On a sweltering afternoon at Mansion Park, Chestnut Ridge's Matt Dull was still covered neck to toe in royal blue.
"It's my religion,'' Dull said. "We believe in being modest.''
Being modest might present a bigger challenge to the Lion senior than his competition, which he's been burning all spring.
Article Photos
Photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Altoona’s Korey Replogle edges teammate Dylan Mountain to capture first place in the 1600-meter run in Class AAA.
Dull couldn't help but let his emotion show after he took center stage by winning the Class AA 300-meter hurdles one of three record-setting performances turned in by area boys at the 63rd annual West Central Coaches Invitational Track and Field Meet on Friday at Mansion Park.
The meet's most valuable performer in Class AA, Dull was a double winner, also taking first in the 110 hurdles. Meanwhile, Tyrone junior Charles Wilson-Adams continued his assault on the record book by setting a new mark in the Class AA high jump, and Bellwood-Antis' four-by-100-meter relay team of Cameron Worthing, Seth Worthing, Andrew DeGol and Ian O'Shea continued its push toward a school record by setting a new meet standard in Class AA.
There were three individual double winners. Altoona senior Korey Replogle won the Class AAA 1600 and 3200 runs along with being part of a first-place effort in the 3200 relay. Chestnut Ridge senior jumper Michael Young won the triple jump and long jump in Class AA.
Altoona and Bellwood-Antis were the respective team champions. Altoona trimmed State College, 158-146. Bellwood easily outdistanced second-place Ridge, 95.5-55.
A fifth-place PIAA medalist last season, Dull looked like he was on another level in the final heat of the 300 hurdles. Flawlessly smooth, he completed the distance in a personal-record o 38.87 seconds; his previous best this season was 39.30. Bellwood-Antis' Zach Sinisi was second with a 41.12.
The record Dull topped was 38.92 established by Ligonier Valley's Chris Morrisey back in 2004.
Afterward, Dull was able to restrain his emotion somewhat, although he hugged one of his competitors and then raised his fist briefly in celebration. When he spoke, it become easy to tell how good he felt.
"It [the record] was my goal. As soon as I heard it, I knew I could get that,'' a still excited and winded Dull said. "I don't know how I did it. I must have just put my mind to it.
"This is just awesome. Honestly, this is not me.I can't do it without the Lord. This is the talent that he gave me. I just take it and go out there to have fun. This is why I'm here.''
Setting records has become natural for Dull this spring. Although his practice time for track is limited because he also plays football and wrestles for Ridge, Dull has consistently run sub-40-second times in the 300 hurdles. Last Friday, he set a record in the event at the Northern Bedford County Invitational.
But Dull's time Friday was more than a second faster than the state qualifying standard, and, against the kind of competition the West Central meet is known for attracting, established him as a solid high medal threat at states later this month.
"You come into a season hoping for the best, but I think you've really got to put your mind to it. If you really want it, you're going to get it, and, if you don't, you're not going to. It's whatever's in your heart,'' Dull said. "I feel this makes me stronger. It gives me more confidence. It just keeps me going.''
Dull later posted a 15.03 to take first in the 110 hurdles, in which he was top seeded. Central Cambria's Matt Pride was second at 15.38.
Wilson-Adams needed 6 feet, 7.5 inches to match the record height set back in 1995 by another Tyrone high jumper, Joe Thomas. Having jumped 6-8 and even 6-10 on multiple occasions, Wilson-Adams was confident coming in, and he raised the mark by a half-inch before the rain started to fall and hinder his bids at a higher mark.
"I came out expecting to beat it. I actually wanted to get higher, but I'm happy with 6-8,'' Wilson-Adams said. "It feels great.''
While Wilson-Adams was the clear favorite, it wasn't a foregone conclusion he'd win: Northern Bedford's Zach Pressel and Johnsonburg's Michael Shuey both had achieved 6-6. Pressel wound up third on misses behind Elk County Catholic's Jacob Herbstritt, going out after clearing 6-4.
