The area was well represented at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium for the annual PIAA State Track and Field Meet on Friday and Saturday. When all was said and done, Tyrone senior Liz Tepsic and Bellwood-Antis junior Ben Hatch and senior Brandon Pruznak each collected well-deserved medals.
Tepsic finished third in the triple jump to cap an outstanding high school career, which will continue at IUP next year. Liz had her second best career jump going out 37-1 and adding her third place medal to last year’s sixth place medal, with Rebakah Newhart of Hughesville, edging her out for second place on the final jump.
“I am really happy for Liz, she could very easily finished first or second,” said Tyrone track and field coach Tony Yaniello. “We knew going in that there was one girl who had jumped 38 feet and another in the high 37s. The seeds went according to district jumps only, and the level of talent was outstanding in all the events.
“This medal was a tribute to Liz’s hard work. It’s always tough at this level. There are so many technical things involved in triple jumping and she ran the hurdles right before the triple jump. It’s really great that she was able to perform at her usual high quality and bring back a third place medal.”
Tepsic was eliminated in the 100 intermediate hurdles, running fifth in her heat of the semifinals in 16.04.
Bellwood-Antis junior Ben Hatch added to his seventh place medal as a sophomore, to set two school records and come back from Shippensburg with a third place medal in the 800 meter run.
Hatch lowered his own school record in the 800 by several seconds, in recording a 1:55.70 to edge out Tussey Mountain junior Jordan Donaldson (1:55.72) for the third spot in the 800 finals. Hatch and Donaldson have been providing good competition for each other in several invitationals this year, with Donaldson getting the edge most of the time. Ben edged the Titan runner by two hundredths of a second when it counted the most however. Hatch also set a new school record in the 400, with a 49.93, breaking the record set by Brandon Pruznak in winning the District 6-AA championship on May 15. Although unhappy about failing to advance to the finals in the 400, Hatch lowered the school record by 0.02 seconds.
“Ben was disappointed in the 400, missing qualifying for the finals by three-hundredths of a second, but managed to set the school record, and his time in the 800 broke his own school record as well,” said Bellwood-Antis boys coach Nick Lovrich. “This puts him in good position, where hopefully he will have more success in the future.”
Pruznak closed out a brilliant high school career with a fourth place medal in the long jump with a leap of 20-1 3/4 to place fourth by a quarter-inch with Imhotep Charter’s Herman Kirkland getting the gold with a jump of 22-5.
“This is a great accomplishment when you can place among the best in the state,” said Lovrich talking about Pruznak, who ran four events at states. “After winning the district championship, this fourth place medal capped off a great senior year for Brandon, and cements him as one of the greatest athletes in the history of the Bellwood-Antis track program.”
B-A senior Adam Mueller finished seventh in his semifinal heat in the 110 high hurdles in 15.41 to be eliminated.
