Before every meet, Tyrone Area High School Head Track and Field Coach Brad Kanuch tells his athletes the same thing: “It’s a great day to be great.”
They lived up to that challenge on the second day of the 2025 PIAA District 6 AA Championships.
“I love this team. I love these kids,” Kanuch said. “We have so many kids who put it all on the line at the meet yesterday, and it showed.”
Led by sophomore Sarah Chichester, who took first in the 200 meters, third in the 100 meters, and ran on two winning relays that both set new school records, the girls’ team finished third overall.
“It’s incredible,” Chichester told the Altoona Mirror after winning the 200. “I have been working really hard to get to this. I feel like I’m in a dream right now. I was really trying to go for first today, so to get it is insane.”
Richland took first for the girls with 92 points, Bellwood-Antis was second with 85, and the Lady Eagles had 79 points for third.
The boys’ team also had an exceptional showing, finishing fourth overall.
Sophomore Drew Irons led the way for the boys, placing third in the 200 meters and qualifying for states. He also ran on one of two boys’ relay teams that earned state berths.
Richland also won the boys meet with 108.5 points. Juniata was second with 78 points, United was third with 63, and the Golden Eagles were fourth with 50 team points.
In all, Tyrone athletes broke three school relay records yesterday.
The girls’ 4×400 relay record was broken Wednesday in the prelims, and then broken again in the finals on Thursday. The girls’ 4×100 relay record also fell Thursday, as did the boys’ 4×800 relay record.
“I’m not sure why, but for me, seeing a record broken is a greater thrill than winning a district title,” Tyrone assistant coach Steve Everhart said. “Half the records set this year were three decades old. To see four broken in a season, while additional records were challenged and are sure to fall next year, is a statement about the trajectory of the current program and the competitiveness of our students.”
Kanuch agrees and said he was proud of the effort and performance he saw on the track and in the field at Districts.
“Our kids were great, and all the hard work they put in showed,” Kanuch said.
BOYS
The Tyrone boys left Mansion Park with a fourth-place finish and had many athletes reach the podium and make it to the PIAA State Championship meet.
Among them was the boys’ 4x800m relay team who met their season goal by breaking the school record.
The team of seniors Aiden Detwiler, Tom Sutt, Dante Novak, and junior Alex Brumbaugh broke the record on the second day of districts, running a 8:16.42.
“The record was a goal of mine since last year when we were point five seconds off,” Detwiler said, “at the beginning of the year I didn’t think we would have a chance, but the four by eight team got that dawg in them, and we shattered that record by three seconds.”
The previous record was set in 1992 by Matt Lake, Erick Hayes, Brian Lake, and Sean Patterson with a time of 8:19.20.
The boys’ 4x400m relay of Drew Irons, Tytus Novak, Dante Novak, and Caleb Whitby also earned a trip to States by placing third with a 3:29.26, which also met the state standard of 3:29.6.
There was also some drama at the end of the 4×400, with a heroic battle by sophomore Caleb Whitby.
Whitby pulled a hamstring while jumping at Bellwood several weeks ago. After just over two weeks of physical therapy, Whitby was cleared to run, but was unsure how he would hold up.
Whitby received the baton in fourth place behind an athlete from Homer Center and passed him around the 300-meter mark. As he came down the home stretch with around 100 meters left, he pulled his hamstring again, but battled through the injury to carry his teammates to states.
“We talk about who is going to be that guy to put us over the top. It was Caleb yesterday,” Kanuch said. “Caleb pulled his hamstring two weeks ago, and we thought it might be a stretch for him to run. But he wanted to, and when there were 100 meters left, he pulled it again. But he put the team on his shoulders and got them to States. He really laid it all out there.”
The only individual athlete to make it to states for the boys was sophomore Drew Irons in the 200. Irons ran a 23.06, taking third.
Others who reached the podium were Aiden Detwiler, taking fourth in the 800, running a 2:04.85, and junior Alex Brumbaugh, who placed sixth, running a 2:07.46.
Sophomore Mason Emigh earned fourth in the triple jump, with a 43-10.25, missing third and an opportunity to jump at states by half an inch.
Another podium finish was the boys’ 4×100 team of Dante Novak, Mason Emigh, Austin Lucas, and Seth Hoover placed fifth. They ran a 41.11, which was only .08 of a second away from the state standard of 44.03.
Seth Hoover also placed eighth in the 100m finals with an 11.8.
