimmel placed fourth in the state in the shot put and beat out Lindsay by nearly six feet in that event. Lindsay, headed to SRU, was second in the county again.

Kimmel, Moniteau's first-ever individual state champion, is headed to the University of Pennsylvania to study chemical engineering.

“Brittany and I had a friendly competition through four years of high school together,” Kimmel said. “We pushed each other. Then Cambrie came along and was right there, too.”

Cambrie Campbell, a Moniteau sophomore, led the county in the javelin with a 140 feet, 10 feet farther than county runner-up Zoe Pawlak of Freeport.

“Those three (Kimmel, Linday and Campbell) finished 1-2-3 in a lot of our meets,” Warriors coach Sue Scialabba said. “It was all about commitment and dedication.”

Kimmel finds it hard to fathom that no one at her school ever won a state title before her.

“My father attended school here. It's been around for a while,” she said. “But our coach always said success breeds success. Cambrie is still there and hopefully others will follow her — and other state titles at Moniteau will follow mine.”

Knoch senior Mandi Moxie led the county in the 1,600 meters this year and was third-fastest in the 3,200. She is the only female to finish among the top three in the county in both events.

Moxie, the WPIAL cross country champion last fall, is headed to Division II Queens University in North Carolina to compete in track and cross country. She plans to major in biology.

“My three brothers competed in track and my mother has been a distance runner,” Moxie said. “I've always wanted to do the same thing.”

Moxie's mother has run the Boston, Pittsburgh, New York and Washington D.C. marathons, among others.

Knoch coach Wess Brahler said Moxie's work ethic has enabled her to succeed in running.

“With distance, it's all about having the discipline to go out on your own and run all those unsupervised miles,” Brahler said. “That's how those runners get better.”