Ethan Black (Conemaugh Township Area), Sydney Rush (Somerset Area), and others stand out as top performers at the PIAA District V Championship.
Boys
Team:
Bedford won the overall team score with 93 points. Their 4x800m relay led the charge as district champions, with 22 other individuals from Bedford meddling in events. Chestnut Ridge came in 2nd with 80 points, while Conemaugh Township Area was 3rd with 73 points.
Sprints:
Ethan Black Conemaugh Township Area of Conemaugh Township Area blazed his way to his 3rd straight 2A District 5 100m dash title. Black clocked a 10.51 in the prelim and followed that up with an impressive 10.48 in the final.
Maylin Gunby of Everett Area was 2nd in the 100m dash running
a state qualifying mark of 11.09. Also meeting the 2A state qualifying standard
of 11.30 was Tristan Ohler (Meyersdale Area) in 11.12, Collin Gillis (Tussey
Mountain) in 11.14, and Jonathan Updyke (Conemaugh Township Area) in 11.29.
Ethan Black continued his domination in the 200m dash easing his way to another District 5 gold in 22.05. Keep an eye on Black at the PIAA State Championship as he'll look to defend both his 100m and 200m dash 2A state titles.
Tristan Ohler of Meyersdale Area also met the 200m dash state qualifying standard of 22.88 after finishing 2nd in 22.59.
Logan Seslow of Somerset Area is the only qualifier in the 400m dash after winning in 51.47.
Hurdles:
Sam Albright of Chestnut Ridge won district titles in both hurdle events. Albright ran a strong 14.80 in the 110m hurdle prelim, then came back to win the final in 15.09. Albright dominated the 300m hurdles with a 40.48, beating the rest of the field by over a second.
Distance:
Calan Bollman of Chestnut Ridge took the 800m run crown in 2:02.50 with a well-timed kick to beat Caden Montgomery (Berlin Brothersvalley).
Bollman also won the 1600m run with a solid 4:34.30 performance.
Joseph McKelvey of Windber Area won the 3200m run in 10:19.16 despite hardship during the last mile of the race. From losing a spike to falling twice in the last 100 meters, McKelvey showed a lot of heart to get across the line to punch his ticket to the state championship.
Relays:
Conemaugh Township won the 4x100m relay in a solid 43.21 over the team from Bedford that finished 2nd in 43.80.
The 4x400m relay came down to an exciting finish. Bedford was in the lead; however, they couldn't hold off the hard-closing Everett Area anchor. Everett Area won with a dive at the line in 3:30.37. Bedford finished 2nd in 3:30.41.
Everett Boys - Comeback win in District 5 4x400m Relay Finals
The Bedford 4x800m relay team took the race from the gun, winning in 8:41.46.
Jumps:
Noah Pittman of Northern Bedford won a closely contested high jump competition. Pittman comes out on top, being the first of four other athletes to clear 5'-10".
Jackson Sotosky of Conemaugh Township Area had an effort of 21'-4.5" to win the long jump competition.
Noah Shaffer of Everett Area won a district title in the triple jump with an effort of 41'-10.5".
Vault:
Quintin Robison of Somerset Area is the District 5 pole vault champion after clearing 12'.
Throws:
Blake Klosky of Windber Area won the discus, throwing 137'-7". Klosky outperformed the rest of the field by nearly thirteen feet.
Klosky continued his success with an impressive shot put performance. He had a strong throw of 54'-7.5" to win the district title and set a new personal best.
Bryson Hetz of Meyersdale Area is the District 5 champion in the javelin throwing 161'-5".
Girls
Team:
Bedford won the girl's team race by raking in an impressive 127 points. This comes as no surprise after four individuals and two relays from Bedford earned district titles, not to mention the countless other medalists from the school. Somerset was 2nd with 103.5 points, while Chestnut Ridge was 3rd with 80 points.
Sprints:
Sydney Rush of Somerset Area dominated her way to the 100m dash title running a new personal best of 12.02 in the final. Izzy Slezak (Conemaugh Township Area) hit the state qualifying standard of 12.70 after finishing 2nd in 12.52.
Sydney Rush - District 5 100m Final
Slezak continued her strong district campaign winning the 200m dash by over a second in a quick 25.54.
Deborah Bozovich of Shade HS took the 400m dash title in 1:01.10.
Hurdles:
Autumn Becker of Bedford earned herself District 5 titles in both hurdle events. Becker won the 100m hurdle finals in 16.31, beating Berlin Brothersvalley's Lynndee Ickes at the line. As for the 300m hurdles, Becker won in a 48.70, beating the field by nearly a second.
Distance:
Ava Whysong of Chestnut Ridge and Meah Eshelman of Bedford put on an exciting show in the 800m run. Whysong out leaned Eshelman at the line to win by one-hundredth second in 2:24.92.
Ava Whysong - Close Finish in District 5 800m Final
Whysong also won the 1600m run in 5:35.82, taking the race from the gun.
Avery Weaverling of Bedford earned the 3200m win in 12:39.45, leading the entire race.
Relays:
The Somerset Area 4x100m relay team punched their ticket to the state championship running 50.15 to win by over a second.
The Bedford girls dominated the 4x400m relay winning in a time of 4:18.98.
Bedford started the meet with a wire-to-wire win in the 4x800m relay, running 10:46.68.
Jumps:
Katie McDevitt, a freshman from Bedford, won the high jump as the only athlete in the field to clear 4'10".
Sydney Rush took her track talents to the field to win the long jump with a mark of 17'-1.5".
Riley Brubaker of Windber Area earned the triple jump title with a top performance of 34'-8".
Vault:
Lana Fairman of Berlin Brothersvalley won the pole vault, clearing a height of 7'-6".
Throws:
Lizzie Long of Northern Bedford dominated the discus winning in an effort of 112'-6". Long was the only athlete to throw over 100 feet.
Long also won the shot put with a throw of 34'-3.5".
Belle Bosch of Chestnut Ridge crushed the javelin competition, throwing 134'-5".