WPIAL track and field athletes shine at national meet
Liz Tapper is working a summer job at a garden center near her home, a position that includes a pair of primary responsibilities.
“I don’t do much,” she said, laughing. “I just water the plants and help people find what they are looking for.”
Little do most of the customers know that the 5-foot10 teenage girl assisting them with their gardening needs just happens to be a national champion.
Tapper, who will be a senior at Hempfield this fall, continued her tremendous 2022 season by winning the discus title at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals, which were held June 17 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia and included high school standouts from around the country.
“It’s so crazy,” said Tapper, who won WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A titles in the discus and shot put this past season. “I don’t think I’ve even realized it happened. I’m still waiting for it. I just never thought I’d get here. I had my eyes on the state championship. To win the national championship, it’s awesome.”
Tapper was among a number of WPIAL athletes who shined at the meet, which saw local standouts claim three additional gold medals. Butler’s boys distance medley relay team claimed a title, as did Hempfield junior Peyton Murray (discus) and Waynesburg senior Drew Layton (pole vault). Both Murray and Layton captured their golds in the “Rising Stars” division.
Heading into her final throw, Tapper knew she had already won. And she saved her best for last, unleashing a throw of 163 feet, 3 inches that topped the rest of the field by nearly six feet. Olivia Campbell, a state champion from Illinois, placed second with a top throw of 157-2. Tapper’s heave was just short of her personal record, which stands at 164-4. Only one girl in WPIAL history has thrown farther.
And to think, Tapper has only been throwing for just over two years. She entered high school as a pole vaulter, but was urged to add another event to her workload. She didn’t want to run, and it was suggested to her that she might want to try throwing. She didn’t like it at first, but it stuck. Just two years later, she won district, state and national titles in the span of just a month.
“It has been like a dream,” she said. “I feel like I’m just getting started and I feel like I have more in me. All of this has happened by chance, and the whole experience has been absolutely insane.”
Tapper, who also finished fourth in the shot put at the New Balance meet (her top mark was 44-8), has already set some big goals for her senior year. They include reaching 175-180 feet in the discus and 50 feet in the shot put, where her PR is 48-0½.
For the next few months, Tapper will focus on picking a college. She has an official visit to Duke scheduled for the first weekend of September and plans on visiting a few other schools, as well.
Butler had a fantastic team this past season — it won the PIAA Class 3A team title — and one of its relay teams stood tall as being the best in the country. The team of Drew Griffith, Guinness Brown, Ryder Kriley and C.J. Singleton took gold in the distance medley relay after
sprinting to a winning time of 9:56.84. It was the fastest time ever by a Pennsylvania team in the race, which features legs of 1,200, 400, 800 and 1,600 meters. Griffith will be a junior this fall, while Brown, Kriley and Singleton are all recent graduates.
Butler’s 1,000 sprint medley team (Landon Lacey, Brayden Young, Lucas Slear, Brown) placed third and the 1,600 relay team (Young, Slear, Kriley, Brown) finished fifth.
Also producing excellent performances in the Championship division were Brownsville senior Jolena Quarzo (second in the 5,000), recent Ligonier Valley graduate Miles Higgins (second in the javelin), Moon senior Jacob Puhalla (sixth in the 800) and recent Butler graduate Tristan McGarrah (ninth in the pole vault). Higgins had a top throw of 213-4, which smashed his previous PR by more than 12 feet.
For Murray and Layton, winning a national title was a sweet way to end what were challenging high school seasons. It also provided them with a lot of confidence moving forward.
Murray was injured in Hempfield’s first practice of the season. He said that while stretching, he heard a pop. He continued to practice for about a week, but the pain got progressively worse. It turned out to be a hip avulsion fracture. There was fear his season would end prematurely, but no surgery was needed. He rested and rehabbed, and rebounded to win his first WPIAL Class 3A title before placing third at the PIAA championships.
At the New Balance meet, Murray continued his lateseason surge by unleashing a winning throw of 169-10 that easily defeated runner-up Wil Jacques of New Hampshire (160-3). Murray actually PR’d on both of his final two attempts, throwing 165-2 and then 169-10.
Murray said his goal entering the meet was to hit 170, but coming up two inches short and winning a national title wasn’t a bad consolation prize.
“I felt pretty good,” said Murray. “The season didn’t go like I had hoped, but I’m happy with where I got.”
Layton appeared to have had an outstanding junior season. He won the pole vault title at the WPIAL Class 2A championships and was the runner-up at the PIAA championships. Layton, though, was not pleased. After reaching 15-6 during the indoor season, he was unable to surpass 14-10 during the outdoor season.
“I had a very bad outdoor season,” he said. “The transition from indoor to outdoor, something happened to my vaulting.”
But Layton ended the season on a good note, albeit minus a new pole. After clinching the title by leaping a new PR of 15-1, Layton attempted to go 15-6. And on his second try, his pole snapped.
“That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me,” he said.
But it was his first national title, too, which put him in a better state of mind heading into his senior year.
Said Layton, “That got my confidence back.”