Butler County students win big at PIAA track and field championship
SHIPPENSBURG — When PIAA medalists were recognized in the Class 2A boys 300-meter hurdles Saturday at Shippensburg University, Butler County stood tall and proud.
Slippery Rock’s Levi Prementine won the event with a school-record time of 38.19 seconds while Freeport’s Isaac Wetzel (38.25) was second and Slippery Rock’s Eli Anderson (38.35) finished third.
“It shows our area has some really good athletes and we’re able to compete with the best in the state,” said Anderson. “I was seeded fourth and my goal was to improve on that and I did with a time that was a full second faster than my previous best.”
Wetzel held a slim lead over Prementine prior to the final hurdle. The latter, who won the state title in the long jump here Friday, closed the gap and both hurdlers leaned forward at the finish line before falling onto the track.
“I always seem to get off to a bad start,” Prementine said. “I don’t know if it’s a mental thing, like if I start fast, I’ll finish slow. Once I saw Isaac and the kid from Montoursville (Josiah Schans, placed fifth) pass me, I knew I had to go. I gave it my all over the last 100 meters.”
Wetzel missed out on a state championship by just .06 seconds.
“I started off super-strong,” he said. “I still felt strong toward the end, but Levi had a really good finish.”
Earlier in the day, Prementine placed sixth in the 110 hurdles and Tyler Arblaster sixth in the 400 run for the Rockets. They teamed with Anderson and Sam Schwartz to earn a runner-up finish in the 4x400 relay, coming in less than a second behind Montoursville.
The efforts helped Slippery Rock place second in the team standings, just five points behind champion Danville.
Like Prementine, Anderson is part of a very strong junior class for Slippery Rock.
“This is big for me,” he said. “I’m going to push myself over the summer and get ready for the indoor season next winter.”
The 300 event was the final high school competition for Wetzel, a senior who finished seventh in the 110 hurdles.
“There was some great competition here the last two days,” he said. “I did the best I could.”
Wetzel leaves a deep imprint on Freeport’s program.
Said Yellowjackets’ hurdle coach Linsey Schnur: “He’s one of the most determined athletes I’ve ever worked with.”
In Class 3A, Butler junior Drew Griffith came in third in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 8:52.20.
Hatboro Horsham’s Brian DiCola won at 8:47.39, breaking the state record. In fact, the top three finishers, which also included runner-up Ryan Pajak of Ringgold (8:48.20) each topped the previous record of 8:54.87 set just two years ago by Gary Martin of Archbishop Wood.
Griffith led the pack for much of the final three laps.
“I felt I put myself in a good spot, but I just didn’t have it for the last 300 meters,” said Griffith, who was second in the 1,600 run on Friday.
“There was crazy talent in those two races,” he added. “You line up before the race, look to your left and right, just so much talent.”
Following are the Butler County athletes who earned a medal by placing in the top eight at the PIAA Track and Field Championships, which concluded Saturday at Shippensburg University.
Class 3A
Boys
3,200 run: 3-Drew Griffith (B) 8:52.20
Class 2A
Boys
110 hurdles: 6-Levi Prementine (SR) 14.74; 7-Isaac Wetzel (F) 15.11
400 run: 6-Tyler Arblaster (SR) 50.19
300 hurdles: 1-Levi Prementine (SR) 38.19; 2-Isaac Wetzel (F) 38.25; 3-Eli Anderson (SR) 38.35
1,600 relay: 2-Slippery Rock (Eli Anderson, Sam Schwartz, Levi Prementine, Tyler Arblaster) 3:24.72