GIRLS
Sophomore Sarah Chichester won in the 200 dash in 26.24, just ahead of Bellwood-Antis freshman Ella Cherry’s time of 26.44.
Chichester also reached the podium in the 100-meter dash, running a 12.88 and placing third, which also got her to the state meet. She was also part of two winning relays, the 400 and 1600.
The 4×100-meter relay won the district title for an incredible sixth year in a row with a 49.76. The 4×100 team was Claire Lehman, Nicole Ramsey, Alayna Greene, and Chichester. They also broke the school record set just one year ago.
The 4×400-meter relay of Sarah Chichester, Taylor Wrye, Braeleigh Flick, and Claire Lehman, also won first with a time of 4:09.16, breaking the school record they set the day before in the prelims.
“I’m so excited [to go to States in the relays],” Chichester said. “I love those girls so much.”
Junior Claire Lehman met the state standard for the 300-meter hurdles and placed second with a time of 47.36 and was just 0.11 seconds away from breaking the school record set by 2024 graduate Bree Paul last season.
“I was hoping I would hit the school record, but I’m happy with how close I got to it. My goal for states is to beat the record,” Lehman said.
Junior Nicole Ramsey met the state standard for triple jump and placed fourth with a jump of 35-10.25. She also placed fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.70.
“Even though fourth in both wasn’t what I was hoping for, I’m still very excited and grateful that I get to go to states for triple jump and the four by one. States is such a competitive environment, and I can’t wait to compete next weekend,” Ramsey said.
Freshman Lola Woomer rounded out the day two place winners, placing eighth in the triple jump with a jump of 33-09.
“This team continues to be extremely competitive not only with other teams, but within the team. This is a great run that we are on, and I hope it resonates with the school just how successful we have been,” Kanuch said.
The state championships meet will be held next weekend at Shippenburg University.
BOYS
TEAM RESULTS/KEY
1, Richland (R) 108.5; 2, Juniata (J) 78; 3, United (U) 63; 4, Tyrone (T) 50; 5, Central Cambria (CC) 39; 6, Huntingdon (H) 34; 7, Central (C) 33.5; T-8, Penn Cambria (PC) 33; T-8, Penns Manor (PM) 33; 10, Homer-Center (HC) 29; T-11, Northern Cambria (NC) 25; T-11, Portage (P) 25; 13, Penns Valley (PV) 18.5; 14, Bellwood-Antis (BA) 18; 15, Marion Center (MC) 16; 16, Forest Hills (FH) 15.5; T-17, Cambria Heights (CH) 15; T-17, Bishop Carroll (BC) 15; T-17, Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 15; 20, Philipsburg-Osceola (PO) 14; T-21, River Valley (RV) 6; T-21, Bishop Guilfoyle (BG) 6; 23, Westmont Hilltop (WH) 5; T-24, Saint Joseph’s (SJ) 2; T-24, Bishop McCort (BM) 2; 26, Mount Union (MU) 1.
INDIVIDUAL
100 dash: 1, McAneny, R, 11.21; 2, Althouse, PV, 11.24; 3, Law, PO, 11.3; 4, Slusher, H, 11.41; 5, Nelen, CH, 11.46; 6, Boreman, J, 11.47; 7, Cunningham, BC, 11.58; 8, Hoover, T, 11.8. 200 dash: 1, J. Mugerwa, R, 22.68; 2, Law, PO, 23.01; 3, Irons, T, 23.06; 4, Cobaugh, HC, 23.08; 5, Brooks, MC, 23.13; 6, Jones, HC, 23.37; 7, Gordon, BM, 23.8. 400 dash: 1, J. Mugerwa, R, 49.26; 2, Cobaugh, HC, 50.64; 3, Schreier, BA, 51.32; 4, Oleksa, U, 51.35; 5, Hughes, H, 51.86; 6, Papcun, P, 52.19; 7, Beaver, U, 52.21; 8, Scott, MU, 53.19. 800 run: 1, Gouse, P, 1:59.55; 2, Kuntz, CC, 2:00.8; 3, Heuston, C, 2:01.23; 4, Detwiler, T, 2:04.85; 5, Singer, BG, 2:07.07; 6, Brumbaugh, T, 2:07.46; 7, Barner, J, 2:07.7; 8, Ryan, BC, 2:08.55. 3200 run: 1, Stroup, J, 9:26.42; 2, Bomberger, J, 9:41.19; 3, Haycisak, CC, 9:45.01; 4, Caron, FH, 9:45.73; 5, Takacs, CC, 10:11.93; 6, Beward, J, 10:15.79; 7, DePlato, SJ, 10:25.7; 8, Henning, U, 10:26.08. 110 hurdles: 1, Shepps, J, 14.99; 2, A. Mugerwa, R, 15.39; 3, Forsha, RV, 15.58; 4, Eckenrode, CH, 15.6; 5, Levander, R, 15.99; 6, Dumm, NC, 16.1; 7, Dreibelbis, CH, 16.26; 8, Nelson, BA, 16.31. 300 hurdles: 1, Shepps, J, 39.85; 2, Kimler, PV, 40.5; 3, A. Mugerwa, R, 40.57; 4, Taylor, BEA, 40.92; 5, Eckenrode, CH, 41.25; 6, Carroll, FH, 41.93; 7, Stiffler, U, 43.15; 8, Shawley, BA, 43.17.
