Saturday marked the 50th Beaver County Track and Field Championships competition held at Riverside High School.
Ellwood City and Riverside teams were well represented and turned in some podium-worthy performances and all four teams put together top ten finishes.
Riverside Panthers Lexi Fluharty earned Most Valuable Performance on the track while Carlee Crawford earned Most Valuable Performance in the field to highlight a Lady Panthers team that finished second overall in the Beaver County Track Championships.
RIVERSIDE:
Led by a tandem of junior runners in Lexi Fluharty and Brooke Wissinger who each ran strong for the Panthers and fellow junior Carlee Crawford who excelled in the field, the Riverside girls placed second overall on Saturday with 102 team points.
Fluharty and Wissinger finished 1st and 2nd in the girls 3200 meter run and 1st and 3rd in the 1600 meter run with Fluharty claiming the top spot in each. Fluharty set a personal record with a time of 5:21.12 in the 1600m. The duo also finished 2nd and 4th overall in the 800 meter run.
The Lady Panthers 4×800 Meter Relay team finished 2nd overall. Fluharty and Wissinger were joined by Rosalyn Steinbach and Christina Valencia for a 2nd place time of 11:12.42.
In the field events, Crawford had an outstanding day, finishing top two in three events.
Crawford earned a first place finish in the girls discus with a personal record toss of 94’8″. Crawford finished second in the shot put and second in the javelin throw, just behind fellow Panther Delana Fox who took first place with a javelin throw of 99’7″
The Riverside boys placed fourth overall as a team.
On the track, Gavin Lutz finished 2nd overall in the 110 Meter Hurdles and 3rd overall in the 300 Meter Hurdles.
Joe Reed collected an impressive first overall finish in the javelin with a Beaver County Track and Field Championship record distance of 194’1″ – over 60 feet longer than the second place finisher. Reed also finshed third in the shot put in fifth in the discuss throw.
Beaver County Championships Record- 194’ 1” pic.twitter.com/LFDQWR9xjs
— Joey Reed (@joeyreed55) April 15, 2023
Reed has been accepted to compete at Penn Relay next week in the javelin according to coach Chelsea Kordecki.
“We cannot wait to see what awaits this summer for him,” adds Kordecki. “His throws coach, Tom Godsen, has been an amazing asset to our athletes over the years and he has gotten Joe to this point.”
Sophomore Carson Emerick finished first overall in the boys discus with a final toss of 134-04.
“Carson is also making great strides in discuss,” says Kordecki.
Riverside saw two top finishers in the boys pole vault with Reece Sullivan and Owen Glover finishing 1st and 2nd overall.
ELLWOOD CITY:
The highlight of the day for the boys track team was a 1st overall finish in the 4×800 Meter Relay. The foursome consisted of Bradley Custer, Nick Wise, Drew Steffler, and Colten Crizer.
“It was the fastest time we’ve run yet this year and finally showed our athletes what they’re capable of,” says head coach Nathan Brown.
Crizer also finished 3rd overall individually in the 800 Meter run while Nick Franitti finished 3rd in the 110 Meter Hurdles to help the boys team finished in 6th place overall in the championships.
For the girls, and in the field Delaney Sturgeon had a strong showing. Sturgeon finished 1st overall in the high jump, 2nd overall in the long jump, and fourth overall in the pole vault.
“Right now she’s competing consistently at her bests from last year,” says Brown.
The Ellwood City girls track and field team finished 9th overall out of the 15 participating teams in the championships.
“I’m very proud of this team and not only how far they’ve come this year but especially from last year’s season,” adds Brown.
TRACK & FIELD POSTS
EC Boys finishing 1st in 4 x 800m
Bradley Custer, Nick Wise, Drew Steffler, and Colten Crizer. pic.twitter.com/y1JcIeSnTG
— Ellwood City Wolverines Sports (@EC_Wolverines) April 15, 2023
Blackhawk took 1st overall in the boys team ranking and Hopewell finished 1st overall in the girls team rankings.
During Saturday’s event Riverside unveiled a permanent designation of the track as the Chuck Kotuby track in honor of the former boys coach. There was also a dedication of a bench in memory of Riverside girls’ coach Royann Winfield, who coached the girls’ team for over 30 years. Winfield passed away in January following a courageous battle with cancer.
All 16 Beaver County teams participated in the championships.
Men – Team Rankings – 18 Events Scored
1) Blackhawk 118
2) Beaver Falls 84
3) Hopewell 77
Women – Team Rankings – 18 Events Scored
1) Hopewell 110
2) Riverside 102
3) Beaver Area 69
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