Local Sports

Penn Cambria’s Stolarski enjoys ‘Cloud 9’ moment

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

Despite reaching the state qualifying standard and qualifying for the PIAA meet in the 100-meter dash with a fourth-place finish, Penn Cambria's Josh Stolarski wasn't happy with his performance Wednesday during the second day of the District 6 Class 2A meet at Mansion Park.

Rather than dwell on it, he used it to fuel a record-breaking day.

Stolarski, who said after the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference meet that he's had trouble balancing all his events this year, won the 400-meter dash in 49.24 seconds.

"This is fantastic, because this race is my first time under 50 seconds," Stolarski said. "I am on freaking Cloud 9 right now, on top of the world."

If it's possible to go any higher than the clouds, Stolarski got there when he won the 200-meter dash championship by setting a new meet record in 21.82.

"I had a pretty bad race in the 100, and that put a little fuel into the fire," Stolarski said. "I was super nervous getting into the blocks (in the 400), because I can't see the fast guys on my inside. I took that first 200 and told myself to put my feet down. Coming into the last 75, I was thinking in my mind, 'holy crap, I'm going to be a district champion,' and when I crossed the finish line as saw the time, it was even better."

Stolarski will compete in all four of his events (100-, 200-, 400-meter dashes and long jump) in Shippensburg at the PIAA meet starting Friday, May 26.

His teammate, Andre Marinak, won the 300-meter hurdles and finished second in the 110-meter hurdles to champion Jon Wess of Central Cambria, who won District 6 title for the second year in a row.

"It definitely feels great," Wess said. "In the hurdles, nothing is guaranteed. You can get a bad start, clip a hurdle, it's always anybody's race. So, to come out here, get a PR and run a great race, it's awesome."

Marinak's win in the 300 hurdles came after he nearly missed qualifying for the final when he wiped out on the last hurdle in preliminaries before composing himself, standing up and finishing the race first in his heat.

"I was devastated, because I was about to possibly run under 39 seconds," Marinak said. "I was so happy I was able to get back up and finish that race and come here and run in the finals today. I gave it all I could. It feels pretty good, especially with all the work I put in."

Marinak, however, will not compete at the PIAA meet, choosing to participate in Forensic Nationals and will scratch in both hurdles.

Aiden Lechleitner joined Wess as a champion for Central Cambria when he won the 800-meter run in a season-best 1:59.48 over runner-up and Red Devils teammate Cody Roberts.

"Especially since he started running cross country, we push each other an unbelievable amount," Lechleitner said. "We were talking over on the start line about what the goal is, and he says he's going to beat me. I said, 'well, that's good, because I'm going to beat you,' and it works out. We just always push off each other."

Central Cambria also won the 3200-meter relay, the 400-meter relay and advanced to states along with third-place finisher Central (the Dragons were also third in the 400 relay) with a runner-up performance in the 1600-meter relay.

All of those wins added up to a District 6 team championship for the Red Devils, 98-74, over runner-up Central.

Other athletes from 2A that advanced to the state meet included Central Cambria's Nolan Wyrwas (third, 100 dash), Penn Cambria's Carter McDermott (third, triple jump) and Bishop Carroll's Jacob Harker (second, shot put).

In Class 3A, three Hollidaysburg athletes and one Altoona hurdler claimed District 6 titles.

The Golden Tigers' Caden DeLattre, who qualified for states in the long jump on Tuesday, won the triple jump on Wednesday.

"I felt a lot better coming in here today than I did yesterday," DeLattre said. "I know we had a little head wind, but my last jump was close to 23 even though I scratched it. I was still happy with winning."

The Hollidaysburg junior feels comfortable in Shippensburg, where he medaled last season and excelled at this year's Shippensburg Invitational.

"Last time I was at Ship, I hit a really big long jump, which is my PR now," DeLattre said. "I think hopefully I can hit 23 in the long jump and hit 46 in the triple."

Hollidaysburg's Owen Bender won a championship in the 300-meter hurdles.

"I needed to get my steps right on every hurdle," Bender said. "I was focused, and it worked out really well. It feels amazing. This is what I wanted since I was a freshman, and it feels great to know I'll represent my school at states."

Nathan Grabill will be joining DeLattre and Bender after winning the high jump.

"It feels amazing," Grabill said. "I couldn't imagine going to states last year. I didn't have good enough luck. I wasn't even planning on doing high jump, but I just kept doing better and better and finally hit a PR at 6-4, and now I have that opportunity to go to states."

Altoona's Xavier Williams is hoping the top competition at the PIAA meet will bring him the extra push he needs to reach a personal goal next week after he won Wednesday's 110-hurdles.

"I want it so badly," Williams said. "I have had 15.05. I got 15.08 this time. I'm so happy to be going to states and being a district champion, but I do want to break 15."

State College cruised to the team title, 228-150.5 over runner-up Altoona.

3A

TEAM RESULTS/KEY

1, State College (SC) 228; 2, Altoona (A) 150.5; 3, Hollidaysburg (H) 119.5; 4, Mifflin County (MC) 109; 5, Central Mountain (CM) 64; 6, Johnstown (J) 13.

