Eleven meet records were broken and one was tied — many of which had stood for more than a decade.

“(The meet) has grown. We started it when we built the stadium back around 2005,” Northern Bedford’s Jeff Batzel said. “It’s grown considerably. I think we started with 12 or 14 teams, and we have had as many as 22 here. I think all the records falling is a combination of athletes getting better, and this is maybe the best weather day we have ever had for this event.”

Central senior Lanee Berkhimer is the new record holder in one of those events and nearly grabbed another.

Berkhimer broke the meet record, previously held by Forest Hills star Leah Anne Wirfel set in 2010 of 11:15.64 by nearly 10 seconds with a time of 11:06.61 in the 3200-meter run. The runner-up, Bella Ascherl, also would have broken the record with a time of 11:07.32.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Northern Bedford's Bella Gable placed first in the shot put with a distance of 36-03.00.

Berkhimer and Asherl, both seniors, have run many races together over the years competing in the same conference and district.

“I’m still training really hard and working toward the peak of my season and coming out here getting used to racing and trying for decent times,” Berkhimer said. “What I run, I’ll take. Even though we are competing against each other, at the end of the day, we all want to get better and grow. We can all help push each other, which is what is important.”

Berkhimer nearly had another record in the 1600 run when she ran it in 5:14.16 but was edged on the final lap by Richland’s Natalia Mavridis, who set a new meet record in 5:13.6. The previous record — set by Sarah Strayer of Forest Hills in 2008 of 5:15.54 — was also broken by third-place finisher Ascherl, who crossed the finish line in 5:15.47.

“I have been getting injured in track recently, and the longer the distance the more confident and stronger I am,” Berkhimer said. “I went into the mile mentally down on myself. The whole time I was trying to reverse my attitude and trust in God. At the end of the day, I maybe held myself back a little bit, and that was the difference. But the mile isn’t my event. It’s still a good time. Girls would kill to be in my position, so I just need to be thankful. I shrugged it off and went into the two-mile knowing God has got me, and I just did my best.”

Two other Central competitors won individual championships.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Central's Owen Brown runs the second leg of the 4x100 meter relay. The team won with a time of 8:31.10.

Central junior Ben Hartman edged Forest Hills senior Tyler Caron in the 1600 run with a time of 4:35.62, and Kerrie Mock won the long jump by half an inch with a distance of 16 feet, 2 inches over Everett’s Emma Ritchey. In addition, Central’s 3200 boys relay team, anchored by Jacob Heuston, won first place in 8:31.1.

“Ben put in one of the toughest offseasons any boy on our team has put in,” Central coach Blake Over said. “He started training and got up to 45 miles a week. He really wants this. You can tell. He’s worked extremely hard, and I’m really happy the season is going as well as it is for him.”

Heuston and Hartman run several of the same events and push each other.

“They feed off each other and are really good friends,” Over said. “But they are also competitors and whether it’s a drill at practice or it’s at a meet, they want to beat each other and they push each other.”

Over was thrilled to see Mock win a blue ribbon.

“She’s worked really hard,” Over said. “She’s finally hitting the swing of things. Early in the year, she wasn’t jumping her best and getting a little frustrated, but she kept working and has started to see the fruits of her labor.”

Penn Cambria’s Blake Lilly, who also had a successful meet at last year’s NBC Invitational, won the triple jump with a distance of 43 feet, 9 inches and was second in the javelin with a throw of 152 feet, 5 inches behind champion Noah Crawford of DuBois, who threw it 155 feet, 3 inches.

Northern Bedford senior Bella Gable won the shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 3 inches, and her teammate Halle Baker won the triple jump with a distance of 33 feet, 10 inches.

“I was pretty satisfied with my shot put,” Gable said. “I always like it when I can throw at least 36, so that went pretty well. I have been doing pretty bad in discus lately, so the fact I threw 99-7 was crazy, because my best this season has been 89, so that’s 10 feet. I solved the problem I was having. I needed to just stand up a little more.”

Gable ended up fifth in the discus but has big goals for the shot put.

“I have my eyes on the school shot put record of 37-11,” Gable said. “My best has been 37-2. I just need to throw a 38 so I have that. I also would love to place at states, because I got ninth last year. I was pretty disappointed with that.”

