BUTLER TWP — The Knoch 3,200-meter relay team hasn't met any of its goals just yet, but winning the event at the Butler Track and Field Invitational is a good first step.

The foursome of Artie Black, Ben Hutterer, Brian Tackett and Kyle Reeping finished the relay with a time of 8 minutes, 12.2 seconds on Friday, easily outdistancing runner-up Erie McDowell (8:18.1).

"We wanted to break the school record (8:11.7, set back in 1987). That was our goal (Friday), to break it," said Knoch coach Wess Brahler. "We want to try and get it down to eight minutes.

"We want to break the record first, then the WPIAL championship, then go to states where anything can happen,"Brahler added.

Other first-place finishers Friday were a pair of Butler athletes, Harold Dunn and Matt Celestin, who won the javelin (178 feet, 5 inches) and long jump (22-2), respectively.

"I knew coming in that I would place high," said Dunn. "I just hoped I would win the meet, but I hoped to PR, though."

His personal record of 191-11½ was set earlier this season at the Tri-State Meet. Dunn said he worked on his strength in the off-season, but knows technique is just as important.

"He's not using his full technique yet," said Butler coach Rick Schontz. "Our athletes know that May is when you want to make your big throws."

Celestin, who also earned a fifth-place medal with a leap of 6-0 in the high jump, has steadily improved this season in the long jump, starting out at 18 feet indoors.

"He kept working, nudging it along," said Schontz. "He's doing well in the high jump and triple jumps, too."

Moniteau's Matt Schandelmeier didn't earn gold, but he did walk away with the Field MVP. Schandelmeier was second in the discus (156-11) and third in the shot put (52-10½) and javelin (172-7).

"I was pretty happy with all three of my throws," said Schandelmeier. "I PR'ed in the disc and shot. I was kind of upset that I just missed the school record by a couple of inches."

The performance against some of the area's top programs can only do wonders for Schandelmeier's confidence.

"It let's me know I have a better feel going into states than I did last year," he added.

Knoch's Kyle Reeping (2:00.82) edged North Allegheny's Max Brown (2:01.11) for second place in the 800.

Karns City's Mark Ferguson had a pair of third-place finishes in the 110 hurdles (15.13) and 300 hurdles (40.11). Other third-place performances include Knoch's Kevin Flaherty in the 400 (51.74) and Seneca Valley's Chris Cipro in the 3,200 (9:53.91).

Butler's 3,200 relay team of Cory Haley, Ian Haley, Wade Grubbs and Nathan Neff was also third with a time of 8:21.5, shaving six seconds off their best time this season.

Notes: The meet was delayed by lightning and heavy rain for more than an hour. Fortunately, all the field events were finished at that point. ... Erie Cathedral Prep won the team title with 76 points while North Allegheny was second. Butler was fifth (33½), Knoch sixth (32), Karns City ninth (23½) and Moniteau tied for 10th (23).

Listed below are the top seven medalists at Friday's Butler Boys Track and Field Invitational. The times of the top placewinners and all Butler County athletes are provided.

Boys3,200-meter relay:

1-Knoch (Artie Black, Ben Hutterer, Brian Tackett, Kyle Reeping) 8:12.2; 2-Erie McDowell;

3-Butler 8:21.5; 4-Gateway; 5-North Allegheny;

6-Karns City 8:34.8; 7-Baldwin

110-meter hurdles: 1-Bryce Meyers (Erie McDowell) 14.61; 2-Timko (North Hills);

3-Mark Ferguson (Karns City) 15.13; 4-Kowal (Ambridge); 5-Haggerty (Erie Cath. Prep);

6-Tim Bertotti (Karns City) 15.51; 7-DQ

100-meter dash: 1-Khiry Watts (Northgate) 10.71; 2-Hill (North Hills); 3-Rainey-Wiles (North Hills); 4-Scott (North Allegheny); 5-Rowan (Erie Cath. Prep); 6-Hiedelberg (Erie Cath. Prep); 7-DQ

1,600-meter run: 1-Lucas Zarzeczeny (Northgate) 4:16.79; 2-Brown (North Allegheny); 3-Havko (Mercyhurst Prep); 4-Smith (Allderdice); 5-Muhammed (Penn Hills); 6-Bougoukos (North Allegheny); 7-Beabout (Wheeling Park)

400-meter dash: 1-Alex Eaton (Erie cath. Prep) 50.81; 2-Crumrine (Wheeling Park);

3-Kevin Flaherty (Knoch) 51.74; 4-Fitzpatrick (Erie McDowell); 5-Williams (Northgate);

6-Andrew Harmon (Karns City) 52.24; 7-Lomel (Penn Hills)

