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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
Penn Cambria senior Josh Stolarski put on a show in his final meet of a storied career at Mansion Park by winning three District 6 Class 2A championships for the second year in a row, and he added two meet records and personal bests to put the icing on top Wednesday.
The defending PIAA champion in the 400-meter dash started his day by winning the 100 in what he called a disappointing time of 11.11 seconds, but that was simply the opening salvo of what became a historic day.
His meet-record time of 47.91 surpassed even his expectations during his 400 championship run.
"I wasn't happy with the 100, but it was a good key up for my 400," Stolarski said. "I didn't expect 47.9, I don't think anybody expected that. These past few weeks, I have just been cutting by a half second. I went from 49 flat to 48.5, then to 48.3 and now to 47.9, so it's pretty special."
With the District 6 meet now spread out over two days, the second day moved quicker than a typical track meet. But that didn't stop Stolarski from building his legacy and writing his name in the record books a second time when he won the 200 with a meet-record time of 21.73.
"My 200 was a new PR," Stolarski said. "I could have gone faster, but this meet is just super fast with how little rest you get in between events. I feel like an extra 10 minutes could have made a difference, but to three-peat again is very nice."
Tyrone's Brady Ronan was third in the 200 and advanced to the PIAA meet as do all top-three finishers in Class 2A.
Stolarski credits his mind and dedication as much as his body for his success.
"This shows how mentally tough I am," Stolarski said. "Whether my body is able to do it or not, the race is won in your head before it is won with your body. I always talk myself through it. I tell myself what I need to do and how I'm going to do it. It takes a lot of mental toughness. I'm not the fastest guy in the world. It's a little bit of talent, but it's mostly hard work."
Stolarski's teammate, Penn Cambria senior Carter McDermott, won the triple jump a day after winning the long jump to complete a triumphant return to districts after struggling through an injury-filled junior year last season.
On the girls side in 2A, Portage senior Cami Burkett stole the show by winning the 100 and 200 dashes.
"It's great competition here, and you don't know for sure, because trials have been really close still," Burkett said.
Burkett broke her own school record in the 200 with a time of 25.66.
"I felt like the 200 today was my strongest race this year," said Burkett, who has now won five District 6 gold medals. "I just felt more powerful than usual."
Tyrone's Rebecca Lewis was third in both the 100 and 200, meaning she'll be headed to states in all four of her events for the second straight year.
The Central Cambria girls began the day by winning the 3200 relay in 9:51.65 with Abigail and Alaina Sheehan anchoring the team after the sisters ran the first two legs in front of Abbie George and Annaliese Niebauer on back-to-back PIAA champion teams the last two seasons.
"It's a good bit of pressure, but they were so good to us to set us up to step into their shoes," Alaina Sheehan said. "You can't replace them, because they are amazing, but they definitely guided us to do what we needed to do."
The championship was just the latest in a long string of 3200 relay wins for the Lady Devils, and they were happy to keep the tradition alive.
"It's so special," Alaina Sheehan said. "All four of us have worked so hard for a moment like this. It's such a happy time. All we can do is try at states. We'll work extra hard this week, and you never know what's going to happen the day of the race."
The Lady Devils 1600 relay team also made it to states, finishing second to Forest Hills.
Lanee Berkhimer of Central was the runner-up in the 3200 in 11:28.42, and Tyrone's Bree Paul took third in the 300 hurdles to advance.
The Tyrone girls won 400 relay in 49.94 with the help of Lewis, and Central was runner-up and also advanced.
Rachel McClellan of Cambria Heights made it in 100 hurdles with a third-place finish, and her teammate Brielle McMillen made states with a runner-up showing in a very competitive triple jump that included six competitors reaching the state qualifying standard, including Tyrone's Nicole Ramsey, who was fifth.
Ava Pablic of Bishop Carroll was second in the 800, and Alaina Sheehan was third.
Back on the boys side, the Tyrone boys advanced to states in all three relays (second in 3200, second in 400 and third in 1600).
