May 14, 2015 5 min read

PITTSBURGH – Brenna Cavanaugh and Hale Yenchik compete in arguably the two most dangerous events in track: the high hurdles and pole vault.

Cavanaugh, a freshman from Bentworth, and Yenchik, a senior from Canon-McMillan, spent more than a decade together in gymnastics at the Gym Dandys complex in Meadow Lands. They will reunite one more time, at the PIAA Track & Field Championships over the Memorial Day weekend.

Cavanaugh took third place in the Class AA 100-meter hurdles with a personal record of 15.40 and Yenchik was fourth in the Class AAA pole vault after clearing 11-0 at the WPIAL Track & Field Championships at Baldwin High School.

“I’ve been doing (gymnastics) since I was 3,” said Cavanaugh. “I’ve known her since I’ve been there.”

The two show no fear in their track events. One misstep into a hurdle can send an athlete face-first into the artificial track surface. Messing up in the pole vault can send an athlete tumbling from 10 feet in the air, hopefully on the padding below.

“We’ve been on the beam,” said Yenchik. “That’s just four inches wide.”

Slip-ups on the beam can result in a nasty bruise or worse. It’s the challenge of those events that spark Cavanaugh and Yenchik.

“I love it so much,” said Yenchik. “You get to throw your body into the air. It’s great.”

Annelise Gillespie has what could be considered the perfect body for competing in the high jump. At 6-0, she’s tall with long, powerful legs.

So it should not be considered a surprise that she excels in the event. Except that she is only a freshman and competing against girls who have more experience than her. Gillespie of California High School, cleared 5-0 and earned a spot in the PIAA Class AA Championships.

“I’m really excited that I’m going,” said Gillespie, who got a personal best with the jump. “I was nervous at first but I felt a lot better after my first jump.”

Gillespie also had this on her side: she is a first cousin to Kailyn Clancy, who graduated from California last year after winning the last two PIAA Class AA shot put titles.

Open heart surgery. Those three words were shocking for Brelan Skinner to hear. The thought of never particpating in sports again was devastating to the Fort Cherry senior.

Three months after qualifying for the PIAA Track & Field Individual Championships as a sophomore in 2013, Skinner was informed he would need surgery to correct a valve in his heart. Eight months of rehabilitation later, he came up short in his return at Baldwin High School.

Skinner punched his ticket back to the state championships Thursday afternoon by finishing fourth with a personal best in the Class AA long jump of 21-6½.

“I wasn’t as motivated when I came back last year and I was still in pain while on medication,” Skinner said. “Coming back this year, everyone kept encouraging me. I knew I could do it and I’m so happy to make it back to states.”

A strained hamstring during the WPIAL Class AA southern qualifiers cost Monessen junior Raymond Sitton a chance to compete in the championships last spring, but nothing would stop him from claiming the school’s second district title in 2015.

Two months after the boys basketball program won a WPIAL Class A title, Sitton took home a gold medal in the Class A 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.05 – the top time in PIAA Class AA this season.

“I can’t even describe how happy I am right now,” Sitton said. “I had a good start and then I felt myself speed up. I looked over and didn’t see anyone next to me, so I knew I was good.”

Qualifying for the PIAA championships was the top priority for the boys 3,200-meter relay team from Canon-McMillan, but the Big Macs were not happy moments after the race ended.

The team of Caden Meier, Jonathan Weese, Ethan Linderman and Michael Strosko finished fourth in Class AAA with a time of 7:59.11.

“It’s a little bitter sweet, but our main goal was to make it to states,” Linderman said. “We had secondary goals of winning a WPIAL title and breaking the school record. It’s disappointing to not get those, but we’ll be ready for the state championships.”

Washington senior Zack Blystone qualified for the PIAA championships with a throw of 50-10 in the Class AA shot put to finish fourth in the WPIAL.

It is his first year of competing in the event. He finished less than three feet behind WPIAL champion Nick Bowers of Kittanning, a Penn State football recruit. Blystone’s second throw was enough to get him to Shippensburg.

“I had my head up when I released the throw and at least I knew it went in the right direction,” Blystone said. “It makes me wonder what it might have been like if I did it my whole high school career.”