Butler boys track and field beat Seneca Valley 85-65 to claim the section’s WPIAL Class 3A team playoff spot in a Tuesday dual-meet at Butler High School.

The Golden Tornado celebrated senior night and dominated the relays for 15 crucial points, winning the 4x800-meter relay with an 8:38.04, the 4x400 in 3:29.68 and the 4x100 in 42.46. Thaddeus Mago swept the hurdles in 15.53 (110 hurdles) and 42.44 (300 hurdles).

The Raiders got two field wins from Dakari Payne with a 6-foot, 2-inch high jump and 21-2.5 in the long jump. Gavin Skarbeck won the 200 in 22.32 and the 400 in 49.12 for two more Seneca Valley wins.

On the girls’ side, Seneca Valley came away with a narrow 78-72 win. The Raiders entered the day needing a win to clinch a spot. There’s a three-way tie to make the playoffs: Butler, Seneca Valley and Pine-Richland. All three advance.

A difference again came in the relays, where the Raiders won the 4x800 (9:42.75) and 4x100 (49.81). The Tornado won the 4x400 in 4:04.66.

No Raider won two individual events, but SV won the majority of the field events with Jordan Monteleone’s 5-4 in the high jump, Augie Williams’ 37-3 in the triple-jump, Audrey Wolfe’s 129-9 in the javelin and Aubrey Erdos’ 13-0 in the pole vault. Williams’ win came on the final event of the night, and she leapfrogged three Butler jumpers for first on her last attempt to hand SV the win, Butler coach Mike Seybert said.

Adray Baxter swept the hurdles for Butler with a 15.63 in the 100 hurdles and 46.44 in the 300.

Slippery Rock girls 87, Mercer 63 — Samantha Montgomery placed first in the long jump and triple jump for the Rockets. Tessa Szymanski won the 1,600 and was part of the winning 4x800 relay.

Mercer boys 78, Slippery Rock 71 — Hunter Doerflinger won the 1,600 and 800 and was part of the first-place 4x800 relay in the loss.

Jake Kunsman hammered a two-run homer, and Isaac McCandless pitched five innings of one-hit ball as Slippery Rock defeated Fairview 10-0. The Rockets are now 8-0 and host Titusville on Wednesday.

Butler 11, Central Catholic 5 — Boden Lenyk, Mavrik Clement and Regan Peth each had a pair of RBIs and multiple hits for the Golden Tornado.

Freeport 13, Burrell 5 — Kason Barker had two hits, including a triple, and four RBIs. Owen Westendorf pitched five innings in relief, allowing no runs. The Yellowjackets (7-5, 4-3 WPIAL Section 3-3A) face the Bucs again Wednesday.

Indiana 10, Knoch 5 — Five different Knights players, including Sean Morgan and Cody Stull, notched RBIs, but Knoch (8-8, 4-3 WPIAL Section 3-4A) dropped its second straight.

Taylor Allderdice 2, Mars 1 — No further details were provided for the Planets’ defeat.

Liv Herrem bashed two home runs, accounting for three runs, and Abby Kalkowski went 3-for-5 at the plate as Seneca Valley beat Butler 13-3. The Raiders are 10-2 and face North Allegheny on Wednesday.

Slippery Rock 11, Oil City 1 — Joslyn Korcok had a pair of hits, including a two-run fourth-inning double, and four RBIs as the Rockets powered by in five innings.

Karns City 4, Clarion-Limestone 3 — Lyrik Reed pushed across two runs in the Gremlins’ narrow win. Addison Burrows went the distance in the circle, striking out 11 and permitting one earned run.

Ava Dreher and Macey Edwards both had three goals as Freeport got past Armstrong 9-4. Kiana Armstead, Gianna Glass and Jenna Kanya also scored for the Yellowjackets.

Marco Lopez, Gianni Varlotta and Billy Conway had singles wins, and Andrew James and Mason Klingensmith a doubles victory as Seneca Valley downed Knoch 5-0. The Raiders moved to 4-8 on the season.

Mason McCall had 19 assists and Mason Anderson seven digs, but Butler bowed to Pine-Richland in straight sets 3-0. The scores of the match were 25-23, 26-24 and 25-20. The Golden Tornado dropped to 5-5 and 2-4 in the section.

Seneca Valley 3, Fox Chapel 0 — No further details were provided for the Raiders’ win.