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IT'S HARD TO KEEP TRACK, BUT...
A 'dream matchup' involving two schools next door to each other might materialize at the 2A state track meet this weekend at Shippensburg. The Cranberry (left) and Oil City 1600 relay teams have been running similar times all spring. Good times, too, and at the same time, which has never happened in the history of the two programs. This past weekend, at their respective district meets, both broke school records as they kept up their season's long back-and-forth. This past Friday, Landon Baker (from left), Blake Marchinke, Cole Findlay and Dalton Wenner ran 3:28.92 in the District 9 meet. They finished fourth behind perennial powers: Central Clarion, Brookville and Karns City. It was Venango County's best time -- until Saturday. That's when Morris Woodhouse, Carter Thompson, Rilee Matalino and Dylan Van Wormer -- all underclassmen -- were clocked in 3:26.38, second only to Sharon, in the District 10 meet. Will Cranberry and Oil City face off Saturday afternoon? Will they break their school records again? Will they finish 1-2 in the state finals? (Probably not; the 2A state meet record is 3:19.07, so both are a far cry from challenging that, oh by the way.) Anyway, stay tuned...As the World Turns. (Photos found on Facebook)
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The top seed for the state meet is Catasauqua out of District 11. Its time (3:20.03) is way better than everybody else. Warrior Run is next at 3:24.54. District 9 champ Central Clarion is No. 7 at 3:25.86. Sharon, Oil City and Brookville are 8-10. Cranberry is 24. To see them all for every event, click here.
Oil City's Corabel Shiley (3200) and Franklin's Logan Knight (shot, discus) and Lilyan Miller (long jump) are among athletes from District 10 who qualified for states. In addition to the 1600 relay, Rilee Matalino of Oil City advanced in the open 800.
FHS athletes by Tammy Curry)
TWO SCHOOL RECORDS, 7 STATE QUALIFIERS
It was DeLathian Boanes all over again.
Franklin junior Logan Knight again took a back seat to his nemesis, this time in the discus, but placing second him for the 3A state meet and shattered Franklin’s 35-year-old school record.
While Boanes tossed a personal best 168-6 in the District 10 meet Saturday at Slippery Rock, Knight checked in at 167-7, smashing Craig Needham’s standard of 164-2 set in 1991.
Actually, three of Knight’s throws broke that record.
Later on, Knight tipped his hat to Boanes again. This time it was the shot. Boanes won with a heave of 59-101/4. Knight was third with 56-11/2, but it was another state qualifying throw. Sandwiched between them was Meadville’s Brennan Dinsmore, who beat out Knight by a half-inch. Franklin’s Aaron Moore Junior was sixth at 48 feet.
As it would play out, no local athlete would win a district title, but there were a handful of seconds and thirds and a few more state qualifiers.
Franklin's Lilyan Miller was second in the long jump, but her leap of 17-61/4 was a state qualifier – and a personal best.
Oilers lower school 1600 relay mark to 3:26.38
Qualifying for the 2A state meet were two Oil City distance runners, sophomore Rilee Matalino and junior Corabel Shiley, and the 1600 relay team, which was second to Sharon, but broke a 45-year-old school record.
Dylan VanWormer, Matalino, Carter Thompson and Morris Woodhouse were clocked in 3:26.38; Sharon's winning time was 3:25.88. The old Oil City record was 3:29.56 set in 1981 by Glenn Dickey, Greg Benedict, Paul Harvey and Shawn Wolcott.
Earlier, Matalino ran 1:58.29 for fifth in the 800 and and Shiley moved on with her 11:33.96 in the 3200, beating the qualifying standard by two seconds. She finished fourth.
However, it was a disappointing day for Oil City senior Spence Singleton, who failed to qualify for states in the javelin after such a promising start to the season when he was throwing in the 180s. He threw 170-10 for third Saturday, but that was not good enough to make the state meet.
Also finishing second was Franklin senior Isabel Griffiin in both the 1600 and 3200, but it would turn out to be the high school swan song for her. She was far off the pace set by Meadville's Megan Puleio, who ran a 4:59.25 in the 1600
The Franklin girls received a pair of thirds from Anna Rodgers (16.71) in the 100 hurdles and freshman Lena Laderer in the 400. Both Laderer (61.3) and Miah Shingledecker (62.93) , who finished out of the money, ran PRs. Rodgers wascalso fourth in the 300s.
Franklin girls place in all three relays
Both 3200 relays scored points toward the Franklin cause. Brynna Riley, Alayna Gahr, Alaina Byler and Sophie Wehrle were sixth, and Davis LeGoullon, A.J. Rodriguez, Ryder Stevens and Max Griffin were seventh.
A Franklin freshman, Lachlan Dick, was fifth in the triple jump.
