Bethel Park athletes hitting stride at early-season invitationals

By: Ray Fisher
Saturday, April 19, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Previous Next

Bethel Park’s track and field program has been riding the momentum displayed by team members during the winter indoor season.

“We had a very successful indoor season where we had 11 student-athletes qualify for the Adidas Indoor Nationals,” Bethel Park coach Mark Jacobs said. “So we are hoping to keep the momentum going into the outdoor season. We have some great upperclassman leadership; they are showing the younger athletes the right way to do things.”

Bethel Park racked up eight first-place finishes April 5 at the seven-team Mt. Lebanon Invitational.

“I thought we had a good day,” Jacobs said. “With the weather not being ideal — though it was expected to be much worse — and the fact it was our second meet in three days, I was not sure what kind of times we may get. So I was looking more at the kids’ abilities to compete with the other good track schools in the area and I was very pleased with the results.

“We had a good number of kids finish in the top three of their events and many others hit personal bests.”

Fiona O’Neil, a Bethel Park freshman, won two individual events in the girls competition, taking first in the discus with a toss of 105 feet, 9 inches and the shot put by hitting a mark of 31-1.

Jenna Benlock, also a freshman, took first in the 800-meter run in 2:35.11 and junior Autumn Flowers won the 100 hurdles with a 15.7 time.

“We have two freshman girls who did very well in their first invitationals,” Jacobs said. “Winning an event in an invitational is a big deal no matter the distance or time you get. We are excited to see how they progress not just this season but for the next four years.”

The girls 3,200 relayers, consisting of senior Keria Mehalko, sophomore Gillian Uhl, junior Makayla O’Neil and Benlock, also garnered first place with a time of 10:37.

Francesca Balkovec, a sophomore was a triple medalist in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and pole vault events. Ella Milliken, a senior, was a double medalist in the discus and shot put. She also placed ninth in the long jump.

Junior Delaney Boes (400), Uhl (3,200) and Elaine Flatherty (triple jump) and freshman Abby Kelly (300 hurdles) also placed in the top eight in individual events.

Other competitors for Bethel Park included senior Talia Jackson (100, 200), sophomore Khloe Conti (100, 200) and O’Neil (300 hurdles). Conti placed ninth in the 200.

Two members of Bethel Park’s boys team secured individual titles at Mt. Lebanon.

Senior Jackson Friday won the 300 hurdles event in 41.74 and also placed third in the 110 hurdles.

Friday, a starting forward on the boys soccer team, was selected to play for Class 3A at the Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association all-star event at Pine-Richland.

Clancy Orie, also a senior, zeroed in on the top spot in the shot put with a toss of 51-5. Orie also finished fifth in the discus event.

The boys 400 relayers also corralled first place with 46.13 performance.

Junior Brady McCarthy was a triple medalist in the long jump, triple jump and pole vault events.

A trio of athletes were double medalists for the Black Hawks: Jack Lester (100, 200), a junior, and seniors Fin O’Neill (400, 800) and Colin Hewes (1,600, 3,200).

Juniors Kahanualo Kuewa (100) and Hendrix Odham (pole vault); seniors David Nyerere (400), Alex Dziezgowski (discus) and Denzel Meyers (shot put); freshman Johah Mercurio (800); and sophomore Colin Uhl (pole vault) also placed among the top eight in individual events.

Other competitors at the meet included sophomores Mitchell McGrail (100, 200), Antonio Williams (200) and Julian Lubawy (discus), senior Jeremy Whitling (100, 200) and junior Noah Rauch (800).

Bethel Park joined Brentwood, Chartiers Valley, Mt. Lebanon, Mt. Pleasant, Seton LaSalle and South Fayette at the invitational.

The Black Hawks also participated in the Tri-State Track Coaches Association outdoor championships April 12 at West Mifflin.

“I was pleased with the performances of our medalists and all of the kids,” Jacobs said. “Moreso than at Mt. Lebanon, the weather was not the best for getting fast times, so it was more about their ability to compete. We had a lot of kids do very well and we look forward to continuing that momentum into meets with nice weather.”

Medalists for the girls team included O’Neill (discus, shot put), Flowers (100 hurdles) and senior Sadie Orie (300 hurdles).

Jacobs discussed each girl’s performance.

“Fiona continues to impress as a freshman,” he said. “She did not let the high level of competition affect her one bit. She did well in both events and even got a personal-best in the shot put.

“Autumn ran a good race to take fourth place in a very stacked field. It was her best time of the season so far, though she smashed that time in our (recent) dual meet. Autumn had a record-breaking indoor season that went well into March, so we are bringing her along slowly so she can peak at the right time.”

The Bethel Park coach continued: “Sadie’s performance was another good performance for early in the season. She got a late start to the season because of basketball but we are expecting big things from her as the year goes on.”

Brady McCarthy (triple jump, pole vault) and Clancy Orie (discus) were the medalists for the boys team.

“Brady did a nice job of balancing his two events which ended up happening at basically the same time,” Jacobs said. “Brady has really improved in his triple the last month, so I was not surprised at all about his medal-winning performance. In the pole vault, he battled with many of the best in the WPIAL in what felt like a preview of the WPIAL finals in May. He competed well and was close to moving farther up the podium if we could have had some more bar luck.

“Clancy has been throwing very well all the way back to the start of December. He was able to qualify for Adidas Nationals in the shot put and place fifth. The discus result was somewhat surprising because it was a big PR for him, but we thought he could become a good thrower in multiple events.”

Orie was a three-year starter on the Bethel Park football team and is a Navy recruit.

Tags: Bethel Park