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Highly decorated:
three state medals in three events
Track and field 2025
DISTRICT 9 CHAMPS -- Cranberry's 3200 relay (clockwise from top left) Kelsey Hanna, Beatrice Kolesar (open 3200), Kayla Hanna, Darien Wenner (pole vault).
YDLsports.com photo
Berry 3200 relay takes
third at state meet
Kolesar sixth in open 3200, Wenner seventh in pole vault
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The Cranberry girls 3200 relay took home the bronze medal in the PIAA c2A state track meet May 24 at Shippensburg.
Kayla Hanna, Beatrice Kolesar, Kelsey Hanna and Darien Wenner were clocked in 9:38.31 -- a shade slower than the school record (9:37.36) they set a week ago to win District 9 honors.
And they weren't the only medals the Berries won Saturday. Kolesar got things rolling by taking sixth place in the open 3200. Then Wenner notched a seventh in the pole vault, clearing 11-0 to match her school record.
District 4 champion Warrior Run won the relay in 9:27.91. Oley Valley out of District 3, was runnerup in 9:30.85. Two WPIAL teams -- Winchester Thurston and Shady Side Academy -- were fourth and fifth. Disitrict 10's own Cathedral Prep was sixth.
Kolesar's time in the open 3200 was 10:58.44. The sophomore lowered her school record with that time. Baylee Espinosa of Lewisburg was the winner in 10:18.91.
Wenner, a freshman, went 9-6 and 10-0 without a miss. She missed her first try at 10-6, but not her second. Same thing at 11-0 before she missed three times at 11-6.
Mackenzie Magness of Freeport went 12-0 on her first try to win. Runnerup Evie Rosselli of Quaker Valley missed her first attempt at 12.
Third place Aleah Morgante of Grove City who won the D-10 title last week by jumping 12-4.5, walked a tightrope, passing until 11 feet, and then missing her first two attempts before making her third to stay alive. She passed again at 11-6 and then missed her first two tries at 12 before clearing on her third to keep on kicking and move past Wenner in the standings. But then she went out at 12-6 and settled for third.
Oil City results
Sophomore Corabel Shiley was in the open 3200 with Kolesar and finished 12th in 11:19.56, four seconds off her best time.
Erstwhile wrestler Elijah Brosius ran personal bests in both of his events at states. He was 15th in the 3200 at 9:41.46, after running a 4:30.81for 26th Friday in the 1600.
Franklin results
Isabel Griffin ran11:36.13 in the 3A 3200. She was 32nd. Isabella Peterson was 27th in the discus. She tossed 94-8. Logan Knight finished 16th in the discus. He sandwiched two fouls around a 148-7. At last look 180-2, 173-0 and 171-5 were the top three throws.
Another Cranberry result
Speaking of erstwhile wrestlers, Dalton Wenner ran 2:01.1 in the 2A 800 and came in 19th. He was seventh in the first heat. Winning time 1:56.17
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Northwestern Pa. state champs
Nolan Carey, Corry, 2A javelin, 189-5; Ondrea Young, Sharon, 2A 100 hurdles, 14.56; Blake Cook, Corry, 2A 300 hurdles, 37.56; Vinny Feliciano, Mercyhurst Prep, 2A 100, 10.85; Karis McElhaney, Greenville, 2A 800, 2:12.65; Ben Walls, Hickory, 2A shot, 57-7.5; Central Clarion 400 relay (Ben Lambert, Jase Ferguson, Brody Beggs, Mason Burford), 42.48​
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DISTRICT 10 CHAMPS -- Franklin's Isabella Peterson (discus), Logan Knight (discus), Isabel Griffin (3200). (Erie Times News snapshots).
Knight nicked at finish for state
medal in shot, settles for ninth
Photo by Christy Fackler
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Logan Knight looked to be sitting comfortably in eighth place -- i.e. in line for a state medal -- in the shot put Friday when out of nowhere came Exeter's Logan Wegman who grunted 56-6.5 to send the Franklin sophomore to ninth -- where he would stay.
Knight's best throw was 55-2.25 on his second throw of the day. In fact, that's when all the big boys of the second flight came through -- 58 feet by Tyler Ondrusek, 57-9.75 by Dino Nadarevic, 56-8.75 by Colin Sturges, 56-11.75 by Ryan Fischer. Just boom, boom, boom down the line. After the first flight guys were finished, Jason Noel had the top throw at 55-10.5.
