The Bellwood-Antis boys have come close to winning a district title numerous times in recent years, including a third place finish a year ago, but it has been 40 years since the Blue Devils claimed a district title. On Tuesday at Mansion Park, the B-A thinclads broke that streak by sending six boys in a total of eight different events to the state meet at Shippensburg University next week. Bellwood-Antis scored 95.5 points to run away with the team title. Richland was second with 77.5 points, followed by Central Cambria 60.5, Central with 50 and Penns Valley rounded out the top five with 48.
“We have been close so many times, but finally we were able to get the elusive championship,” said Bellwood-Antis coach Nick Lovrich. “This says a lot about our kids. We outdid our seeds, set personal records and bettered state qualifying times.”
Individually, Brandon Pruznak stamped his own athletic talent and skills on the meet by winning the 400 meter dash in a new school record time of 50.13, held his top seed in the long jump with a winning leap of 21-6, anchored the winning 1600 relay team and was second in the 200, by just 13 hundredths of a second (23.34).
“Brandon Pruznak had an outstanding day,” Lovrich said, in what was an understatement. He has been a leader all year, yet he is very humble about his accomplishments. He is the ideal athlete a coach wants to have on his team. He will do anything we ask and he always does it well.”
Ben Hatch joined Pruznak in leading the B-A boys to the title, also breaking the old 400 time, in a asecond place finish (50.21), just eight one-hundredths behind Pruznak, won the 800 (1:58.09) and was a member of the 1600 relay team. Adam Mueller was second in the 110 high hurdles (15.24), third in the 300 IM hurdles (40.53) and joined Pruznak, Hatch and sophomore Kyle Canfield on the 1600 relay team.
Adam Mueller bettered his personal best in the 300 hurdles by nearly a full second, and his time in the 1600 relay was his best of the year” said Lovrich. “Ben Hatch is amazing- his 400 time also broke the school record, then he completed a very tough double by winning the 800, within a half hour of running the 400. Then he ran a 49-second split in the 1600 relay. That is absolutely incredible.”
Ricky Shawley won the pole vault with a vault of 13-3, finishing with less misses than the second place finisher.
“Ricky has really been coming on the last couple weeks. He has a new pole and his years of gymnastics make him a natural.
Brandon Humphreys was fifth in the long jump, Cody Fink cleared 11-9 in the pole vault to finish eighth, and the 400 relay team was fifth, and the 3200 relay team finished fourth.
Tyrone qualified for states in five events: Liz Tepsic won the triple jump with a outstanding jump of 37\’ 7 1/2\”, by far her personal best and will be a high seed in states. Liz also placed second in the 100 hurdles besting her school record in a FAT time of 15.7. Liz just missed qualifying in the Long Jump placing 4th.
“For Liz to come here and have that huge jump in the triple jump and run her PR in the 100 hurdles certainly exemplifies what it is to peak at the right time,” coach Tony Yaniello said. “She placed sixth in states in the triple jump last year with a jump of 36-1 and to pull off that 37-7 was huge in her bid to win the gold.”
Freshman, Rachel Emigh leapt 9-9 in the pole vault to tie for third punching her ticket to states.
“The top three girls all went out of the competition at 10-3 and Rachel actually had the best chance of clearing it just barely touching the bar,” coach Yaniello said. “With a good week of practice I think Rachel could be a state place winner if she can get over 10 feet again.”
Tyrone boys fared well as the 400 relay qualified for states placing third, running their best time of the season (45.1). \”We actually placed second in the fast heat but another team from the slower heats barely beat our time pushing us back to third,\” coach Yaniello said. “We had great hand offs and Johnny Franco ran a strong anchor leg. Tyler Gillmen, Shane Emigh, and Shane Tate ran with Franco. Phil Kreckel and Larry Glace will be alternates on the state qualifying 400 relay. Both Phil and Larry ran at various times this season in that race.”
Sophomore Ben Ingle qualified for states running a personal best in the 1600 with a time of 4:37. Although placing fourth, Ben qualified when the second place finisher opted out of the 1600 at states in favor of specializing in the 3200.
“I told Ben before the race that one or two of the top place winners in the 1600 may specialize in the 3200 at states, and the he could go with a fourth place finish,” Yaniello said. “Ben ran his best race and beat out some good competition to earn his spot, I couldn\’t be happier for him.
“I never expected to take nine kids to states this year with our young team. That is a tribute to our kids and our outstanding coaching staff.”