400 meter relay: 1-Erie Cath. Prep 43.7; 2-North Hills; 3-Penn Hills; 4-North Allegheny; 5-Erie McDowell; 6-Wheeling Park;

7-Butler 44.67

300-meter hurdles: 1-Matt Timko (North Hills) 39.28; 2-Wolf (Baldwin);

3-Mark Ferguson (Karns City) 40.11; 4-Reed Hampton; 5-Goldbaugh (Wheeling Park); 6-Haggerty (Erie Cath. Prep);

7-Dan Dickey (Seneca Valley) 40.9

800-meter run: Joe Wayne (Erie McDowell) 1:57.85;

2-Kyle Reeping (Knoch) 2:00.82; 3-Brown (NA); 4-Coleman (Penn Hills);

5-Kevan Kelleher (Seneca Valley) 2:04.45;

6-Chris Harmon (Karns City) 2:04.92; 7-Burry (North Allegheny)

200-meter dash: 1-Terrence Akarie (Penn Hills) 22.7; 2-King (East Allegheny); 3-Howet (Hampton); 4-Wolfe (Baldwin); 5-Williams (Gateway); 6-Wilds (Penn Hills); 7-Dogun (Erie McDowell)

3,200-meter run: Mike Stolar (Mercyhurst Prep) 9:46.17; 2-Morgan (North Allegheny); 3-Chris Cipro (Seneca Valley) 9:53.91;

4-Artie Black (Knoch) 10:04.81; 5-Beabout (Wheeling Park); 6-Weldman (Allderdice);

7-Ben Hutterer (Knoch) 10:06.85

1,600-meter relay: 1-Erie Cath. Prep 3:32.7; 2-Erie McDowell; 3-Wheeling Park;

4-Butler 3:35.7; 5-Knoch 3:41.0; 6-Penn Hills; 7-North Allegheny

High jump: 1-Derek Brower (Erie Cathedral Prep) 6-2; 2-Rainey-Wiles (North Hills); 3-Orlando (Erie Cath. Prep); 4-McGlothlin (Schenley);

5-Matt Celestin (Butler) 6-0; 6-Brian McCandless (Butler) 6-0; 7-Brett Moore (Union) 5-10

Long jump:

1-Matt Celestin (Butler) 22-2; 2-Rainey-Wiles (North Hills); 3-Austin (Woodland Hills); 4-Wilds (Penn Hills); 5-McGlothlin (Schenley); 6-Polzot (Ambridge);

7-Nick Mitro (Seneca Valley) 20-2

Triple jump: 1-Dave Orlando (Erie Cath. Prep) 43-3¾; 2-Stewart (Mercyhurst Prep); 3-Kubinski (Erie Cath. Prep);

4-Mike Martin (Butler) 42-6¾; 5-Bob Alexander (Butler) 40-11; 6-Kloski (Clarion-Limestone); 7-Weaver (Erie McDowell)

Shot put: Denes Veres (Riverside) 56-4; 2-Larkin (North Allegheny);

3-Matt Schandelmeier (Moniteau) 52-10½; 4-Noce (Erie McDowell);

5-Ryan Protzman (Moniteau) 50-8; 6-Tim Miles (Seneca Valley) 49-10; 7-Dan Dillman (Slippery Rock) 49-5½

Discus: 1-Adam Hambrick (North Allegheny) 165-0;

2-Matt Schandelmeier (Moniteau) 156-11; 3-Warning (Gateway); 4-Veres (Riverside);

5-Bill Elliott (Knoch) 143-0; 6-Nolan Brink (Butler) 137-1; 7-Harbodin (Gateway)

Javelin:

1-Harold Dunn (Butler) 178-5; 2-Alouise (Riverside);

3-Matt Schandelmeier (Moniteau) 172-7; 4-Csir (Erie Cath. Prep); 5-Benevino (Clarion);

6-Ryan Miller (Butler) 155-7; 7-Smith (Gateway)

Pole vault: 1-Sean Gill (NA) 14-0; 2- Meverdan (Pine-Richland); 3-Famosa (Wheeling Park); 4-Meahl (Erie McDowell); 5-Knight (North Allegheny); 6-Rushlander (North Hills);

7-t Steve Black (Karns City), Andy Strutt (Butler), Godsen (Riverside)

13-0Team standings (out of 45 teams): 1-Erie Cath. Prep 76, 2-North Allegheny 68, 3-Erie McDowell 56, 4-North Hills 50,

5-Butler 37.5, 6-Knoch 32, 7-Penn Hills 28, 8-Mercyhurst Prep 24,

9-Karns City 23.5, 10t-Moniteau, Northgate

23; 16-Seneca Valley 12; 27t-Slippery Rock, Union-Rimersburg 1Track MVP: Mark Timko (North Hills)

Field MVP:Matt Schandelmeier (Moniteau)