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Motter throws 201
for PSU Behrend, claims javelin title
Charlie Motter, sophomore from Oil City, won the javelin title Wednesday for Penn State Behrend in the All-Atlantic Region track and field championships.
His winning throw of 201 feet was by far a personal record, counting both high school and college.
And his winner came on his final throw. Motter was sitting in fifth place, trailing Jacob Bono of York College who led with 197-7.
The 201 ranks 21st in NCAA Division III. It's also No. 3 in Behrend history behind Mitch Obenrader (221-5 in 2016) and Aiden Grieneisen (201-4 in 225).
Grieneisen, a freshman from Brockway, has since transferred to Penn State's main campus.
Motter later said he wanted to make up for finishing second in the SUNY conference championships last week. He was the top seed, but competing on a grass runway was not to his liking. He threw 164-10.
Prior to the All-Atlantic meet his personal best was 188-1 in an invitational earlier this season. His best throw as a freshman was in the 164 neighborhood.
And his best throw in high school was 167. He was District 10 champion for Oil City as a junior.
Motter was a swimmer and golfer and played baseball in high school. He has continued his golf career at Behrend.
...AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME
Playoffs here we come!
(Photo by Christy Fackler)
For some their seasons have come to an end;
for others, it's did somebody say playoffs?
Baseball and softball playoffs start next week in Districts 9 and 10, and Cranberry and Rocky Grove will be in them along with Franklin baseball.
For playoff openers:
Franklin baseball vs. Girard, 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, Mercyhurst
Rocky Grove baseball vs. Cambridge Springs, Thursday, TBA
Rocky Grove softball vs. West Middlesex, Wednesday, TBA
Cranberry baseball at Curwensville, 4 p.m., Tuesday
Cranberry softball vs. Moniteau, Wednesday, TBA
Meanwhile, Franklin and Oil City softball will head to the showers, their seasons complete. Oil City baseball is scheduled to play Rocky Grove in its finale today.
Franklin baseball is scheduled to play Cranberry today, but apparently that game has been scratched. The weather doesn't look good, anyway.
The Franklin softball team finished maybe its worst season ever (1-17) after a 13-2 loss to Maplewood on Thursday.
It was not the best of times for Oil City, but not the worst, either. If the weather doesn't force cancelation of its scheduled game at Rocky Grove today, the baseball team will take a bow with back-to-back laughers over Franklin and Eisenhower and a 7-11 record. And the softball team, never a force, was a respectable 5-11 after its 13-2 romp, also over Eisenhower, on Thursday.
Konnor Beichner, who transferred to Oil City after Venango Catholic closed two years ago, was the winning pitcher in the four-inning win over the Ikes and had two hits and two RBI. Casey Rybak, effective on the mound Wednesday against Franklin, drove in four runs and three hits against the Ikes. Bryce Stewart and Bart Rosen added three hits apiece with Rosen having a chance to become the OIlers' first .400 hitter since 2022.
Addison Schnitzer led the Lady Oilers with three hits and three RBI and Jaymee Wice worked four shutout innings.
Franklin baseball is sitting at 10-9. The Knights are seeded sixth among seven teams in 3A. Rocky Grove (9-9) is seeded second to West Middlesex in 1A. This is a four-team event. The Grove girls (6-14) are the three seed in a three-team tourney.
The Berries are 8-7 in baseball and riding a three-game winning streak. Third-seeded Curwensville is 10-8. Top-seeded Redbank has a first-round bye.
The softball team is 15-4 and will face Moniteau in the District 9 2A semifinals. Brockway will play the winner of a game between Keystone and Forest Area in the other semi. The championship game is Monday, May 25, at Heindl Field in DuBois. The Lady Berries are seeking a four-peat in District 9 and their seventh crown since 2012.​
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Clark stuns javelin field;
Berries reign again
in D-9 2A 3200 relay
Cranberry's Beatrice Kolesar -- the top seed in four events -- already has two firsts in the District 9 2A track meet Friday at Brookville High School, and third-seeded senior Shane Clark has stunned the field in the javelin by winning the event with a Pa. Top 50 throw of 176-2.