"I'm competing against numbers,'' Wilson-Adams said. "I'm just going out there trying to do the best I can. I'm not worried about how high anyone else is jumping, because, if I do my best, no one is going to beat me.''
Wilson-Adams, who credited his speed and focus with keying his record heights, said he heard from Thomas a few weeks ago.
"He made a few jokes with me about breaking his [school record]. I haven't heard from him since I broke it,'' Wilson-Adams said with a smile.
Bellwood's charge to the Class AA team title was spearheaded by a top-ranked four-by-100 team that figured to have a challenge from Kiski Prep - that didn't materialize when Kiski dropped the baton on the second handoff. The Blue Devils won going away in 43.57. Juniata placed second with a 44.59.
"They have a good camaraderie. We work on our handoffs a lot, and they all have good speed. The handoffs are the biggest thing, and that's something we focus on,'' Blue Devil coach Nick Lovrich said. "Hopefully we can just keep getting better.''
If the team can, it has an excellent chance of eclipsing the B-A school mark of 43.44 from 2002. Lovrich felt the odds of challenging that mark were good with both Worthings back from a strong relay last year.
"With our program, we have so many kids that it's pretty competitive to get on a relay, so the guys have to work hard all the time or they get bumped. Andrew's waited three years to be on that relay team,'' Lovrich said. "Their goal was to get a PR, and we knew that a PR would possibly mean a meet record.''
Seth Worthing, DeGol and O'Shea teamed up with Sinisi to get the Blue Devils first-place points in the 1600 relay as well. B-A finished in 3:28.27. Philipsburg-Osceola was second in 3:33.59.
There weren't any boys meet records set in Class AAA. Altoona pole vaulter Ryan Steinbugl, a senior, could have changed that had he equaled his personal record of 15-10, which was 3 inches higher than Travis Hammaker's 2008 record vault. He was cruising towards it but was turned away when the rains came and forced him to make a quick attempt at the mark after achieving 14-9; he was unsuccessful.
"I went for it, but I didn't feel very good,'' Steinbugl said. "The rain gets in your head, because you don't want to hurt yourself. Other than that, I just went to do my best. I felt pretty good. I didn't expect it to rain today. I came into it just wanting to clear some heights. I didn't worry about records.''
Replogle, a senior, had to overcome classmate Dylan Mountain in both of his individual victories. Replogle held off Mountain's surge in the final 30 meters to prevail in the mile with a time of 4 minutes, 20.82 seconds. Mountain's time was 4:20.93 - both met the PIAA standard.
In the 3200, the pair once again gave each other all they wanted. Replogle finished in 9:36.98, Mountain in 9:38.02, and, afterwards, both looked like they had been through a battle.
"I had Dylan running with me the whole time, do it was easy to run a good time in the mile. We were both dead. It was our third event. You can't ask for much more than that,'' Replogle said. "It's a big advantage. We use each other and feed off each other. We're back and forth on races, but it's a fun thing.''
Replogle and Mountain ran the final two legs of the winning Class AAA 3200 relay. They joined Pat Reade and Brad Foust to triumph by 3.38, posting a time of 8:21.23.
Altoona also finished one-two in the Class AAA 100 meters. Junior Dreux Stamford posted the best time in the preliminaries and beat his top-seeded senior teammate, Rafeeq Barnes, by three-tenths of a second in the finals with a time of 11.1. That matched the state qualifying standard.
Stamford and Barnes later served as the bookends on the 400 relay team that also included Jake Healy and Steinbugl to post a state-qualifying-worthy time of 42.79 to place first. South Western was next at 44.02.
Kevin Johnson, the Altoona junior seeded second, took first in the Class AAA triple jump by leaping 44-2. Brennan Luciano, another Altoona junior, was second at 43-9.5.
Young was expected to win the triple jump in Class AA and didn't disappoint by leaping 45-3 - an inch shy of his personal best recorded in last year's District 5 championship - in the preliminary flights, which put him 1.5 inches farther than Bellwood's Jeremy Claypoole.