The Lady Knights added points in the 400 relay with Rodgers, Laderer, Brynlee Burger and Miller doing the running in 51.8. They ended up placing in all three relays as Shingledecker, Rodgers, Wehrle and Laderer churned the 1600 in 4:23.33.
In 2A, some early results for Oil City were not what it had hoped.
Besides Singleton, Madi Garland (shot ) and Michael Fink (110 hurdles) were far off their season's best and took sixths.
The Lady Oilers showed their strength in the hurdles with Olive Collins and Bailey Stevens taking 4-5, Stevens with a PB 16.49, and Abby Copley adding an eighth.
Collins also took seventh in the high jump. Bart Rosen went a personal bests 40-7 for eighth in the triple jump and 20-101/2 for seventh in the long. Erstwhile hoops scoring machine Payton Liederbach came on strong in the jumps late in the season and posted a personal record 34-113/4 -- best in Venango County -- for seventh in the triple.
At midday, Addison Wyant, the consistent junior, placed a solid fourth in the 1600, running 5:17.37 -- four seconds off the state qualifying time.
The Oilers began scoring a little afternoon, going 4-5 in the 400 with Woodhouse (50.62) and VanWormer (51.52) running their best times. Thompson was eighth in the 300 hurdles and ran a leg of the 400 relay, which was sixth. Other runners were Landon Riley, Steven Heise and Aaden Hibbard.
In the 800, Keegan Kirkwood, who recently returned after leg issues sidelined him most of the season, just missed scoring, finishing ninth. He was clocked in 2:05 in the 800 after running a pair of 2:06s in his first two outings. Kirkwood would have been the Oilers' top distance man if healthy.
Team scoring
2A Girls -- Grove City walked over Seneca, 106-60. Oil City was 10th among 21 schools with 34 points.
3A Girls -- McDowell squeezed past Slippery Rock, 113.5-111. Franklin was sixth among 10 teams with 68 points.
2A Boyrs -- Ft. LeBoeuf 91, Eisenhower 60.5. Oil City and Corry tied for eighth among 24 schools with 37 points each.
3A boys -- Grove City 186, Meadville 103.5. Franklin was last among eight teams with 25 points. The Knights were 39.5 points away from seventh place.
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1:56.9: not bad
for a wrestler
Beatrice Kolesar
Elena Ishman
3200 relay
reigns again
Navy Perry
From 140s
last year to 176-2 in javelin
Wintery looking photos from Malek stash
Kolesar does her thing, and...
Big day for Berry boys on District 9 oval
Beatrice Kolesar did her thing – dominate the distances– but it was the boys with three school records and a stunner in the javelin that stole the show for Cranberry at the District 9 2A track meet Friday at Brookville High School.
While Kolesar reeled off firsts in the 3200 relay, 1600 and open 3200, Cranberry received the following outstanding/astounding performances from the boys:
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In making his case for local Athlete of the First Half of the 21st Century, Dalton Wenner won the 800 in 1:56.92. That’s something you don’t see every day from a state champion wrestler – or any wrestler. It is something you might see from a state champion half-miler. At the very least it broke Morgan Huegel's record 1:57.26 from 2011.
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And it gets better. Wenner later anchored the Berries to another school record, a 3:28.92 in the 1600 relay​ behind Cole Findlay, Landon Baker and Blake Marchinke. But racing in some pretty fast company (Clarion, 3:25.56, Brookville and Karns City), they finished fourth, taking some three seconds off the old mark..
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But Shane Clark!
Shane Clark came out of nowhere practically and won the javelin. And he just didn’t win – he threw the spear 176-2 – a Pa. Top 50 distance. ​
Clark’s performance is something when one considers he was consistently in the 140s as a junior, never even touching 150.
He did break into the 150s this spring, but even as late as early this month he was still there.
Then he began making his move, breaking into the 160s and eventually reaching 167, which was good enough to get the third seed for districts.
But at districts he really blossomed. He was in the 170s on four of his first five throws before fouling on the sixth. His third toss turned out to be the winner and had him sitting in first place.
All he had to do is wait and see if A-C Valley/Union’s Hayden Bliss could do better. Bliss posted 175-11 on his fourth throw, but that was it.
Clark wore the crown and became, by minutes, Cranberry's first district champ in track since Sylas Fox in 2022.
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Findlay placed second to Brookville superstar Hayden Freeman in the high jump, clearing 6-1. (Freeman not only jumped 6-3, but ran a swift 10.68 in the 100 and 21.48 in the 200.) Findlay was also second in the long jump, but with still another school record -- 22-23/4. That mean's J.T. Stahlman's 21-11 set in 2021 is off the books. Findlay's partner in crime in hoops, Marchinke, was third in the 400 in a personal record 51.8.
While all this was going on, Kolesar and mates were doing their thing. First, she anchored the 3200 relay to its second straight D-9 title behind Elena Ishman, Navy Perry and Darien Wenner to another title. Their time of 9:47.11 16 was 16 seconds better than runner-up Elk County Catholic – and in case you’re wondering, about 10 seconds off the school record set last season.
