BUTLER TWP — It isn't the start that counts. It's the finish.

Just ask Kendall Butch.

The Butler HighSchool senior had a slow start to the outdoor track and field season, but she appears to be headed for a fast finish after winning three events and earning the field MVP award at the Butler Girls Track and Field Invitational Saturday.

Butch's indoor season was severely curtailed when she contracted mononucleosis. She is just now up to speed.

"Kendall had a rough beginning of the season," said Butler girls track and field coachRod Harris. "During the indoor season, she was sick with mono and now we're trying to get her back on track. Finally, thing are coming together for her."

They came together nicely on a dreary and damp Saturday. Butch, who advanced to the PIAA Track and Field Championships in the pole vault and the high jump last season, won those two events easily and added a triple jump crown to her invite trifecta.

"I love how it feels to win those three because it's my senior year and it's something that is going to be memorable for me," Butch said. "I'm pretty excited. Actually, I'm really, really excited. That's definitely something I'm proud of."

Butch helped Butler finish second in the invitational with 90 points. North Allegheny — Butler's section rival — won the team championship with 130 points.

Last year, Butler and NA tied for the crown.

"I'm pleased with that," Harris said. "NA has a really strong team this year. We already saw that when we ran them in a dual meet.

"Everyone is starting to (get their personal records)," Harris added. "They're hitting the marks they are supposed to be hitting at this time of year. We don't want them running as fast as they can in March. We want them running as fast as they can in May."

Butch won the pole vault with a 11-feet jump. Her illness and a technical issue have slowed her in that event.

"I was having trouble with my steps," Butch said. "I've been working on trying to get it back. I'm trying to get back to the 12-foot range."

There's been nothing wrong with her high jump efforts. Last week, she cleared 5-foot-7 and Saturday won the event with a 5-2 effort.

She also won the triple jump with a plus-35-foot jump.

"I'm going to try to qualify for the state meet in the triple jump this year, too," Butch said. "Hopefully I can."

Butler also got solid efforts from Lea Renwick and freshman Kelly Huth.

Renwick was second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.32 seconds. She also ran a leg of the Golden Tornado 400-meter relay team that also placed second.

Huth shocked many onlookers by finishing fourth in the 100.

"Lea Renwick had a great meet," Harris said. "She had her personal best (in the 100) that puts her in the top five of our school records. She had trouble getting past that 12.6 barrier. She just couldn't get under it. I finally told her in the finals, 'Let's go. We're going to do it.' And she did."

Moniteau senior Alyssa Deal also had a solid day. She almost missed it.

Deal nearly missed her date in the 800-meter run, arriving much too close for comfort to the start of that race.

"My coach told me to be here at 12-ish," Deal said. "I got her at 11, and they were already running the (1,600). I said, 'What the heck?'"

The meet ended nearly two hours early. No matter. Deal finished before everyone else in the 800 with a time of two minutes, 19.89 seconds.

For Deal, it was a refreshing victory after suffering through a lost season last year as a junior.

Deal's season was cut to just two weeks because of a hip flexor injury. She advanced to the state meet, but was a shell of herself.

That has only served to fire her up this season.

"Oh my gosh, it's tremendous motivation for me," Deal said. "Not only am I fresh this year, but I'm a senior, so I have to give it all because I don't know if I'm going to be able to do it again."

Deal is unsure where she will attend college or even if she will play a sport when she gets there.

That makes doing well this spring on the track even more urgent.

"It makes you more hungry," Deal said. "I kind of always wanted track to be over with in the past because I didn't really like it. Basketball is the sport I really love. Now, I kind of wish I had a few more meets to get my times down. Now is when I realize this is my last shot."

Notes: Deal's teammate, Haley McFeaters, placed third in the 400 and fourth in the 200. ... Three invitational records were broken Saturday. Oakland Catholic's Charelise Davis set two marks, breaking her own record in the 100 that she set in 2004 with a time of 11.88 seconds and eclipsing the record set last year by Raquel Bender of Penn Hills in the 200 with a time of 24.82 seconds. Shaler's Jessica Zozos broke the record in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11 minutes, 17.75 seconds. ... Slippery Rock's Abby Basta, still recovering from an ankle injury suffered during basketball season, placed third in the 100 hurdles and fifth in the 300 hurdles.