PC’s Stolarski wins state 400 gold medal
PIAA Track and Field Championships
Trending
SHIPPENSBURG -- Penn Cambria junior Josh Stolarski qualified for the PIAA Class 2A championships in four different events, but his first love is running the 400-meter dash.
The event proved to be his niche in track and field during his sophomore year, and he opened this season with a personal best time.
That's when all of his other events -- the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the long jump started to cloud his focus.
By the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championship meet, Stolarski decided to get back to what he enjoyed so much last year.
With his focus re-centered on the 400-meter dash, the rest of the state never had a chance.
Stolarski claimed the first boys PIAA championship in any sport at Penn Cambria with a career-best time of 49.09, comfortably ahead of runner-up Jacob Hunter of Holy Redeemer, who ran it in 49.73.
"This is the craziest experience of my life," Stolarski said. "I didn't even think I had it until 50 meters to go. I could still see everybody. I'm really glad I could come away with it. I spoke to most of my competitors, and they had a really good race too. I think most of them hit their PRs, so it's a great feeling to be on top in that fast of a race at this high of a stage."
All the conditions at Seth Grove Stadium on Saturday worked out perfectly for Stolarski.
"Coming into the first half, there was a ton of wind in our face," Stolarski said. "That stagger was perfect going into the last half. There were two guys on my inside who started to surge, and I just had to go with them. With about 75 (meters) to go, I finally caught the kid on my outside, and I just brought it home."
Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer lifted Stolarski off the ground with a bear hug after he was presented with the gold medal.
"Lois Smith and Mountain Top probably deserves all the credit for working with him," Niebauer said. "His mother takes him all over the country. She never hesitated to take him all over the country. I have to give credit where credit is due. I put together practices and things like that, but he's a kid that just works his tail off. He's built for the track. I don't say that because he just won the state title. He's got that long muscle, and he works hard."
Following that LHAC meet where Stolarski won the 400 in 51.07 -- a time he called disappointing -- Stolarski changed his preparation.
"I started writing my goals down," Stolarski said. "I really just put my head to the grindstone. Practices have been the toughest they have ever been. Recovery has been the best it has ever been. My coaches, Todd Niebauer, Lois Smith, Lauren Michina, they were all very pivotal in today's performance."
He went on to win the District 6 title in the 200- and 400-meter dashes and set the district meet record in the 200.
"Focus (was the key), I think," Niebauer said. "Kam Stoy, who was a PIAA place-winner for us, really worked with him with private workouts and things like that to help him get his head right. He's a great kid, but he gets inside himself sometimes. He never second guesses himself, but I think he can be too confident sometimes. Sometimes he needs to just settle down.
"I have seen a difference the last three or four weeks. He's settled down. He's focused. And he knows what he needed to do. The district day was the eye-opener. He broke our school record by a second and a half, but could he do it again? Then he does it again (Friday)."
Stolarski followed up his state championship win with a fourth-place finish in 22.14 in the 200-meter dash less than an hour after his physically draining and emotional 400-meter win.
"I didn't have too much rest after the 400, and I'm still kind of tired from it," Stolarski said. "I was pretty confident that I could walk away with top five, at least. I thought I could out-lean (Washington's Dan Asbury) for third place, but he was just too far ahead."
Conemaugh Township's Ethan Black won the 200-meter dash in 21.07 to set a PIAA record. It was Black's second year in a row winning the state title in the event and his fifth state title in the last two years overall.
"It was a great race," Stolarski said. "I loved it. The competitors were great. It was fantastic to be in a race where someone broke the state record. That's pretty cool."
Stolarski quickly set his focus on his senior year just seconds after his junior track season ended.
"I'm happy it's over and the nerves are gone," Stolarski said. "I can start focusing on next year. This is my base for my senior year, I just had to build it up. I want to see where I can go from here."
Niebauer has a good suggestion on where Stolarski can start.
"I do have to say, he said he was going to go sub-49 (in the 400)," said Niebauer with a laugh. "So, we'll have to work on that."