Young's victory in the long jump, however, was a surprise. His 21-8 was 18 inches better than his previous season best and good enough to surpass Cambria Heights' Zack Prohonic by 2 inches and Claypoole, the No. 1 seed, by 8 inches. Young was tied for ninth seed coming in.
"I like competition. I thrive on it. It's hard to jump against yourself, but, when you have guys of their caliber jumping with you, it really gives you something to motivate you,'' Young said. "At this meet, there is so much talent here. That makes it such a great atmosphere to jump in.''
Tyrone's Nick Patton, the meet record holder in the Class AA 400 and the top seed in that event along with the 200 dash, didn't compete as he tried to rest an injured hamstring before districts.
"I only ran one event [the 100] at the Bellwood Invitational, and it gave out at the end.'' Patton, who is going to walk on at Pitt, said. "It feels fine right now.''
Bedford senior Dylan Evans filled in the gap in the 400, emerging as the winner by five-hundredths of a second over second seed Derek Bearer of Northern Cambria by posting a time of 50.87. Evans' seeded time was 51.45.
Meet notes: A moment of silence was held in the memory of area runner Connie Plowman, who died last weekend. ... Reade and Shannon Perehinec were named the recipients of the Angelo Gioiosa Memorial Scholarship. ... Central Cambria was the top seed in the Class AA four-by-800 but finished third to second-seeded Purchase Line and Windber. State College's Alex Shisler, who won the 200 and 400, was the Class AAA MVP.
CLASS AAA BOYS
Key, team standings: 1, AA-Altoona, 158; 2, SC-State College, 146; 3, MC-Mifflin County, 74.5; 4, BR-Bradford, 41; 5, SW-South Western; 6, DB-DuBois, 39.5; 7, CM-Central Mountain, 35; 8, SM-Saint Marys, 32; 9, IN-Indiana, 25; 9, WP-Williamsport, 25; 9, BF-Bellefonte, 25; 12, PX-Punxsutawney, 24; 13, DY-Derry Area, 17; 14, HB-Hollidaysburg, 8; 15, CF-Clearfield, 6.
100 dash: 1, Stamford, AA, 11.1; 2, Barnes, AA, 11.4; 3, Nedzinski, DB, 11.55; 3, Yale, MC, 11.55; 5, Kellar, SC, 11.58; 6, Bonness, SC, 11.7; 7, Merritt, SM, 11.79; 8, Campos, IN, 12.06.
200 dash: 1, Shisler, SC, 21.94; 2, Stamford, AA, 22.56; 3, Barnes, AA, 22.89; 4, Gipson, BF, 22.95; 5, Merritt, SM 23.02; 6, Simon, JT, 23.26; 7, Bonness, SC, 23.31; 8, Nedzinski, DB, 23.33.
400 dash: 1, Shisler, SC, 48.52; 2, Gipson, BF, 50.6; 2, Bowman, SW, 50.6; 4, Hughes, PX, 51.47; 5, Ventura, HB, 51.72; 6, Post, SC, 52.12 7, Clinchoc, DB, 52.28; 8, Fedoriw, WP, 52.38.
800 run: 1, Moon, MC, 1:57.88; 2, Stelly, WP, 1:58.37; 3, Cather, SC, 1:58.39; 4, Krise, SW, 2:00.31; 5, Woelfel, SM, 2:00.87; 6, Reade, AA, 2:01.22; 7, Juster, SC, 2:01.23; 8, Foust, A, 2:01.39.
1600 run: 1, Replogle, AA, 4:20.82; 2, Mountain, AA, 4:20.93; 3, Moon, MC, 4:22.68; 4, Crowe, SC, 4:29.59; 5, Wright, SC, 4:39.33; 6, Louther, IN, 4:41.; 7, Ward, PX, 4:42.83; 8, Hopple, BF, 4:43.66.
