PIAA track and field notebook: Bronze finish for Franklin Regional seniors

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, May 26, 2018 | 7:03 PM

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SHIPPENSBURG — Franklin Regional seniors Matt Busche and Tyrese Kohlman earned bronze medals Saturday at the PIAA Class AAA track and field championships.

Busche, the WPIAL 800-meter champion, placed third in the 800.

Kohlman edged Hempfield senior Eudel Moreta for third place in the 200.

Four Spartans earn medals

Hempfield senior Bailey Traczynski finished her high school career with one of her best races.

She placed fourth in the 100 hurdles in 14.49 seconds. Jayla Ellis of Oakland Catholic placed second.

“I was hoping for fourth place, and I got it,” Traczynski said. “So I accomplished my goals, so I'm happy with it.”

Junior Mackenna Orie earned her second medal of the weekend by placing fourth in the discus with a throw of 131 feet, 9 inches.

She passed three throwers on her final throw.

Orie placed sixth in the shot put Friday.

“I'm excited about the place I got,” Orie said. “I hit it on my last throw. Not too happy with the distance.

Orie is headed to nationals in two weeks and is hoping for a better performance there.

“I was a little nervous because it was my first time here,” Orie said. “I worked through them, so I should be a lot better next year.”

Rebeccah Pyo, the WPIAL high jump champion, tied for seventh by clearing 5-2.

“It was a good learning experience,” Pyo said. “Hitting your first jumps here are real important. My goal was to clear 5-4, but I came up a little short.”

Moreta finished his high school career with a fourth-place finish in the 200. The Dominican Republic native also competed in the long jump.

Brewer earns a medal

Greensburg Central Catholic senior Aiden Brewer placed fifth in the Class AA pole vault, clearing 13-6, and he also competed in the 800.

Other district placewinners included: Belle Vernon's Hannah Seitzinger (seventh in the 400), Norwin junior Jessica Kolesar (seventh in the long jump) and Saltsburg senior Holly Long (eighth in the 400).

First for Brownsville's Quarzo

Brownsville sophomore Gionna Quarzo decided go for it with one lap remaining in the Class AA 3,200.

That's when she broke away from Loyalsock junior Isabel Sagar.

Quarzo won the race by nearly three seconds (10:48.10) and became Brownsville's first girl to win PIAA gold. Sagar finished in 10:51.06.

Quarzo won the WPIAL title in 11:11.16.

“I'm very excited because I never would have imagined that I could have won,” Quarzo said. “I was trying to stay behind her because last year I got seventh, and I went out really fast, so I decided to tuck in.”

Quarzo changed her strategy during the race.

“I was going to go at the 800, but I figured I'd go on the last lap instead because I didn't know if she had a good sprint or not.”

Quarzo said she was hoping for a top-three finish.

“I was thinking third. I never imagined first,” Quarzo said. “I felt good the whole race. The last lap was harder for me because I can't sprint. I just tried as hard as I could.”

Hurdle trouble

Things didn't start well for Waynesburg's Daniel Layton and Bentworth's Brenna Cavanaugh in the hurdles.

Layton tripped and fell over the first hurdle in the 110 hurdles and placed eighth. Cavanaugh was on her way to consecutive PIAA 100 hurdle titles, but she stumbled on the ninth hurdle, almost fell, and ended up fourth.

She was two strides ahead of the pack when she hit the hurdle.

Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.

Tags: Brownsville, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield Area, Waynesburg, Waynesburg Central