ERIE - The McDowell Invitational annually hosts the best of the best in Western Pennsylvania track.
After Saturday's performances by county athletes, it's safe to say that Warren County is included in the "best of the best" talk.
Sheffield standout Kalil Slaughter set new school records in both the 100 and 200 and was a three-time winner and the Warren boys team charged to a second-place finish in the team standings during what is arguably the regular season's most prestigious track & field meet.
Article Photos
Photo by Sally Pondel
Record setting run
Sheffield’s Kalil Slaughter, middle, pulls away from the competition during his preliminary heat of the 100-meter dash at Saturday’s McDowell Invitational in Erie. Slaughter won the event with a run of 10.78 seconds — a new school record.
All told, the county boasted 13 individual placewinners as well as five placewinning relay teams. Warren's Luke Wortman as well as the Dragons' 4X400 and 4X800 relay teams joined Slaughter as overall winners.
Slaughter backed up a four-win weekend last Saturday in Kane with three victories at McDowell. Slaughter was the fastest in both the 100 and 200 and performed the best jump in the long jump. In winning the 100 in 10.78 seconds, Slaughter bested his closest competitor by a whopping 0.62 seconds.
His 200 winning time of 21.93 was .78 seconds better than second-place and his winning long jump of 20 feet and seven and three-quarter inches was best by nearly eight inches.
Fact Box
BOYS
Team results: 1. McDowell (Mc) 97, 2. Warren (W) 68, 3. Cathedral Prep (CP) 60, 4. North East (NE) 56, 5. Bradford (Br) 44.5, 6. Sheffield (Sh) 39, 7. Corry (Cy) 32, 8. Girard (G) 31, 9. Fort LeBoeuf (FL) 27.5, 10. Brookville (Bv) 27, 11. Johnsonburg Area (JA) 26, 12. Youngsville (Y) 25, 13. Baldwin (B) 23, 13. Meadville (Mv) 23, 15. Mercyhurst Prep (MP) 22.5, 16. Fairview (F) 21.5, 17. Iroquois (I) 20, 18. General McLane (GM) 18, 19. Jamestown (J) 16, 20. Saegertown (Sa) 13, 21. Seneca (S) 11, 22. Maplewood (M) 1.
Individual results
110 hurdles - 1. Smith (Bv) 16.25, 2. Zigler (W) 16.35, 3. Jefferson (G) 16.37, 4. Szymczak (Mc) 16.46, 5. Murphy (NE) 16.65, 6. Brown (Mc) 16.76, 7. Davis (NE) 16.84, 8. Do (CP) 17.28.
400 - 1. Deak (Mc) 50.37, 2. Jones (G) 52.15, 3. Gatto (Y) 52.23, 4. Willets (W) 52.33, 5. Kalivoda (CP) 53.04, 6. Bennett (J) 53.19, 7. Neff (NE) 53.26, 8. Steeler (Mc) 53.33.
100 - 1. Slaughter (Sh) 10.78, 2. Gatta (Y) 11.4, 3. Timpano (Mc) 11.47, 4. Cragg (Cy) 11.52, 5. Jordan (CP) 11.55, 6. Johnson (Sh) 11.84, 7. Kinnard (GM) 11.85, 8. Hirosky (M) 11.92.
High jump - 1. Price (Mv) 6-1, 2. Shuey (JA) 5-11, 3. Davis (NE) 5-11, 4. Zigler (W) 5-9, 5. Davis (W) 5-9, 6. Asinger (Br) 5-9, 6. Gibson (F) 5-9, 7. Campbell (FL) 5-9, 7. Jones (MP) 5-9.
Pole vault - 1. Ackerman (Mc) 14, 2. Morse (J) 13-6, 3. Kocar (F) 13-6, 4. Schriever (JA) 13, 5. Graham (GM) 13, 6. Owens (F) 12-6, 7. Dreese (Cy) 12-6, 8. Truitt (GM) 12-6.
300 hurdles- 1. Wortman (W) 40.3, 2. Squires (F) 41.6, 3. Zigler (W) 42.52, 4. Do (CP) 42.97, 5. Erdman (GM) 43.36, 6. Bowers (G) 43.66, 7. Keim (GM) 43.95, 8. Black (FL) 44.04.
