Transfers continue success
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Jayla Ellis and Alex Trower had outstanding seasons in track and field last year at Penn Hills.
The two have made even bigger impacts this season, only their success has come while competing for different schools.
Ellis is an elite hurdler and long jumper who is now at Oakland Catholic. Trower, one of the top sprinters in the WPIAL, is now at Central Catholic. Both transferred prior to this school year.
Just a sophomore, Ellis could end up becoming one of the greatest hurdlers in WPIAL history. She won a WPIAL Class 3A title in the 100-meter hurdles as a freshman and two weeks ago blazed to a time of 14.1 in a dual meet. It was the second-fastest time in WPIAL history. Lindsay Dolan of Center holds the record of 14.01 set in 2006. Oakland Catholic coach George Rudolph believes Ellis will shatter that mark sometime this season.
“The first time she ran for me was [in a dual meet] at Woodland Hills and she ran a 14.1,” Rudolph said. “I didn’t know the significance of that until a few people called me and said that was the second-best time in the history Western Pennsylvania. Since then, she’s ran an [unofficial] 14.0. Who knows where it might stop.”
Ellis won three events at Saturday’s Tri-State Track Coaches Association championships: the 100 and 300 hurdles and long jump. She holds the top time in the 300 hurdles of any WPIAL athlete this season. She placed fifth in the long jump at last year’s WPIAL championships.
Trower, a junior, also dazzled at the TSTCA championships, claiming titles in the 100 and 200. As a sophomore, he finished fourth in the 100 at WPIALs.
“My concern right now is getting better. My goal is to win WPIALs. I think if I keep working and continue to PR, I can win WPIALs and go to states again,” said Trower, who has personal records of 11.0 in the 100 and 22.3 in the 200.
Questions sometimes arise when star athletes transfer to private schools, but Trower said he and his brother, Wesley, transferred to Central Catholic for academic reasons. Both also play football. Rudolph said Ellis also transferred because of academics. Ellis has a 4.0 grade-point average.
Latrobe
Latrobe’s Austin Butler is one of the top basketball players in Western Pennsylvania. He was a Post-Gazette Fabulous 5 pick and will play at Holy Cross. But did you know he’s a track and field standout, too?
Butler earned a bronze medal in the javelin at last year’s WPIAL 3A championships, and this season has added a few events to his repertoire. He will also be throwing the shot put and competing in the long jump and triple jump.
Latrobe coach Andy Wnek said Butler has already thrown the javelin 180 feet this season and, while he is still learning the shot put, has a top throw of 47 feet. To put that into perspective, athletes who threw 52 feet at last year’s WPIAL championships qualified for the PIAA championships.
“Anything he puts his mind to he can probably do. I’m just not sure he’d want
be a distance guy,” Wnek said, laughing. “You know those basketball players. What is the court, about 100 feet? They don’t want to do much more than that.”
Chartiers Valley
A distance runner from Chartiers Valley is making a name for himself this season, and that name is one of the most unique you will see. Introducing Czar Tarr, a junior who excelling in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs. He finished third in the 3,200 at the TSTCA championships.
As his name, here’s the story.
Said Tarr: “My greatgreat-grandmother was born on a boat coming from Russia during a war, which gave me a strong Russian background. Then my mother said if she ever had a son after having three daughters, she would name him Czar because czar means ‘king’ in Russian, so I would be the king of my siblings. And the Tarr last name just was a coincidence.”