3200 run: 1, Replogle, AA, 9:36.98; 2, Mountain, AA, 9:38.02; 3, Monroe, MC, 9:44.37; 4, Hertzog, SW, 9:56.11; 5, Crow, SC, 9:56.66; 6, Smith, BF, 9:59.28; 7, Adams, SC, 10:04.8; 8, Fisher, CM, 10:34.71
110 high hurdles: 1, Collins, SC, 14.92; 2, Johnson, AA, 15.51; 3, Hine, DB, 15.89; 4, Nyman, CM, 16.04; 5, Smith, SC, 1694; 6, Mossgrove, IN, 17.09; 7, Ackerman, BR, 17.15; 8, Hill, AA, DQ.
300 intermediate hurdles: 1, Collins, SC, 39.61; 2, Cuozzo, WP, 39.98; 3, Hill, AA, 41.20; 4, Baumgardner, MC, 42.09; 5, Hershey, AA, 42.12; 6, Smith, SC, 41.43; 7, Graham, CF, 42.73; 8, Posteraro, DB, 42.75.
400 relay: 1, Altoona (Healy, Stamford, Barnes, R. Steinbugl), 42.79; 2, South Western, 44.02; 3, St. Marys, 44.61; 4, Mifflin County, 44.83; 5, Clearfield, 45.52; 6, DuBois, 45.89; 7, Greater Johnstown, 46.29; 8 Hollidaysburg, 46.36. 1600 relay: 1,State College, 3:25.24; 2, Williamsport, 3:26.47; 3, South Western, 3:30.66; 4, St. Marys, 3:31.75; 5, Altoona, 3:32.63; 6, Mifflin County, 3:32.63; 7, DuBois, 3:35.11; 8, Hollidaysburg, 3:41.55.
3200 relay: 1, Altoona (Reade, Faust, Replogle, Mountain), 8:21.3; 2, DuBois, 8:24.61; 3, Mifflin County, 8:28.21; 4, State College, 8:34.05; 5, Bellefonte, 8:49.31; 6, South Western, 8:52.08; 7, Hollidaysburg, 8:53.08; 8, Saint Marys, 8:58.11.
High jump: 1, Shepherd, MC, 6-4; 2, Clemons, IN, 6-4; 3, Whittaker, DY, 6-4; 4, McCloy, CM 6-0; 5, Fullwood, SW, 6-0; 6, Vleminck, BR, 5-10; 7, Downey, DY, 5-10; 8, Forziat, SC, 5-10.
Long jump: 1, Wagner, SC, 21-0; 2, Randecker, CM, 20-11; 3, Shepherd, MC, 20-9.5; 4, Johnson, AA, 20-9.5; 5, Williams, SC, 20-7; 6, Gipson, BF, 20-6.5; 7, Langenfield, SW, 20-1.5; 8, Luciano, AA, 20-0.5.
Triple jump: 1, Johnson, AA, 44-2; 2, Luciano, AA, 43-9.5; 3, Randecker, CM 43-00; 4, Carter, IN, 42-11.5; 5, Hine, DB, 42-6.75; 6, Williams, SC, 42-3; 7, Shepherd, MC, 42-1.5; 8, Wanger, SC, 41-4.5.
Shot put: 1, Reinhardt, Br, 53-4 ; 2, Grodeuk, SC, 51-1; 3, Morgan, PX, 46-9; 4, Werner, SM, 46-4.5; 5, Posatko, SC, 46-2; 6, Mitchell, AA, 44-8; 7, Kahley, MC, 44-5; 8, Dixon, DB, 44-3.5.
Discus: 1,Gordeuk, SC, 166-10; 2, Reinhardt, BR, 158-2; 3, Wisneski, DY, 150-8; 4, Werner, SM 131-0; 5, London, PX, 130-10; 6, Whittaker, DY, 130-9; 7, Cryder, CM, 127-8; 8, Posatko, SC, 122-5.
Javelin: 1, Reinhardt, BR, 193-3; 2, Welham, MC, 179-3; 3, McKoloski, DB, 171-9; 4, Klein, CM, 163-9; 5, Luciano, AA, 162-6; 6, McCloy, CM, 159-5; 7, Morgan, PX, 158-11; 8, Irwin, SC, 155-9.
