PIAA track: Seneca's Miller earns silver, Villa relay places 4th in Victors' final laps

SHIPPENSBURG — What a weekend for Seneca junior Ryan Miller.

He entered the PIAA track and field championships as the No. 13 seed in the Class 2A 300-meter hurdles, and No. 13 seeds rarely end up being state title contenders at the meet.

Miller shaved more than 2 seconds off his qualifying time in Friday's preliminary race to take the top seed in the finals. "Man, that felt great," he said Saturday.

He ran another sizzling time in the finals Saturday while claiming the silver medal.One out-of-sync stride likely cost Miller a gold medal, but he said he'll use that as incentive to win next year's 300 hurdles final back at Shippensburg University.

Should Miller also require a visual reminder of how close he was to state gold, he can glance at the small cut on his left leg. The Bobcats' star athlete suffered it when he stumbled and fell across Seth Grove Stadium's finish line.

Miller, who had the fastest heat time going into the eight-man final, ended up the silver medalist at 39.41 seconds. Southern Columbia senior Jake Rose, who was the race's top seed going into Friday's preliminaries, cleanly crossed in 38.91.

"I knew it was going to be a close race," Miller said. "Me and (Rose) were neck and neck, but somewhere along the line my steps got messed up before (the last hurdle). I had to go over it with my nondominat leg. I've had problems with that this year. Usually, I can still float over it. But because it was the last one and we were so close, I tried to snap the leg down and it backfired on me."

Despite Miller's near miss on the gold medal, Miller appeared jubilant about his overall performance. Besides returning to Seneca as one of the team's two silver medalists, his preliminary time of 39.40 was significantly faster than his District 10 championship time.

Miller, at 41.75, was seeded 13th for the 300 hurdles' original 25-man field.

"I've been working at this (race) all year," Miller said, "and when I got that first seed, I realized, 'Yeah, this is it!' So when I was warming up (Saturday), I knew I was going for the gold."

Miller stood second on the PIAA's medal podium less than 24 hours after Seneca teammate Vincent Rupp did the same.

Rupp, with a height of 6 feet 4 inches, was the silver medalist for Friday's 2A high jump. That event was moved indoors to Shippensburg's Heiges Field House because of heavy rain and lightning that suspended all competition for more than two hours.

Friday boys recap:Seneca's Rupp wins Class 2A silver medal in high jump at PIAA championships

Miller's and Rupp's second-place performances accounted for 16 of the Bobcats' 19 team points, which were enough for eighth in the final team standings.

That was a big step for a Seneca program that, in past years, had relied on distance running standouts. Now, the Bobcats are showing that they can produce athletes in other running events and the field events. They capped a season in which Seneca won the Harbor Creek Invitational and the Erie County Classic, and placed second in the District 10 Class 2A team standings.

Several of the standouts this year were underclassmen, including sophomore Lee Hoover.

Hoover placed sixth in the Class 2A triple jump Saturday at 44 feet, 1½ inches. The District 10 champion had been seeded second at 45-3¼.

"(Saturday) was pretty good," Hoover said. "It was my third-best (distance) this year, but I thought I could have done better. I had two fouls (on jumps) I think could have gone for 45 and got a better place. But I'm still happy with this."

Last laps for Victors

The Catholic Diocese of Erie will close Villa Maria Academy, an all-girls school, at the end of the current academic year.

Going forward, the returning students will attend Cathedral Prep, which is nearing the end of a massive renovation ahead of its switch to coed enrollment.

Among the scheduled renovations are a memorabilia section that will honor Villa's past athletic achievements.Saturday's results by the Victors' long-distance runners could be part of those archives.

Villa's Sarah Clark, with a time of 11 minutes, 10.17 seconds, was the eighth and final medalist for Saturday's 2A girls 3,200 race. The junior returned to Shippensburg's track about an hour later to anchor the Victors' 3,200 relay.

Lauren Raimy, Allison Bender and Sarah Teed joined her on the relay team for the final track and field event in school history. The 10th-seeded quartet earned medals by finishing fourth at 9:49.53.

"We've been having a lot of fun together, knowing this is our last time in these jerseys," Clark said.

The Villa softball team, which will play on the District 10 Class 4A title game Monday morning, will be the final Villa athletic team to compete in school history.

Skinner bids bye-bye to Bison

Hayden Skinner of Fort LeBoeuf concluded a prominent high school career Saturday.

Skinner, who will resume competing at Edinboro University, was a medalist in his specialty race. He finished fifth in the Class 3A 110 hurdles at 14.84.