In addition to striving for the school record, Gable has taken on a leadership role for Northern Bedford.

“Paying attention to upperclassmen is, I think, the best thing you can do,” Gable said. “Since I am an upperclassman now, I talk to the younger kids a lot and teach them as much as I can. I think that’s a big part of all this.”

Other records

n Penn Cambria’s Kate Eckenrode would have broken the old meet record of 12.7 seconds in the 100 dash set by Bedford’s Grace Sarver in 2022, but her time of 12.5 was bettered by James Buchanan sophomore Cheyenne Eby, who finished in 12.43.

n Eby also broke the record in the 200 previously held by Northern Bedford’s Nicki Leach at 26.34 in 2010 by running it in 25.65 seconds.

n Mavridis, who edged Berkhimer for the 1600 title and record, was on the other side of a record-breaking performance later in the meet when her time of 2:21.06 would have been a new record — besting Forest Hills’ Casey Gallaher’s 2:24.24 in 2010 — but Southern Fulton’s Julia Madison smashed both times crossing the finish line in 2:15.36 in the 800 run.

n Forest Hills senior Mylee Glessner broke a meet record in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.14 seconds, besting Jenna Bracken of Windber’s 2013 time of 15.33 seconds.

n Richland’s Arnold Mugera ran the 110 hurdles in 14.88 seconds, also setting a meet record previously held by Berlin Brothersvalley’s Alex Will of 15.14 seconds in 2011.

n Southern Fulton’s Teagan Ritz narrowly edged Tussey Mountain graduate Jordan Donaldson’s record of 2:01.74 from 2007 in the 800 run with a time of 2:01.67.

n After finishing as runner-up in the 1600, Caron added to the record-setting day by running the 3200 in 9:46.29, just ahead of the time of McConnellsburg’s Chris Snyder in 2007 of 9:46.74.

n Another record fell in the boys long jump with Richland’s Arison McCulty leaping 22 feet, 9.25 inches to surpass Penn Cambria graduate Carter McDermott’s mark of 22-8.25 from 2024.

n DuBois senior Ryan Wildenauer tied the high jump record, also held by Northern Bedford’s Zach Pressel from 2013, by clearing 6-5.

n The DuBois girls also broke the Forest Hills girls’ record in 2010 with a time of 4:08.02 in the 1600 relay. The previous mark was 4:08.64.

TEAM KEY

B–Bedford; BB–Berlin Brothersvalley; C–Central; CR–Chestnut Ridge; D–DuBois; E–Everett; FH–Forest Hills; JB–James Buchanan; M–McConnellsburg; MD–Meyersdale; NB–Northern Bedford; PC–Penn Cambria; R–Richland; S–Shade; SF–Southern Fulton; SH–Southern Huntingdon; TM–Tussey Mountain; W–Windber.

BOYS

INDIVIDUAL

100 dash: 1, Blakeslee, D, 11.14; 2, Britton, PC, 11.2; 3, Carowick, SH, 11.3; 4, Scott, FH, 11.33; 5, Koontz, B, 11.35; 6, McCulty, R, 11.48. 200 dash: 1, Yeager, JB, 22.56; 2, Koontz, B, 22.66; 3, Blakeslee, D, 23.14; 4, Schreiber, E, 23.25; 5, Kipp, S, 23.34; 6, Poteat, E, 23.49. 400 dash: 1, Yeager, JB, 50.25; 2, Schreiber, E, 51.69; 3, Poteat, E, 52.05; 4, Heuston, C, 52.64; 5, Sullivan, D, 53.72; 6, Tallion, W, 53.89. 800 run: *1, Ritz, SF, 2:01.67; 2, Redinger, B, 2:03.18; 3, Heuston, C, 2:06.44; 4, Martin, JB, 2:08.61; 5, Sipes, B, 2:09.23; 6, Bozovich, BB, 2:09.52. 1600 run: 1, Hartman, C, 4:35.62; 2, Caron, FH, 4:38.66; 3, Richardson, BB, 4:47.02; 4, Brambley, B, 4:47.35; 5, Fyfe, B, 4:52.13; 6, Embree, JB, 4:57.06. 3200 run: *1, Caron, FH, 9:46.29; 2, McDonald, CR, 10:20.05; 3, Smith, FH, 10:27.66; 4, Corle, NB, 10:34.8; 5, LaBenne, D, 10:43.16; 6, Bolinger, R, 10:43.6. 110 hurdles: *1, Mugerwa, R, 14.88; 2, Hersch, MD, 15.27; 3, Ajayi, D, 15.91; 4, Carroll, FH, 16.17; 5, Mellott, SF, 16.94; 6, Horn, C, 17.0. 300 hurdles: 1, Mugerwa, R, 40.65; 2, Hersch, MD, 40.78; 3, Carroll, FH, 41.14; 4, Mellott, SF, 42.36; 5, Ajayi, D, 43.14; 6, Wadley, R, 45.26.

