BUTLER TWP — An April tradition is about to be renewed.

The Butler Track and Field Invitational will take place Friday on the high school's campus. It will be the 51st edition of the boys' invite and 14th annual event for the girls.

Despite poor weather for much of the spring, Butler girls coach John Williams is expecting to see some high-caliber competition.

“Because of the weather, some of the seeds coming in may not be great, but we've gotten some nice weather over the last week,” he said. “I think we'll see some top efforts.”

Which would follow suit with invites held here in the past.

“We've always had a lot of really good performances,” said Butler boys coach Rick Schontz of the event's athletes, “but there always seems to be two or three every year that really stand out.”

Forty-two schools are scheduled to take part. Most of them are WPIAL entrants, including Seneca Valley, Mars, Knoch and Freeport. But the field will also feature District 10's Slippery Rock, Grove City, Franklin, Hickory, McDowell, Seneca and Sharpsville as well as District 9's Karns City, Moniteau, Clarion and Punxsutawney.

“You'd always like there to be a few more teams, but that seems to be the norm for the last five or six years,” Schontz said. “We are very lucky in that the base core of competing schools — like the Baldwins, Gateways and Mt. Lebanons — keep coming back year after year.”

The Butler Invite is a crucial mid-season event for the teams and athletes involved.

“When you are running a dual meet, your objective is just to beat the other team,” said Williams, who has been involved with the Butler Invite for over 20 years. “But at this invite, it gives the kids a chance to see where they stack up. It shows them what they need to do if they want to qualify and do well at districts and states.

“This is one of the strongest events of the Western Pennsylvania track season,” he added. “Our girls take a lot of pride competing on their home track.”

As for the weather, the forecast calls for temperatures in the mid-60s and just a chance of rain.

“We've had years where it was 28 degrees and snowing by the end of the meet,” said Schontz. “Other years, it's been in the 70s. Hopefully, the rain will hold off.

“This is a special event for our kids,” he added. “They're training hard and looking forward to competing in front of parents and other family members.”

Defending champions include Butler's boys 4x800 relay team of Brandon Critchlow, Patrick Fullerton, Adam Knauer and Josh Rader. Mars' Ori Rinaman won the 110-meter hurdles last year and Knoch's Jordan Geist the discus. Butler's Julia Baxter will look to defend her title in the high jump.