Skinner, who also competed in the 300 hurdles for the Bison, ran a day after senior classmate Audrey Friedman won the PIAA 2A girls javelin competition.

Friday girls recap: Fort LeBoeuf's Audrey Friedman wins PIAA title in Class 2A javelin

Friedman, who also medaled eighth in Saturday's shot put (37-1½), was recruited by Penn State University.While Friedman and Skinner were the most notable Bison at the meet, they enjoyed ample company before, during and after it.

"The fact that we brought 13 kids to a state meet says something," Skinner said. "We've all been working extremely hard, and I can't thank our coaches enough for that. They've been behind all of us since day one. They're the reason we're here."

High finish for McLane jumper

General McLane junior Jace Walls had the best result among Erie County's 3A boys.

Walls was the bronze medalist for the high jump. He cleared 6-4 on his best attempt, which was an inch above his district height.

"It's just crazy to think that last year, I didn't even get close to being here. Now, I'm third," Walls said. "I really was shooting for second, but I just couldn't get past 6-5. But there's always next year, and now I'm shooting for it."

Saturday's comfortable champion was Shippensburg's Dakota Arana, who surpassed 6-10. Brock Harris of St. Joseph's Prep was second at the 6-5 height Walls sought over his later attempts.

Fairview's Owens medals

Fairview's Isabel Owens capped an outstanding sophomore season by placing sixth in the PIAA Class 2A 800-meter run Saturday.

Owens finished in a strong time of 2 minutes, 19.10 seconds as she shaved well over 2 seconds off her seed time.

Owens was a strong contributor to Fairview's District 10 Class 2A championship team. She won the District 10 title in the 800 with a time of 2:21.81. She also placed fifth in the 1,600 at that meet.

She'll have two more years to help Fairview pursue more D-10 titles and PIAA medals.

Hickory's Dzuricsko honored

Former Hickory coach Barb Dzuricsko is now an official inductee of the Pennsylvania High School Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Dzuricsko, who recently retired as the Hornets' athletic director, was inducted as a member of the hall's 2022 class during a break in Saturday's competition. Her honor occurred 48 years after she participated in the first state meet that included female athletes.

That decision by the PIAA was no doubt influenced by the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, better known now as Title IX, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary on June 23.

Dzuricsko likely wouldn't have been honored for her near-lifetime devotion to track if not for that legislation.

"To look back now and see how far we've come with all of our female athletes, I'm really proud," she said.While Dzuricsko retired from coaching track and field, she hasn't retired from it as an entity. She's continued to officaite duals and meets in the Mercer County area, and even returned to her duties with Saturday's triple jump competition after the induction ceremony.

Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.

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The overall winners and District 10 results for the 2022 PIAA track and field meet at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium. The top eight in each event received medals:

CLASS 2A girls

Team: 1. Susquehanna Community 28; 20. (tie) Greenville and Reynolds 13; 27. Fort LeBoeuf 11; 36. Wilmington 9; 37. Mercer 9; 47. Villa Maria 6; 64. Farrell 3; 65. Fairview 3; 67. Lakeview 2 1/2; 74. (tie including) Oil City 1 1/2

100 meters: 1. Tatum Norris, Susquehanna Community 12.40; 9. Sanaa Brodie, Farrell 12.86; 19. Tamya Hubbard, Sharpsville 13.09

200: 1. Tatum Norris, Susquehanna Community 24.94; 6. Sanaa Brodie, Farrell 25.95; 17. Lydia Reed, Lakeview 26.95;

400: 1. Mylee Harmon, Redbank Valley 57.15; 16. Lydia Reed, Lakeview 1:00.85; 17. Camryn Fox, Corry 1:02.12

800: 1. Kate Moncavage, Southern Columbia 2:15.92; 6. Isabel Owens, Fairview 2:19.10; 15. Maddy Hammond, North East 2:24.12

1,600: 1. Jolena Quarzo, Brownsville 4:54.08; 4. Karis McElhaney, Greenville 5:06.69; 5. Willow Myers, Mercer 5:07.69

3,200: 1. Jolena Quarzo, Brownsville 10:19.41 (PIAA RECORD); 5. Willow Myers, Mercer 11:05.41; 8. Sarah Clark, Villa Maria 11:10.17

100 hurdles: 1. Taleea Buxton, Philadelphia West Catholic 14.23; 4. Lindsey Martineau, Wilmington 15.34; 11. Mackenzie Huston, Fort LeBoeuf 16.15