Pole vault: 1, R. Steinbugl, AA, 14-9; 2,Teribery, BR, 14-3 ; 3, Swisher, SC, 13-9; 4, Presloid, PX, 13-3; 5, Harper, IN, 12-9; 6, Koeck, AA, 12-9; 7, Eicher, BF,12-9; 8, Waryck, IN, 12-3.
CLASS AA BOYS
Key, team standings: 1, BA-Bellwood-Antis, 95.5; 2, CR-Chestnut Ridge, 55; 3 (tie), NB-Northern Bedford, and U-United, 39; 5, PV-Penns Valley, 36; 6, PO-Philipsburg-Osceola, 37.5; 7 (tie), CC-Central Cambria and EC-Elk County Catholic, 34; 9, K-Kane Area, 31.5; 10, KP-Kiski Prep, 29; 11, WD-Windber, 29; 12, NC-Northern Cambria, 28; 13, PL, Purchase Line, 28; 14, J-Juniata, 27; 15, BD-Bedford, 21; 16, BM-Bishop McCort, 19; 17, TY-Tyrone, 18; 18, SA-Somerset Area, 17; 19, CH-Cambria Heights, 16; 20, JB-Johnsonburg, 24; 21, WH-Westmont Hilltop, 13; 22, PM-Penns Manor, 9; 23, BG-Bishop Guilfoyle, 5; 24, WB-West Branch, 4.5; 25, SH-Southern Huntingdon, 4; 26, PC-Penn Cambria, 3; 27, MD-Meyersdale, 2; 27 JV-Juniata Valley, 29; 29, HD-Huntingdon, 1; 29, BC-Bishop Carroll, 1
100 dash: 1, Williams, KP, 11.21; 2, Hill, KP, 11.31; 3, S. Worthing, BA, 11.32; 4, Goshorn, J, 11.37; 5, O'Shea, BA, 11.50; 6, Meyer, SA, 11.62; 7, Grissinger, JV, 11.64; 8, King, PV, 1.78.
200 dash: 1,Williams, KP, 22.37; 2, S. Worthing, BA, 22.63; 3, King, PV, 22.91; 4, Meyer, SA, 23.07; 5, Bodley, J, 23.17; 6, Barnes, NB, 23.33; 7, Claypoole, BA, 23.64; 8, Slippey, WB, 24.01.
400 dash: 1, Evans, BD, 50.87; 2, Bearer, NC, 50.92; 3, Koval, BM, 51.97; 4, I. O'Shea, BA, 52.56; 5, Barnes, NB, 53.01; 6, Snedden, CH, 53.47; 7, Slippey, WB, 53.63; 8, Howard, BM, 53.92.
800 run: 1, Decker, PV, 1:59.92; 2, Tomlinson, WD, 2:02.77; 3, Blose, PL, 2:03.41; 4, Lichvar, U, 2:04.95; 5, Detsch, EC, 2:05.3; 6, Stroup, BD, 2:05.68; 7, Gibson, SA, 2:07.06; 8, Russell, NB, 2:07.52.
1600 run: 1, R. Brown, PV, 4:33.06; 2, Dailey, WH, 4:36.09; 3, Sherlock, NB, 4:40.68; 4, Barber, CC, 4:41.17; 5, Bartlett, BA, 4:41.96; 6, Farnan, CR, 4:45.12; 7, Zook TY, 4:46.66; 8, Keller, BG, 4:47.94.
3200 run: 1, Lecker, EC, 9:58.65; 2, R. Brown, PV, 9:59.86; 3, Barltett, BA, 10:09.49; 4, Dailey, WH, 10:15.9; 5, Heck, NB, 10:19.84; 6, Colson, K, 10:21.43; 7, Farnan, CR, 10:25.36; 8, Fuller, PV, 10:27.11.
