Boy’s track
Raiders sweep triangular; Brownsville gains split WAYNESBURG – The meet between Waynesburg Central, Brownsville and Beth-Center Tuesday had a rousing start in the boys 3,200 relay, but the Raiders were too deep for the two visiting teams for a sweep of the Section 3-AA triangular home meet.
Waynesburg improved to 2-1 in the section with a 98-47 win over Brownsville and a convincing 121-27 victory over Beth-Center. The Falcons (2-2) salvaged a split with a 98-37 win over the Bulldogs (0-3).
The 3,200 relay teams took to the track under threatening skies with the Falcons holding the lead after three legs. Brownsville’s Josh Crable gave it all he had, but the Raiders’ Frank Bryan swept past the Falcons’ distance specialist in the home stretch to set the tone for Waynesburg Central.
Crable’s frustrations continued in the 1,600 when the junior was unable to hold off Waynesburg Central’s Drew Headlee in the final 200 meters, falling short by three seconds. Crable packaged up his frustrations in the 3,200 and let loose, crashing through the 8-lap race in 11:35, three seconds ahead of Headlee.
“I’m glad my knee held up,” said Crable as he pressed an ice bag to his ailing joint after the 3,200. “I had a strong finish in the 3,200. I wanted it more. (The 3,200 relay and 1,600) left me wanting for the 3,200 a lot.”
To no one’s surprise, the Raider crew had a dominant performance in the throws. Derek Mears won the overall shot put and discus competition and won strong legs on the 1600 and 400 relays, though A.J. Vinosky broke through for Beth-Center by winning the javelin with a throw of 133-73/4.
Mears misses the competition with Lanfer Simpson, now at West Virginia, but has found another foil in Bill Patterson.
“Now it’s Bill Patterson and me,” the Canisius football recruit said. “It’s helpful to have competition. I miss the competition (with Simpson) in shot put. It was always good to have a friendly rivalry.”
Mears won the shot put with a personal best throw of 51-5, but has his eyes set on Simpson’s mark of 53-1/2 at last year’s state championship.
“I want to stay consistent through the season. I want the school record in the shot put and the discus. I think both Bill and I have a chance.”
Scott Cree had a fine individual day for Waynesburg with wins in the 100 and 200 and a leg on the 400 relay. Bryan not only shined in the relays, but also won the 400 and 800.
Doug Patterson picked up where he left off late last season in the jumps. The Brownsville leaper had the top effort in the long jump (19-31/2) as well as in the triple jump (39-10).
Another year of maturity has Brownsville’s Joe Cardine poised for a run at the WPIAL Class AA Championships. Cardine won the 300 intermediate hurdles (44.7) and finished second overall in the 110 high hurdles (17.36) to Waynesburg’s Brandon Phillips.
“I like the 110 hurdles better,” said Cardine, who also competed in the high jump and 1,600 relay. “The season’s going pretty good. Every race is getting better.”
Beth-Center’s George Hilverding had a taste of the district finals last year, and the junior is hoping for more this year, especially after being injured during football season.
“It made me want it more after getting hurt in football. I knew I had to come back strong in track. I already know what to do. The more you run, the more you get the technique down,” said Hilverding, who finished second in the 800.
“You want it a little bit more when you run on a track once a week,” said Hilverding, alluding to the Bulldogs’ plight of not having a track.
All three coaches were pleased to an extent with the way their teams ran.
“It didn’t go as well as I expected. The places didn’t go as I thought,” Brownsville boys coach Larry Cash said. “I figured Waynesburg would give us a run for the money. We have a young team. We’re progressing well.”
“I knew we’d do well in the field events,” Waynesburg boys coach Duane Bowers said. “This is only the second meet of the season for us. We have a lot of young kids out for track and we’re still getting a feel for what they can do. We have a fairly large team with 40 boys. The young kids will have to work their way through it.”
“It was a good meet for us. I am hoping the kids’ times and distances get better and increase, and they did that,” Beth-Center coach Ed Woods said of his philosophy.