300 hurdles: 1. Nora Johns, Quaker Valley 44.78; 5. Lindsey Martineau, Wilmington 46.93; 10. Mackenzie Huston, Fort LeBoeuf 47.63

400 relay: 1. Central Columbia (Rilee McMahan, Kendra Strout, Madelyn Blake, Liberty Gearinger) 49.98; 10. Fort LeBoeuf (Mackenzie Huston, Alee Young, Emily Samluk, Maggie Morrison) 50.79; 12. Fairview (Autumn Wyatt, Emma Foht, Sara Gennuso, Jen Hunter) 51.15

1,600 relay: 1. Central Columbia (Madelyn Blake, Haley Bull, Liberty Gearinger, Kendra Stout) 3:56.20; 13. Greenville (Peyton Davis, Carina Loreno, Josie Lewis, Kylee Loreno) 4:13.03; 14. Lakeview (Kady Alexander, Taylor McKean, Mikayla Montgomery, Lydia Reed) 4:13.78

3,200 relay: 1. Central Cambria (Alaina Sheehan, Abigail Sheehan, Annaliese Niebauer, Abigail George) 9:30.53; 2. Greenville (Karis McElhaney, Clair Anderson, Macy Blatt, Josie Lewis) 9:43.97; 4. Villa Maria (Lauren Raimy, Allison Bender, Sarah Teed, Sarah Clark) 9:49.53

High jump: 1. Porschia Bennett, Towanda 5-6; 6. (four-way tie including) Baine Snyder, Oil City 5-0; 10. Gianna Bedel, Slippery Rock 5-0; 13. (tie including) Erika McGowan, Lakeview 5-0;

Triple jump: 1. Taleea Buxton, Philadelphia West Catholic 37-6 1/4; 2. Grace Bresnan, Reynolds 37-2 1/4; 15. Sara Gennuso, Fairview 34-7 1/4; 17. Skylar Riedel, Corry 34-1 3/4

Long jump: 1. Baylee Blauser, Union-Allegheny Clarion Valley 18-6 3/4; 6. Grace Bresnan, Reynolds 17-4 1/4; 9. Julia Coffaro, Slippery Rock 17-1/2; 18. Jen Hunter, Fairview 16-3 34; 19. Skylar Riedel, Corry 16-3 1/2

Shot put: 1. Emma Callahan, Shenango 50-10 3/4; 8. Audrey Friedman, Fort LeBoeuf 37-1 1/2; 13. Rachel Brady, Corry 34-1 1/2

Discus: 1. Justley Sharp, Homer Center 138-7; 7. Mackenzie Herman, Reynolds 110-3; 13. Mallory Brinling, Fairview 96-2

Javelin: 1. Audrey Friedman, Fort LeBoeuf 142-9; 8. Julia Balaski, Mercer 126-2

Pole vault: 1. Ella Dougher, Western Wayne 11-6; 6. (tie including) Erika McGowan, Lakeview 10-6; 10. (four-way tie including) Baine Snyder, Oil City 9-6

CLASS 3A girls

Team: 1. Moon Area 30; 54. (tie including) Grove City 4; 78. Franklin 1

100 meters: 1. Laila Campbell, Spring Grove 11.55 (PIAA RECORD); 25. Torreuna Roberts, Erie High 13.39

200: 1. Laila Campbell, Spring Grove 23.56. Note: Erie High's Torreuna Roberts didn't finish her heat.

400: 1. Jillian Sydnor, Shippensburg 55.17; 26. Christie Boren, Hickory 1:02.92

800: 1. Mia Cochran, Moon Area 2:11.26; 5. Abby Steffler, Grove City 2:14.04;1,600: 1. Mia Cochran, Moon Area 4:46.53; 25. Abby Steffler, Grove City 5:14.74

3,200: 1. Mia Cochran, Moon Area 10:13.62 (PIAA RECORD); 29. Sydney Bayle, General McLane 11:50.65

100 hurdles: 1. Teghan Sydnor, Strath Haven 14.71; 25. Myah Burns, Hickory 22.82

300 hurdles: 1. Sanaa Hebron, Neshaminy 41.85; 13. Abigail Nichols, Grove City 45.98

400 relay: 1. Cheltenham (Mariah Winfield, Kira Murray, Donya Baxter, Eyota Bey) 48.03; 26. McDowell (Alexa Sargent, Ella Gebhardt, Gracyn Farr, Dara Fallon) 51.88

1,600 relay: 1. Central Bucks West (Claire Dalsass, Maile McFadden, Kate Edenson, Mimi Duffy) 3:50.83; 27. Grove City (Phoebe Graham, Savannah Pottinger, Katie Feng, Alayna Bishop) 4:39.77

