Penn Cambria star continues his spring trek in the 400

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Penn Cambria’s Josh Stolarski placed third in the 100 meter dash behind winner Tristin Ohler of Meyersdale.

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

LOYSBURG — Penn Cambria’s Josh Stolarski won the PIAA championship in the 400-meter dash last year, and he knows he has a target on his back going into his senior high school track and field season.

Stolarski lived up to the pressure at Friday’s Northern Bedford Invitational by setting a new personal best in the event and breaking the meet record, which had been held by Tussey Mountain graduate Jordan Donaldson since 2007.

“There is a ton of pressure on my shoulders,” Stolarski said. “I want to defend my 400, but I also want to branch out into the 200 and maybe the 100. As of right now, competitions have been great. I have only lost one 400 this season and only lost (twice in the) 200. Honestly, these dual meets and these invites aren’t really what I’m focused on. I’m focused on the end of the year, and that’s where I want to peak.”

Stolarski ran the 400 in 48.58, breaking Donaldson’s mark of 49.94. But Stolarski has even bigger goals for himself.

“I’m kind of unhappy with it,” Stolarski said. “I know it’s a PR, but I ran my all-time indoor PR with a 49.01, and that converts to a 48.3, so I kind of want to get it. I know I can run it, and I know I’m there. I just need to put a race together. Despite all that, I’m happy to set a new PR.”

Penn Cambria coach Todd Niebauer said Stolarski has the right mindset to deal with the pressure he will face this year as a known commodity.

“He’s a confident kid, and he’s been in the big meets,” Niebauer said. “What else are you going to tell him? He just has to go out and take care of business, and I think he knows that. He worked this summer and went to some big meets. He will just keep working on what he needs to on the track, and his confidence is definitely there.”

Stolarski’s only loss in the 400 this year was to State College’s Jesse Myers, who runs at the 3A level and also is a PIAA champion.

“I have to lock in on everything,” Stolarski said. “I have to get my training down. I need to hit my splits. I have been trying to open my first 200 in under 22 and just haven’t yet. I think once I get there, it’s going to all come together. But for still semi-early in the season, 48.5 is pretty solid for me.”

Stolarski wasn’t the only Panther to break a meet record on Friday. Senior teammate Carter McDermott broke his own mark in the long jump by 8 inches with a leap of 22 feet, 8.25 inches. He also won the triple jump in 42 feet, 7.5 inches.

“He jumped real consistent today,” Niebauer said. “He had 22 feet three jumps in a row. Triple jump wasn’t quite where he wants it, but I think he will be OK. That can all depend on the pits, but we’re real happy that we had a consistent 22 all day. If he can stay with that, I think he’ll be good at the end of the year.”

There were two more boys champions crowned from the Mirror’s coverage area at the invite.

Bode Layo of Portage won the shot put with a throw of 42 feet, 7 inches, and Jack Dunn of Central won the high jump, clearing 6 feet.

On the girls side, Portage’s Cami Burkett, who medaled at the PIAA meet as a sophomore, is hoping to bounce back in her senior season after what she called a disappointing season last year.

“I want to be better than last year,” Burkett said. “We have the Altoona Invitational and the Heritage Conference meet coming up soon, so I guess we’ll see.”

Burkett won the 100 and 200 dashes at the NBC Invite in 12.92 and 26.4, respectively.

“Time wise, it wasn’t the best,” Burkett said. “It was freezing and windy. But to get first in both the 100 and 200 was really important. It’s our first invitational of the year, so it’s nice to see where I am.”

Burkett said warming up in the cold weather proved to be a challenge.

“The wind adds a second at least,” Burkett said. “Besides that, to get ready and everything, it’s very difficult. Especially when you have to wait in the tent for some time too.”

Two Central girls also won championships.

Central’s Dessa Boyles won the girls high jump by clearing 4-10, and Madison Kennedy won the javelin with a throw of 112-1.

This year’s Northern Bedford Invitational had more than 1,000 athletes and 21 schools, which were both the most ever in the event’s history.

