BROOKVILLE — Led by Manners Award winner Brady Collins, the Clearfield track and field team won seven titles Friday at the District 9 Class 3A Championships at Brookville High School.
Collins won four events, setting new school and meet records in all of them, while also claiming a pair of facility records. Bison Kai Lynch and Lady Bison Haley Custaney also won D-9 titles in record-setting fashion.
Bradford won the boys team title by two points over DuBois (93-91), while Punxsutawney took the girls team championship fairly easily over runner-up St. Marys (117-97.5).
But it was Collins that starred throughout the meet.
He repeated as champion in both the 110m and 300m hurdles, while also claiming victory in the 100m dash and 200m dash.
Collins bested 31-year-old records in the 100 and 200 dashes, which were both held by Bradford’s Jamie Austin. Austin ran an 11.04 in the 100 and a 22.24 in the 200 back in 1994.
Friday’s 100-dash saw four runner eclipse Austin’s mark in a blazing heat that saw Collins set the new standard with a time of 10.64, edging DuBois’ Nathan Kougher (10.73). St. Marys’ Ben Reynolds was third in 10.81, and DuBois’ Jaxson Hanzley took fourth in 11.03.
The time of 10.64 also broke the facility record of 10.81 set by Ian Thrush in 2019.
Collins’ record-setting day was far from over, however, as he again beat Kougher to the line in sizzling fashion in the 200m dash as both athletes topping Austin’s mark. Collins won in a time of 21.66 with Koughler finishing second in 21.92.
In the 110m hurdles, Collins beat Bradford’s Logan Kohler to the line by nearly a second (14.50 to 15.45), while taking down the previous meet record of 14.57, which was set by Bradford’s Tyree Bennett in 2009.Clearfield’s Ethan Mitchell was third with a time of 15.59.
Collins took down the school, meet and facility record all owned by Bison alum Nathan Shadeck (38.36) in 2004. Collins raced to a new record time of 38.02 in the event, while beating Punxsutawney’s runner-up Jordan Rutan (40.87) by almost three seconds. Collins was already the Clearfield program record holder in the other three events.
While Collins certainly put on a show, he wasn’t the only Clearfield athlete to shine.
Lynch won his second consecutive gold medal in the long jump with a leap of 22-5, which broke his own school record and the D-9 mark previously held by Bradford’s Shawn Colligan (22-2.5). Colligan set that record in 2003. Lynch’s leap also tied the facility record held by Brookville’s Bryan Dworek (2019). In addition to the long jump title, Lynch also placed third in the triple jump with a distance of 41-4.
Lady Bison Haley Custaney joined in on the fun with a pair of District 9 titles, while breaking a school record that had stood for over 40 years.
Custaney won the 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles, just beating Bradford’s Alyssa Mangold to the line (15.47-15.59) in the former and edging out Punxsutawney’s Adelynn Lewis (47.34-48.14) in the latter. Custaney’s time in the 100 broke Joan Natoli’s 45-year-old program record (15.60) she set in 1980. Custaney added a podium finish in the 200m dash as well, taking third in 27.32.
The Clearfield boy’s 4×100 relay team of Tucker Scott, Cooper Broad, Elijah Glunt and Cole Baughman were the runner up to DuBois (42.33-45.08), while Matt Peace also secured a second-place finish in the discus with a heave of 131-8. DuBois’ Noah Crawford won the event with a throw of 150-10.
For the girls, Sophia Campolong was second in the 400m dash with a time of 1:00.5, finishing behind St. Marys Lucia Hayes (57.84). Campolong took third in the 800m run as well, while also competing on a pair of placewinning relays.
Campolong was joined by Claudia Bailey, Bailey Jacob and Katie Peacock to place second in the 4×800. The foursome ran a 10:20.54 to finish behind St. Marys (9:55.04).
Bailey, Campolong, Custaney and Jacob were third in the 4×400 relay (4:11.64),
Clearfield’s Dehlia Elbe closed out the Clearfield placewinners with a second in the pole vault (9-0).
Collins, Custaney and Lynch will join athletes from across the state Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 24 at the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Seth Grove Stadium on the campus of Shippensburg University.
Complete PIAA AA/AAA D9 Championships Results can be found HERE.