Alden Wetzel Earns WPIAL Gold, Seven Panthers Qualify For PIAA

Riverside Panther runner Alden Wetzel earned WPIAL gold Wednesday, finishing in 1st place in the 400m dash at the WPIAL Individual Championship meet at Slippery Rock University.

The junior finished with a time of 49.94 to earn gold.

Wetzel also placed 6th in the high jump with a mark of 5’9″.

Wetzel joined six other Panther individuals, and two relay teams, whom qualified for the PIAA State Championships next weekend in Shippensburg.

Wetzel from Riverside winning the AA 400m at the WPIAL finals !!! pic.twitter.com/NX3ARHGp5u

— Coach Nixon Track & Field (@CoachNixonTF) May 18, 2022

Boys Track PIAA Qualifiers:

• Alden Wetzel: WPIAL Champion in the 400m dash (49.94)
• Joey Reed: runner up in the javelin (154-8)
• Teddy McHale: 3rd in the pole vault (12’6″)
• Ty Fluharty: 3rd in the 1600m run (4:29.45) and 3rd in the 3200m run (9:38.65)
• 3200 Relay Team of Noah Zelch, Isaac Menendez-Suarez, Ty Fluharty, Caleb Kendra: 4th place, 8:26.86
• 1600 Relay Team of Noah Zelch, Brody Barton, Ty Fluharty, Alden Wetzel: runner up, 3:28.63

Girls Track PIAA Qualifiers:

• Callie Wetzel- runner up in the 100 hurdles (15.63) and 3rd in the 300 hurdles (46.66)
• Sydney Hale- runner up in the discus (125-5)
• Alexis Fluharty: 4th in the 1600 (5:28.57)

With her 3rd place finishing time (46.66) in the 300m hurdles, Panthers Freshman Callie Wetzel broke the school record.

“We had an excellent day at the Championships,” said head coach Royann Winfield. “I’m proud of all the girls. Callie’s performance was unbelievable!”

OF NOTE: For the Wolverines, sophomore Delaney Sturgeon finished 2nd in the high jump (5’0″) while Joel Brooks placed 4th in the pole vault (12’6″).  Brooks was part of the Ellwood City 4×800 meter boys relay team (Brooks, Nick Wise, Bradley Custer, Anthony Spadafore) that finished 6th overall (8:42.43).

VIEW FULL WPIAL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

𝐖𝐏𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝟐𝐀 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬’ 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 & 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧 – 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐉𝐮𝐦𝐩

🥇 Elliot Oliphant, @SPSDinfo (5-2)
🥈 Delaney Sturgeon, @EC_Wolverines (5-0)
🥉 Ava Koski, @Nesh_Sports (5-0)#WPIAL | 🎽🏆 pic.twitter.com/bbvjBsN9Kb

— WPIAL (@wpial7) May 18, 2022