INDIVIDUAL

100 dash: 1, Myers, SC, 10.72; 2, Lucas, CM, 11.02*; 3, Simmons, MC, 11.15; 4, Yarnell, H, 11.16; 5, Reid, A, 11.32; 6, Donahay, CM, 11.39; 7, Jackson Shepard, A, 11.44; 8, Wills, H, 11.69. 200 dash: 1, Myers, SC, 21.8; 2, Simmons, MC, 22.36; 3, Reid, A, 22.74; 4, Lucas, CM, 22.84; 5, Donahay, CM, 23.21; 6, Jackson Shepard, A, 23.54; 7, Grunwald, SC, 23.66; 8, Etters, A, 23.94. 400 dash: 1, Myers, SC, 48.94; 2, Morales, J, 50.7; 3, Yarnell, H, 51.17; 4, Smith, MC, 52.75; 5, Babcock, SC, 52.76; 6, Etters, A, 53.55; 7, Wible, CM, 53.84; 8, Noel, SC, 53.97. 800 run: 1, Sloff, SC, 1:55.81; 2, Vaira, SC, 1:57.19; 3, Smith, MC, 2:02.09; 4, Caldwell, SC, 2:05.55; 5, Eberhart, H, 2:07.63; 6, Van Egdom, A, 2:08.38; 7, Small, CM, 2:09.81; 8, Drukenmiller, MC, 2:10.24. 3200 run: 1, Oppermann, SC, 9:47.98; 2, Fowler, SC, 9:55.94; 3, Woomer, A, 10:10.8; 4, Bell, MC, 10:12.09; 5, Fox, A, 10:12.51; 6, Coffey, MC, 10:17.38; 7, Selber, SC, 10:25.46; 8, Quinn, A, 10:32.07. 110 hurdles: 1, Williams, A, 15.08; 2, Bender, H, 16.29; 3, Bueno, H, 16.5; 4, Greaser, A, 16.9; 5, Spicher, CM, 17.49; 6, Delguidice, H, 18.05; 7, Cruz, MC, 18.1; 8, Jones, MC, 18.13. 300 hurdles: 1, Bender, H, 41.85; 2, Jones, MC, 42.78; 3, Greaser, A, 43.3; 4, Cruz, MC, 44.1; 5, Money, SC, 44.85; 6, Pacifico, A, 45.99; 7, Brown, SC, 46.25; 8, Delguidice, H, 47.9.

400 relay: 1, State College (Pak-Blyzniuk, Myers, Grunwald, Alexander), 43.14; 2, Central Mountain, 43.63; 3, Altoona, 43.65; 4, Mifflin County, 44.93; 5, Hollidaysburg, 45.86. 1600 relay: 1, State College (Vaira, Noel, Abdul-Hamid, Babcock), 3:30.43; 2, Hollidaysburg, 3:33.11; 3, Altoona, 3:33.95; 4, Mifflin County, 3:35.63; 5, Central Mountain, 3:47.11. 3200 relay: 1, State College (Vaira, Adams, Viglione, Sloff), 8:06.75; 2, Mifflin County, 8:24.82; 3, Altoona, 8:34.4; 4, Hollidaysburg, 9:00.14; 5, Central Mountain, 9:07.31. High jump: 1, Grabill, H, 6-3; 2, Bodner, SC, 6-1; 3, Hardison, A, 5-11; 4, Adams, A, 5-11; T-5, Corso, A, 5-9; T-5, Weimert, H, 5-9; 7, Snyder, H, 5-7; 8, Newman, CM, 5-7. Long jump: 1, DeLattre, H, 21-3.75; 2, Adams, A, 20-2.75; 3, King, MC, 20-2.25; 4, Bodner, SC, 19-11.25; 5, Williams, A, 19-5.75; 6, Grabill, H, 19-2.5; 7, Williams, J, 19-1.5; 8, Hoy, CM, 18-10.25. Discus: 1, Haas, SC, 155-9; 2, Spencer, SC, 139-3; 3, Renninger, MC, 133-1; 4, Pak-Blyzniuk, SC, 130-7; 5, Dawes, CM, 117-1; 6, Gaffney, H, 114-8; 7, Bottorf, CM, 111-1; 8, Walk, A, 106-10. Javelin: 1, Sechler, MC, 186-6; 2, Haas, SC, 170-3; 3, Smith, SC, 156-1; 4, Walk, A, 155-6; 5, Solbakken, SC, 140-4; 6, Noone, CM, 140-1; 7, Harrington, A, 137-4; 8, Boose, A, 135-1.

2A

TEAM RESULTS/KEY

1, Central Cambria (CC) 98; 2, Central (C) 74; 3, Penn Cambria (PC) 63; 4, Richland (R) 61; 5, Bellefonte (B) 49; 6, United (U) 41.5; 7, Penns Manor (PM) 37; 8, Westmont Hilltop (WH) 36; 9, Penns Valley (PV) 31; 10, Huntingdon (H) 23; 11, Tyrone (T) 21; T-12, Southern Huntingdon (SH) 19; T-12, Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 19; 14, Bishop Carroll (BC) 18; 15, Juniata (J) 17; 16, Philipsburg-Osceola (PO) 13; 17, Bellwood-Antis (BA) 11; 18, Saint Joseph's (SJ) 10; 19, West Branch (WB) 9; T-20, Portage (P) 8; T-20, Northern Cambria (NC) 8; 22, Purchase Line (PL) 6; 23, Marion Center (MC) 5.5; T-24, Forest Hills (FH) 5; T-24, Juniata Valley (JV) 5; T-24, Homer-Center (HC) 5; 27, Bishop McCort (BM) 3; 28, River Valley (RV) 2; Mount Union (MU) 1.