400 relay: 1, Richland (Bond, Mugerwa, Pugh, McCulty), 43.74; 2, Bedford, 44.25; 3, James Buchanan, 45.03; 4, Tussey Mountain, 45.89; 5, Meyersdale, 45.94; 6, Southern Huntingdon, 46.57. 1600 relay: 1, Everett (), 3:29.73; 2, James Buchanan, 3:33.87; 3, Bedford, 3:35.37; 4, Southern Fulton, 3:36.33; 5, Richland, 3:37.67; 6, Windber, 3:43.19. 3200 relay: 1, Central (Hartman, Brown, Padilla, Heuston), 8:31.1; 2, Bedford, 8:43.19; 3, Southern Fulton, 8:57.16; 4, Richland, 8:59.76; 5, Forest Hills, 9:04.96; 6, DuBois, 9:06.79. High jump: *1, Wildenauer, D, 6-5; T-2, Schrock, B, 6-1; T-2, Edmondson, FH, 6-1; 4, Gontkovic, R, 6-1; 5, Dowdy, BB, 6-1; 6, Patterson, TM, 5-11. Long jump: *1, McCulty, R, 22-9.25; 2, Scott, FH, 21-2; 3, Schrock, B, 20-11.5; 4, Lilly, PC, 20-9.5; 5, Gontkovic, R, 20-2; 6, Hersch, MD, 20-1.25. Triple jump: 1, Lilly, PC, 43-9; 2, Gontkovic, R, 42-2; 3, Klosky, W, 40-5.5; 4, Swailes, JB, 40-5; 5, McCulty, R, 40-5; 6, Beach, C, 40-3. Shot put: 1, Tew, B, 48-5.5; 2, Crawford, D, 46-2; 3, Shedlock, PC, 42-4.5; 4, Bellinger, C, 40-7.5; 5, Barnes, C, 40-3; 6, Barefoot, CR, 39-11. Discus: 1, Crawford, D, 161-0; 2, King, JB, 143-5; 3, Ingraham, B, 133-7; 4, Hollis, R, 129-0; 5, Mellott, M, 115-9; 6, Conner, TM, 111-10. Javelin: 1, Crawford, D, 155-3; 2, Lilly, PC, 152-5; 3, Johnston, M, 143-6; 4, Egli, JB, 139-8; 5, Bopp, FH, 138-6; 6, Friend, MD, 138-5. Pole vault: 1, Genditzki, B, 10-3; 2, Oyler, W, 9-3; T-3, Sell, D, 8-3; T-3, Leibreid, B, 8-3; T-5, Strait, M, 7-9; T-5, Nesbit, C, 7-9.

