3 WPIAL track athletes win state titles at PTFCA indoor championship

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, March 2, 2020 | 1:31 AM

Indiana senior Kendall Branan was one of three WPIAL track athletes who won state titles Sunday at the PTFCA indoor championship at Penn State.

North Allegheny’s Casey Burton (girls long jump) and Shaler’s Cam Mbalo (boys triple jump) also won gold at PSU’s multisport indoor facility.

Branan, a Pitt recruit, won the boys 800 meters in 1 minute, 52.14 seconds, a time that ranks him second nationally this winter in that event, according to milesplit.com statistics. He improved his personal-best by nearly 2 seconds.

His competition Sunday included Ephrata senior Tyler Shue, a Penn State recruit and reigning national outdoor champion who finished third (1:54.25). Shue won the 800 meters in June at both the PIAA outdoor championships in Shippensburg and the New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Greensboro, N.C.

Branan won the WPIAL outdoor title last season in 1:54.04, but failed to reach the finals at the state meet.

Burton won with a jump of 19 feet, 1 inch. Mbalo jumped 48-1½.

Distance runners Emily Carter of Bethel Park and Patrick Anderson of Mt. Lebanon each posted a pair of top-three finishes Sunday. Carter took third in the girls mile and second in the 3,000 meters. Anderson was second in the boys 3,000 meters and third in the mile.

Beaver’s Emma Pavelek cleared 5-feet, 4 inches and took second in the girls high jump.

Complete PTFCA Indoor Championship results

#state #champ awesome today Kendall 800m 152.14 ⁦@PennTrackXC⁩ ⁦@BradHerbster⁩ ⁦@BrananThe4th⁩ ⁦@Pitt_TF_XC⁩ pic.twitter.com/mTXGbAlhbL

— Ken Branan (@purefitlife) March 1, 2020

Indiana Area's Kendall Branan wins the boys 800 meters behind a very quick last lap! He goes 1:52.14 for the victory and the state title with a 26.44 last 200m.

That time is a new US#2! #PTFCAStates pic.twitter.com/9rYUPyem7j

— PennTrackXC (@PennTrackXC) March 1, 2020

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Beaver, Bethel Park, Indiana, Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny, Shaler