Kolesar first teamed with Elena Ishman, Navy Perry and Darien Wenner to win the 3200 relay, and later she claimed the open 1600.
The relay was clocked in 9:47.11 -- 16 seconds faster than runnerup Elk County Catholic and 10 seconds off the school record last year's team set.
Kolesar's time in the 1600 was 5:17.1 -- 16 seconds faster than the runnerup.
Clark took the lead on his third throw -- and he tossed over 170 on four of his five before fouling on his sixth. AC Valley/Union's Hudson Bliss took second at 175-11. He got that on his fourth try, but couldn't get ahead of Clark.
Until this spring, Clark had never been over 150 in the javelin and was still even in the low 150s in early May before beginning to blossom.
In addition to the three aforementioned firsts, the Berries took two seconds, one by Cole Findlay who cleared 6-1 in the high jump and the other by Wenner in the pole vault. She cleared 9-6, which is well off her school record.
The Berries took thirds in the open 400, both with personal records. Wenner ran 60.25 and Blake Marchinke was timed in 51.80.
Findlay was second to Brookville superstar Hayden Freeman, who not only cleared 6-3 but also ran a swift 10.68 to win the 100.
Findlay is top seed in the long jump and runs a leg on the third-seeded 1600 relay where he teams with Landon Baker, Marchinke and Dalton Wenner.
And, oh by the way, Wenner, state champion wrestler, is the No. 1 seed in the 800 where he has been around and under the two-minute mark this season.
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No top seeds for Franklin, Oil City In D-10
Not even Logan Knight could coax a top seed for Saturday's District 10 track meets at Slippery Rock.
There's plenty of talent in Knights' events -- most notably in the form of Grove City's DeLathian Boanes, the Slippery Rock football/ track recruit.
All Knight could muster was a second seed in the shot and a third in the discus behind Boanes, a static medalist last season.
It should be noted before we go any further that Oil City and Franklin will be in different classifications -- the Oilers are in 2A, the Knights in 3A.
Not that either Oil City or Franklin have nothing to offer, but schools from other parts of District 10 have some impressive rosters of talent -- Grove City, Ft. LeBoeuf, many schools from both Erie and Mercer counties.
Knight is a returning district champ in the discus along with Isabel Griffin in the 3200. Griffin is a two-seed in the 800 and 1600 this year and a four in the 3200.
​Oil City's Spence Singleton is a two in the javelin and the boys 1600 relay is a three seed.
Franklin girls have three relays with good seeds: the 3200 is sixth, the 400 is fourth and the 1600 is third.
Other top six seeds:
Oil City -- Addision Wyant 4 and Corabel Shiley 5 in the 1600; Shiley 5 in the 3200; Rilee Matalino 5 in the 1600 and 6 in the 800; Olive Collins 4 in the 100 hurdles and the high jump; Michael Fink 4 in the 110 hurdles; girls 3200 relay 6, Bailey Stevens 4 in the 300 hurdles, Morris Woodhouse 4 and Dylan VanWormer 5 in the open 400; and Madi Garland 4 in the shot
Franklin -- Lilyann Miller 3 in the 100 and 4 in 200; Anna Rodgers 3 in the 300 hurdles; Lena Laderer 4 in the triple jump; and Aaron Moore-Junior 5 in the shot.
Oil City and Franklin girls go eyeball-to-eyeball in the 3200 relay during their dual meet, but they'll be in different classifications for the District 10 meet.
Track Honor Roll: The Times They are a-Changin'
State qualifying standards in parenthesis; they
must be done in district meets.
