Going into Wednesday’s WPIAL track and field championships at Slippery Rock University, Washington junior Dane Asbury wasn’t even considered the fastest 100-meter sprinter on his own team.
Now, Asbury is the WPIAL’s fastest 100-meter sprinter in all of Class 2A.
Asbury and Little Prexies teammate Ruben Gordon finished one-two in the event, with Asbury setting a new personal-best time of 10.75 to edge Gordon, who finished in 10.94. Gordon also finished second in the long jump after winning both the long jump and high jump last year as a sophomore.
“That’s the first time he’s beaten Ruben this year,” said Washington coach Rich Barnes. “If he’s going to lose, [Asbury] is the best one to lose to.”
The 200 is known as Asbury’s main event, and he entered the competition as a front-runner to win his first WPIAL title in the 200 after a sixth-place finish as a sophomore. Asbury never expected to double up on gold medals on Wednesday, though — at least not in the 100 and 200. He and his teammates had high hopes of winning the 400 relay, but the Little Prexies finished in third place with a time of 43.70 after some sloppy baton exchanges.
“My start was kind of bad [in the 200],” Asbury said. “I think I have a fair chance to win the 200 [at states].”
Barnes said he fully expects Asbury, Gordon and teammates Elijah Thomas and Zxavian Willis to clean things up in the 400 relay before next week’s PIAA championship meet, but he’s certainly proud of his runners’ performances on the day — especially Asbury’s.
“It’ll straighten them up,” Barnes said about the relay team’s third-place finish. “We’ll work on that.”
Andrew Layton battles through pain to defend pole vault title
Four years ago, Waynesburg track and field standout Daniel Layton nearly missed out on his chance to compete at the WPIAL championships as a senior due to a clerical error during the registration process for the event. Eventually, Layton was allowed to compete and won gold medals in both the 110 hurdles and the pole vault to cap off his high school career.
Layton’s younger brother had his own adversity to overcome to make it to the WPIAL championships this year, but Waynesburg senior Andrew Layton also made the most of his opportunity by winning his second consecutive pole vault title while dealing with a stress fracture in his foot.
“I still have it, so I haven’t been able to practice,” Layton said. “Every single meet, I’m winging it. But I keep getting better and better at every meet.”
Layton posted a mark of 14-9 to win the pole vault after posting a mark of 14-6 last year. He has cleared 15 feet multiple times during indoor track season, and despite competing at only about 75% health, Layton said he believes he can do so again next week in order to win his first PIAA championship. He finished second in the pole vault at states as a junior, while older brother Daniel won his first and only state title in the 110 hurdles as a senior.
“Without [Daniel], I wouldn’t even be close to this,” Layton said. “[He taught me] everything.”
Riverview’s Amberson Bauer finishes strong to double up as 800, 1600 champ
Riverview’s Amberson Bauer came up just short of winning a WPIAL title in the 800 last year, finishing in second place with a time of 1:58.82.
Rather than simply make up for it by winning the 800 gold this year, though, Bauer decided to double up with a pair of WPIAL titles. The senior won the 800 with a time of 1:57.33, just barely beating out Maxwell Hamilton of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart by less than half a second. He also had an extremely close finish in the 1600, as he trailed Eden Christian’s Sean Aiken entering the final 200 meters. But Bauer managed to close the gap and surpassed Aiken just before crossing the finish line, with the roar of the crowd and the cheers of his coaches and teammates giving him just enough energy to win it at the end.
Bauer finished the 1600 with a personal-best time of 4:21.43, while Aiken finished second in 4:22.30.
“I knew in the 1600, Sean was pretty good, so that would probably be my toughest race,” Bauer said. “[Winning two titles] was a pretty big goal for me. I didn’t know if I was going to get it. I was staying up late thinking about it all night.”
Other top performers
After a fourth-place finish in the discus at last year’s WPIAL championships, all three competitors ahead of Laurel’s Brady Cooper graduated, while Cooper still had one more year to go. The Spartans senior made the most of his opportunity on Wednesday, winning his first WPIAL title in the discus with an impressive throw of 160-11 to set a new personal record.
Cooper narrowly beat out Quaker Valley senior Alex McDonald and Shenango senior Michael Othites, who finished second and third with throws of 159-7 and 157-5, respectively.
“It was really nerve-racking, but it’s been like that all year,” Cooper said. “I was ready for it, and I hit the big one today.”
In the 110 hurdles, OLSH senior Antonio Votour broke a 23-year-old Class 2A championship meet record with a time of 14.30 to win his second consecutive title in the event. Freeport’s Isaac Wetzel finished second with a time of 14.72, and Wetzel then went on to win the 300 hurdles with a time of 38.90.
California senior Tanner Pierce secured the gold in the shot put with a personal-best throw of 50 feet, and Riverside’s Joe Reed launched a championship-winning throw of 180-8 to win the javelin competition by more than 25 feet.
In the 400, Beaver Falls junior Demeitris Taylor beat out freshman teammate DKarri Williams by less than half a second to capture first place, winning with a time of 50.97 while Williams finished second in 51.34. In the 3200, Freeport sophomore Michael Braun won in 9:23.64, beating out Mohawk sophomore Jackson Schoedel by 1.13 seconds.
Ligonier Valley sophomore John Jablunovsky won the high jump with a mark of 6-1, while Hopewell senior Matthew Essey won the long jump with a distance of 22-0.5, beating out Gordon and Carlynton’s Ryan Lewis by eight inches. The triple jump title went to East Allegheny junior Lorenzo Fancher, who won with a distance of 43-6.5.
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