Kole Dickinson of Bellwood-Antis made it through with a third-place showings in both the 110 and 300 hurdles.
Thaide Mickel of Central was third in the 100 to make states, and Central Cambria's Christian Vasil was runner-up in shot put to make states to Penns Manor's Alex Polenik, who set meet records in both the shot and discus. Huntingdon's Tyler Radar followed up his win in the mile run on Tuesday by winning the 3200 on Wednesday and setting a new meet record in winning the 800, and Richland won both the boys and girls team championships.
BOYS
TEAM RESULTS (KEY)
1, Richland (R) 96; 2, Bellefonte (B) 59; 3, Penn Cambria (PC) 57; 4, Juniata (J) 52; 5, Tyrone (T) 43; 6, Central (C) 41; 7, Huntingdon (H) 36; 8, Northern Cambria (NC) 33; 9, United (U) 29; 10, Central Cambria (CC) 27; 11, Bellwood-Antis (BA) 26.5; 12, Penns Manor (PM) 26; 13, Bishop Carroll (BC) 17; 14, River Valley (RV) 16; 15, Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 14; 16, Westmont Hilltop (WH) 13; 17, Cambria Heights (CH) 12; T-18, Penns Valley (PV) 11; T-18, Portage (P) 11; T-18, Mount Union (MU) 11; 21, Forest Hills (FH) 10.5; T-22, Southern Huntingdon (SH) 10; T-22, Purchase Line 10; 24, Saint Joseph's (SJ) 9; T-25, Bishop McCort (BM) 8; T-25, Marion Center (MC) 8; T-27, Juniata Valley (JV) 6; T-27, West Branch 6; 29, Homer-Center (HC) 1.
INDIVIDUAL (TOP THREE ADVANCE TO STATES)
100 dash: 1, Stolarski, PC, 11.11; 2, McCracken, R, 11.25; 3, Mickel, C, 11.41; 4, Nelen, CH, 11.46; 5, Yarnick, R, 11.5; 6, Benton, C, 11.57; 7, Yeager, R, 11.59; 8, Konitsky, NC, 11.68. 200 dash: **1, Stolarski, PC, 21.73; 2, McAneny, R, 22.59; 3, Ronan, T, 22.69; 4, McCracken, R, 23.11; 5, Konitsky, NC, 23.2; 6, Hummel, B, 23.21; 7, Hunt, WH, 23.23; 8, Ewing, RV, 24.0. 400 dash: **1, Stolarski, PC, 47.91; 2, Ferguson, BM, 49.62; 3, Mugerwa, R, 49.62; 4, Konitsky, NC, 51.92; 5, Carr, WB, 52.78; 6, McAneny, R, 54.08; 7, Grassmyer, U, 1:01.69; 8, Romani, T, 1:02.15. 800 run: **1, Radar, H, 1:55.38; 2, Erwin, SH, 2:00.16; 3, Simander, SJ, 2:00.48; 4, Detwiler, T, 2:02.38; 5, Beglin, R, 2:02.7; 6, Mansfield, B, 2:03.45; 7, Kuntz, CC, 2:06.85; 8, Gouse, P, 2:07.38. 3200 run: 1, Radar, H, 9:22.49; 2, Stroup, J, 9:23.11; 3, Bomberger, J, 9:48.9; 4, Caron, FH, 10:00.16; 5, Williams, B, 10:00.97; 6, Reamer, PV, 10:18.11; 7, Haycisak, CC, 10:21.82; 8, Smith, WH, 10:23.96. 110 hurdles: 1, Dumm, NC, 15.39; 2, Shepps, J, 15.46; 3, Dickinson, BA, 15.54; 4, Levander, R, 15.65; 5, Forsha, RV, 15.8; 6, Long-Yarrison, C, 15.8; 7, Dreibelbis, CH, 16.28; 8, Harteis, FH, 19.32. 300 hurdles: 1, Shepps, J, 40.48; 2, Kimler, PV, 40.71; 3, Dickinson, BA, 41.15; 4, Taylor, BEA, 41.29; 5, Eckenrode, CH, 42.19; 6, Long-Yarrison, C, 42.84; 7, Martin, U, 42.85; 8, Stiffler, U, 42.93.
