From the moment the runners took their marks for the first race of the day at the 2021 WPIAL Class 3A team track and field championships on Wednesday afternoon, there was a feeling of inevitability in the air at West Mifflin High School.
Ever since Butler swept the boys and girls team titles at the 2021 Butler Invitational less than three weeks ago, all signs have pointed toward a repeat performance by the Golden Tornado at the WPIAL championships. On Wednesday, Butler delivered with dominant performances in both the boys and girls championships, capturing its first boys team title since 2007 while taking home the girls team title for the fourth consecutive year.
“It’s a dream season,” said Butler boys track coach Mike Seybert. “And the beauty of it is, 90% of the boys team are juniors or younger.”
Led by junior standouts Guinness Brown and C.J. Singleton, the Golden Tornado boys scored at least 100 points against all three opponents to cruise to a convincing victory. Seneca Valley finished second in the boys competition, followed by Canon-McMillan in third place and South Fayette in fourth.
“We’ve had good success in track and field at our school, but Guinness Brown and C.J. Singleton are a cut above everybody we’ve ever had,” Seybert said.
As he has done all season, Brown cleaned up in the sprinting portion of the event, claiming gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 meters to go with a silver medal in the 1,600 relay. Brown posted a time of 11.01 in the 100, 22.73 in the 200 and 48.87 in the 400.
Singleton shined in the distance events, although he decided not to run the 3,200 — typically his strongest race — because Butler had already clinched the team title. Instead, Singleton took home gold medals in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 relay along with a silver in the 1,600 relay.
“It means a lot,” Singleton said. “This year, we really wanted to win it, and this wasn’t just about us. This was about last year’s seniors who didn’t get a shot.”
Class 3A girls
The Golden Tornado girls didn’t put up scores quite as lopsided as the boys, but they still had little trouble distancing themselves from the competition on their way to the team title. North Allegheny finished in second place, while Norwin finished in third place and Belle Vernon in fourth.
Alli Morrow was the star of the show for Butler on the day, claiming four gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 relay and long jump. The junior finished with a time of 12.90 in the 100 and 27.03 in the 200, along with a mark of 17-10.75 in the long jump.
“My freshman year when we came down here, I did not score a single point for my team,” Morrow said. “Whether it was third or first, I wanted to score points for my team, so I contributed to the win.”
Junior Emma Lehman followed up her track MVP performance at last month’s Butler Invitational with another strong showing on Wednesday, taking home three gold medals in the 300 hurdles, 400 relay and 1,600 relay to go with a silver medal in the 100 hurdles.
“I’m just happy to get the team title,” Lehman said. “I could have done a little better, but I think we did pretty well today.”
Class 2A boys
After a yearlong hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Riverside returned to its traditional status as the WPIAL Class 2A boys track and field team champion.
The Panthers edged out Shenango in a razor-thin matchup at Peters Township High School to claim their fourth consecutive WPIAL title and seventh overall under legendary coach Chuck Kotuby. Shenango finished in second place, followed by Greensburg Central Catholic in third place and South Park in fourth place.
The championship wasn’t decided until the final race of the day, when Riverside senior Colby Belczyk anchored the 1,600 relay to wrap up the team title for the Panthers. Belczyk also anchored the gold medal-winning 3,200 relay team earlier in the day.
Graham Kalic earned a pair of individual gold medals for Riverside in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, while Teddy McHale took home first place in the triple jump and pole vault.
“That’s what I’m happy for — you’ve got guys like Colby who just deserve it,” Kotuby said. “When I looked at the team in March, I didn’t feel that we would be here today — especially winning it. Because there were just so many unknowns and questions. … Winning WPIALs never gets old. But this was a special one.”
Class 2A girls
It’s been a banner year for Mohawk athletics, especially on the girls side — and the trend continued on Wednesday.
The Warriors captured the WPIAL Class 2A girls track and field team title, narrowly beating out second-place Shenango and third-place Quaker Valley while South Park finished in fourth place. Mohawk also won the WPIAL Class 1A girls cross country championship in the fall before repeating as WPIAL Class 3A girls basketball champions in the winter.
Just like the boys championship, the girls competition came down to the final race of the day, and the Warriors came through with their fastest time of the season to beat out the Quakers in the 1,600 relay.
Seniors Nadia Lape and Hannah McDanel, both basketball standouts who will run track in college, each won four events on the day. Lape won the long jump and triple jump while McDanel swept the 100 and 200 meters, and both helped Mohawk to first-place finishes in the 400 and 1,600 relays.
Steve Rotstein: srotstein@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SteveRotstein.
First Published: May 13, 2021, 2:49 a.m.
