Roundup of the boys' events from Day 1 of the PIAA Track and Field Championships

SHIPPENSBURG — The 2022 PIAA Track and Field Championships began on Friday at Shippensburg University.

This year’s championships will take place over a two-day period, with all events concluding on Saturday. More than 30 total athletes from the Beaver Valley will compete in track and field events throughout both days. On Friday, boys athletes from the Beaver County Times’ coverage area competed in finals for the 1,600-meter run, long jump, high jump, javelin throw, discus throw, pole vault and shot put. Several others contended for spots in the state finals in preliminaries for their respective events.

Here are some notes and general observations from Day 1 of the boys’ competitions at the PIAA Track and Field Championships:

Riverside’s Fluharty sets school record in 1,600-meter run

Ty Fluharty kicked off the PIAA championships with a strong outing in the day’s first boys’ event.

The Riverside senior and Buffalo commit finished the boys’ Class 2A 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.38, a mark that was good for seventh overall out of 28 runners in the competition. His time also set a new school record — breaking one he previously set earlier this month at the Baldwin Invitational by less than a second.

Fluharty led the pack in his heat for the first two laps of the four-lap race, but slipped behind a bit toward the middle of the third lap.

“I went for it at (the) 800 (mark),” he said. “Those guys just all out-kicked me at the end. I mean, it was a great race for me (anyway).”

Perhaps most importantly to Fluharty, he accomplished the feat with his former coach and mentor, Chuck Kotuby, watching in the stands at Seth Grove Stadium. Kotuby coached the Panthers’ boys’ track and field team from 1996 to 2021. Fluharty said the 1967 Riverside graduate taught him the true meaning of “dedication” and made him “want to coach track one day.”

“He just works hard,” Kotuby said of Fluharty. “He takes every ounce of his ability and puts it on the track. ... Running’s not easy, and it takes a lot. If you want to get to the level that he’s running at, it takes a lot of work. And Ty just never quit.”

Riverside’s Reed puts ‘a year of work’ on display in javelin throw

After a 2021 season that ended with a rough showing at the WPIAL championships and without a PIAA finals berth, Joe Reed capped off his 2022 campaign with a podium finish.

The Riverside junior placed fifth out of 24 competitors in the boys’ Class 2A javelin throw, posting a mark of 165 feet (50.29 meters). Reed made sure a summer and fall spent fine-tuning his technique paid dividends.

“It just shows how hard I work,” Reed said of his performance on Friday. “Because that’s all it is. That’s all track is — just working hard. This season began last June. So, almost a year of work really paid off.”

Now with one more season remaining in his high school career, Reed has even higher aspirations for the future.

“Next year, I’m taking second,” Reed said. “The guy that finished first (Drew Mruk of Wyoming Area), he’s a junior. I think he’s top 10 in the nation right now. To reach that, that’d be cool, but you've got to be realistic sometimes.”

Still, after the leap he made this spring following a hyper-focused offseason, he knows not to underestimate his ceiling.

South Side’s Mackall adjusts to change of scenery, medals in high jump

When the rainfall intensified and thunder and lightning struck on Friday morning, a handful of field events, including high jump, were moved indoors.

Naturally, several athletes who expected to jump off of a traditional outdoor run-up surface were fazed by the change in scenery. The new surface — which was essentially a rubber covering over a hardwood floor — was inside one of Shippensburg's gymnasiums. South Side’s Dusty Mackall, however, wasn’t too bothered.

The senior finished fifth overall in the boys’ Class 2A high jump with a height of 6 feet. Mackall said his experience jumping off a similar floor during the Rams’ basketball season served as an advantage.

“Playing basketball helped, because it’s the same type of floor,” Mackall said. “I didn’t have to make a big adjustment for it.”

Mackall’s jump was just shy of his personal best of 6-foot-1. But with all things considered — most notably the last-minute switch in location — he was satisfied with his performance.

“You never know what you’re going to get at these meets,” Mackall said. “So, being able to podium made me happy.”

QUALIFIERS FROM PRELIMINARY COMPETITION:

• Antonio Votour, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart — Boys’ Class 2A 110-meter hurdles (5th, 15.57)

• Donovan Jones, Central Valley — Boys’ Class 3A 200-meter dash (5th, 21.94)

• Quadir Thomas, Beaver Falls — Boys’ Class 2A 400-meter dash (3rd, 49.98)

• Alden Wetzel, Riverside — Boys’ Class 2A 400-meter dash (6th, 50.07)

• Beaver Falls — Boys’ Class 2A 4x100-meter relay (6th, 43.64)

• Aliquippa — Boys’ Class 2A 4x100-meter relay (7th, 43.66)

• Riverside — Boys’ Class 2A 4x400-meter relay (7th, 3:27.30)

Contact Parth Upadhyaya at pupadhyaya@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @pupadhyaya_.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Highlights from boys' events at Day 1 of PIAA track and field finals