Cavanaugh looks for ‘triple’ at PIAA Championships
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Waynesburg Central’s Will Behm catches the bar as he attempts to clear a Class AA meet record of 14-10 at the WPIAL Track & Field Championships at Baldwin. Behm eventually cleared the height to break the previous mark of 14-9 set by Riverside’s Evan Resnick in 2015.
Waynesburg Central's Will Behm (left) talk with coaches (from left) Butch Brunell, Tyler Kolar, Jacob Hensh and Nate Hensh before his second attempt at 14-10 in the WPIAL Class AA Track & Field Championships at Baldwin. Behm cleared the height to set a new WPIAL meet record.
Elizabeth Forward's Daniel Jacobs steps down the runway as he prepares to release the javelin in the preliminary round of the WPIAL Class AAA Track & Field Championships held at Baldwin High School.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Bentworth’s Brenna Cavanaugh sprints to the finish to win the gold medal in the Class AA 100 high hurdles at the WPIAL Track & Field Championships at Baldwin High School. Cavanaugh looks to repeat as state champion in the event when the PIAA Track & Field Championships get underway on Friday.
Brenna Cavanaugh breezed to the gold medal last year in the finals of the Class AA 100 high hurdles at the PIAA Track & Field Championships, but the Bentworth senior had to overcome a stumble in the semifinals to do so.
The Eastern Michigan recruit caught the last hurdle and rolled over as she fell to Seth Grove Stadium track. Cavanaugh had the presence of mind to crawl over the finish line to secure the final time spot on time, 15.69 seconds, just .04 seconds ahead of the next time qualifier.
Then, running out of Lane 8, Cavanaugh handily defeated the field for the state gold medal.
Cavanaugh won bronze last year in the long jump and was 20th in the triple jump, as she looks to cap her remarkable career with three trips to the Class AA awards podium when the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships get underway today at Shippensburg University. She has the fastest seed time in the high hurdles (14.51) and second-longest distance in the long jump (18-6).
Brownsville’s Gionna Quarzo and Frazier’s Skye Eicher, both sophomores, along with Elizabeth Forward senior Daniel Jacobs are also returning state medal winners.
Quarzo finished seventh in the Class AA 3,200 last year. Her WPIAL gold medal-winning time of 11:11.16 is the third-fastest seed time. Quarzo also qualified on the Lady Falcons’ 3,200 relay team, along with Jessica and Sara Vance and Ashton Reposky.
Eicher looks to double in the Class AA sprints after finishing seventh in the 100 in her first trip to the state meet. Eicher advanced to the semifinals in the 200 last year as she seeks a two-medal state meet.
Jacobs, who will attend Louisville this fall, finished fifth in the Class AAA javelin in 2016.
Waynesburg Central’s Will Behm set the WPIAL Class AA meet record in winning the pole vault last week. Behm finished just off the podium last year in ninth place.
Elizabeth Forward’s Brianna Spirnak also just missed the Class AAA awards stand in 2016, finishing 10th in the javelin.
Waynesburg’s Daniel Layton also has two shots at a Class AA medal in the pole vault and 110 high hurdles. Layton advanced to the semifinals in the high hurdles last year, finishing 13th overall.
California senior Marissa Bitonti finished 16th in the Class AA javelin last year. The senior won the bronze medal in the WPIAL finals last week.
“I want to have fun. Obviously, it’s my last meet,” said Bitonti. “I know I have more in me.”
Belle Vernon’s Hannah Seitzinger finished 17th in the Class AAA 400 meters last year, and Elizabeth Forward’s Hannah Hughes did not advance to the finals in the Class AAA shot put, placing 20th overall.
Beth-Center has four first-time qualifiers in Kinlee Whited (300 intermediate hurdles), Kennedy Kuhns (javelin), Jordan Blackburn (discus), and Michael Berdar (high jump). Kuhns, a senior, wanted her final meet to be the state championships.
“I wanted to make states,” Kuhns said after finishing fourth in the WPIAL. “My goal was to make it to states. I’m happy I met that goal.”
“I was nervous. This is my last hurrah,” said Whited. “I’m in the best shape I’ve been in. This is the time to do it.”
Waynesburg’s Taylor Shriver (pole vault) and Madison Brooks (shot put), Brownsville’s Nicholas Seto (triple jump), Belle Vernon’s Hunter Martin (long jump), Southmoreland’s Chase Calhoun (shot put), Mount Pleasant’s Maddie Lorince (javelin), Uniontown’s Jayden Thomas (high jump) and Maeve Carei (pole vault), and Connellsville’s Aiden Bruich (shot put) are all making their first trip to Shippensburg.
Brooks sported a big smile when she looked forward to the state meet.
“I’d love to have another (medal) hanging around my neck. This is my first medal and first trip to states,” said Brooks.