Fantastic 400 finish between Hampton’s Galuska, Butler’s Brown headlines WPIAL Class AAA meet
By:
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 | 11:36 PM
Hampton’s Gage Galuska, left, and Butler’s Guinness Brown compete in the 400-meter dash finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Butler’s Guinness Brown competes in the 100-meter dash finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Oakland Catholic’s Emily Cooper competes in the 300-meter hurdles finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
West Mifflin’s Dontae Lewis competes in the 300-meter hurdles finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Pine-Richland’s Josh Imhof competes in the 300-meter hurdles finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Hampton’s Kat Milon competes in the 400-meter dash at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Mars’ Lauren Campion competes in the 300-meter hurdles finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Mt. Lebanon’s Andrew Pinkovsky competes in the 300-meter hurdles finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Mt. Lebanon’s Andrew Pinkovsky competes in the 300-meter hurdles finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Butler’s Guinness Brown competes in the 100-meter dash prelims at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Upper St. Clair’s Dani Prunzik competes in the 100-meter dash finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Hampton’s Matt DeMatteo competes in the triple jump finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Gateway’s Amaya Robinson, center, competes in the 100-meter dash prelims at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
North Allegheny’s Jacob Porter competes in the 100-meter dash prelims at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Central Catholic’s Anderson Cynkar competes in the 110-hurdles prelims at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Shaler’s Mayah Charity competes in the 100-meter dash prelims at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
South Fayette’s Haiden Litwinovich and Seneca Valley’s Aiden Kutchma compete in the 110-meter hurdles prelims at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
North Allegheny’s Dwayne Taylor competes in the triple jump finals at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Upper St. Clair’s Dani Prunzik competes in the 100-meter dash prelims at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Shaler’s Eloise Facher competes in the 100-meter dash prelims at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championships May 19, 2021, at Slippery Rock University.
Hampton sprinter Gage Galuska threw his body forward at the finish line, tumbled into a somersault and stayed on the track waiting for his 400-meter time to show on the scoreboard.
He wondered, was that finish enough to beat Guinness Brown?
The entire WPIAL has chased after the Butler star this spring with little success, but, yes, Galuska had finally beaten him by one-hundredth of a second.
“I looked up that screen and saw I was in first,” Galuska said. “I was just pretty excited.”
That race didn’t derail Brown’s day.
The talented Butler junior still celebrated 100- and 200-meter titles at the WPIAL Class AAA track and field championship Wednesday at Slippery Rock, another gold-medal afternoon for Brown, but Galuska stood in the way of his three-sprint sweep.
“I can’t complain about having two wins,” Brown said with a shrug that showed he wanted more. “It’s just that 400. I’m really disappointed with that. He just kind of came out of nowhere.”
Galuska won the race in 48.89 seconds, and Brown was second in 48.90. They could rematch next weekend at the state championships in Shippensburg.
“I was definitely hunting him the whole year,” Galuska said. “Every day he’d be on my mind, so I’m so happy to beat him.”
Galuska’s winning time was more than a second better than his career best, so Brown was a understandably surprised when he pulled even in the final strides.
“I gave what I could,” Brown said. “The last burst just wasn’t enough.”
Still, Brown was one of only six WPIAL Class AAA athletes to win two individual events on a hot afternoon that tested their stamina.
Brown won the 100 meters in 10.88 seconds, eight-hundredths ahead of Seneca Valley’s Tyler Yurich. In the 200, Brown won in 21.89 seconds, a half-second better than Canon-McMillan’s Justin Egizio.
Among the boys, West Mifflin’s Dontae Lewis won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles and Hempfield’s Daniel Norris won the discus and shot put. South Fayette’s Amy Allen won the girls 200 and 400 meters, Moon’s Mia Cochran won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters, and Hempfield’s Bella Gera won the discus and shot put.
Allen won a third gold medal with South Fayette’s 1,600-meter relay team.
Lewis was the reigning WPIAL champion in the 300 hurdles, a title he’d held since 2019. Last season was canceled because of the pandemic, so he and other had waited two years for this.
New Castle junior Maria Owens and Beaver senior Emma Pavelek, WPIAL champions in 2019, each added another gold medal. Owens won the long jump, and Pavelek won the high jump.
The return trip stirred memories.
“I remember it perfectly clear,” said Pavelek, thinking back to 2019. “It was a hot day too.”
Brown and Galuska weren’t the only runners who combined for a split-second finish. Butler’s Skyler Vavro edged teammate C.J. Singleton by only 12-hundredths of a second in the boys 1,600-meter run.
In the girls 200, South Fayette’s Amy Allen finished three-hundredths ahead of Indiana’s Abbie Huey. Three inches separated Armstrong’s Kylie Grafton and Pine-Richland’s Gianna Rotelli in the girls javelin. Grafton won with a 122-foot, 5-inch throw.
The top four finishers in every event and anyone who met the state qualifying standard time, height or distance advanced to the PIAA meet in Shippensburg.
The PIAA revamped its championship schedule because of the pandemic, reducing both classifications to one-day meets. Class AA athletes compete May 28 with Class AAA on May 29.
Before then, PIAA qualifiers must decide how many events they’ll enter. Brown ran four events Wednesday at WPIALs, competing in the 100, 200, 400 and 1,600-meter relay, but hadn’t finalized his PIAA plans.
“Definitely less than what we did today,” said Brown, who was leaning toward dropping the 100 meters.
Brown had already run preliminary races in the 100 and 200 meters and the 100 finals before racing Galuska in the 400. With temperatures in the mid-80s, that workload took a toll.
The two shared the track again for the 1,600-meter relay — the last race of the day — and Brown edged Galuska for second place.
“It was a lot on my body, especially in this heat,” Brown said. “I just don’t think I was ready for that heat.”
Brown had outrun Galuska earlier this season at the Butler Invitational. This time, Brown used a fast start to pull ahead, but the gap didn’t grow wider. That gave Galuska a chance to catch him on the final stretch.
“That last 80 meters was unbelievable,” Hampton coach Derek Brinkley said. “I lost my voice yelling. Guinness looked like he hit a little bit of a wall. He definitely wasn’t coasting.”
Galuska had run the 100 and 200 at times this season but dropped those races to focus solely on the 400, believing it was his best chance to win.
“It paid off,” Galuska said, “so I’m happy we did that.”
The lean at the finish line was instinctual, he said, not something he’d practiced. At 6-foot-2, he’s a couple of inches taller than Brown.
“I needed everything I could,” he said.
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.
More High School Sports
• Kiski Area high jumper DeVito striving to soar higher as WPIAL meet approaches• 19 WPIAL players picked for 2024 all-state girls basketball team
• High school scores, summaries and schedules for April 25, 2024
• What to watch for in WPIAL sports on April 26, 2024: 4 teams tied for section softball lead square off
• High school roundup for April 25, 2024: North Allegheny takes series with walk-off win over Seneca Valley