110 high hurdles: 1, Dull, CR, 15.03; 2, Pride, CC, 15.38; 3, Sinisi, BA, 15.82; 4, Curtis, PO, 15.88; 5, Madey, BG, 16.23; 6, Lewis, PC, 16.44; 7, Holsinger, CC, 16.69; 8, Guy, TY, 22.63. 300 intermediate hurdles: 1, Dull, CR, 38.78 (Meet Record); 2, Sinisi, BA, 41.12; 3, Curtis, PO, 41.24; 3, I. O'Shea, BA, 41.24; 5, Moore, K, 42.44; 6, Lankey, CR, 42.55; 7, Shetler, WD, 43.63; 8, Pride, CC, 43.45.
400 relay: 1, Bellwood-Antis (DeGol, I. O'Shea, S. Worthing, C. Worthing), 43.57 (new meet record); 2, Juniata, 44.59; 3, Chestnut Ridge, 45.29; 4, Philipsburg-Osceola, 45.82; 5, Northern Cambria, 46.19; 6, Central Cambria, 46.37; 7, Windber, 46.59; 8, Elk County Catholic, 46.94.
1600 relay: 1, Bellwood-Antis (DeGol, S. Worthing, T. O'Shea, Sinisi), 3:28.27; 2, Philipsburg-Osceola, 3:33.59; 3, Elk County Catholic, 3:36.36; 4, Kane, 3:38.22; 5, Purchase Line, 3:38.57; 6, Bishop McCort, 3:39.82; 7, Windber, 3:39.97; 8, Bedford, 3:40.24.
3200 relay: 1, Purchase Line, 8:24.42; 2, Windber, 8:25.24; 3, Central Cambria, 8:28.02; 4, Elk County Catholic, 8:32.41; 5, Northern Bedford, 8:37.87; 6, Bedford, 8:42.89; 7, Bellwood-Antis, 8:48.54; 8, Kiski Prep, 8:52.49.
High jump: 1, Wilson-Adams, TY, 6-8 (new meet record); 2, Herbstritt, EC, 6-4; 3, Pressel, NB, 6-4; 4, Baker, NB, 6-2; 5, Olish, NC, 6-2; 6, Shuey, JB, 6-2; 7, Wright, K, 5-10; 7, Confer, WB, 5-10.
Long jump: 1, Young, CR, 21-8 ; 2, Prohonic, CH, 21-6; 3, Claypoole, BA, 21-0; 4, Blough, WD, 20-10.5; 5, Goshorn, J, 20-5.5; 6, Reed, BM, 20-1; 7, Z. Pressel, NB, 19-11; 8, T. Pressel, NB, 19-8.5.
Triple jump: 1, Young, CR, 45-3; 2, Claypoole, BA, 45-1.5; 3, Bytner, PM, 42-8; 4, Prohonic, CH, 42-5; 5, McKnight, PO, 41-8; 6, Pressel NB, 41-3; 7, Barkley, WD, 41-2; 8, Lankey, CR, 40-8.
Shot put: 1, Moreau, U, 52-4; 2, Seymour, CC, 46-11; 3, Rugg, BM, 45-3; 4, Jenkins, BA, 44-5; 5, Price, PL, 44-0.75; 6, Kojadinovich, PO, 43-1; 7, Buck, SA, 42-7; 8, Krupa, DB, 41-11.
Discus: 1, Moreau, U, 148-5; 2, Shuey, JB, 137-1; 3, Powell, J, 129-10; 4, Kojadinovich, PO, 128-1; 5, Long, U, 127-2; 6, Brown, PM, 124-5; 7, Lanich, PO, 121-2; 8, Zearing, CC, 119-6.
Javelin: 1, Shuey, JB, 195-6; 2, Morea, U, 184-1; 3, Ludwig, NC, 167-4; 4, Snyder, TY, 162-00; 5, Pierce, PL, 158-6; 6, DeMoss, BD, 156-0; 7, Yachere, MD, 154-6; 8, Hegemann, BC, 152-9 .
Pole vault: 1, Anderson, K, 16-0 (Meet record); 2, Wolfe, K, 14-0; 3, Yahner, NC, 14-0; 4, Hemminger, SA, 13-6; 5, Cornelious, SH, 13-6; 6, Schrieber, JB, 13-0; 7, Baird, U, 12-6; 8, Peters, HD, 12-6.