BOYS

100 dash: 1, Ohler, M, 11.09; 2, McCracken, R, 11.14; 3, Stolarski, PC, 11.25; 4, Smith, S, 11.55; 5, Mickel, C, 11.74; 6, Benton, C, 11.83. 200 dash: 1, Ohler, M, 22.46; 2, Stolarski, PC, 22.91; 3, McAneny, R, 23.26; 4, McCracken, R, 23.27; 5, Dunn, C, 23.5; 6, McCoy, JB, 23.52. 400 dash: *1, Stolarski, PC, 48.58; 2, McCoy, JB, 50.65; 3, Mugerwa, R, 50.89; 4, Winck, E, 51.69; 5, Gresh, B, 51.76; 6, McAneny, R, 51.94. 800 run: 1, Erwin, SH, 2:06.48; 2, Gresh, B, 2:06.64; 3, Mills, E, 2:08.02; 4, Simpson, MR, 2:10.08; 5, Yeager, JB, 2:10.18; 6, Page, W, 2:10.47. 1600 run: 1, Mulcaster, MR, 4:42.57; 2, Caron, FH, 4:44.76; 3, Myers, CR, 4:45.97; 4, Sweitzer, MR, 4:49.03; 5, Erwin, SH, 4:50.11; 6, Hall, JB, 4:50.25. 3200 run: 1, McKelvey, W, 9:59.9; 2, Smith, FH, 10:20.18; 3, McCallister, MR, 10:27.9; 4, Switzer, MR, 10:45.67; 5, Weiler, B, 10:54.63; 6, Allison, C, 11:01.22. 110 hurdles: 1, Koontz, B, 15.79; 2, Long-Yarrison, C, 15.82; 3, Winck, E, 16.04; 4, Blank, MR, 16.48; 5, Montgomery, BB, 16.72; 6, Hersch, M, 17.63. 300 hurdles: 1, Koontz, B, 42.25; 2, Toney-Williams, JB, 43.42; 3, Long-Yarrison, C, 43.82; 4, Benton, C, 43.87; 5, Lissau, MR, 44.21; 6, Buterbaugh, MB, 44.47.

400 relay: *1, Richland (Mugerwa, McAneny, Yarnick, McCracken), 44.2; 2, Central, 44.34; 3, Mountain Ridge, 44.69; 4, Meyersdale, 44.95; 5, Bedford, 45.27; 6, Somerset, 46.07. 1600 relay: 1, James Buchanan (Yeager, Towns, McCoy, Kenzie), 3:32.11; 2, Central, 3:32.51; 3, Richland, 3:32.59; 4, Bedford, 3:33.4; 5, Mountain Ridge, 3:46.37; 6, Southern Huntingdon, 3:51.8. 3200 relay: 1, Bedford (Taylor, Brallier, Redinger, Gresh), 8:43.22; 2, Mountain Ridge, 8:47.28; 3, Richland, 8:48.74; 4, Central, 8:51.18; 5, James Buchanan, 8:54.02; 6, Windber, 9:02.61. High jump: 1, Dunn, C, 6-0; 2, Harris, C, 5-10; 3, Layo, P, 5-10; 4, Martinage, FH, 5-10; 5, Brenneman, M, 5-6; 6, Gontkovic, R, 5-6. Long jump: *1, McDermott, PC, 22-8.25; 2, Lynch, B, 20-11; 3, Swank, S, 20-1.75; 4, Haberlein, MR, 20-1; 5, Lilly, PC, 19-10; 6, Mickel, C, 19-7.25. Triple jump: 1, McDermott, PC, 42-7.5; 2, Shaffer, E, 40-7.5; 3, Heiple, S, 40-2; 4, Swank, S, 40-1.5; 5, Klosky, W, 40-0.5; 6, Choi, R, 39-10.5. Shot put: 1, Layo, P, 42-7; 2, Mostoller, S, 42-3; 3, McKenzie, M, 41-7; 4, Albright, C, 40-10; 5, Hollis, R, 40-3; 6, Rice, SH, 40-0. Discus: 1, Hollis, R, 141-1; 2, Ketterman, MR, 133-5; 3, Synowietz, M, 132-2; 4, Albright, C, 131-0; 5, Llewellyn, MR, 128-4; 6, Layo, P, 122-7. Javelin: 1, Hetz, M, 169-9; 2, Chase, R, 169-8; 3, Brumbaugh, PC, 142-7; 4, Bard, SF, 140-2; 5, Platt, S, 137-8; 6, Shaffer, E, 137-1. Pole vault: *1, Gossard, R, 13-9; 2, Ickes, CR, 11-9; 3, Kane, B, 11-3; 4, Ketterman, MR, 10-9; 5, Hersch, M, 10-9; 6, Sherwood, E, 10-3.