BOYS TRACK
3200 relay (8:15.55)
Franklin, 8:58.79
Oil City (Kaleb Guiste, Elliot Hulsizer, Tim Kahle, Rilee Matalino) 9:12.04
110 hurdles (15.35)
Michael Fink, Oil City, 15.24
100 (11.15)
Morris Woodhouse, Oil City, 11.38
Aaden Hibbard, Oil City, 11.42
Cole Findlay, Cranberry, 11.63
Jackson Wilson, Franklin, 11.97
1600 (4:25.48)
Rilee Matalino, Oil City. 4:31.36
Maxx Griffin, Franklin, 4:46.59
Daniel McCain, Cranberry, 4:47.45
400 (50.76)
Morris Woodhouse, Oil City, 51.30
Dylan Van Wormer Oil City, 51.63
Blake Marchinke, Cranberry, 51.8
Eddie Mattocks, Franklin, 54.78
400 relay (43.66)
Oil City (Landon Riley, Steven Heise, Carter Thompson, Morris Woodhouse) 45.61
Franklin (Eddie Mattocks, Jackson Wilson, Cody Walkowski, Samuel Miller), 46.77
300 hurdles (40.80)
Carter Thompson, Oil City, 41.96
Garrett Dick, Cranberry, 45.12
Jayden Jackson, Cranberry, 46.10
Sam Miller, Franklin, 46.71
Cam Winger, Franklin, 47.58
800 (1:59.30)
Dalton Wenner, Cranberry, 1:56.92.
Rilee Matalino, Oil City, 2:00.78​
200 (22.75)
Morris Woodhouse, Oil City, 23.24
Dylan VanWormer, 23.90
Eddie Mattocks, Franklin, 24.41
Blake Marchinke, Cranberry, 24.6
3200 (9:42)
Rilee Matalino, Oil City, 10:23.86
Daniel McCain, Cranberry, 10:28.47
Max Griffin, Franklin, 10:32.21
Elliot Hulsizer, Oil City, 10:59.29
1600 relay (3:29.6)
Oil City (Dylan VanWormer, Rilee Matalino, Carter Thompson, Morris Woodhouse), 3:31.25
Cranberry (Cole Findlay, Landon Baker, Blake Marchinke, Dalton Wenner), 3:31.74
Franklin (A.J. Rodriguez, Eddie Mattocks, Samuel Miller, Jackson Wilson), 3:44.28
Boys Field
Shot (49-6)
Logan Knight, Franklin, 59-4
Aaron Moore Junior, Franklin, 48-4
Caleb Sparks, Cranberry, 46-3
Bradley Graham, Oil City, 44-11/2
Jayce Becoate, Oil City, 42-51/2
Discus (148-0)
Logan Knight, Franklin, 162-4
Javelin (176-0)
Spence Singleton, Oil City, 183-1
Shane Clark, Cranberry, 176-2
High jump (6-3)
Cole Findlay, Cranberry, 6-2
Michael Fink, Oil City, 5-9
Heath Warner, Oil City, 5-9
Long jump (21-10)
Cole Findlay, Cranberry, 22-23/4
Nevin Stinson, Oil City, 20-10
Bart Rosen, Oil City, 20-4
Jackson Wilson, Franklin, 20-3
Clark Findlay, Cranberry, 20-2
Triple jump (44-0)
Nevin Stinson, Oil City, 41-1
Bart Rosen , Oil City, 40-6
Lachlan Dick, Franklin, 40-0
Pole vault (13-6)
Skyler Myers, Oil City, 10-0
Tahelon Tarr, Oil City, 9-6
Dalton Wenner, Cranberry, 9-0
Girls track
3200 relay (9:50.4)
Cranberry (Beatrice Kolesar, Darien Wenner, Elena Ishman, Ava Earp), 9:47.11
Oil City (Corabel Shiley, Lilly Shiley, Addison Wyant, Bailey Stevens) 10:07.53
100 hurdles (16.01)
Olive Collins, Oil City, 16.19
Anna Rodgers, Franklin, 16.54
Bailey Stevens, Oil City, 16.6
100 (12.64)
Lilyan MIller, Franklin, 12.77
Sophia Garmong, Oil City, 13.15
1600 (5:15)
Beatrice Kolesar, Cranberry, 5:13.72
Isabel Griffin, Franklkin, 5:15.65
Addison Wyant, Oil City, 5:16.87
