PIAA track and field season preview 2025: Meet the top 12 boys athletes to watch in Butler County
Check back in less than three months, and several athletes on this list could be draping PIAA Track and Field Championships medals over their necks.
That’s how talented some of Butler County’s runners, jumpers and throwers are entering the 2025 spring outdoor season. From standout Freeport, and future Penn State, distance runner Michael Braun to recent indoor national medalist Ashton Grossman (Moniteau), there are multiple athletes who have or will make headlines this season.
With the season underway March 14, and the first big meet of the season drawing closer — April 5 with the Butler County Classic — here’s a look at some of the top boys runners, throwers and jumpers in the county this year, listed alphabetically:
Beachem is the second fastest returning 300-meter hurdler in District 9 after finishing fourth a season ago in 42.96 seconds. With sights set on a possible state berth, Beachem also set the Warriors’ 400 indoor record and should compete in relays this spring. He qualified for the district 110 hurdles last year.
Booher made states last year with the Gremlins’ 4x400 relay team after a silver medal in the D9 championships (3:31.99). He was close individually, too, with a pair of thirds in the 800 (2:00.47) — the 4x8 relay also finished third in 8:27.95.
The future Penn State Nittany Lion can close his high school career with several more medals after winning WPIAL cross country gold, placing at states and then earning fourth in the mile and seventh in the 3K at the PTFCA state indoor championships. Braun won silver in the 3200 and bronze in the 1600 at districts last season and followed those up with state bronze (3200) and seventh (1600).
Carroll could be poised for WPIAL distance gold with the Trojans’ move down to Class 2A. He was seventh at the district cross country championships and 23rd at the state meet. If he can make progress off a 12th-place finish in the 3A 3200 and 18th in the 1600, he could make his first PIAA meet.
Grossman’s 13-6 in the District 9 pole vault won him gold and propelled him to an eventual sixth-place state finish, where he vaulted 14-0. He also helped the 4x100 relay to fifth at districts (46.01). He owns the school’s indoor record, beating his dad, and finished eighth at indoor states. This past weekend he finished sixth in the adidas Indoor Track Nationals with a 14-2 to earn All-American status.
Joyce qualified for the state championships in 2023 in the triple jump and is hoping to get back this year. He set PRs of 43-8.5 in the triple and 21-6 in the long jump, and he’ll run sprints this year.
One of several multi-time District 9 medal winners on this list, Fox could be in line to climb the podium after helping the 4x100 Union/A-C Valley relay team to silver (45.16), making states in that event. He also claimed three fifth-place finishes in the 200 (23.13), triple jump (40-7.5) and 4x400 (3:37.73).
Friedline could compete for a berth in the state championships this year. He was the youngest 300 hurdler in WPIAL Class 2A’s top 10 finishers last year, finishing sixth in 40.82, shedding half a second off his seed time. He also ran on the 4x400 relay that finished 13th at districts.
Payne has had a bit of a breakout 12 months. As a junior he finished sixth at WPIALs with a 6-1 in the high jump, and has since improved that mark in the indoor season to 6-5, earning a PTFCA state fourth-place medal at Penn State. Payne also competes in the triple jump.
The returning silver-medalist in the WPIAL boys 400 (50.30), Stebick also helped Butler’s 4x100 (along with returning senior Kevin Shriver) and 4x400 to silver and fourth at districts last year and put in a strong indoor season, where he helped the 4x200 make states and finish 10th in 1:30.54.
Thomas is the top returning distance runner for the Golden Tornado, at least based on WPIAL finish last year, where he came in 12th in the 1600 (4:26.71) and should be able to climb the ranks with several district medalists now graduated. He finished 24th in the WPIAL cross country championships and was on the indoor 4x800 team that finished 14th at the state meet (8:11.76).
Wilson took home a lot of D9 hardware last year and could be knocking on the door of making the trip to Shippensburg University for states this season. He won silver in the district 400 (51.83), bronze in the 100 (11.38), silver in the 4x400 (3:31.99) and bronze in the 4x100 (45.16).