GIRLS

INDIVIDUAL

100 dash: *1, Eby, JB, 12.43; 2, Eckenrode, PC, 12.5; 3, Dinger, D, 12.96; 4, Korney, D, 12.98; 5, Piscatello, R, 13.35; 6, Weaver, BB, 13.44. 200 dash: *1, Eby, JB, 25.65; 2, Korney, D, 26.42; 3, Dinger, D, 26.52; 4, Eckenrode, PC, 26.75; 5, Piscatello, R, 26.98; 6, Fleming, JB, 27.76. 400 dash: 1, Mavridis, R, 59.84; 2, Cullers, JB, 1:02.7; 3, Brallier, B, 1:02.97; 4, Miller, SF, 1:03.74; 5, Hull, SF, 1:04.14; 6, Bartley, C, 1:05.25. 800 run: *1, Madison, SF, 2:15.36; 2, Mavridis, R, 2:21.06; 3, Shaw, FH, 2:29.57; 4, Russo, W, 2:31.49; 5, May, B, 2:32.27; 6, Yeager, JB, 2:33.89. 1600 run: *1, Mavridis, R, 5:13.6; 2, Berkhimer, C, 5:14.16; 3, Ascherl, FH, 5:15.47; 4, May, B, 5:19.9; 5, Wildnauer, D, 5:20.25; 6, Weyant, W, 5:43.48. 3200 run: *1, Berkhimer, C, 11:06.61; 2, Ascherl, FH, 11:07.32; 3, Wildnauer, D, 11:52.89; 4, Weyant, W, 12:18.09; 5, Yinkey, B, 12:34.47; 6, Shaw, FH, 12:59.65. 100 hurdles: *1, Glessner, FH, 15.14; 2, Fontaine, D, 16.29; 3, Koontz, B, 16.58; 4, Dunlap, R, 16.77; 5, Dallavalle, FH, 17.12; 6, LaMarche, B, 17.21. 300 hurdles: 1, Papcunik, FH, 47.36; 2, Dunlap, R, 49.16; 3, Dunn, C, 50.21; 4, Shuster, W, 51.33; 5, Price, SH, 51.38; 6, Fontaine, D, 51.8.

400 relay: 1, James Buchanan (Helm, Fleming, Garbinski, Eby), 50.96; 2, Penn Cambria, 51.47; 3, DuBois, 51.56; 4, Forest Hills, 52.26; 5, Bedford, 52.77; 6, Central, 53.6. 1600 relay: *1, DuBois (Russo, Wildnauer, Korney, Dinger), 4:08.02; 2, James Buchanan, 4:10.95; 3, Bedford, 4:15.56; 4, Southern Fulton, 4:17.36; 5, Central, 4:17.39; 6, Richland, 4:17.72. 3200 relay: 1, Forest Hills (Papcunik, Valko, Shaw, Ascherl), 10:37.41; 2, Windber, 10:45.42; 3, Bedford, 10:55.05; 4, Richland, 11:10.03; 5, DuBois, 11:14.25; 6, James Buchanan, 11:29.89. High jump: 1, Brallier, B, 4-10; 2, McDevitt, B, 4-10; 3, Carpenter, FH, 4-10; T-4, Lemaster, PC, 4-8; T-4, Garbinski, JB, 4-8; 6, Shealer, BB, 4-8. Long jump: 1, Mock, C, 16-2; 2, Ritchey, E, 16-1.5; 3, Webb, FH, 15-11; 4, LaMarche, B, 15-7; 5, Burns, D, 15-5; 6, Imes, C, 15-2.25. Triple jump: 1, Baker, NB, 33-10; 2, A. Kennis, D, 32-6.25; 3, Webb, FH, 32-4.75; 4, C. Kennis, D, 32-4.25; 5, Imes, C, 32-4; 6, Detterline, NB, 32-0. Shot put: 1, Gable, NB, 36-3; 2, Krone, W, 34-8; 3, Faith, FH, 32-10; 4, Hall, R, 32-4; 5, Yutzy, TM, 31-11; 6, Boyce, BB, 31-7. Discus: 1, Speicher, FH, 113-7; 2, Taylor, R, 109-9; 3, Yutzy, TM, 104-4; 4, Holloway, SH, 102-3; 5, Gable, NB, 99-7; 6, Hall, R, 94-8. Javelin: 1, Yutzy, TM, 119-0; 2, Faith, FH, 107-11; 3, Myers, FH, 103-8; 4, Martz, B, 101-3; 5, Green, JB, 101-3; 6, Martin, JB, 99-10. Pole vault: 1, Genditzki, B, 10-3; 2, Oyler, W, 9-3; T-3, Sell, D, 8-3; T-3, Leibfreid, B, 8-3; T-5, Nesbit, C, 7-9; T-5, Strait, M, 7-9.

*Meet records