Corabel Shiley, Oil City, 5:18.43
Kaelyn Klapec, Oil City, 5:38.87
Elena Ishman, Cranberry, 5:41.41
Lilly Shiley, Oil City, 5:47.41
400 (59.85)
Darien Wenner, Cranberry, 60.25
Lena Laderer, Franklin, 61.93
Sophia Garmong, Oil City, 63.17
Lilly Shiley, Oil City, 63.42
Navy Perry, Cranberry, 63.59
Miah Shingledecker, Franklin, 64.55
400 relay (50.2)
Franklin (Anna Rodgers, Lilyan Miller, Lily Griffin, Lena Laderer), 52.82
300 hurdles (47.24)
Bailey Stevens Oil City, 48.67
Anna Rodgers, Franklin, 49.41
Olive Collins, Oil City, 51.13
Abby Copley, Oil City, 51.66
800 (2:20.6)
Beatrice Kolesar, Cranberry, 2:23.69
Isabel Griffin, Franklin, 2:24.24
Darien Wenner, Cranberry, 2:25.6
Corabel Shiley, Oil City, 2:26.76
Addison Wyant, Oil City, 2:27.18
200 (26.01)
Lilyan Miller, Franklin, 26.72
Sophia Garmong, Oil City, 27.51
Darien Wenner, Cranberry, 28.49
3200 (11:35)
Beatrice Kolesar, Cranberry, 10:58.44
Corabel Shiley, Oil City, 11:12.90
Isabel Griffin, Franklin, 11:45.61
Addison Wyant, Oil City, 12:10.33
Elena Ishman, Cranberry, 12:16.45
​1600 relay (4:08.75)
Franklin, 4:17.74
Oil City (Lilly Shiley, Bailey Stevens, Addison Wyant, Corabel Shiley), 4:20.99
Franklin (Anna Rodgers, Lena Laderer, Miah Shingledecker, Sophie Wehrle, 4:23.73
Girls Field
Shot (36-6)
Madi Garland, Oil City, 36-9
Halle Curry, Franklin, 31-11/2
Rhetta Boocks, Cranberry, 30-0
Discus (113-0)
Madi Garland, Oil City, 101-101/2
Javelin (121-0)
Madi Garland, Oil City, 112-6
Madison Shaffer, Cranberry, 106-3
High jump (5-2)
Olive Collins, Oil City, 5-3
ChishaBetty Watson, Cranberry, 5-0
Payton Liederbach, Oil City, 4-9
Lindsay Caralla, Oil City, 4-9
Long jump (16-11)
Lilyan Miller, Franklin, 16-61/2
Isabella Vorse, Oil City, 15-113/4
Triple jump 35-6)
Lena Laderer, Franklin, 34-5
Pole vault (10-6)
Darien Wenner, Cranberry, 11-6
Navy Perry, Cranberry, 8-6
Bailey Stevens, Oil City, 8-0
Keeping up with Luke Guth
Welp, it was not a good outing last Friday (May 8) for Luke Guth, and he hasn't pitched since.
He was brought into the game with Vanderbilt leading last-place Missouri, 6-1, in the eighth.
But he gave up six runs -- five earned -- as the Tigers took the lead. The junior right-hander was replaced by Matthew Shorey after getting only one out. He gave up five hits and two walks as his ERA zoomed to 4.94.
The Commodores dropped two of three in the series before bouncing back for a 9-1 victory Thursday (May 14) against South Carolina.
Vandy (30-24 overall, 12-16 SEC) finishes the regular season with games today (6 p.m.) and Saturday (1 p.m.) and then heads to the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala.
Guth is a 6-1, 188-pounder from Franklin. He's one of 19 pitchers on the Vanderbilt staff and is tied for the team lead in appearances with 21.
This space is dedicated to keeping up with him and Vanderbilt, usually one of the top programs in the country.
