For Penn Hills senior, state track title makes up for pain of autumn failure

Joe Koch's feature on Penn Hills distance star Wil Bailey, who won the 800-meter event at the PIAA track and field championships:

"Wil Bailey's senior year at Penn Hills High School began last fall with an apparently profound disappointment.

Failing to qualify for the PIAA cross country championships last October, though, proved to be just a slight stumble toward a magical finish for Bailey.

He won the PIAA Class AAA championship in the boys 800-meter run Saturday in the track and field state championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium.

Bailey broke away from North Allegheny's Vince Tonzo in the race's final 200 meters to win the state title with a time of 1 minute, 51.87 seconds. Cumberland Valley's Alec Kunzweiler was second in 1:53.14, and La Salle College's Andrew Stone was third in 1:53.53. Tonzo faded a bit and finished fifth in 1:54.03."