PENNSYLVANIA STATE MEET

La Salle College Pulls Out Team Title By Half A Point; Carter Smith Runs 4:02.63; McCaskey Wins Girls Title; Aydriane Bowden Breaks Long Jump Record

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

La Salle College won the AAA boys title by the slimmest of margins on Saturday at the PIAA Track and Field Championships in Shippensburg, beating Grove City by half of a point, 33 to 32.5.

La Salle clinched its victory with a win in the final event of the day, the 4x400 meter relay. The squad of Michael Gorrell, Aidan Christy, Chima Auguste and Louis Burdick needed exactly 10 points, and that’s what they delivered, clocking a time of 3:14.41 to beat Downingtown West by over a second.

That performance was even more impressive considering that La Salle’s James Mahoney, who won the open 400 in 47.74 seconds, did not take part in the relay.

Mahoney also took fifth in the 200 with a time of 21.78 seconds, putting four more points on the board for La Salle.

On the individual side, Carter Smith picked up where he left off in 2025, winning the 1,600 on Friday in 4:02.63 and anchoring Mifflin County to a win in the 4x800 meter relay on Saturday with a split of 1:47.85.

Smith, an Oklahoma State commit, has been exceptional in 2026 so far. He anchored Mifflin County to a win in the distance medley relay at New Balance Nationals Indoor in March, and he did it again at the Penn Relays in April, breaking the PIAA state record in the process with a time of 9:54.01.

Lower Merion brothers Alexander and Nicholas Mazzeo went 1-2 in the 3,200, running 8:52.16 and 8:52.75, respectively. All of the top six in that race ran under 9:00.

For the girls, Ella Petrosky led JP McCaskey to the team title with 42 points. Petrosky took second in the 100 (11.89) and fourth in the 200 (24.60), and she was on the 4x100 relay team that won in 47.20 seconds.

Peters Township freshman Kathryn Froelich won the 1,600 and 3,200, running 4:48.08 and 10:18.20.

Spring Grove’s Ella Bahn swept the hurdles for the second straight year, running 13.80 in the 100 meter hurdles and 41.29 in the 300 meter hurdles.

Kennett’s Aydriane Bowden broke a 23-year-old PIAA record in the girls long jump with a mark of 20-4.75.

Shenango, Quaker Valley win 2A titles

District 7, featuring schools from the Pittsburgh area, swept the 2A team titles. Shenango won on the girls side with 40 points, and the Quaker Valley boys repeated as state champs with 47 points.

Lewisburg’s Baylee Espinosa won the girls 1,600 and 3,200, running 4:53.81 and 10:33.05. Quaker Valley’s Jonah Montagnese did the same, running 4:11.35 to win the 1,600 and 9:11.23 to win the 3,200 in the boys finals. 

Montagnese also took second in the 800, running 1:55.16. Altogether, he scored 28 of the Quakers’ 47 points.

Kieran Cain put up another 11, taking fourth in the 100 (10.90) and third in the 200 (21.92).

Cain and Montagnese are both juniors, so look for Quaker Valley to be just as dominant next year.

Corry Area’s Blake Cook swept the hurdles, running 14.08 to win the 110 and 37.25 to win the 300.

Wellsboro Area’s Piper Hoprich won the 100-200 double in the girls finals, running 11.90 and 24.39.

Hughesville Area came within one point of the girls team title, scoring 39 thanks to some dominant performances in the relays. The Spartans won the 4x800 and 4x100, and they took second in the 4x400. 

TEAM CHAMPIONS - RESULTS

Class 3A - La Salle College boys 33 points, JP McCaskey girls 42 points

Class 2A - Quaker Valley boys 47 points, Shenago girls 40 points