GIRLS

100 dash: 1, Cam. Burkett, P, 12.92; 2, Ross, S, 13.07; 3, Smith, S, 13.31; 4, PIscatello, R, 13.32; 5, Sipes, B, 13.41; 6, Harper, SH, 13.78. 200 dash: 1, Cam. Burkett, P, 26.4; 2, Ross, S, 26.64; 3, Urban, S, 26.72; 4, Piscatello, R, 26.87; 5, Beck, B, 27.39; 6, Glessner, FH, 27.45. 400 dash: 1, Wible, JB, 1:04.37; 2, McAllister, B, 1:05.96; 3, LeMaster, PC, 1:06.21; 4, Bartley, C, 1:06.54; 5, Ogburn, BB, 1:06.55; 6, Fisher, S, 1:06.71. 800 run: 1, Mavridis, R, 2:28.41; 2, Chobany, P, 2:29.42; 3, Brill, MR, 2:32.50; 4, Weaverling, B, 2:40.22; 5, Hershberger, NB, 2:41.13; 6, Hiller, SF, 2:41.58. 1600 run: 1, May, B, 5:16.7; 2, Mavridis, R, 5:20.94; 3, Fisher, S, 5:21.68; 4, Clever, JB, 5:39.13; 5, Hershberger, NB, 5:41.09; 6, Chobany, P, 5:41.48. 3200 run: 1, Mavridis, R, 11:49.63; 2, Fisher, S, 11:50.63; 3, Clever, JB, 12:21.71; 4, Russo, W, 13:12.18; 5, Wise, B, 13:23.34; 6, Comfort, M, 13:47.18. 100 hurdles: 1, Housley, S, 16.52; 2, Becker, B, 16.72; 3, Hillegass, S, 16.92; 4, Dodson, CR, 17.14; 5, Ickes, BB, 17.5; 6, Dunlap, R, 17.58. 300 hurdles: 1, Becker, B, 48.4; 2, Papcunik, FH, 49.32; 3, Dodson, CR, 49.68; 4, C. Hughes, MR, 50.33; 5, Glessner, BB, 50.9; 6, A. Hughes, MR, 51.0.

400 relay: *1, Somerset (Hillegass, Smith, Urban, Ross), 50.16; 2, Bedford, 51.52; 3, Central, 52.0; 4, Richland, 52.37; 5, James Buchanan, 53.12; 6, Southern Huntingdon, 53.97. 1600 relay: 1, Bedford (Brallier, Hershberger, Beck, Becker), 4:22.16; 2, Forest Hills, 4:26.7; 3, Central, 4:30.24; 4, Portage, 4:31.43; 5, Windber, 4:36.88; 6, Mountain Ridge, 4:41.23. 3200 relay: 1, Forest Hills (Brown, Valko, Carpenter, Papcunik), 10:35.78; 2, Bedford, 10:57.82; 3, Mountain Ridge, 11:11.26; 4, Windber, 11:11.45; 5, Southern Huntingdon, 11:31.50; 6, Northern Bedford, 11:47.89. High jump: 1, Boyles, C, 4-10; 2, McDevitt, B, 4-10; 3, Brallier, B, 4-10; 4, Gelvin, MB, 4-8; 5, Kocsis, C, 4-8; 6, Salem, R, 4-8. Long jump: 1, Shaffer, E, 16-5; 2, Beck, B, 16-3.75; 3, Housley, S, 16-3; 4, LaMarche, B, 16-2; 5, Ross, S, 15-11; 6, Taylor, CR, 15-8. Triple jump: 1, Macey, R, 35-2; 2, Taylor, CR, 33-0.25; 3, Imes, C, 33-0.25; 4, LaMarche, B, 33-0; 5, Webb, FH, 32-11.25; 6, Lautenslager, JB, 32-9.5. Shot put: 1, Green, JB, 32-4.5; 2, Weber, B, 31-9; 3, Mingle, C, 31-0; 4, McGee, S, 29-2; 5, Gable, NB, 28-9; 6, Hajer, R, 28-7. Discus: 1, Taylor, R, 107-11; 2, Weber, B, 102-6; 3, Bigham, JB, 96-10; 4, Holloway, SH, 86-7; 5, Speicher, FH, 85-9; 6, Fisher, BB, 85-2. Javelin: 1, Kennedy, C, 112-1; 2, Sipes, B, 107-4; 3, Richards, E, 103-3; 4, Myers, FH, 99-5; 5, Mingle, C, 96-2; 6, Parks, CR, 94-2. Pole vault: 1, Ford, R, 9-3; 2, Glessner, BB, 8-9; 3, Smith, S, 8-3; 4, Genditzki, B, 7-9; 5, Herrington, SH, 7-3; T-6, Sivic, MR, 7-3; T-6, Sumner, TM, 7-3.

* Meet record