3,200 relay: 1. West Chester Rustin (Hannah Betchyk, Brianna Ambrosine, Lindsey Volkman, Maddie Miller) 9:27.13; 26. Hickory (Jillian White, Noelle Dahlstrom, Isabella Gingras, Bailey Wier) 10:43.56

High jump: 1. Nene Mokonchu, Spring-Ford 5-10; 15. (tie including) Paige Griffith, Hickory 5-0

Triple jump: 1. Shannon Mullin, State College 40-8; 19. Abigail Nichols, Grove City 36-2 1/4

Long jump: 1. Maria Owens, New Castle 18-10 1/4; 25. Katie Feng, Grove City 14-10 1/2

Shot put: 1. Elizabeth Tapper, Hempfield Area 46-4 1/4; 8. Ashley Alcorn, Franklin 38-3 3/4

Discus: 1. Elizabeth Tapper, Hempfield Area 153-0; 10. Ashley Alcorn, Franklin 116-9

Javelin: 1. Kelly Leszcynski, Nazareth 141-3; 10. D'Annah Davis, Erie High 121-3

Pole vault: 1. Veronica Vacca, Mount St. Joseph 13-0. Note: McDowell's Emma Revak didn't clear the minimum height.

CLASS 2A boys

Team: 1. Wyomissing 32; 8. Seneca 19; 20. Grove City 12; 29. Hickory 10; 43. Greenville 7; 64. Wilmington 3

100 meters: 1. Ethan Black, Conemaugh Township 10.78; 17. Camden Bryant, Mercyhurst Prep 11.48; 23. Keenan Scullin, Hickory 11.53

200: 1. Ethan Black, Conemaugh Township 21.45; 11. Keenan Scullin, Hickory 22.95; 18. Camden Bryant, Mercyhurst Prep 23.28

400: 1. Jake Brungard, Camp Hill 49.36; 10. Riley Runyon, Greenville 51.04; 13. Trey Reznor, Grove City 51.28

800: 1. Carson McCoy, Deer Lakes 1:51.02; 15. Landon Myer, Union City 2:02.60; 16. Clay Bendig, Seneca 2:03.82

1,600: 1. Carson McCoy, Deer Lakes 4:13.14; 8. Joshua Jones, Grove City 4:18.72; 22. Thomas Hunyadi, Hickory 4:35.78; 26. M.J. Pottinger, Grove City 4:41.29

3,200: 1. Sean Aiken, Eden Christian Academy 9:13.47; 16. M.J. Pottinger, Grove City 9:49.41; 25. Jack Mumford, Oil City 10:14.97

110 hurdles: 1. Jake Rose, Southern Columbia 14.09; 17. Camden Bryant, Mercyhurst Prep 11.48; 23. Keenan Scullin, Hickory 11.53

300 hurdles: 1. Jake Rose, Southern Columbia 38.91; 2. Ryan Miller, Seneca 39.41; 11. Gavin Murdock, Lakeview 41.71

400 relay: 1. Bartram Motivation (Henry Duncan, Titus Krauh, Quincy Beckwith, Zhiyjay Louineus) 42.62; 11. Hickory (Ramarion Whitehead, Keenan Scullin, Luke Nevil, Luca Bertolasio) 43.83; 20. North East (Braeden Thorton, Kaidan Lanagan, Shane Keith, Dominic Maas) 44.52

1,600 relay: 1. Imhotep Charter (Jayden Horton-Mims, Chase Temple, Asad Reese, Kaseam Johnson) 3:24.04; 3. Greenville (Levi Swartz, Ty Csonka, Toby Williams, Riley Runyon) 3:27.10; 9. Grove City (Aaron Jackson, Caleb Hawke, Josh Dreves, Trey Reznor) 3:28.68

3,200 relay: 1. Hughesville (Logan Long, Hunter Foust, Morgan Gavitt, Shea McCusker) 8:04.31; 4. Grove City (Caleb Hawke, Justy Brown, Wyatt Shepson, Joshua Jones) 8:13.74; 8. Greenville (Jalen Ritzert, Toby Williams, Jase Herrick, Riley Runyon) 8:16.87

High jump: 1. Hayden Smith, Union-Allegheny Clarion Valley 6-5; 2. Vincent Rupp, Seneca 6-4; 7. Josh Dreves, Grove City 6-0; 12. (tie including) Logan Frazao, Fairview 5-10; 15. (three-way tie including) Logan Turton, Mercer 5-10

