Freeport’s Michael Braun medals twice at PTFCA indoor championships, Butler relays beat seeds
Michael Braun is happy to head into the outdoor track and field season with the chance for a few weeks of rest to heal up.
The Freeport senior closed out his final indoor season at the PTFCA State Indoor Track and Field Championships at Penn State University’s Multi-Sport Facility on Sunday with two more distance medals. He finished fourth in the 1 mile in 4:16.35, then came came in seventh in the 3,000-meter run in 8:39.07.
“I felt pretty good,” Braun said over the phone. “It’s a pretty cool atmosphere with the stands being completely full.
“Mile was alright. I was leading the pace of it, which I didn’t really wanna do.”
The reigning WPIAL Class 2A cross country champion and state silver medalist said he’s been battling hip and lower body injuries, but his “confidence was pretty good throughout the season.” The future Nittany Lion enters the outdoor season a favorite to add more district medals and contend at the state championships.
“I’m feeling pretty good now that I can take 1-2 weeks to fully focus on rehab,” Braun said.
Hershey’s Vinay Raman won the mile in 4:14.67, and North Allegheny’s Jack Bertram won the 3K in a meet record 8:19.60.
Butler’s boys relay teams had to fight off injuries and illness much of the season, shuffling their lineups more than a few times.
That trend continued at Penn State, where the 4x800 entered as a 20th seed after qualifying when another team dropped out last week to finish 14th in 8:11.76. The 4x200 also jumped from 20th to 10th, crossing the finish line in 1:30.54.
“I think we performed better than we had expected,” senior 4x800 anchor Zachary Slear said over the phone. “I think we gave it our best effort today.
“We’ve definitely been trying to shift around some guys trying to figure out who our best relays would be. … I think everything kind of fell into the right place for this relay.”
The 4x800 relay team Sunday featured Shae Sintz, Slear, Ethan Thomas and Logan Rogers. The 4x200 included Kevin Shriver, Grayden Brown, Chris Rubcic and Aaron Stebick.
“It feels good that we have strong people around,” Stebick said of the team’s depth being tested all season.
Girls 400 runner Jocie Slesinski finished 19th in 59.53 seconds. It was the senior’s first full season running the open 400.
Butler County athletes from Moniteau, Knoch, Freeport, Karns City, Seneca Valley and North Catholic also made the trip to Happy Valley.
Seneca Valley had two junior high jumpers medal: Jordan Monteleone tied for third in the girls event with a 5-foot, 5-inch jump, and Dakari Payne finished fourth on the boys’ side with a 6-5.
Moniteau’s Ashton Grossman finished eighth in the boys pole vault with a 14-6.
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