400 relay: 1, Richland, 43.36; 2, United, 43.76; 3, Huntingdon, 43.81; 4, Central, 43.93 (SQ); 5, Tyrone, 44.11; 6, Homer-Center, 44.88; 7, Northern Cambria, 44.92. 1600 relay: 1, Richland, 3:25.42; 2, Central, 3:26.66; 3, Tyrone, 3:29.26; 4, United, 3:29.38 (SQ); 5, Homer-Center, 3:29.39 (SQ); 6, Bellwood-Antis, 3:32.47; 7, Central Cambria, 3:34.12; 8, Penns Valley, 3:34.43. 3200 relay: 1, United (Beaver, Henning, Oleksa, Shepler), 8:11.22; 2, Tyrone (Detwiler, Sutt, Brumbaugh, D. Novak), 8:16.42; 3, Central Cambria (Haycisak, Archangelo, Bradley, Kuntz), 8:26.63; 4, Richland, 8:44.82; 5, Marion Center, 8:59.96; 6, Bellwood-Antis, 9:01.47; 7, Bald Eagle Area, 9:05.28; 8, Penns Valley, 9:07.22. Triple jump: 1, Farrell, NC, 44-8.25; 2, Lilly, PC, 44-3.5; 3, McCulty, R, 43-10.75; 4, M. Emigh, T, 43-10.25; 5, Hasset, WH, 43-9.75; 6, Lane, H, 43-9.25; 7, Farabaugh, BC, 42-9.25; 8, Cunningham, BC, 42-7.75. Shot put: 1, Polenik, PM, 54-5; 2, Erdman, H, 46-7.75; 3, Montgomery, U, 45-11.5; 4, Butterly, HC, 45-5.5; 5, Jelley, U, 44-6.25; 6, Lewis, PM, 43-8.5; 7, Hollis, R, 43-5.5; 8, Trexler, HC, 43-3.75.
GIRLS
TEAM RESULTS/KEY
1, Richland (R) 92; 2, Bellwood-Antis (BA) 85; 3, Tyrone (T) 79; 4, Forest Hills (FH) 72; 5, Cambria Heights (CH) 47; 6, Central Cambria (CC) 45; 7, Penn Cambria (PC) 32; 8, United (U) 29; 9, Huntingdon (H) 25; 10, Central (C) 22; 11, Mount Union (MU) 21; 12, Juniata Valley (JV) 20; 13, Juniata (J) 19; 14, Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 17; T-15, Southern Huntingdon (SH) 12; T-15, Bishop Carroll (BC) 12; T-17, River Valley (RV) 11; T-17, Penns Valley (PV) 11; 19, Purchase Line (PL) 10; T-20, Westmont Hilltop (WH) 8; T-20, Marion Center (MC) 8; 22, Portage (P) 7; 23, West Branch (WB) 6; 24, Northern Cambria (NC) 5; 25, Homer-Center (HC) 4; 26, Williamsburg (W) 3.