200 - 1. Slaughter (Sh) 21.93, 2. Deak (Mc) 22.71, 3. Craig (Cy) 23.49, 4. Gatta (Y) 23.6, 5. Johnson (Sh) 23.83, 6. Neff (NE) 23.92, 7. Weber (Mv) 23.99, 8. Jordan (CP) 24.02.
800 - 1. Smathers (NE) 1:56.8, 2. McWilliams (FL) 1:57.7, 3. Yousif (Br) 2:00.0, 4. Zebrak (I) 2:01.8, 5. Belle (CP) 2:02.2, 6. Brady (MP) 2:04.3, 7. Labash (B) 2:04.7, 8. Halmi (F) 2:05.2.
1,600 - 1. Smathers (NE) 4:18.3, 2. McWilliams (FL) 4:24.9, 3. Yousif (Br) 4:26.4, 4. Tallada (Sa) 4:31.2, 5. Kuchta (B) 4:32.6, 6. Zebrak (O) 4:35.3, 7. Louis (CP) 4:39.4, 8. Zukowski (GM) 4.40.2.
3,200 - 1. Pondel (Cy) 9:47.11, 2. Tallada (Sa) 9:50.66, 3. Zegarelli (CP) 9:52.23, 4. McAuley (NE) 10:03.7, 5. Cancilla (MP) 10:05.36, 5. Kelly (B) 10:09.83, 6. Pasquelichio (CP) 10:16.22, 8. Curtin (MP) 10:22.23.
400 relay - 1. McDowell (Timpano, Tate, Szymczak, Naushad) 44.2, 2. Cathedral Prep 44.32, 3. Mercyhurst Prep 46.11, 4. Brookville 46.8, 5. General McLane 46.87, 6. Meadville 47.18, 7. Iroquois 47.21, 8. Fairview 47.47.
1,600 relay - 1. Warren (Wortman, Hultman, Willets, Rosenberg) 3:28.3, 2. North East 3:31.3, 3. McDowell 3:34.3, 4. Jamestown 3:37.1, 5. Iroquois 3:39.1, 6. Bradford 3:41, 7. Sheffield 3:43.5, 8. Girard 3:44.0.
3,200 relay - 1. Warren (Hultman, Harrington, Simmons, Rosenberg) 8:11.35, 2. Mercyhurst Prep 8:15.6, 3. Cathedral Prep 8:25.6, 4. Iroquois 8:31.8, 5. Baldwin 8:33.1, 6. McDowell 8:35.6, 7. Girard 8:37.4, 8. Brookville 8:39.2.
Discus - 1. Reinhardt (Br) 143-6, 2. Mongera (S) 143-2, 3. Baumann (CP) 128-2, 4. Shuey (JA) 127-8, 5. Hatton (G) 124-10, 6. Bannister (B) 122-8, 7. Mascho (Br) 115-6, 8. Brennan (Mc) 115.
Javelin - 1. Kerr (BV) 195-21/2, 2. Shuey (JA) 186-6, 3. Smorey (B) 169-2, 4. Knight (NE) 162-2, 5. Reinhardt (Br) 155-9, 6. Mascho (Br) 154-9, 7. Wilkins (FL) 147-61/2, 8. Otteni (C) 147-4.
Shot put - 1. Baumann (CP) 52-6, 2. Wickman (Mv) 44, 3. Gatta (Y) 43-10, 4. Seely (CY) 42-11, 5. McNeal (W) 42-6, 6. McGill (S) 42-21/2, 7. Heynoski (FL) 42, 8. Bush (B) 41-9.
Triple jump - 1. Tate (Mc) 43-71/2, 2. Timpano (Mc) 42-11, 3. Brown (Mc) 41-41/2, 4. McNally (G) 41-41/2, 5. Kress (FL) 39-11, 6. Asinger (Br) 39-91/2, 7. Ray (Bv) 39-51/2, 8. Malone (CP) 38-41/2.
