SHIPPENSBURG — Competing at the highest level of competition all year, Brayden Friar showed his best, setting a new sophomore record at the PIAA State Track and Field Meet.
As one of three members of the Bradford track and field team to qualify for states, Friar earned a spot in two events for States, the 400 and 3,200. In the 400, he set a personal best with a time of 52.57 before breaking the sophomore record in the 3,200. Friar’s time of 9:42.20 was not only a 25-second improvement of his finish at the District 9 Championships, but also 26 seconds ahead of Tim Crissman’s, who set the sophomore record in 1983. Friar’s time just narrowly missed Bradford’s school record by 0.26 seconds, and finished 27th overall at the state meet.
“This was a great finish for a sophomore following up on his winning the AAA James Manners Award for scoring the most points at our District Meet,” said Bradford boys track and field head coach Tom Tessena. “He will also be the top returning runner this coming Fall in cross Country. He definitely has a bright future ahead of him.”
In his first year with the team, Chase Wineberg placed in all four of his events at district’s, earning a spot at states in the high jump. He placed 23rd in the high jump at 5’10”. Leo Paterniti was the final Owl to qualify for states on the boys side, placing 29th in the 1600 meters in 4:42.62.
“Our boys team had a tough year this spring. We had low numbers and had four meets canceled or suspended due to the weather,” said Tessena. “We return our top guys and we had many freshmen and sophomores who placed in Districts and earned letters so we will be much better next year.”
Five Lady Owls qualified for the State Meet, with Abbigail Schleicher, Alexia Corignani, Kelcie Little, Emma Swanson and Mady Cowburn taking the trip up to Shippensburg University.
Schleicher took part in the 100- and 200- dash, coming in 30th and 21st respectively. Corignani finished in 19th in the 100 hurdles, while the 4×100 relay team of Little, Corignani, Swanson and Cowburn took home 23rd.
The track and field teams will host their annual Track Banquet on Monday, June 5 at 6 p.m. The ceremony will take place at the St. Francis Social Center across from Flody Fretz Middle School.
