May 4, 2019 By The 3 min read

Five local athletes survived the large field, rainy weather and a long day at the Baldwin Invitational to return home Friday with a gold medal to show for their efforts.

The Raiders’ Daniel Layton led the gold medal haul with a first-place finish in the 110 high hurdles. The senior broke the school record and posted the second-best time in the state to date with his victory in the hurdles in a personal-best time of 14.46 seconds. He ran 15.10 in the prelims.

He then won silver in the pole vault after clearing 13-10.

Teammate Scott Benco won the javelin with a throw of 180-4. Taylor Shriver cleared 12 feet for the gold medal in the pole vault.

Belle Vernon’s Hunter Martin secured four top finishes, including first place in the 300 intermediate hurdles with a time of 39.90 seconds. The senior was second in the triple jump (43-6½), third in the 110 high hurdles (14.89), and fifth in the long jump (22-3¼).

Brownsville junior Gionna Quarzo powered her way around the track to win the gold medal in the 3,200 with a time of 10:36.13, about seven seconds off her personal best. Quarzo won silver in the 1,600 with a time of 5:01.85.

Elizabeth Forward’s Brianna Spirnak, the defending champion, won silver in the javelin with a top throw of 136-1.

Yough’s Hunter Bakewell added to the successful meet by local throwers with his silver medal in the javelin with a throw of 162-1. Teammate Josh O’Bradovich placed fifth in the high jump, clearing 5-10.

The Lady Raiders’ Bree Echegaray was fifth in the high jump (5-1) and Juliana Fowler placed sixth in the long jump (16-10).

The Lady Leopards’ Grace Henderson was fourth in both the 3,200 (11:39.23) and high jump (5-3). Hannah Seitzinger took bronze in the 400 (47.03) and was eighth in the 200 (26.91). Ezra Johnson was fifth in the discus (115-2) and posted a ninth-place finish in the shot put (34-9½). Casey Weightman threw the javelin 115 feet for seventh place.

The Leopards’ Ryan Marek placed third in the discus with a throw of 153-6 and Isaac Evans sprinted to sixth place in the 800 (2:00.16).

Beth-Center had a couple of top-8 finishes in Michael Berdar (5, high jump, 5-10) and Jordan Blackburn (6, discus, 144-9).

The Falcons’ Cameron Sapola placed fifth in the javelin with a throw of 156-6. Dominic Prestipino (800, 2:00.29) and Rachael Grimm (400, 1:00.43) both finished eighth.

The Lady Warriors’ Hannah Hughes was sixth in the shot put with a throw of 36-8. Alyssa Craig was ninth in the pole vault (9-3).

Elizabeth Forward’s Chase Whatton won bronze in the javelin with a throw of 158-9. Teammate Stephen Frost was seventh in the 800 (2:00.19).

Laurel Highlands’ Brendan Kopich (1,600, 4:39.42) and Iliesa Salauca (110 high hurdles, 15.12) both finished sixth.

Ringgold’s boys 1,600 relay placed fourth with a time of 3:33.76. The Rams’ Jake Gorman finished fourth in the 400 (51.34) and 10th in the 200 (22.83). Lucas Pajak was ninth in the mile (4:37.45) and 10th in the 3,200 (9:47.31).