Long jump - 1. Slaughter (Sh) 20-73/4, 2. Timpano (Mc) 19-111/4, 3. Ray (Bv) 19-9, 4. Vieminckx (Br) 19-6 3/4, 5. Davis (W) 19-21/4, 6. Rush (Cy) 18-10, 7. Kress (Fl) 18-71/2, 8. Cecchetti (I) 18-6.
GIRLS
Team results: 1. Meadville (Mv) 86.5, 2. Bradford (Br) 86, 3. Brookville (Bv) 61.5, 4. North East (NE) 45, 5. Fort LeBoeuf (FL) 44, 5. McDowell (Mc) 44, 7. Seneca (S) 42.5, 8. General McLane (GM) 41, 9. Corry (Cy) 33, 10. Fairview (F) 32.5, 11. Jamestown (J) 28.5, 12. Mercyhurst Prep (MP) 26, 13. Warren (W) 23, 13. Baldwin (B) 23, 15. Villa Maria (VM) 22, 16. Johnsonburg Area (JA) 19.5, 17. Youngsville (Y) 11, Cambridge Springs (CS) 10, 12. Iroquois (I) 5, 13. Girard (G) 3, 13. Saegertown (Sa) 3, 15. Clarion-Limestone (CL) 2.
Individual results
100 hurdles - 1. Simon (J) 15.53, 2. Newsome (Mv) 15.81, 3. Kassab (Mv) 15.83, 4. Swartzbaugh (Y) 16.73, 5. Haight (J) 16.9, 6. Flak (GM) 17, 7. Rinfrette (Br) 17.05, 8. Chodubski (Mc) 17.09.
400 - 1. Buss (B) 58.63, 2. Teed (S) 1:01.0, 3. Trucilla (VM) 1:01.3, 4. Anderson (W) 1:01.5, 5. Mrosowski (NE) 1:02.0, 6. Messenger (NE) 1:03.8, 7. Mamula (CS) 1:04.0, 8. Wenzel (F) 1:04.5.
100 - 1. Newsome (Bv) 12.47, 2. Sternby (Mv) 13.2, 3. Wilson (J) 13.22, 4. Teed (S) 13.33, 5. Clark (F) 13.38, 6. Fowler (JA) 13.38, 7. Smrekar (Mc) 13.4, 8. Sanner (F) 13.47.
High jump - 1. Kassab (Mv) 5-3, 2. Schriefer (NE) 5-1, 3. Shickler (NE) 5-1, 4. Smrekar (Mc) 4-9, 5. Cass (FL) 4-9, 6. Goodsel (Cy) 4-9, 7. Confer (Br) 4-9, 8. Rickard (Bv) 4-7.
300 hurdles - 1. Newsome (Bv) 45.44, 2. Marshall (Br) 47.32, 3. Swartbaugh (Y) 47.82, 4. James (B) 47.9, 5. Rinfrette (Br) 49.2, 6. Edder (G) 49.7, 7. Flak (GM) 49.76, 8. Hansen (GM) 50.15.
200 - 1. Newsome (Bv) 25.94, 2. Sternby (Mv) 27.21, 3. Teed (S) 27.67, 4. Wilson (J) 27.67, 5. Shafer (NE) 27.82, 6. Wolfe (Bv) 28.22, 7. Clark (F) 28.26, 8. Blackmon (FL) 28.34.
800 - 1. Miller (F) 2:23.36, 2. Pletz (MP) 2:25.46, 3. Mrosowski (NE) 2:26.41, 4. Beardley (W) 2:29.25, 5. Manhula (CS) 2:29.76, 6. Eckendorf (F) 2:30.49, 7. Vicary (MP) 2:31.03, 8. Zents (Bv) 2:32.09.
1,600 - 1. Miller (F) 5:15.67, 2. Trucilla (VM) 5:28.56, 3. Eaton (Br) 5:28.88, 4. Price (GM) 5:29.57, 5. Walsh (CS) 5:31.71, 6. Krawiec (Mc) 5:37.85, 7. Leasure (S) 5:41.83, 8. Stanko (Sa) 5:41.84.
3,200 - 1. Ziegler (Mv) 11:59.2, 2. Eaton (Br) 12:02.4, 3. Everhart (GM) 12:04.8, 4. Demjanenko (VM) 12:05.7, 5. Fortunato (B) 12:06.9, 6. Manno (Mc) 12:07.9, 7. Stanko (Sa) 12:12.2, 8. Guyen (JA) 12:13.6.