A little while later, Kolesar ran the 1600 in 5:17.1, another 16 seconds better than the runner-up. She finished off her day by running 11:20.02 for first in the 3200. This time she was 54 seconds better than the runner-up. Kolesar, a junior, now has five district titles -- two relays, two open 3200s and the 1600 this year.
Darien Wenner, meanwhile, was having lots to do in little time. After the relay, she did her pole vaulting before running the 400. She was the top seed in both but settled for second in one and third in the other. After passing on the first couple heights, she cleared 9-6, two feet shorter than her school record, but good for second place. Her third-place time in the 400, 60.25, was a personal record. She finished the day with a third in the open 800 in 2:27.93.
With Madison Shaffer (javelin) and Perry (pole vault) adding sixths, the Cranberry girls were runners-up in the team standings to Elk CC, 62.5-52.
Despite all the heroic efforts, the boys were a distant fourth to powerful Brookville, which totaled 151 points, 82 ahead of second place Central Clarion. ACValley/Union was third and the Berries were fourth with 44. Caleb Sparks was fifth in the shot and sophomore Daniel McCain added a sixth in the 3200.
Wenner was in the Neighborhood,
so he thought he'd drop by
Just for reference and as of Saturday morning:
Dalton Wenner's time in the 800 on Friday -- 1:56.92 -- put the erstwhile wrestler -- state champion wrestler -- in some pretty fast company locally.
Three former Oil City athletes won state titles in the 880 (yards)/800 (meters.)
The most recent was Ed Munoz, who ran a 1:54.82 in the 800 in 1985.
Before Munoz, there was Rick Weaver, who was clocked in 1:56.2 in the 880 in 1969. Using a yards-to-meters conversion table, which is available via Google, that's the equivalent of a 1:55.53 in the 800.
And last, but hardly least, there is two-time state mile champion Charlie Winger, who also took the 880 at states in 1955. His time was 1:58.1, which converts to 1:57.42.
What's more, Franklin's Caleb Prettyman medaled at states in all three distance events in 2024 and has the school record in all of them. That would include a 1:56.09 in the 800.
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Playoffs here we come!
(Photo by Christy Fackler)
For some their seasons have come to an end;
for others, it's did somebody say playoffs?
Baseball and softball playoffs start next week in Districts 9 and 10, and Cranberry and Rocky Grove will be in them along with Franklin baseball.
For playoff openers:
Franklin baseball vs. Girard, 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Mercyhurst
Rocky Grove baseball vs. Cambridge Springs, Thursday, TBA
Rocky Grove softball vs. West Middlesex, Wednesday, TBA
Cranberry baseball at Curwensville, 4 p.m., Tuesday
Cranberry softball vs. Moniteau, Wednesday, TBA
Meanwhile, Franklin and Oil City softball will head to the showers, their seasons complete.
Franklin baseball is sitting at 11-9. The Knights are seeded sixth among seven teams in 3A. Rocky Grove (9-9) is seeded second to West Middlesex in 1A. This is a four-team event. The Grove girls (6-14) are the three seed in a three-team tourney.
The Berries are 8-7 in baseball and riding a three-game winning streak. Third-seeded Curwensville is 10-8. Top-seeded Redbank has a first-round bye.
The softball team is 15-4 and will face Moniteau in the District 9 2A semifinals. Brockway will play the winner of a game between Keystone and Forest Area in the other semi. The championship game is Monday, May 25, at Heindl Field in DuBois. The Lady Berries are seeking a four-peat in District 9 and their seventh crown since 2012.​
There were two baseball games Friday. Rocky Grove outlasted Oil City, 7-6, and Franklin trounced Cranberry, 19-4, in four innings.
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Keeping up with Luke Guth
Luke Guth was nicked for another run Friday as Vanderbilt beat South Carolina, 9-5. He didn't pitch Saturday In Vandy's 5-3 victory over the Gamecocks.
He gave up a single and a double in the seventh, but he struck out two.
He was coming off a nightmare outing last Friday (May 8) against Missouri and hadn't pitched since.
Guth was brought into the game with Vanderbilt leading last-place Missouri, 6-1, in the eighth.
But he gave up six runs -- five earned -- as the Tigers took the lead. The junior right-hander was replaced by Matthew Shorey after getting only one out. He gave up five hits and two walks as his ERA zoomed to 4.94.​
Vandy (32-24 overall, 14-16 SEC) will now head to the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala.
Guth is a 6-1, 188-pounder from Franklin. He's one of 19 pitchers on the Vanderbilt staff and is tied for the team lead in appearances with 21.
This space is dedicated to keeping up with him and Vanderbilt, usually one of the top programs in the country.
