BUTLER TWP — For most local track athletes, the season is nearly two months away.

For Kennedy Evans and Ava Bonetti, the time is now.

Both seniors on the Butler High indoor track team have qualified for the state championship meet, to be held Feb. 23 at Penn State University.

Evans met the qualifying standard in the long jump with a mark of 17 feet, eight inches at last weekend’s meet at Youngstown State University.

Bonetti did likewise in the shot put in mid-January at Slippery Rock University with a season-best effort of 37-7.75.

Though Evans has been to the state meet twice during the outdoor season, this will be her first experience at such a stage for indoor.

“I feel like my outdoor track experiences will help prepare me for a meet that big,” said Evans, who has made vast improvement since her freshman year.

“I didn’t score a point in either indoor or outdoor in ninth grade,” she said, “but I broke out as a sophomore. I really got into the weight room and that was the biggest reason I improved. Coach (Mike) Seybert likes to say I went from zero to 130 points in one year. He’s always reminding me of that.”

Evans was steady during the first two meets of this season, managing 16-11.25 in a meet at Edinboro University and then 16-11.75 at SRU.

“That’s right where she was last year as a junior,” said Butler long and triple jump coach John Williams. “But I told her before the season that she could blow past 17 feet.

“A lot of seniors have a sense of urgency. If they haven’t reached any goals they set for themselves, now is the time to get them.”

Entering this weekend’s meet at Edinboro, Evans is just over one inch from equaling Butler’s indoor long jump record of 17-9, set by Natalie Irvin in 1999.

“I’ve been looking to get that for a long time,” said Evans. “Holding my drive off the board, that’s the key to getting that extra inch.”

Bonetti will be making her third consecutive appearance at the state meet.

“As a sophomore, I was a bit overwhelmed,” she said. “Last year, I knew what to expect, but still didn’t place (in the top eight). That’s my goal.”

Throwing is in Bonetti’s blood. Her parents, Clinton and Marianne, both competed at SRU in the early 1990s. Clinton Bonetti earned All-American status in the shot put in 1992.

But it takes more than genes to become elite. For Ava, that means an extra dose of hard work.

“Over the last few summers, she has been very dedicated when it comes to working out,” said Butler throwing coach Bill McElroy.

“Two to three days every week, two and a half hours at a time, that’s what I do during the summer,” said Bonetti, whose career best in indoor is 37-9.

“I’d love to see her get 39 (feet),” said McElroy. “If she explodes at the end of her throws, she can easily pick up two feet.”