That, as it turns out would be good enough for eighth -- since Wegman's clutch heave moved him up to sixth -- for the time being. Knight's last two throws after that were in the low 50s.
His 55-2.25 originally had him in third place, but only, as it turns out, temporarily.
Grove City's DeLathian Boanes vaulted to second place on his final throw -- 58-7.5. Another local rival, Brennen Dinsmore of Meadville, was 11th and didn't make the final nine.
Meanwhile, the other best showing among local entries Friday was by Cranberry sophomore Beatrice Kolesar in the 2A 1600. She finished 14th in 5:13.72, which is two seconds better than her previous best.
Oil City's Elijah Brosius was 26th in the boys 1600, running 4:30.75. Teammate D'Vaughn Griffin was clocked in 11.38 in the 100 -- 20th in the prelims. Mercyhurst's Vinny Feliciano had the top time -- 11.0.
Oiler Braylon Barber was 19th in the javelin (142-11), far from his best. Corry's Nolan Carey won that event, throwing 189-5.
Oilers win fourth straight region track championship
Keegan Kirkwood (left) braved the elements in the 36th annual Oil Country Invitational on May 3. Elijah Brosius relaxes after another victory this season, and Gavin Stephens flies through the air with the greatest of ease in an earlier dual meet. (Photos by Kelly/Connor Malek)
The Oil City boys overwhelmed homestanding Titusville, 104-46, May 8 to clinch their fourth straight region track championship.
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Distance runners Elijah Brosius and Keegan Kirkwood were triple winners for the Oilers, who finished 4-0 in Region 3 by conquering Corry, Meadville, Titusville and Franklin.
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Brosius, the steady senior, won the 1600, Kirkwood the 800 and the two ran legs on the 3200 and 1600 relays.
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Double winners were: Gavin Stephens (long, triple jumps), Rilee Matalino (3200, 3200 relay), Dylan Van Wormer (300 hurdles, 1600 relay) and Michael Fink (110 hurdles, 400 relay).
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Clae Thompson (high jump) and Spence Singleton (javelin) also won field events. Other relay winners were: Elijah Collins (3200), Morris Woodhouse (1600) and Steven Heise, Derrick Jones and Brayden Buzard (400).
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The girls beat Titusville, 113-36. Sophia Garmong (100, 200, 400, 1600 relay) and Corabel Shiley (800, 1600, 3200, 3200 relay) were four-event winners. The Lady Oilers were 2-2 in the region.​
Photos by Kelly Malek
2025 record setters
May 24: Darien Wenner again matched her school record in the pole vault, clearing 11-0 for seventh at states.
May 24: Beatrice Kolesar lowered her Cranberry school record to 10:58.44 in the 3200, taking the sixth place medal in the 2A state meet.
May 16: Darien Wenner cleared 11-0 for second in the pole vault in the District 9 meet, matching her school record.
May 16: Cranberry girls again shaved time off their school record in the 3200 relay. This time they ran 9:37.36 for the title.
May 8: Cranberry girls lowered their school record to 9:44.41 in the 3200 relay and set a meet mark in the Redbank Valley Invite. Kolesar later lowered her record to 11:15.92 in the 3200. Meanwhile, Franklin's Landon Lynch threw the javelin 186-9 for second in that meet. Brookville's Wyatt Lucas won with a throw of 188-1. ​
May 2: Freshman Darien Wenner cleared 11-0 in the pole vault in the KSAC meet, breaking her own record. She originally broke the record of 9-6 set last season by sophomore teammate Reagan Antrilli.
April 26: Cranberry girls not only set a school record, but won the 3200 relay in the prestigious McDowell Invitational. Kayla Hanna (from left) Beatrice Kolesar, Kelsey Hanna and Darien Wenner ran a 9:52.92 to break the previous record of 9:54. The foursome beat McDowell (10:06.34) for the victory. Later on, Kolesar broke her own school record with an 11:35.06 to win the open 3200 by 25 seconds.
April 22: Oil City freshman Olive Collins ran a 16.23 in the 100 hurdles, shaving 2/100ths of a second off the old mark set in 1997 by Lisa Goodman.
April 18: Another Lady Oiler, sophomore Corabel Shiley, ran an 11:12.90 at the Butler Invitational to smash Jennifer Petulla's 45-year-old mark in the 3200. Petulla's time was 11:30.61
April 7: Kolesar ran 11:40 to erase the late Melanie Ishman's 11:49 from the Berry record book. Ishman's record came in 1991.