College Crowd revisted: How they're doing
Trinity Edge, Bethany (Franklin) – All-Presidents Athletic Conference. Started all 41 games. She posted a 17-6 record with 19 complete games and two shutouts. ERA was 2.61 with 136 strikeouts in 150.1 innings. Her .348 batting average and 49 hits included nine doubles, a triple and four home runs. Edge drove in 27 runs, scored 34 and led the team with 11 stolen bases. She was named the PAC Pitcher of the Week on April 13 and was also selected to the 2026 PAC All-Tournament team.
Drew Kockler, Bryant & Stratton (Franklin) – Team has played 54 games. Kockler, a freshman, has appeared in 51 of them. He’s hitting .242 with a .384 on-base percentage. An infielder, Kockler has six homers among his 12 extra base hits.
Kirsten Hicks, Westminster (Franklin) – has appeared in four games, making one start. She has a hit in two at-bats.
Carson Wible, Gannon (Franklin) – career .293 hitter and listed on 2026 roster, but hasn’t played since 2024.
Kenny Lavrich, Grove City (Cranberry) – Has appeared in 13 games, making nine starts. He’s worked 57.2 innings with a 30/50 W/K ratio. Has a 5-4 record, 6.09 ERA. Started the conference championship game against W&J. Wolverines dropped an 11-2 decision to finish 22-18. Grove City was the fifth seed going into the tournament. Career: finished with a 5.53 ERA in 96 innings, 56/80 W/K, 8-5 record. Best season was 2025 when he posted a 3.93 ERA in 34.1 IP.
Landon Lynch, Slippery Rock (Franklin) – The freshman finished 13th in the javelin in the PSAC meet, throwing 53.28 meters (that translates to 174.8 feet)
Easton Adamczyk, Slippery Rock (Rocky Grove) – Ran a PSAC qualifying 9:57.93 for No. 14 seed in the steeplechase. Last fall ran a personal best 33:09.1 over 10,000 meters in the NCAA Atlantic Region championships, finishing 66th out of a field of 158.
Cade Adams, Slippery Rock (Franklin) – Grad student, five-time PSAC qualifier, runs hurdles and sprints.
Scott Finch, Slippery Rock (Cranberry) – Two-time PSAC qualifier in the pole vault. No. 11 seed at 4.48 meters (14-8).
Kayla Hanna, Slippery Rock (Cranberry) – Seems to be more cross country, but did compete in indoor track.
Rae Montgomery, Westminster (Rocky Grove) – Sophomore just getting started in the throwing events at Westminster.
Ethan Knapp, Penn College (Rocky Grove) – Cross country guy.
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Will McMahon, Penn State Behrend (OIl City) – McMahon had a hand in Behrend winning the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship. The freshman appeared in 10 games, making three starts. His record was 1-1. ERA 4.55 over 27.2 innings. 9/29 W/K ratio.
Charlie Motter, Penn State Behrend (Oil City) – Threw 201on sixth and final throw to move from fifth to first in All-Atlanitc region meet. No. 3 all-time at Behrend. Runnerup in the SUNYAC javelin throw at 50.24 meters or 164-10. Placed fourth as a freshman.
Caleb Prettyman, Youngstown State (Franklin) – After transferring from Kansas State via Penn State, Prettyman, listed as a freshman, was clocked in 14:36.77 in the Boson Outdoor Classic on April 14. That’s the fourth best 5,000 meters time on the team. Also posted a 4:02.25 in the 1500 meters at the Dave Labor Invitational on April 4.
Ayanna Ferringer, Robert Morris (Cranberry) – Best throw in the javelin this season is 122-9. Consistently in the 120s during her two years at Bobby U.
Sydni Hoobler, IUP (Franklin) – The junior is hitting .355 with a .396 on-base percentage for the Crimson Hawks, who are 38-19 overall. IUP was runnerup in the PSAC tourney, but will play in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Thursday through Saturday.
Pole vaulter Scott Finch
Trinity Edge
Sydni Hoobler
Steeplechaser Easton Adamczyk
Slippery Rock photos from Rock web site.
