How Centre County track and field athletes fared at the PIAA District 6 Class 2A championship

Tuesday brought the gathering of schools from around the region to compete in this year’s District 6 Class 2A championship.

Four Centre County schools — Bald Eagle, Penns Valley, Philipsburg-Osceola and Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy — each competed at Altoona’s Mansion Park. Six area athletes qualified for the May 28 state championship at Shippensberg University.

Here’s how each Centre County school performed in the District 6 Class 2A championship:

Bald Eagle

Leading off for Bald Eagle’s boys team was Owen Irvin, who qualified in two events. He won the triple jump at 42’ 10.25” and finished second in the long jump. Max Yetsko finished sixth 300-meter hurdles and eighth triple jump, Matt Knepp had a seventh-place finish in the discus and the 4x400-meter relay team of Yetsko, Tanner Bower, Nate Fry, Kevin Taylor also placed in the event.

Head coach Ronald Hoover’s girls team had an impressive day at the office. Abby Hoover will head to the PIAA Championships in two events after winning the javelin event with a toss of 113’ and finishing third in the discus throw.

Other athletes that placed were Angelina Grieb (seventh in the high jump) Heather Leskovansky (fifth in the pole vault) Katie Snyder (eighth in the discus throw), Emily Ream (seventh in the 100-meter hurdles), Olivia Taylor finished sixth in the 200-meter dash and seventh in the 400-meter and the 4x400-meter relay team finished eighth.

“We are very proud of the 12 girls and 14 boys that qualified for districts,” Hoover wrote in a text message. “As always, they competed with their best effort, class, and sportsmanship. (There’s a) special congratulations to Owen Irvin and Abby Hoover for qualifying for States in two events each.”

Penns Valley

Penns Valley had three state qualifiers — one on the boys team and two with the girls. Zach Braucht qualified in both high jump (5-11) and long jump (21-1). Cammie Upcraft won a district championship in the high jump with a jump of 5-4. Abby Stitzer qualified in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:24.

“We had an excellent showing today at the district meet,” head coach Garrett Milner said following the meet. “I’m so proud of our kids and our coaches. We had 28 kids qualify for this meet today and every one of them put on a great display.”

Philipsburg-Osceola

Chad Muckey took second-place in both the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter races and Matt Reese finished eighth in pole vault.

Philipsburg-Osceola head coach Jason McKenzie was proud of his athletes’ performances at the District 6 championships. The team performed up to his expectations and some exceeded them in his view, especially seniors Scott Frantz, Braeden Fenton, Andrew Faust and Kalista Butler.

“It was great to see them be rewarded for all of the work they put in, especially the seniors who capped years of great careers with great performances,” McKenzie wrote in an email. “Chad ran two outstanding races in the 1600 and the 3200. He has been working and building to this ever since Districts last year, and I am excited for him that he has achieved his goal of qualifying for the state meet in both events. I’m glad he has the opportunity to continue his season and run with the best runners in the state at Shippensburg.”

Saint Joe’s

Saint Joe’s boys track & field team had three finishes in the top-8 at the District 6 AA Track & Field Championship. Sophomore Colin Simander was the Wolves’ leading scorer, with a third-place finish in the 1600-meter race with a time of 4:37.15 and a third-place finish in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:02.23. Simander’s finish for both events earned him a spot at next week’s AA Track & Field State Championship Meet in Shippensburg.

Senior Asa Reynolds finished sixth in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:08.32 to reach the podium. Junior Akio Ohomoto-Frederick also reached the podium with an eight-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 44:31. Junior Josh Hyman also represented the St. Joe’s boys in the 3200-meter and finished 25th with a time of 11:53.49. The boys team finished 14th.

On the girls side, Saint Joe’s freshman Karimar Henriquez finished 13th in the 200-meter dash. Junior Kita Chappell finished 18th in the 1600-meter race with a time of 6:14.19. Freshman Brynn Wright finished 14th in the 800-meter race with a time of 2:45.04. Amber Fisher and Evelyn Reynolds represented the Wolves in the 3200-meter with Fisher placing 10th with a time of 12:47.50 and Reynolds finishing 12th with a time of 13:20.09.