Track is on the last (relay) leg of the season, and our very own Beaver Area Bobcats have qualified to the State Championships!
April 26, select individuals competed at the first annual Seneca Valley Invitational. Seventeen teams including Beaver Area competed on that afternoon in one of the first meets this season with great weather.
On the boys side, the 4 by 800 meter relay (sophomore Brayden Cosky, sophomore Isaac Burtt, junior Tyler Biss, and senior Eli Bechdel) won by an impressive 24 seconds against the top AAA teams.
Junior Qualan Cain took ninth in the 200 meter sprint with a time of 24.27 seconds. Bechdel won the 800 by 2 seconds with a time of 1:55.88, just three seconds off of Beaver Area’s school record.
Senior Dom Bumblis placed seventh in the 1600 with a time of 4:39.68. Beaver Area also took the top two spots in the 3200 with Biss placing first with a PR time of 9:49.51 and Bechdel taking second with a time of 9:51.73.
In the field, multiple throwers placed in the top 15 of their events.
A much smaller girls team was brought to the meet, but the Bobcats were able to make the most of the afternoon and had multiple podium finishes.
Freshman Peyton Teapole took fifth in the 1600 with a time of 5:57.64. Teapole also took fifth in the 3200 along with sophomore Esa Tate taking sixth with times of 13:05 and 13:06 respectively.
The girls found more success than the boys team in the field. Freshman Bella Churovia placed fifth in the high jump with a final height of 4 feet 9 inches. Senior Mia LaRose took fifth in discus with a PR throw of 90 feet 3 inches.
Junior Chloe Tooch placed second in shot put with a throw of 30 feet 2 inches, and senior Delaney Thomas followed her in fifth with a throw of 29 feet 5 inches.
Senior Lizzy Michael took first in pole vault with a PR of 12 feet 3 inches. This jump breaks her previous school and county pole vault record set earlier in the season.
The next meet for the girls team was WPIAL Team Semifinals. With a section record of 4-1, the Lady Cats qualified into the first round team championships and were set to compete at West Mifflin against West Mifflin, Knoch, Waynesburg Central, and Mohawk. The boys team did not qualify after taking third in their section.
The meet was originally scheduled for April 30 but had to be moved to the following day once again due to heavy rain and storms.
The Bobcats unfortunately did not win and failed to advance to the WPIAL team finals, but it was a great end to their team season with wins over Waynesburg Central and West Mifflin.
The final large invitational for the season was the Pine-Richland Invitational taking May 3. With around 60 teams participating, competition was tough and the weather once again was not great conditions.
Due to the stiff competition, only two Beaver Area athletes ran (or jumped) onto the podium. Bechdel placed third in the 1600 with a time of 4:17.61, once again just off the school record time. Michael placed fifth in pole vault with a jump of 10 feet 7 inches.
With invitationals over and WPIAL Individual Championships fast approaching, the Bobcats ran in two “last-chance” meets, which are meets specifically designed for runners and field athletes to meet the marks that would qualify them to the WPIAL Championships. Since the girls are AA, only the top 16 in each event qualifies to the championship meet, while the boys being in AAA means that the top 24 in each event qualify.
The first of these last-chance meets was hosted by Montour and the second by Pine Richland.
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WPIAL Individual Championships were held at Slippery Rock University May 15. The day started off early for the team with all 10 qualifiers hoping that the rain would hold off.
The girls 4 by 800 meter relay was the first Beaver Area team to compete that day. They placed 15 with a time of 10:59.81. The boys 4 by 800 relay team was next on the track and being seeded 7 meant they had a great shot at qualifying to states.
Unfortunately, due to tripping from other teams and meet referees refusing to stop the race despite the rules, the relay was not able to run to their full ability and missed the qualifying mark.
These two 4 by 800s were the only Bobcat relay teams to qualify to WPIALs.
On the individual side, four girls qualified. Thomas competed in both discus and shot put. She placed 12 in discus with a throw of 90 feet 7 inches. Thomas also finished 14 in shot put with a final throw of 28 feet 11 inches.
Michael ended in fourth place in pole vault after a two hour rain delay between jumps. This qualifies her for the PIAA State Championships May 24-25.
The four distance runners who qualified to individual events were faced with unusual circumstances. Due to multiple lightning delays causing the meet to be pushed back over three hours, the final four track events had to be run the following day.
For runners like Biss, that meant they had warmed up in preparation for their event multiple times and then ended up not running their event after a 13 hour day.
“Even with the weather, I still think WPIALs was a fun experience. Knowing that it could be your last race of the season definitely motivates you to give it your all. I can’t wait for next year when we move down to AA and can go for the win in some events!” said Biss.
Bechdel and Biss had to run both days, and proved successful in both of their individual events. In the 1600, Bechdel placed third with a new PR and school record of 4:11.29. This is the second school record he now has. Biss placed 16 with a time of 4:29.26.
Biss ran the 800 the next day, and with a new PR of 1:58.97 he placed 13. Bechdel also ran that day in the 3200. He placed sixth with a time of 9:23.04. Bechdel qualified to states in both the 1600 and 3200.
Teapole and Tate both ran the 3200 on the second day of events. Tate placed 13 with a run of 13:14. Teapole placed 14 with a time of 13:24.
Both Bechdel and Michael qualified to the PIAA State Championships that take place today and tomorrow. We wish them luck!