PHOTO GALLERY | Area athletes set pace in PIAA boys track and field preliminaries

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – As the defending state champion in the 400-meter dash, Penn Cambria’s Josh Stolarski knows the value of setting the pace and conserving energy in the preliminary round.

The Panthers senior competed Friday in three events in the PIAA Track and Field Championship Meet at Shippensburg University. Stolarski carried the top seed into both the 400- and 200-meter dash.

By the end of a scorching afternoon at Seth Grove Stadium, Stolarski had advanced to the Saturday finals in both the 400 and 200.

“Just trying to keep it low key and not put too much effort out,” Stolarski said after posting the second-best time in the 200 preliminary round. “(Saturday) is the real day. (Friday) is just the tune-up, more of a workout.”

Stolarski set the pace in the 400 preliminaries by winning the fourth heat in 48.92 – the best time of the day in 2A.

“A 48.9 is OK,” Stolarski said. “I opened my first 200 (meters) fast, then I really coasted the whole way home. Same with the 200. I opened that 150 fast but when I got around the kid in Lane 3, I just stayed in front of him to edge it out and just keep as much strength for tomorrow.”

The PIAA Class 2A boys 400-meter dash final will have a strong District 6 presence with three area runners advancing through Friday’s preliminary heats into Saturday’s final.

In the first heat, Bishop McCort Catholic senior Shakile Ferguson won with a 49.14, and Richland junior Jude Mugerwa ran a 49.97 to finish third in the heat and advance based on his time.

Solarski and Ferguson had the top-two times among the qualifiers for Saturday’s 400 final. Mugerwa qualified with the seventh-best heat time.

“It’s pretty cool that the three of us are in the final,” Stolarski said. “Me, ‘Shak’ and Jude have been running together the past three years.

“Jude was in the final last year. ‘Shak’ didn’t make it out of our district last year and now he’s No. 2 right behind me (in the finals). I’m proud of the kid. I’m proud of both of them. Jude has another year to go. ‘Shak’s’ graduating. It’s going to be a good show for the 2A crowd.”

Meyersdale senior Tristin Ohler posted the best preliminary time in the 200-meter dash with a 22.01 in the first heat. Mount Carmel senior Xavier Diaz took the second heat in 22.29, and Stolarski won the fourth heat at 22.33 for the top three seeds in the final.

“The first 100 (meters) were really bad,” Ohler said of the 200 preliminary.

“I had to start going real hard on the second 100. I had a bad start. I pulled my hamstring a little bit, but I’ll be good for Saturday.”

Ohler qualified for the 100-meter dash final by running 10.86, the best time during the preliminaries.

“A lot of work going into it,” Ohler said after the 100. “I’ve been working hard this season. Everything has been working.

“Good competition today. It’s all coming together making it a good day. Hopefully (Saturday) I can bring home the gold.”

Penn Cambria’s Stolarski (11.06) was 11th and Richland’s Evan McCracken (11.16) was 16th but didn’t qualify for Saturday’s final.

Stolarski said missing the 100-meter final actually should benefit his title defense efforts in the 400.

“Coming out of the district meet I wanted to scratch the 100,” Stolarski said. “Having that before the 400 gets me tired and I’m not performing my best with it in my legs.

“To be able to be really fresh for the 400 (Saturday) is going to help me a lot.”

Silver lining: Meyersdale junior Jordan Synowietz placed second in the 2A discus throw with a 159-7. Penns Manor junior Alex Polenik won with a throw of 171-0.

Synowietz threw 7 feet, 7 inches better than his sixth-seeded distance. He made his best throw on his first attempt. Polenik tossed the winning distance on his sixth and final throw.

Rams reach final: The Richland 400-meter relay qualified for Saturday’s final. The Rams squad of Mugerwa, Joseph McAneny, Cody Yeager and McCracken ran 43.14 to secure the eighth and final spot.

So close: Penn Cambria senior Carter McDermott placed fourth in the Class 2A boys long jump with a 22-10 ¼ on his fifth attempt. But the Panthers standout fouled on a potential top-level jump on his final try.

“I thought I was going to take it all with that one, I’m not going to lie,” McDermott said. “It was probably my best jump of my whole high school career, and I scratched it.

“I didn’t think I fouled, but I guess I did,” McDermott said. “Toe foul. A couple, maybe an inch over – not even.”

Slippery Rock’s Levi Prementine won with a long jump of 23-0 ¾, followed by Bellefonte’s Zane Hummel in second (22-11 ¾) and Conwell-Egan’s Anthony Conrey in third (22-10 ½).

“My short-term goal was to just get a banner in the school,” McDermott said. “We need to place top-three to get that. I didn’t get it by a quarter of an inch, which hurts a lot.”

McDermott placed in the top-four during his comeback season after his junior year was hindered by a nagging injury.

“It’s nice, but again, it’s still really, really tough to miss that by just a couple inches,” McDermott said.

Extra motivation: Conemaugh Township junior Jackson Sotosky used the disappointment of failing to medal in the morning long jump competition to spark his fifth-place finish in the high jump.

Sotosky cleared 6-4 on his third attempt at that height.

“I was ultimately disappointed in my long jump that I couldn’t get a medal this year, but I’ll be working for that next year,” Sotosky said.

“That drove me more and more wanting to get a medal, which made me work harder.”

Sotosky placed 12th in the long jump with a distance of 21-5. Last year he placed fifth in the long jump at Shippensburg.

“I just had to come out here and perform,” he said. “There were about 22 athletes in the high jump, and I had to compete against all of them.

“They’re all really good athletes.”

Chasing a medal: Richland senior Dugan Chase made the medal stand with an eighth-place javelin throw of 168-5.

“It wasn’t great,” said Chase, who entered the 2A boys meet seeded fourth at 178-7. “My PRs are way better than what I threw today, but I’ll take eighth place for my first time at states.”

Chase said he adapted to the atmosphere and competition at the state meet.

“I learned just to get out of my head and be consistent is all I’ve got to worry about,” Chase said. “I don’t have to worry about anything else.

“I’ll take that going forward.”

Danville Area’s Bronson Krainak placed first with a throw of 215-7.

“There are great throwers out here,” Chase said. “A couple of these guys have been over 200.”

Windber senior Lukas Betcher (143-8) placed 16th, and Penn Cambria’s Aaron Brumbaugh (137-2) finished 20th.

Hurdling into final: Bedford junior A.J. Koontz ran a 39.80 in the Class 2A boys 300-meter hurdles, posting the fourth-best time in the preliminaries and qualifying for Saturday’s final.

Bisons relay moves on: The Bedford 1600-meter relay squad advanced through the preliminaries in the Class 2A boys.

The squad of Cole Taylor, Joseph Brallier, Koontz and Jonathan Gresh ran a 3:24.86, which was the sixth-best qualifying time on Friday.

National standard: Butler High School senior Drew Griffith broke both the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and PIAA records in the Class 3A boys 1600-meter race.

Griffth set an early record pace, completing the first lap in 59 seconds. The District 7 runner didn’t drop off as the race progressed.

His time of 3:57.08 shattered the NFHS mark set in 2001 by Reston (Va.) South Lakes’ Alan Webb (3:59.51). The previous PIAA record of 4:01.56 in the event was set by Gary Martin of Archbishop Wood in 2022.

Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.