INDIVIDUAL

100 dash: 1, McCracken, R, 10.87; 2, Zitnay, WH, 11.0; 3, Wyrwas, CC, 11.05; 4, Stolarski, PC, 11.08*; 5, Marshall, PM, 11.11*; 6, Benton, C, 11.37; 7, Yingling, C, 11.43; 8, Adams, CC, 11.68. 200 dash: 1, Stolarski, PC, 21.82**; 2, Zitnay, WH, 22.07; 3, McCracken, R, 22.26; 4, Good, PV, 22.81; 5, Marshall, PV, 23.01; 6, Grassmyer, U, 23.18; 7, Adams, CC, 23.25. 400 dash: 1, Stolarski, PC, 49.24; 2, Mugerwa, R, 50.33; 3, Good, PV, 50.4; 4, Grassmyer, U, 51.33; 5, Havener, WH, 52.47; 6, Ferguson, BM, 52.56; 7, McFarlin, RV, 54.43. 800 run: 1, Lechleitner, CC, 1:59.48; 2, Roberts, CC, 1:59.74; 3, Simander, SJ, 2:00.13; 4, Crist, B, 2:00.48; 5, Erwin, SH, 2:02.77; 6, Detwiler, T, 2:04.67; 7, Shields, PM, 2:06.24; 8, Wilson, CC, 2:07.06. 3200 run: 1, Radar, H, 9:33.93; 2, Muckey, PO, 9:40.45; 3, Stroup, J, 9:47.43; 4, Ebeling, B, 9:51.19; 5, Kuntz, CC, 10:05.66; 6, Vinnedge, B, 10:13.56; 7, Caron, FH, 10:23.63; 8, Henning, U, 10:27.76. 110 hurdles: 1, Wess, CC, 14.76; 2, Marinak, PC, 15.43; 3, Lowry, B, 15.83; 4, Long-Yarrison, C, 15.97%; 5, Jackson, T, 16.05; 6, Gapshes, U, 16.13; 7, Payne, U, 16.32; 8, Shepps, J, 16.46. 300 hurdles: 1, Marinak, PC, 39.72; 2, Kimler, PV, 41.17; 3, North, SH, 42.06; 4, Winter, SH, 43.33%; 5, Martin, U, 43.42; 6, Gapshes, U, 43.88; 7, Shepps, J, 45.98.

400 relay: 1, Central Cambria, 43.51; 2, Richland, 43.8; 3, Central, 43.97; 4, Westmont Hilltop, 44.28*; 5, Tyrone, 44.58; 6, Penns Manor, 44.87; 7, Bellwood-Antis, 46.5; 8, Bellefonte, 46.89. 1600 relay: 1, Richland, 3:29.63; 2, Central Cambria, 3:30.12; 3, Central, 3:30.41; 4, Hmer-Center, 3:33.64; 5, Bellefonte, 3:34.1; 6, West Branch, 3:35.63; 7, United, 3:39.83; 8, Tyrone, 3:40.79. 3200 relay: 1, Central Cambria (Kuntz, Wilson, Roberts, Lechleitner), 8:18.58; 2, Bellefonte, 8:25.56; 3, West Branch, 8:27.42; 4, United, 8:36.95; 5, Tyrone, 8:47.11; 6, Forest Hills, 8:55.24; 7, Bellwood-Antis, 8:57.55; 8, Bald Eagle Area, 9:00.2. Triple jump: 1, Brooks, PV, 43-11.5; 2, Hummel, B, 43-5.5; 3, McDermott, PC, 42-11.5; 4, Lingenfelter, C, 42-6; 5, Winter, SH, 41-8; 6, Turnage, WH, 41-6.5; 7, Cunningham, BC, 41-1; 8, Weaver, T, 40-4. Shot put: 1, Polenik, PM, 51-11.75; 2, Harker, BC, 48-11.25; 3, Jodon, BEA, 47-1; 4, Pittsinger, CC, 43-10.25; 5, Weidemer, C, 43-8.5; 6, Griffin, C, 43-2; 7, Vasil, CC, 42-5; 8, Greene, BEA, 42-1.75. Pole vault: 1, Gossard, R, 15-0; 2, Blankenbicker, U, 13-6; T-3, Payne, U, 13-0; T-3, Risinger, MC, 13-0; 5, Andrews, BA, 13-0; 6, Buckley, H, 13-0; 7, Roberts, CC, 12-6; 8, Weirich, JV, 12-6.

*--Qualified for states by reaching PIAA qualifying standard

**--Meet record

%--Qualified for states due to a scratch