North Allegheny’s Owens sets mark
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. — Ayden Owens still feels like his best event is the 300-meter hurdles. Funny because he’s the best 110-meter hurdler that has ever ran in the PIAA track and field championships.
Owens, a junior at North Allegheny, won the Class 3A 110 event Saturday at Shippensburg University and broke a long-standing record with a time of 13.76 seconds. He had never run below 14 seconds.
Owens broke the record of 13.79 seconds, set in 1983 by Charles James of Truman High and tied in 1991 by Chad Black of Henderson. After that record-setting performance, Owens went out and won the 300 hurdles with a time of 37.47.
“I sill think my best is the 300 because I think I do so much more in that, and because I love the 300s, more than the 110s,” Owens said.
But Owens became the first hurdler from the WPIAL to win the 110s and 300s since the PIAA started staging the two events — or their equivalents in yards — in 1973. Owens is the son of Michael Owens, who played basketball at the University of Virginia with legendary Ralph Sampson.
“I was not expecting a record whatsoever,” Owens said. “I crossed the finish line, I was gritting my teeth and then I saw 13 something on the clock. I started flexing, getting all amped up.”
Another Geist record
The best shot put and discus thrower in Pennsylvania history added to his legacy and finished on a level that has been reached by only one other male athlete in WPIAL history.
Knoch senior Jordan Geist won the Class 3A discus with a meet-record throw of 207-6. He won the shot put Friday. It was the third consecutive year that Geist won both events, which means he is one of only two WPIAL athletes to win six PIAA golds in individual events. The other was legendary sprinter Clinton Davis of Steel Valley, who won the 100, 200 and 400 in consecutive years.
“I’m still on cloud nine from the discus,” Geist said. “I needed it after being a little disappointed in the shot put [Friday].”
Robinson wins two
Hayden Robinson was a double winner, and came close to a triple crown.
Robinson, a junior who runs for Avonworth/Northgate under a cooperative sponsorship, won the 3A 100 in 11.93 seconds and the 200 in 24.25. She finished second in the 400 at 54.52.
Savchik’s second-best win
North Allegheny junior Clara Savchik ran the 3,200 race of her life and also one of thebest by a WPIAL runner.
Savchik won the 3A 3,200 in 10:21.65, almost 18 seconds better than her previous best of 10:39.30. Savchik came close to the PIAA championship meet record of 10:21.06, but Savchik’s time was the second-best in any meet by a WPIAL runner. She surpassed legendary Carole Zajac of Baldwin, who ran 10:25.7 in 1990. The only WPIAL runner who had a better 3,200 time was Shaler’s Briana Schwartz, who ran 10:10.03 in 2014.
“I didn’t really have a time in mind, but I didn’t expect to run this fast.” said Savchik.
From falling to first
Brenna Cavanaugh became the first champion in Bentworth history when she won the 2A 100 hurdles in 14.44 seconds. But she almost didn’t make the final.
Cavanaugh hit the final hurdle and fell in the semifinals Saturday morning. But she got up, crossed the finished line and qualified for the final race by only 0.04 seconds. A few hours later, she was a PIAA champion.
Other winners
• If you look at what happened last week in the WPIAL championship, then Waynesburg senior Ben Bumgarner was a surprise winner in the PIAA 2A boys 3,200. Bumgarner seeded seventh, won with a time of 9:10.58, almost 40 seconds faster than the 9:50.22 he ran at the WPIAL championship when he finished second to Quaker Valley standout Zach Skolnekovich.
• New Brighton’s Anthony Milliner won the 2A triple jump for the second consecutive year with a leap of 47-5¾.
• Upper St. Clair’s Harvey Kane won the 3A long jump on his final attempt with a leap of 23-0¼.
• Other boys winners from the WPIAL were Hempfield’s Hayden Fox (3A javelin), Winchester Thurston’s Tristan Forsythe (2A 1,600), Freeport’s Robert Reichenbaugh (2A 800), Waynesburg’s Ben Bumgarner (2A 3,200) and Norwin’s 3A 1,600 relay team of Nicholas Coleman, Kyle Turvocsky, Josh Coleman and Gianni Rizzo.
The other girls winner from the WPIAL was Burrell’s Nikki Scherer (2A 400).
• Over the two days, the WPIAL had 16 winners in individual events, compared to 14 a year ago, 12 in 2015 and 15 in 2014. The most in the past 28years was 19 in 1990.