Brady Ott had quite the trot this weekend at the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg.
As a team, senior Ott paired with Andrew Young, Joe Crowne and Lucas Poliseno to win the boys 4x800 3A meter relay in a blistering 7:38.73 … nearly five and a half seconds faster than second-place Carlisle.
Individually, Ott earned a spot on the NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) Honor Roll with two seventh-place finishes: a 4.08:95 in the 1,600 meter and a 9:03.21 in the 3,200 meter. Butler’s Drew Griffith, the winner of both races, set a national high school record in the 1,600 meter and a PIAA record in the 3,200 meter.
Archbishop Wood sophomore Gwen Hamilton medaled twice with a silver in the girls 3A 800 meter (2:08.15) and a seventh in the 3A 1,600 meter (4:54.10). Central Bucks South junior Riley Rooney also medaled in both events with a seventh in the 800 meter (2:11.80) and an eighth in the 1,600 meter (4:54.12). Hamilton and Rooney both made the NFHS honor roll in the 800 meter.
Any top eight finisher is considered a medalist.
Central Bucks West senior and Penn State signee Mimi Duffy won a silver – and NFHS Honor Roll recognition – with a 54.62 in the girls 3A 400-meter dash.
Girls 3A medalists included the Central Bucks East 4x800 meter relay team of Madison Epstein, Eleanor Swidorski, Lilly Norcross and Ava Mignon for clocking a fourth place (9:20.22).
The CB East 4x400 meter relay team of Epstein, Mignon, Julianna Button and Melayna Pettigrew came in fifth with a 3:56.07 clocking. CB West’s squad of Duffy, Reegan Moran, Mia Menard and Abigail Kolbe finished seventh in 3:56.84.
Pennridge junior Ashley Landis finished seventh in the 300-meter hurdles (45.82).
In boys 3A, the CB West 4x800 meter relay team of Richard Newell, Nathan Terry, Benjamin Fuhrmeister and Nate Fehrman finished fifth with a 7:46.98 time. CB South senior Lucas Knappenberger took sixth place in the pole vault with his 14-foot jump.
Senior Fehrman took one of three seventh places with his 1:53.52 in the 800 meter. CB East senior Jacob Tannenbaum placed seventh in discus with a 164-foot throw while teammate and junior Lorenz Forsmann came in seventh in the 400 meter with a 48.41 time. Sophomore Poliseno finished eighth in the 800 meter (1:53.66).
The lone area 2A medal went to Palisades’ Trevor Johnson. The senior triple jumped 43 feet, 9.75 inches to take seventh.
The CB East 4x400 boys team of Thomas Donnelly, Asher Bloom, Dylan Borden and Forsmann came in 10th (3:19.58). Council Rock South sophomore Nazar Pastukh triple jumped 43 feet, 5.5 inches in 3A for 11th place. The New Hope-Solebury 4x800 girls team of Nora Eneva, Nina Meixler, Skylar High and Naava Richlin finished 12th (10:00.24) in 2A. Individually, Richlin’s 2:23.31 in the 2A 800 meter was good enough for 13th.
Crowne (1:55.98 in the 800 meter), Poliseno (4:14.31 in the 1,600 meter), CB East junior Mia Rivera (118-5 in the javelin throw) and CB East senior Roman Messina (39.61 in the 300-meter hurdles) all finished 14th.
Other participants in the state track and field championship included Quakertown senior Kaitlin Calvello (16-7.5 in the girls 3A long jump), Faith Christian senior Robert Ulsh (16.93 in the 2A boys 110-meter hurdles), CB South junior Devlyn Faber (35-1.5 in the girls 3A triple jump), CB West senior Megan Blue (5-0 in the girls 3A high jump) and Archbishop Wood junior Abby Meulenberg (87-6 in the girls 3A discuss throw).
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