WHITEHALL — Reining himself in proved to be a challenge for Jordan Geist Friday afternoon.

Competing at the Baldwin Track and Field Invitational, Knoch's senior threw the discus 208 feet. The effort would have been good enough to top his previous best of 201-10, but Geist's heave landed five feet out of bounds.

The irony is that Geist wasn't totally disappointed about it.

“I'd be happy with breaking records, but at the same time, I don't want to peak right now.”

His efforts on Friday were still good enough to break the invite records here by healthy margins. He managed 74-9 in the shot put and 198-6 in the discus. He owned the previous standards of 72-6½ and 193-6, respectively.

Geist purposely made things more difficult on himself to make sure his best throws come in the biggest meets, beginning with the WPIAL Championships May 18, followed by the state championship meet later in the month and nationals in June.

“I lifted weights this week and that did a good job of killing my legs,” he said. “I'm still happy with how I did today.”

Geist's mother and throwing coach, Judy, has seen her son receive national and even international recognition over the last few years.

“I was talking to him recently and said, 'You're beating these other kids by 30 or 40 feet. What motivates you?'

“He said, 'I haven't reached my goals yet, mom.'”

More success brings with it more attention for Jordan Geist, but he responds with more hard work. That mentality has helped him land a scholarship to the University of Arizona.

“He can get better and he knows that,” Judy Geist said.

Girls

Alexis Leech plans on relaxing with three meets remaining in her high school career.

Sure, Butler's senior will be competing, but she will do so with a weight lifted from her shoulders after breaking the school record in the 400-meter run.

She ran a first-place time of 55.53 seconds, breaking Butler's previous best of 55.9 by Annessa Schnur in 1998.

“I've been wanting to get the record before I graduated and I'm glad I got it today,” said Leech, who posted her time shortly before heavy rain began to fall. “Now I can just focus on the meets that are left.”

Butler coach John Williams admires Leech's persistence.

“Some kids let up a bit, but Alexis brings it every day,” he said. “She's a leader, no question about it.”

Earlier in the day, it was Leech who set the tone for Butler's 4x800 relay win when she ran a 2:17 split on the first leg.

“She opened up a big lead, about 15 meters,” said Williams. “By the time Liz Simms finished for us, there was nobody even close to her.”

Butler ended the event with a time of 9:29.4. Running the second and third legs for the Golden Tornado were Erin LeMay and Shana Hoy, respectively.

Butler's final win came from Simms, who went 2:14.96 to top the field in the 800 run. Despite being run in a downpour, the effort was a personal best for Simms and was just two-hundredths of a second shy of the school record.

“The weather was bad, but I had my mind set on a (personal record) because of all the good meets I've had here in the past,” said Simms.

The invite included athletes from over 60 schools.

“There's a lot of competition here. That's why we're here, it's a challenge for the kids,” said Williams. “We do have the team championships on Monday, so we competed in limited events today.”