400 relay: **1, Richland, 43.24; 2, Tyrone, 44.0; 3, Westmont Hilltop, 44.46; 4, River Valley, 44.85; 5, Bellefonte, 44.87; 6, United, 46.27. 1600 relay: 1, Bellefonte, 3:26.35; 2, Richland, 3:26.59; 3, Tyrone, 3:27.47; *4, United, 3:28.43; 5, Central, 3:31.97; 6, Bellwood-Antis, 3:33.68; 7, Central Cambria, 3:37.1; 8, Homer-Center, 3:38.05. 3200 relay: 1, Bellefonte (Vinnedge, Williams, Garrison, Crist), 8:09.62; 2, Tyrone, 8:19.73; 3, United, 8:21.19; 4, Central Cambria, 8:22.87; 5, Richland, 8:29.84; 6, Bald Eagle Area, 8:32.14; 7, West Branch, 8:34.74; 8, Bellwood-Antis, 8:35.3. Triple jump: 1, McDermott, PC, 43-2.25; 2, Farrell, NC, 42-11; 3, Hummel, B, 42-8.75; 4, Cunningham, BC, 42-7; 5, Reilly, RV, 41-3; 6, Muthler, C, 41-2.75; 7, Poorman, BA, 40-10; 8, Lilly, PC, 40-5.75. Shot put: **1, Polenik, PM, 56-10.25; 2, Vasil, CC, 47-9; 3, Erdman, H, 45-4.5; 4, Layo, P, 44-11.5; 5, Jelly, U, 44-2.25; 6, Pittsinger, CC, 43-7.75; 7, Proctor, B, 42-4.25; 8, Lewis, PM, 41-4.75.
GIRLS
TEAM RESULTS (KEY)
1, Richland (R) 96.5; 2, Forest Hills (FH) 68; 3, Tyrone (T) 52.25; 4, Huntingdon (H) 52; 5, Central (C) 51; 6, River Valley (RV) 49; 7, Central Cambria (CC) 43.25; 8, Bellwood-Antis (BA) 30; 9, Penns Valley (PV) 29; 10, Cambria Heights (CH) 28; 11, Portage (P) 25; 12, Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 19; 13, Juniata (J) 18.25; 14, United (U) 17.5; 15, Westmont Hilltop (WH) 17; 16, Purchase Line (PL) 14; 17, Mount Union (MU) 13.5; 18, Bishop Carroll (BC) 13; 19, West Branch (WB) 10; T-20, Southern Huntingdon (SH) 9; T-20, Juniata Valley (JV) 9; T-20, Penn Cambria (PC) 9; 23, Marion Center (MC) 8; 24, Northern Cambria (NC) 7; 25, Penns Manor (PM) 5.5; 26, Philipsburg-Osceola (PO) 3; 27, Homer-Center (HC) 2.25; 28, Blacklick Valley (BV) 2; 29, Saint Joseph's (SJ) 1.