The Tyrone girls finished eighth (28.5) in the team race, and the Bellwood-Antis girls (27) were tied with Westmont for 10th.
The Lady Blue Devils 400 relay team of Lauren Leap, Emily O’Shea, Jannell Wilt and Jenna Nevling finished second (51.48) to qualify for states. Nevling was fifth in the 100 (13.62) and sixth in the 200 (218.01). Chelsea Wilson was fifth in the 400 (1:02.80). Leap was sixth in the 300 hurdles (50.05) and the 1600 relay team was fourth (4:16.76)
District 6-AA results
Top three plus •those meeting state qualifying time or distance advance to State Meet
Boys
Key, team scoring: 1. Bellwood-Antis (BA) 94, 2. Richland (R) 60, 3. Bishop McCort (BM) 59, 4. United (U) 53, 5. Cambria Heights (CH) 52, 6. Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 50, 7. Central Cambria (CC) 45.5, 8. Bishop Guilfoyle (BG) 38, 9. Westmont-Hilltop (WH) 35.5, 10. Northern Cambria (NC) 28, 11. Penns Manor (PM) 23.5, 12. Saltsburg (S) 19, 13. Purchase Line (PL) 18, 14. tie-Penns Valley (PV) and Penn Cambria (PC) 16, 16. Tyrone (T) 15, 17. Huntingdon (H), 18. Philipsburg-Osceola (PO) 11, 19. tie-Ligonier Valley (LV) and Southern Huntingdon (SH) 10, 21. Juniata Valley (JV) 8, 22. Williamsburg (W) 7.5, 23. Central (C) 7, 24. West Branch (WB) 5, 25. Marion Center (MC) 4, 26. Bishop Carroll (BC) 3.
Top three, plus Tyrone, Bellwood-Antis placewinners.
100 Dash – 1. Smith (BG) 11.50, 2. Seidel (BM) 11.56, 3. Glenn (PC) 11.79, 5. Franco (T) 11.87; 200 Dash – 1. Seidel (BM) 23.21, 2. B. Pruznak (BA) 23.34, 3. Stanek (CH) 23.44; 400 Dash – 1. B. Pruznak (BA) 50.13, 2. Hatch (BA) 50.21, 3. Tra. Lees (R) 51.25; 800 Run – 1. Hatch (BA) 1:58.09, 2. Engle (PL) 1:59.61, 3. Penrose (LV) 2:01.56; 1600 Run – 1. Dean (WH) 4:27.05, 2. Spisak (BM) 4:28.13, 3. DiGorgio (U) 4:29.53, 4. Ingle (T) 4:37.89; 3200 Run – 1. Spisak (BM) 9:46.15, 2. Dean (WH) 9:59.84, 3. Brooker (PV) 10:00.02; 110 High Hurdles – 1. Librizzi (BG) 14.82, 2. Mueller (BA) 15.24, 3. Prohonic (R) 15.36; 300 IM Hurdles – 1. Librizzi (BG) 39.22, 2. Long (U) 40.41, 3. Mueller (BA) 40.53; 400 Relay – 1. Bishop McCort 44.65, 2. Huntingdon 44.99, 3. Tyrone (Gillmen, Franco, Emigh, Etters) 45.14, 5. Bellwood-Antis 45.31; 1600 Relay – 1. Bellwood-Antis (Canfield, Mueller, Hatch, Pruznak) 3:26.63, 2. Richland 3:29.46, 3. Central Cambria 3:31.84; 3200 Relay – 1. Richland 8:13.54, 2. Bishop McCort 8:30.50, 3. Westmont-Hilltop 8:32.57, 4. Bellwood-Antis 8:38.59; High Jump – 1. Baranik (CH) 6-4, 2. Yaworski (U) 6-2, 3. Belles (C) 6-0; Long Jump – 1. Pruznak (BA) 21-6, 2. Baranik (CH) 21-4, 3. Rocco (NC) 21-0 1/25. Humphreys (BA) 20-2 3/4; Triple Jump – 1. Rocco (NC) 45-6 1/4, 2. Baranik (CH) 42-7 1/4, 3. Greaser (W) 42-0 3/4; Shot Put – 1. Caldwell (CC) 47-4 3/4, 2. DeVore (JV) 47-3, 3. T. Watson (BEA) 46-4; Discus – 1. Barnes (PM) 142-2, 2. Shaffer (R) 137-8, 3. Price (PL) 137-7; Javelin – 1. Skedel (U) 207-2, 2. Caldwell (CC) 173-11, 3. Lieb (NC) 169-0; Pole Vault – 1. Shawley (BA) 13-3, 2. Davis (CC) 13-3, 3. Brant (WH) 12-9, 8. Fink (BA) 11-9.