INDIVIDUAL
100 dash: 1, Eckenrode, PC, 12.75; 2, Cherry, BA, 12.85; 3, Chichester, T, 12.88; 4, Piscatello, R, 13.14; 5, Stager, WH, 13.28; 6, Twinchek, RV, 13.31; 7, Bednarski, P, 13.39; 8, Sunderland, SH, 13.51. 200 dash: 1, Chichester, T, 26.24; 2, Cherry, BA, 26.24; 3, Piscatello, R, 26.44; 4, Ramsey, T, 26.7; 5, Glessner, FH, 27.07; 6, Bednarski, P, 27.16; 7, Wingert, SH, 27.65; 8, Ronan, PC, 27.83. 400 dash: 1, Mavridis, R, 58.46; 2, Pablic, BC, 1:00.77; 3, Hassler, BA, 1:01.02; 4, Depetro, NC, 1:01.06; 5, Gleason, CC, 1:01.95; 6, Carpenter, FH, 1:02.31. 800 run: 1, McCrum, JV, 2:18.66; 2, Hoover, CH, 2:21.05; 3, Al. Sheehan, CC, 2:23.69; 4, Klena, PV, 2:27.3; 5, Pablic, BC, 2:27.82; 6, Ab. Sheehan, CC, 2:27.87; 7, Long, CC, 2:27.96; 8, Kraft, BA, 2:29.15. 3200 run: 1, Brubaker, J, 11:15.12; 2, Mavridis, R, 11:21.5; 3, Smith, PV, 12:03.24; 4, Henning, U, 12:20.66; 5, Slade, MC, 12:27.3; 6, Hoover, CH, 12:38.51; 7, Guenot, BEA, 12:39.97; 8, Causer, WB, 12:42.79. 100 hurdles: 1, McClellan, CH, 15.45; 2, Young, H, 15.68; 3, Skopic, MU, 15.99; 4, Glessner, FH, 16.01 (SQ); 5, Bryan, BEA, 16.41; 6, Stoltzfus, BA, 16.92; 7, Dunlap, R, 16.98; 8, Karabinos, PC, 17.34. 300 hurdles: 1, Skopic, MU, 46.94; 2, Lehman, T, 47.36; 3, Papcunik, FH, 47.46; 4, Stoltzfus, BA, 47.87; 5, Dunlap, R, 48.81; 6, Dunn, C, 49.41; 7, Venesky, CH, 50.5; 8, McGinnis, U, 51.67.
400 relay: 1, Tyrone (Lehman, Ramsey, Greene, Chichester), 49.76; 2, Penn Cambria, 50.44; 3, Bellwood-Antis, 51.12; 4, Central, 51.53; 5, Richland, 51.86; 6, Forest Hills, 51.96; 7, River Valley, 51.97; 8, Southern Huntingdon, 52.51. 1600 relay: 1, Tyrone (Chichester, Wrye, Flick, Lehman), 4:09.16; 2, Forest Hills, 4:10.06; 3, Richland, 4:10.45; 4, Central, 4:14.48; 5, Bellwood-Antis, 4:20.66; 6, Southern Huntingdon, 4:21.08; 7, Bald Eagle Area, 4:21.54; 8, Central Cambria, 4:22.94. 3200 relay: 1, Central Cambria (Ab. Sheehan, Long, Alexander, Al. Sheehan), 9:36.57; 2, Forest Hills, 9:54.14; 3, Bellwood-Antis (M. Cacciotti, Wagner, Kraft, Pennington), 9:55.06; 4, United, 10:17.13; 5, Marion Center, 10:21.77; 6, Bald Eagle Area, 10:28.48; 7, Purchase Line, 10:33.87; 8, Richland, 10:48.89. Triple jump: 1, Cherry, BA, 36-8.75; 2, Macey, R, 36-8.5; 3, McMillen, CH, 36-1.75; 4, Ramsey, T, 35-10.25 (SQ); 5, McClellan, CH, 35-2.25; 6, Imes, C, 34-2.75; 7, Buonaccorsi, H, 33-11.75; 8, Woomer, T, 33-9. Shot put: 1, Faith, FH, 36-1; 2, Anderson, CC, 34-5.25; 3, Mingle, C, 33-10.25; 4, Crestani, BEA, 32-9.5; 5, Hajer, R, 32-2.5; 6, Walters, H, 32-1.5; 7, McDowell, RV, 31-9.25; 8, Voyda, HC, 31-5.75. Pole vault: *1, Ford, R, 12-0; 2, Buonaccorsi, H, 10-6; 3, Worthing, BA, 9-6; 4, Rishel, BA, 9-0; 5, Ressler, U, 8-6; 6, Wagner, J, 8-6; T-7, Yoder, WH, 8-0; T-7, Fischer, U, 8-0; T-7, Cabala, Fh, 8-0.
*Meet records; SQ–Advanced to state meet through qualifying standard
