Seneca Valley's Mike Kolor, third from left, tries ignoring the heavy rain falling during the 1,600 meter run Thursday at the WPIAL Track and Field Championships at Baldwin. Kolor fi nished fourth in the event and qualified for next weekend's PIAA meet. The weather forced a portion of the WPIAL meet to be postponed. It will resume at 10 a.m. Saturday.

BALDWIN — Sonny Zangaro couldn't shake the feeling he was doing poorly.

A steady downpour of rain left the Mars senior with little room for error.

“It was key to keep my approach under control,” Zangaro said. “If I got too much speed I was going to slip. I had to be perfect with each jump.”

When Zangaro found that form, he knew that he was going to be champion. He cleared a personal-best 6 feet, 5 inches to win the WPIAL Class AAA championship in the boys high jump Thursday at Baldwin High School.

That gave Zangaro his first berth in the PIAA meet, which is next weekend at Shippensburg University. It also exercises his personal demons from the past three years.

Zangaro missed at the starting height the last two years. He thinks heading to states may not be so bad pressure-wise compared to getting through WPIALs.

“I feel like it will be a little bit better. This meet has haunted me for the past three years,” Zangaro said. “It takes some pressure off my back, but I've never been to states before, so it will still be there.”

Zangaro was the only Butler County athlete to win a title. Local athletes qualified in 10 events in both AA and AAA before the meet was postponed to 10 a.m. Saturday due to heavy rainfall.

No one's path was harder than Seneca Valley sophomore Mike Kolor.

Kolor lost his focus during the last lap of the 1,600-run due to the driving rain that started to fall during the end of the race.

That rain would force the meet to be postponed for 90 minutes, but Kolor still had to finish the race.

He could barely see, his legs gave out and he ended up diving over the finish line.

That effort gave him a time of 4:23.96 and a fourth-place finish, snaring the last automatic PIAA bid.

“When I fell, I didn't realize how under water the track was. My face was under water,” Kolor said. “It was crazy. It was like I was swimming, except I'm a slow swimmer.”

The Raiders 3,200-relay team of Brad Banks, Kolor, Brett Foster and Bryce Benjamin finished in second place with a time of 7:55.31. Banks, who also finished second in the 400, said Kolor's run showed what the Raiders had prepared for.“While a lot of teams were canceling their practices due to snow, we were practicing in March when it was snowing,” Banks said. “We are mentally strong that we can push through all the pain and the weather.”Knoch freshman Jordan Geist went and sat in the car to warm up during the delay. After a bad first throw in the discus, he needed some time to think.After throwing 117 and 118 on his first two throws, Geist had to throw a 145 just to reach the finals. Then his first throw in the finals wasn't what he wanted.“It was nerve-wracking,” Geist said. “But it also let it soak in to the point I knew what I had to do and how far I had to throw to move on.”Geist fouled and threw out of sector once it restarted.On his third throw, he threw 153-3 to hit the state qualifying mark and finish third.“It was too close to call,” Geist said.Geist also finished third in the shotput (55-3 1/3).Butler's Julia Baxter fell just short of where she wanted to be, but still got to states.Baxter finished third in the high jump (5-3), which was a little below her personal-best of 5-7.“I think I did OK, considering there was a tie for fourth and fifth,” Baxter said. “My steps were a little off.”Butler's Jared Blakely (fourth, discus) and Kalynn Callihan (fourth, shotput) also advanced in Class AAA.Freeport's Cole Hepler (fourth, javelin) and Summit Academy's Sam Callazo (fifth, shot put) also moved on in Class AA, as did Freeport's Zoe Pawlak (fourth, javelin).