400 relay - 1. Brookville (As. Wolfe, Newsome, Ai. Wolfe, Smith) 50.81, 2. Fort LeBoeuf 51.88, 3. McDowell 51.94, 4. North East 53.08, 5. Johnsonburg Area 53.24, 6. Jamestown 53.84, 7. Fairview 54.32, 8. Bradford 54.37.
1,600 relay - 1. Bradford (Harbaugh, Coppella, Taylor, Macfarlane) 4:12.9, 2. North East 4:14.5, 3. General McLane 4:20.9, 4. Fort LeBoeuf 4:24.6, 5. Warren 4:24.7, 6. Girard 4:25.3, 7. Mercyhurst Prep 4:29.5, 8. Fairview 4:29.
3,200 relay - 1. Meadville (Whitney, Ziegler, Peters, Volna) 10:05.5, 2. Mercyhurst Prep 10:08.11, 3. Warren 10:22.7, 4. General McLane 10:33.09, 5. McDowell 10:36.1, 6. Villa Maria 10:36.6, 7. Bradford 10:43.8, 8. Johnsonburg Area 10:46.1.
Discus - 1. Corbett (Cy) 116-2, 2. Frisina (Br) 115-9, 3. Black (S) 113-10, 4. Gluvna (Cy) 98-4, 5. Lavery (FL) 94-4, 6. Smith (Mv) 92-4, 7. Turiczek (NE) 89-4, 8. Taylor Arvin (Mv) 88-10, 8. Kylee Deal (Bv) 88-10.
Triple jump - 1. Newsome (Bv) 37-111/2, 2. Kassab (Mv) 36-111/2, 3. Chodubski (Mc) 36, 4. Petroff (NE) 32-9, 5. Benninger (JA) 32-61/4, 6. Lynn (Mv) 32-4, 7. Luzier (GM) 32-3/4, 8. Rickard (Bv) 32-1/4.
Long jump - 1. Kassab (Mv) 17-3, 2. Chodubski (Mc) 17-2, 3. Wolfe (Bv) 16-4, 4. Fowler (Ja) 15-91/4, 5. Sipple (GM) 15-71/4, 6. Miller (FL) 15-4, 7. Confer (Br) 14-111/2, 8. Armini (W) 14-9.
Shot put - 1. Corbett (Cy) 40-10, 2. Lavery (FL) 33-21/2, 3. Frisina (Br) 331/2, 4. Miller (I) 32-11, 5. Smith (Mv) 32-2, 6. Bean (FL) 31-3, 7. Atkins (W) 30-9, 8. Aboussou (JA) 30-9.
Pole vault - 1. Kosack (S) 10, 2. Coppella (Br) 9-6, 3. Marn (Mc) 9-6, 4. O'Brien (Br) 8, 5. Skladanowski (GM) 8, 6. Stebick (FL) 8, 7. Henry (CL) 8, 8. Danylko (FL) 7-6.
Javelin - 1. Marshall (Br) 120, 2. Lindsey (Mv) 119-5, 3. Izbicki (S) 113-8, 4. Corbett (Cy) 112-11, 5. Dindak (Br) 105-4, 6. Madora (Br) 103-8, 7. Bean (FL) 102-2, 8. Cass (FL) 101-8.
"Kalil is one of the big reasons we go to McDowell," said Sheffield boys coach Bryan Gould. "He wants the best competition he can find and he certainly rose to the occasion this weekend. To set new school records in not only the 100, but 200 as well is incredible.
"I'm also extremely happy for our 4X400 relay team. They have been working hard to reach district qualifying level and they got there on Saturday. That is huge for those guys."
In addition to Slaughter, the Warren boys boasted one winning individual and two winning relay teams. Luke Wortman ran his personal best in the 300 hurdles, winning the event with a time of 40.3 seconds. The 4X400 relay team of Wortman, Caleb Hultman, Jordan Willetts and Tanner Rosenberg was first in 3:28.3 and the 4X800 team of Hultman, Christian Harrington, Brad Simmons and Rosenberg was first in 8:11.35.
