May 26, 2018 4 min read

SHIPPENSBURG – Picking himself up after suffering a bloody knee, bruised ego and dismantled hopes of winning the 110-meter high hurdles, Waynesburg’s Daniel Layton crossed the finish line last in the event that he earned the top seed.

Less than five minutes later, Layton was ready to walk over to PIAA officials and scratch himself from the pole vault competition, which immediately followed the heartbreak he suffered on the track.

He just couldn’t get himself to do it.

It was a good thing he didn’t.

Wiping the slate clean of unfortunate events earlier in the day, Layton vaulted to a personal record (14-6) and a third-place finish in the Class AA pole vault at the PIAA Track & Field Championships Saturday.

“I was thinking about (scratching) right after the hurdles,” Layton said. “I thought (my finish in the hurdles) was going to be a precursor for the vault. I was mad. I was disappointed. I didn’t have much confidence.”

The lack of confidence turned into clearing heights he hasn’t cleared before. Layton easily skied over his previous best of 13-6, cleared 14 feet, then beat his personal record by a foot. He was working up to that height with bungees in practice but never cleared it until Saturday.

“Honestly, I just slowed down and let myself vault instead of overthinking it and stressing out,” he said. “I knew if I would have scratched myself, then in the end I would have been really mad. I decided to just tough it out.”

Layton eventually bowed out of the competition with Reynolds High School’s Matt Gosser, who finished in second place. Joe Jardine, the top-seeded vaulter from Schuylkill Valley, won the event with a vault of 16-3. Waynesburg’s Will Behm, the second-ranked vaulter, failed to qualify for the finals.

“Emotions were all over the place, today,” Layton said. “I knew that it would be more of a disappointment if I walked away and didn’t have two medals. That’s why I decided to do the vault.”

In the 110 hurdles, Layton earned the No. 1-seed with a first-place finish and top times out of all Class AA competitors in the semifinals (15.84).

“I’m not entirely happy with how I did in the hurdles this weekend,” he said. “I have never fallen in a race. I slammed into that first hurdle and fell right on my face. I got scraped up but still finished. It’s just rough whenever it happens that soon because you almost have no chance to come back. You lose all momentum.”

• Waynesburg pole vaulter Will Behm missed a trio of vaults at 13-6 to no-height and failed to qualify for the finals.

“We came in with a plan and I was in good shape,” he said. “Based on my performance today, I deserved to no-height. It’s a shame.”

Behm, who broke the WPIAL Class AA record at the championships last week at Baldwin with a vault of 14-10, was the second seed.

“This is one of the most mental sports there is. There are a lot of mind games,” Behm said. “But I improved my personal record by a foot and a half since this time last year. I’ve came a really long way. I’ve been fortunate to have some really great jumps, good conditions and great people coaching me.”

• A pair of throwers, Washington’s Myckel Brown and South Fayette’s Sam Mastro, were able to medal but were unhappy with their distances.

Brown finished in sixth place with a distance of 49-3 1/4 in the Class AA shot put in his first time at a state meet.

“I usually have a routine (before throwing) and I didn’t get to do that,” Brown said. “Waiting two days definitely made me kind of nervous because you have a lot to think about for two days. I should’ve thrown further.”

Mastro took fifth in the Class AAA discus with a throw of 166-05.

“Coming off of districts, I wanted to build off my throw of 175. I wanted to take second (place) but it didn’t happen that way,” said Mastro. “It’s nice to know you have a throw that’s not even that good for you and still take fifth in the state meet. But at the end of the day, it’s not what I wanted.”