INDIVIDUAL (TOP THREE ADVANCE TO STATES)
100 dash: 1, Burkett, P, 12.57; 2, Piscatello, R, 12.94; 3, Lewis, T, 13.02; 4, Hopsicker, JV, 13.24; 5, Cramer, WH, 13.28; 6, Campbell, BA, 13.43; 7, Dibert, C, 13.44; 8, Cornman, RV, 13.55. 200 dash: 1, Burkett, P, 25.66; 2, Piscatello, R, 26.15; 3, Lewis, T, 26.41; 4, Glessner, FH, 26.73; 5, Ramsey, T, 26.8; 6, Hopsicker, JV, 26.9; 7, Chichester, T, 27.0; 8, Harper, SH, 28.15. 400 dash: 1, McConnell, RV, 59.02; 2, Stitzer, PV, 59.41; 3, Mavridis, R, 59.92; 4, Hassler, BA, 1:01.45; 5, Taylor, BEA, 1:02.5; 6, Ab. Sheehan, CC, 1:03.65; 7, Felix, FH, 1:03.65; 8, DePetro, NC, 1:04.71. 800 run: 1, Stitzer, PV, 2:19.88; 2, Pablic, BC, 2:23.52; 3, Al. Sheehan, CC, 2:23.53; 4, Mavridis, R, 2:24.92; 5, Chobany, P, 2:26.55; 6, Carpenter, FH, 2:27.83; 7, Miller, NC, 2:27.89; 8, Hoover, CH, 2:27.96. 3200 run: 1, Brubaker, J, 11:24.44; 2, Berkhimer, C, 11:28.42; 3, Mavridis, R, 11:36.67; 4, Smith, PV, 11:38.21; 5, Brandis, CC, 12:18.06; 6, Gornick, U, 12:40.63; 7, Slade, MC, 12:47.76; 8, Ridenour, SJ, 12:58.25. 100 hurdles: 1, Glessner, FH, 15.68; 2, Young, H, 15.74; 3, McClellan, CH, 16.4; 4, Dunlap, R, 16.96; 5, Karabinos, PC, 17.2; 6, Barnett, SH, 17.31; 7, Fatula, BV, 17.41; 8, Stoltzfus, BA, 17.64. 300 hurdles: 1, Skopic, MU, 47.19; 2, McConnell, RV, 47.36; 3, Paul, T, 47.36; 4, Papcunik, FH, 47.83; 5, Taylor, CC, 49.19; 6, Smith, PM, 49.57; 7, Stoltzfus, BA, 49.89; 8, Decker, C, 50.75.
400 relay: 1, Tyrone, 49.94; 2, Central, 50.73; 3, Westmont Hilltop, 51.62; 4, Bellwood-Antis, 52.95; 5, Cambria Heights, 53.4; 6, Huntingdon, 53.5; 7, Southern Huntingdon, 53.87; 8, Northern Cambria, 53.97. 1600 relay: 1, Forest Hills, 4:09.93; 2, Central Cambria, 4:13.49; 3, Purchase Line, 4:15.88; 4, Central, 4:16.94; 5, Tyrone, 4:17.53; 6, Bellwood-Antis, 4:19.8; 7, Bald Eagle Area, 4:21.27; 8, Marion Center, 4:27.6. 3200 relay: 1, Central Cambria (Brandis, Long, Ab. Sheehan, Al. Sheehan), 9:51.65; 2, Forest Hills, 10:02.17; 3, Purchase Line, 10:04.58; 4, Marion Center, 10:06.63; 5, Bald Eagle Area, 10:28.74; 6, Bellwood-Antis, 10:35.14; 7, Southern Huntingdon, 10:54.4; 8, Juniata Valley, 10:59.45. Triple jump: 1, Mark, H, 36-8.25; 2, McMillen, CH, 36-5.75; 3, Buonaccorsi, H, 36-3; *4, Macey, R, 36-1.5; *5, Ramsey, T, 36-0.25; *6, Kane, WH, 35-10.5; 7, Hall, C, 35-3; 8, Yost, R, 33-10.5. Shot put: 1, Garnett, R, 42-9.25; 2, Jackson, RV, 36-10.25; 3, Schirato, FH, 34-0.25; 4, Mingle, C, 33-2; 5, Barger, RV, 31-3.5; 6, Crestani, BEA, 30-9.75; 7, Voyda, HC, 30-9; 8, Price, SH, 30-2.5. Pole vault: *1, Krug, FH, 11-0; 2, Buonaccorsi, H, 10-6; 3, Ford, R, 10-6; *4, Rolley, H, 10-6; 5, Worthing, BA, 9-0; T-6, Ressler, U, 9-0; T-6, Bowman, PM, 9-0; T-8, Kolar, CC, 8-3; T-8, Nagy, HC, 8-3; T-8, Warren, T, 8-3.
**Meet record
*Advanced to states by state qualifying standard