Riverview relay team, Apollo-Ridge’s Weightman claim WPIAL gold

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 | 7:47 PM

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Mason Ochs knew he had another long race ahead of him – the individual 3,200-meter run – at Wednesday’s WPIAL Class AA championships when he anchored the 3,200 relay in the morning’s heated temperatures under sunny skies.

But the Riverview senior rolled through his 800 split and brought home gold alongside juniors Ty Laughlin and Parker Steele and sophomore Amberson Bauer.

Ochs crossed the finish line at 8 minutes, 17.09 seconds, 3 seconds ahead of the anchor runner from Shenango.

“Our first run of the year, we came in sub 9 (minutes), and it was the first time any Riverview (boys) 4×800 team had done that in the first race of a year,” Ochs said. “Things were shaping up nicely, and we started to go lower and lower as the season progressed.”

Bauer was a midseason addition as junior Lucas Wilton, Ochs said, focused more on the 1,600 relay.

“Amberson, Ty and Parker ran great,” Ochs said. “They did all the work. All I had to do was run like I always do to finish it up. They carried the team and set me up for a good finish. It was really cool.

“This was kind of redemption for us after not being able to go to states in cross country.”

Riverview placed second at the Class A boys cross country finals in October, but at the time, the PIAA only accepted district champions to its state tournaments as a pandemic precaution.

The Raiders distance relay qualified for the PIAA championships, set for May 28 at Shippensburg University, for the first time since 2009.

The top five finishers in each Class AA boys and girls event earned automatic qualification to states. Those who landed in the top eight also earned spots on the medal podium. Temperatures rose to the low to mid 80s as the meet reached its stretch run.

Apollo-Ridge senior Casey Weightman also scored a gold medal as she threw 121 feet, 7 inches in the javelin. The distance was five feet shorter than her season best of 126-8, but she was pleased to bring home a first-place finish.

“I thought I was going to compete a little better,” said Weightman, who earned silver in the javelin for Belle Vernon at the 2019 WPIAL Class AAA meet.

“It was a hot day, and I think I might have warmed up a little too early and got a little too excited. But that’s why they say you get three throws, and I was happy I was able to pop a big one. I was able to pool whatever energy I had left and get the job done.”

The Burrell boys 1,600 relay quartet of seniors Brayden Callahan, Jake Guerrini, Ryan Wurzer and Ian Smola came in seeded second, and they dropped four seconds in their heat to a season best 3:29.53.

However, Riverside also dropped time and the Panthers edged the Bucs by two seconds for the title.

“We ran our best, and Riverside still got us. We tip our cap to them. We ran really well,” Burrell coach Steve White said.

Deer Lakes senior Nigel Rossman made a push for WPIAL titles in both the 100 and 200 dashes. He picked up silver in both.

Rossman sprinted to an 11.20 time in the 100 dash, 17 hundredths of a second behind champion Trevor Paschall, a junior from North Catholic.

It also came down to Paschall and Rossman in the 200, and Paschall recorded a 22.37, 20 hundredths of a second in front of Rossman (22.57).

Rossman’s Lancers teammate, junior Carson McCoy, also picked up a silver medal with a time of 4:18.96 in the 1,600 run.

In Class AAA, the Kiski Area girls 3,200-meter relay team qualified for the PIAA championship with a fourth-place finish. The team of Jordan Fairman, Payton Sullivan, Emily Schrag and Eliza Miller ran a personal best (9:31.92) by 15 seconds.

Now they are eyeing the state meet and hopefully the school record of 9:26.

“We all ran our best so we could reach the state qualifying standard,” Schrag said.

“We did it for each other,” Fairman added.

The top four finishers in each Class AAA event qualified for states May 29 at Shippensburg.

For Fox Chapel, Domenica Delaney was second in the 300 hurdles, Caleb Kulikowski placed third in the javelin, Jessica McCann third in the discus and Laura Carter sixth in the 3,200.

Carter missed the top four, but she advances to states based on her time (11:07.93) surpassing the state qualifying standard.

Knoch senior Mike Formica was a double state qualifier as he earned a silver medal in the 800 and a bronze in the 1,600.

Plum senior Logan Parker booked his trip to states with a season-best toss in the boys shot put.

Knoch’s Josh Rohland placed third in the shot put and fourth in the discus to qualify.

Staff writer Paul Schofield contributed.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.