Triple jump: 1. Taylor LaBarre, Pen Argyl 45-7 1/2; 6. Lee Hoover, Seneca 44-1 1/2; 19. Jack Thomas, Commodore Perry 40-1 1/2

Long jump: 1. Luca Bertolasio, Hickory 23-11; 5. Josh Dreves, Grove City 21-7 1/4; 17. Lee Hoover, Seneca 20-1/2

Shot put: 1. J'Ven Williams, Wyomissing 66-7 3/4 (PIAA RECORD); 19. John Styborski, Corry 44-3/4; 22. Xavier Reyda, Corry 41-9 1/2

Discus: 1. J'Ven Williams, Wyomissing 167-0; 9. Xavier Reyda, Corry 144-2; 10. Cam Crocker, Oil City 141-6

Javelin: 1. Drew Mnuk, Wyoming Area 211-9; 11. Bobby Yost, Seneca 151-1; 14. Ethan Wiley, Mercer 149-0Pole vault: 1. Logan Gossard, Richland 14-6; 5. (three-way tie including) Solomon Glavach, Wilmington 13-6; 11. Will Sheffler, Wilmington 12-6

Class 3A boys

Team: 1. Butler 47; 36. General McLane 6; 40. Meadville 6; 51. (tie including) Fort LeBoeuf 4; 85. Harbor Creek 1

100 meters: 1. Joey Gant, Pennridge 10.74; 23. Tristin Harris, Fort LeBoeuf 11.36; 28. Wakeem Page, Cathedral Prep 11.50

200: 1. Joey Gant, Pennridge 21.15; 24. Benny Whitaker, McDowell 23.08400: 1. Lebron Bessick, Coatesville 46.91; 23. Max Dailey, Harbor Creek 51.82

800: 1. Gary Martin, Archbishop Wood 1:51.24; 24. Nicolin Pierce, McDowell 2:00.22

1,600: 1. Gary Martin, Archbishop Wood 4:01.56 (PIAA RECORD); 24. Christian Mattern, McDowell 4:26.40

3,200: 1. C.J. Singleton, Butler 8:57.73; 27. Ben Schrumpf, Fort LeBoeuf 9:59.58

110 hurdles: 1. Demaris Waters, Harrisburg 13.86; 5. Hayden Skinner, Fort LeBoeuf 14.84

300 hurdles: 1. Sanaa Hebron, Neshaminy 41.85; 14. Hayden Skinner, Fort LeBoeuf 40.67

400 relay: 1. Wilson Area (Zack Gillen, Damian Simpson, Zakai Hendricks, Damon Simpson) 41.49; 19. Fort LeBoeuf (Damian Blose, Tristin Harris, Donovan Davis, Hayden Skinner) 44.37

1,600 relay: 1. Coatesville (Dave Kelly, Jabarri Stocker, Tommy Silvester, Lebron Bessick) 3:16.13; 22. Slippery Rock (Sam Schwartz, Tyler Arblaster, Victor Zahn, Tom Tedesco) 3:32.99

3,200 relay: 1. State College (Mathew Staniar, Nick Sloff, Trent Dinant, Sean Adams) 7:45.36; 19. McDowell (Nicolin Pierce, Caleb Willis, Kamden Kramer, Brady Heeter) 8:15.37

High jump: 1. Dakota Arana, Shippensburg 6-10; 3. Jace Walls, General McLane 6-4

Triple jump: 1. J.J. Kelly, Chambersburg 48-1; 14. Khalon Simmons, Meadville 43-6

Long jump: 1. Brendan Leneghan, St. Joseph's Prep 22-8 3/4; 3. Khalon Simmons, Meadville 22-1 1/2; 12. Brandon Konieczki, Harbor Creek 21-1 1/4; 15. Logan Anderson, General McLane 20-11 1/2

Shot put: 1. Wade Shomper, Cumberland Valley 59-9 3/4; 8. Nicholas Krahe, Harbor Creek 52-1/2

Discus: 1. Wade Shomper, Cumberland Valley 172-8; 20. Hayden Mahoney, Harbor Creek 129-6

Javelin: 1. Josiah Sechler, Mifflin County 184-9; 12. Christian Santiago, McDowell 169-1

Pole vault: 1. Justin Rogers, Hershey 17-3 (PIAA RECORD); 13. Bradon Schneider, Erie High 14-0;

Note: McDowell finished sixth in the unified team standings.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Seneca's Miller earns silver; final Villa relay places 4th