Here's a list of who medaled at the Class AAA and AA WPIAL Track and Field Championships Thursday night at Baldwin High School. The rest of the meet will be contested at 10 a.m. Saturday at Baldwin. State qualifiers are in bold.<b>Class AAABoys3,200 relay: </b>1-Indiana 7:55.31 2-Seneca Valley (Brad Banks, Bryce Benjamin, Brett Foster, Mike Kolor) 7:55.32 7-Butler (Brandon Critchlow, Patrick Fullterton, Adam Knauer; 110 hurdles: 1-Matthew Bernadowski (Elizabeth Forward) 14.00 5-Ori Rinaman (Mars) 14.55.40; 100 dash: 1-Troy Apke (Mt. Lebanon) 10.81; 1,600 run: 1-Jeff Van Kooten (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) 4:17.39 4-Mike Kolor (Seneca Valley) 4:26.93; 400 run: 1-David Henderson (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) 49.78 2-Brad Banks (Seneca Valley) 50.49; 400 relay: 1-Gateway, 42.91<b>Shot put: </b>3-Jordan Geist (Knoch) 55-3 1/2; Discus: 1-Max Adams (Hempfield) 186-11 3-Jordan Geist (Knoch) 153-3 4-Jared Blakely (Butler) 147-6; Javelin: 1-Luke Smorey (Baldwin) 193-1 6-John King (Mars) 162-1; High jump: 1-Sonny Zangaro (Mars)6-5 6-Phillip Washington (Butler) 6-1; Long jump: 1-Montae Nicholson (Gateway) 23-2 1/2<b>Girls3,200 relay: </b>Mt. Lebanon 9:21.10; 100 hurdles: 1-Maddie Holmberg (Hempfield) 14.31; 100 dash: 1-Taylor McCorkle (Oakland Catholic) 11.96; 1,600 run: 1-Brianna Schwartz (Shaler) 4:45.19 8-Becky Paine (Seneca Valley) 5:15.79; 400 run: 1-Jasmine Jones (Hempfield) 57.93 5-Karli Paracca (Mars) 59.37; 400 relay: Hempfield 49.27<b>Shot put:</b> 1-Deilona DeVaughn (West Mifflin) 39-10 4-Kalynn Callihan (Butler) 37-0 8-Rachel Kroneburg (Knoch) 34-9 1/4; Discus: Winner (S) time; Javelin: 1-Madison Wiltrout (Connellsville) 141-7; High jump: 1-Jessica Stever (Indiana) 5-3 3-Julia Baxter (Butler) 5-3; <b>Triple jump: 1-Tori Soeder (Shaler) 37-3 1/4 7-Kristen Knass (Butler) 34-10 1/4<b>Class AABoys3,200 relay: </b>1-Washington, 8:04.84 6-Freeport (Josh Brestensky, David Loevely, Ben Tyler, Rob Reichenbaugh) 8:33.17; 110 hurdles: 1-Ricky Fayad (South Side) 15.17; 100 dash: 1-Louis Berry (Shady Side Academy) 11.0; 1,600 run: 1-Domenic Peretta (Beaver Falls) 4:19.14; 400 run: 1-Kenny Baurle (Avonworth/Northgate) 50.08; 400 relay: 1-Aliquippa 44.88 8-Summit Academy (Sam Callozo, David Hicks, Lemuel McFadden, Joshua Navarro) 46.30.<b>Shot put:</b> 1-Dom Westbay (Shenango) 50-6 1/2 5-Sam Callozo (Summit Academy) 44-5; Discus: 1-Austin Sheridan (Riverside) 157-4; Javelin: 1-Chris DiNuzzo (Beaver) 171-10 4-Cole Hepler (Freeport) 155-4 8-Brandon Wisniewski (Freeport) 141-11; High jump: 1-Alex Brooks (Laurel) 6-0; Long jump: 1-Tre Carter (Trinity Christian) 22-0<b>Girls3,200 relay: </b>1-Avonworth/Northgate, 9:37.25 7-Freeport (Brittaney Bianco, Rebecca Dudek, Kim Mixon, Maggie Ward) 10:11.82; 100 hurdles: 1-Emily Lelis (Springdale), 14:51 6-Erica Jack (Freeport) 16.07 7-Dava Jack (Freeport) 16.85; 100 dash: 1-Alyssa Wise (Washington) 11.95; 1,600 run: 1-Beth Schenck (Avonworth/Northgate) 4:56.04; 400 run: 1-Ruthe Neeley (Beaver) 58.39; 400 relay: Vincentian Academy 50.82<b>Discus: </b>Kailyn Clancy (California) 118-8; Javelin: 1-Jenna Lucas (Fort Cherry) 141-10 4-Zoe Pawlak (Freeport) 114-6; High jump: 1-Maris Seto (Brownsville) 5-3; Triple jump: 1-Maris Seto (Brownsville) 34-11 1/2

Freeport twins Erica and Dava Jack compete in the hurdles at the WPIAL Track and Field Championships Thursday in Baldwin.