Girls
Key, team scoring: 1. Northern Cambria (NC) 95.5, 2. Richland (R) 77.5, 3. Central Cambria (CC) 60.5, 4. Central (C) 50, 5. Penns Valley (PV) 48, 6. Bishop McCort (BM) 32.5, 7. Ligonier Valley (LV) 29, 8. Tyrone (T) 28.5, 9. Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 28, 10 tie-Bellwood-Antis (BA) and Westmont-Hilltop (WH) 27, 12. Forest Hills (FH) 26, 13. Cambria Heights (CH) 25, 14. tie-Philipsburg-Osceola (PO) and Purchase Line (PL) 24, 16. Homer Center (HC) 19, 17. Mount Union (MU) 16, 18. Saltsburg (S) 14, 19. United (U) 12, 20. Huntingdon (H) 10, 21. Penn Cambria (PC) 8, 22. Marion Center (MC) 7, 23. Williamsburg (W) 4, 25. Southern Huntingdon (SH) 3.5, 26. Juniata Valley (JV) 2, 27. tie-Bishop Carroll (BC), Blacklick Valley (BV), Penns Manor (PM), Portage (P), and West Branch (WB) 0.
100 Dash – 1. G. Lanzendorfer (C) 12.78, 2. Dunchack (NC) 13.05, 3. Morey (BM) 13.07, 5. Nevling (BA) 13.62; 200 Dash – 1. G. Lanzendorfer (C) 25.96 *(new meet record), 2. Dunchack (NC) 26.82, 3. Morey (BM) 26.99, 6. Nevling (BA) 28.01; 400 Dash – 1. Boyd (LV) 1:00.43, 2. Pennska (NC) 1:00.86, 3. Snedden (CH) 1:01.09, 5. Wilson (BA) 1:02.80; 800 Run – 1. K. Seymour (CC) 2:17.09 * (new meet record), 2. Montminy (PV) 2:18.92, 3. Smajda (BM) 2:23.73; 1600 Run – 1. C. Seymour (CC) 5:06.36, 2. Strayer (FH) 5:26.36, 3. Krug (PC) 5:31.83; 3200 Run – 1. C. Seymour (CC) 10:38,24 * (new meet record), 2. Strayer (FH) 11:45.23, 3. Miller (LV) 11:57.21; 100 IM Hurdles – 1. Fetterman (PL) 15.64, 2. Tepsic (T) 15.70, 3. Staily (C) 16.17; 300 Low Hurdles – 1. Stanek (CH) 46.78, 2. Mitchell (R) 47.48, 3. Kochinsky (NC) 47.51, 6. Leap (BA) 50.05; 400 Relay – 1. Central 50.77, 2. Bellwood-Antis (Leap, O’Shea, Wilt, Nevling) 51.48, 3. Penns Valley 51.57; 1600 Relay – 1. Richland 4:09.27, 2. Central Cambria 4:09.58, 3. Penns Valley 4:09.61, 4. Bellwood-Antis 4:16.76; 3200 Relay – 1. Central Cambria 9:48.14, 2. Richland 9:53.57, 3. Penns Valley 10:01.92; High Jump – 1. Dunchack (NC) 5-3, 2. Adams (PO) 5-1, 3. Trabold (R) 5-1; Long Jump – 1. Dunchack (NC) 17-8 3/4, 2. Fetterman (PL) 16-9, 3. Adams (PO) 16-8 3/4, 4. Tepsic (T) 16-4 3/4; Triple Jump – 1. Tepsic (T) 37-7 1/2, 2. Adams (PO) 35-8, 3. Deptola (HC) 35-5 1/4; Shot Put – 1. Henigan (S) 39-8 3/4, 2. Mondock (BEA) 37-1 3/4, 3. Price (MU) 34-11 3/4; Discus – 1. Kendrick (U) 119-10, 2. Thomas (NC) 119-6, 3. T. Boyd (R) 118-0; Javelin – 1. McQuillen (WH) 143-1, 2. Leitzel (PV) 134-7, 3. M. Rocco (NC) 125-7, •4. Doran (BEA) 127-11, •5. J. Rocco (NC) 125-7, •6. Crater (PV) 125-4; Pole Vault – 1. Cort (WH) 9-9, 2. Varner (H) 9-9, 3. tie-Emigh (T) and Paronish (PC) 9-9.
