SHIPPENSBURG –– Headlined by a pair of second-place finishes, St. Marys and Kane were each able to add to their respective track and field postseason medal hauls.
The Dutch’s Tom Bojalad, signed to continue his throwing career at Penn State, took second in the discus after a throw of 57-08.75 on the second and final day of the PIAA track and field state championship meet at Shippensburg University. He finished behind champion Evan Blaire of Hickory, who threw 64-05.25.
Bojalad placed second in the discus on Friday. His 10 team points were enough to place the Dutch 10th in the Class AA team standings.
Kane’s Joe Newton, the top seed in the 110 hurdles, won his semifinal heat Saturday morning to advance to the finals. In the final, he ran 14.68 to finish as runner-up behind Camp Hill’s Zach Kuntz (14.47).
Newton’s second-place medal is Kane’s best showing on the track since future Olympian Amy Rudolph won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters three straight years from 1989-91. It’s the best finish by a Kane boy on the track since Terry Wile won the two-mile event in a state-record time in 1973.
The other story of the day, among coverage area athletes, were the performances of throwers Cassidy Cunningham and Trinity Clark. Cunningham, from Elk Catholic, placed seventh in the Class AA discus with a throw of 40-01, just ahead of Clark, who medaled with a throw of 40.00.75. Cunningham was edged out of fifth place by fellow District 9 thrower Tori Obenrader of North Clarion.
Meanwhile, Clark added to her seventh-place showing in the javelin from Friday and added to teammate Austin Labesky’s sixth-place javelin finish to bring three medals back to Kane and Wolves throws coach Rae El Whitman.
Elk Catholic’s Ben Koss, who cleared 14-00 in the pole vault, was the other area medalist from Saturday, as he took sixth place.
There were a few close calls that resulted in near medals for area competitors, as the Elk Catholic girls 3,200 relay team (9:45.95) finished a spot off the podium behind eighth-place Minersville (9:44.08), while Coudersport’s Adrian Page finished 14th in the discus (36-05.5) a day after placing ninth in the shot put. Teammate Michael Kane took 10th in the triple jump (42-08.75).
Otto-Eldred’s Tiffany Bair finished seventh in her 100 dash preliminary heat and wasn’t among the top eight runners to move to the finals. Other area athletes competing were the ECC boys 3,200 relay team (12th, 8:40.33), ECC’s Lauryn Wortman in the 800 meters (12th, 2:32.52), Port Allegany’s Mauley Fox in the pole vault (16th, 9-06) and Coudersport’s Kiara Perkins (25th, 32-09.50) and Oswayo Valley’s Sara McKean (26th, 32-05.50) in the triple jump.
Competing for Bradford High were Logan Caruso (10:16.29) in the boys 3,200 meters and Mitch Vleminckx (20-03.25) and Regan Johnson (15-03) in their respective long jump competitions.
On Friday, John Eakin took sixth in the shot put and was the highest-placing athlete from Bradford High.
Though the District 9-champion Lady Owls didn’t have a place-winner, head coach Larry Stillman still characterized the season as a success.
“We had an excellent season and all the girls competed hard at the state meet,” Stillman said. “We look forward to coming back next season and continuing to improve.”