Last year: Rocky Grove's Isabel Griffin set the Franklin record in the 1600 (5:16.95) in 2024. Cranberry's Dane Wenner set the school pole vault mark (13-7) last spring.
...and the one we all knew was coming
Sophomore Logan Knight broke the Franklin school record in the shot put April 26 with a heave of 57-4.
Not only was it the winning throw in the Franklin Invitational, but it broke a school standard that had stood since May 19, 1973, when senior Corby Allen put the shot 54-83/4 to win the District 10 title. It was at least the third time Allen had broken the school record that spring; earlier he threw 53-9 and 53-8.
Knight was a double winner in the Redbank Valley Invitational May 8. He claimed the shot (50-101/2) and the discus (158), crushing his previous best throw of 148-1 April 26 in the Franklin Invitational.
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Photo by Christy Fackler
Keeping track of their times
These three underclassmen -- (from left) Beatrice Kolesar of Cranberry, Isabel Shiley of Oil City and Isabel Griffin of Rocky Grove are sort of similar times-wise in the distance. So, to keep track of them...
Griffin's time in the 1600 , incidentally, a school record, was done last year. Ran the 32 to the best of my knowledge in the Redbank Valley Invite on May 8.
Kolesar took 20 seconds off her best in the 3200 and four off her 1600 time in the Redbank Valley event.
Photos by Kelly Malek (Kolesar and Shiley) and Christy Fackler (Griffin)
Two local athletes -- Oil City's Elijah Brosius and Franklin's Logan Knight -- were double winners May 3 in the 36th annual Oil Country Invitational.
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Brosius, a senior who is having a solid season in track, won the 1600 and 3200 meters, while Knight, the super soph, claimed the shot and discus.
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But it was Corry that dominated the 13-team affair, outdistancing Oil City for both titles. The Beavers measured the Oilers, 103-90, and the Oil City girls, 170-74.
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Franklin and Cranberry finished pretty far down the list of teams, although the Lady Berries won the 3200 relay with ease.
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It doesn't appear that all the teams had all their chess pieces, though.
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Other firsts by local athletes were by Lady Oilers Corabel Shiley in the 3200 and freshman Olive Collins in the high jump. Collins cleared 5-0 -- same as teammate Lindsay Carolla.
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Knight was short of the 57-4 school record he set last week in the shot, throwing 54-5, and interestingly Corry's Nolan Carey was off his season's best 207 in the javelin, tossing 191-10 to win that.
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Franklin's Landon Lynch was runnerup in the javelin. Other seconds were by Oil City's De'Andre Griffin 100, Dylan VanWormer 300 hurdles, Nikki Petro long jump and Madi Garland javelin. Griffin was nicked at the finish by Titusville's Aaron Burrows.
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(File photos Christy Fackler (Knight), Kelly Malek (Brosius)
Corry dominates Oil Country invite
Griffin, Knight, Lynch place in always-loaded Butler invite
Photo by Christy Fackler
Oil City and Franklin track athletes participated in the 60th annual and 50-plus team Butler Invitational April 17, and, for the most part, found the going tough.
Only three placed:
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Oil City senior De'Vaughn Griffin (pictured) who was fifth in the 200 and eighth in the 100,
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Franklin sophomore Logan Knight (pictured), sixth in the discus and eighth in the shot
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Franklin senior Landon Lynch (pictured), sixth in the javelin.
Griffin did run a 22.62 in the 200 and an 11.26 in the 100. Knight thew the disk 146 feet, but was a little off in the shot with a 48-10.5 put. Lynch tossed the javelin 159-5.
Oil City's Corabel Shiley and Franklin's Isabel Griffin almost made the medals stand. Shiley finished 11th in the 3200 in 11:12.9 while Griffin took 13th in the 1600 at 5:19.66.
Franklin's Jay Prettyman and Oil City's Elijah Brosius were 19th and 21st in the 3200. Prettyman was clocked in 9:36.07 and Brosius went 9:42.46. Meanwhile, Franklin's Caden Mincer ran 42.69 in the 300 hurdles for 24th. Oil City's Dylan VanWormer was right behind in 25th at 42.94. Both are sophomores.
Gavin Stephens of Oil City leaped 41-5 for 19th in the triple jump.
Other showings of note: Oil City's Madi Garland a 101-2 in the javelin (22nd) and Keegan Kirkwood 4:42.91 and Rilee Matalino 4:47.11 in the 1600, but both finished way down among the place finishers.
Photo by Richard Sayer