Mike White's take on the WPIAL individual track and field championships:
(Photo South Side Beaver's Ricky Fayad won the WPIAL Class AA 110-meter hurdles title Thursday at Baldwin High School with a time of 15.08. Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette.)
Interestingly, the Gator’s “No. 1” hurdler suffered a disqualification. But “No. 2” came in at 15.32 for second place (first was North Allegheny):
It was awfully close:
1. Julius Rivera (Gateway) 10.98
2. Kyle Shivetts (North Allegheny) 11.13
3. Troy Apke (Mt. Lebanon) 11.15
4. Cameron Gray (Gateway) 11.16
The Gateway boys are going to team championships tomorrow. They beat Indiana 102-48, won 108-42 over South Fayette, 109-40 over Uniontown … and 87-63 over West Mifflin. At first glance, most people can tell that the game between Gateway and West Mifflin was a tough one.
“Essentially, we just had too much for them in the distance events,” said Gateway head coach Tom LaBuff. “We pretty much took the distance events. It was close.”
LaBuff noted that the Gators were missing their No. 2 sprinter Jae’Len Means, and he felt that their best day was still ahead.
“It was a fun meet,” LaBuff said. “I was pacing back and forth wondering if we were going to get the win.” LaBuff agreed that the high quality competition with West Mifflin was akin to a volleyball match; it’s more fun to hit a volleyball to someone who can hit it back.
“It’s a whole lot more fun to beat good teams than it is to beat bad ones,” said LaBuff. “[West Mifflin head coach Mike Mazzarese] has been around almost as long as I have. We’ve worked together a lot of places. Gateway didn’t get to host, but there was no other place I’d rather be than West Mifflin.”
When last we left the Gateway track teams, both the boys and girls had won their sections. So, this past weekend at the Mars Invitational (April 27), the Gators teams knew full well they’d be on a playoff bracket today (May 1).
The impending postseason did not make the Gateway teams tentative at Mars. It seemed to only spur the Gators on.
“The boys shared the team championship with Seneca Valley, earning medals in 14 of the 18 events and setting some records in the process,” reported Gateway head coach Tom LaBuff. “The girls finished in fifth place, only 10 points out of first and earning medals in seven events.”
LaBuff provided the run-down of Gateway’s impressive accomplishments:
track