"It was just an amazing day," said Warren boys coach Steve Norris. "There's so much to be excited about. This team has grown together and become one and that's why we are where we are right now. Luke (Wortman) would've broke under 40 seconds had he not tripped over the last hurdle and the relay teams both cut seconds off their best times."
Outside of the first-place finishers, there were plenty of other placewinners for the three county schools in attendance. Perhaps none of those was as impressive as Youngsville's Rocco Gatta who placed among the top four in all four of his events.
Gatta was second to Slaughter in the 100 with an 11.4, third in the 400 with a run of 52.23, third in the shot with a throw of 43 feet, 10 inches and fourth in the 200 with a finishing time of 23.6. He was the only Youngsville competitor to place on the day.
"Rocco put together a really nice time in the 100 and a personal best in the shot," said Youngsville coach Jeff Manelick. "Despite being in a slow heat, he still put up a third in the 400 as well. We only took four guys, but they all either made the finals or set a new personal best in their events."
The Warren boys' runner-up performance also featured three placewinning efforts from Nathan Zigler and two from Mark Davis. Zigler was second in the 110 hurdles with a 16.35, third in the 300 hurdles with a 42.52 and fourth in the high jump with a five foot, nine inch jump. Davis was fifth in both the long jump (19' 2 1/4) and the high jump (5'9).
Also placing for the Dragons were Willetts who was fourth in the 400 with a 52.33 and Chris McNeal who was fifth in the shot with a throw of 42 feet, six inches.
Sheffield's Kwante Johnson was another reason the Sheffield boys were able to record a sixth-place finish as a team. Johnson was a strong fifth in the 200 with a 23.83 and a solid sixth in the 100 with a run of 11.84 seconds. The 4X400 relay team of Steve Dendy, Marc Nadal, Kwante Johnson and Keon VonHendricks was seventh with a 3:43.5.
Female athletes from Warren and Youngsville made sure the boys didn't have all the fun during the McDowell meet. The Lady Dragons were able to place four individuals and two relay teams while the Lady Eagles' hurdles standout Cassi Swartzbaugh also delivered a strong day.
Leading the way for Warren was the third-place 4X800 relay team of Ellis Beardsley, Anna Falvo, Paige Rimer and Megan Smoulder with a 10:22.7. The 4X400 relay team of Beardsley, Falvo, Sabrina Anderson and Rimer was fifth with a 4:24.7.
Individually, Warren got placewinning efforts from Anderson (4th in the 400, 1:01.5), Beardsley (4th in the 800, 2:29.25), Nikki Atkins (7th in the shot, 30'9) and Brooke Armanini (8th in the long jump, 14'9).
"We use this meet as a chance to really start working on individual times and distances," said Warren coach Mark Sweet. "Amanda Castagnino qualified for districts in the mile and Nikki Atkins had a PR in the shot. This was a good lead in to our busy next two weeks."
Youngsville's Swartzbaugh showed why she is one of the best hurdlers in the district, earning top four finishes in both events. Swartzbaugh was third in the 300 version of the event with a 47.82 time and fourth in the 100 event, finishing with a 16.73.
Sheffield is back in action Tuesday when it hosts Smethport while Warren hosts Oil City that same day. Youngsville is off until Thursday when it hosts Warren.
Here are the results from Saturday's McDowell Invitational:
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Friday
Twin Tiers Invitational
BOLIVAR, N.Y. - Eisenhower's Julia Bauer and Taylor Talasky each placed in all four events during the Twin Tiers Invitational held Friday at Bolivar-Richburg High School.
Individually, Bauer was fourth in the 1600 with a 5:55.84 and fifth in the 800 with a 2:41.84. Bauer teamed with Bizz Baran, Mollie Marsh and Lacey Stanko to place fifth in the 4X800 relay and with Apprille Seemens, Stanko and Talasky to finish fifth in the 4X400 relay.
Talasky was a memvber of the fifth-place finishing 4X100 relay team with Jackie Talasky, Tara Sleeman and Holly Chapman and added a sixth-place run in the 100 with a 13.90 and a sixth-place run in the 200 with a 29.46.
Eisenhower returns to action Tuesday at Corry.