Wolfe, Wertz headed to state meet
Joe Wertz took second in the shot put at the District 6 2A championships and will compete in states next week.
May 17, 2019
On Wednesday the B-A Track teams headed to Mansion Park in Altoona to take on the District track meet.
Bellwood-Antis’s own Shawn Wolfe and Joe Wertz qualified for the PIAA championship meet.
Head Track Coach Nick Lovrich said, “It was great to see both of them advance to the state meet.”
Wolfe placed third in the 200 meter dash with a 23.21, and Wertz placed second in shot put with a 49 feet, 9 and ¾ inch throw.
Lovrich said, “Joe was fourth last year at districts, so his goal was to get to states this year. He has thrown very well this season and we think he still has his best throws of the year coming up.”
Field Coach Charlie Burch said he thought Wertz could be a District contender following a strong freshman season, and he sees plenty of room for growth over the next two seasons.
“At the end of last year I felt Joe had the potential to be something special when he hit over 44 feet at Districts and took fourth as a freshmen,” Coach Burch said. “He walked in this year hitting several feet farther in March, and when he started hitting over 48 feet I knew we had potential for top two in the district, and he didn’t disappoint. He has his sights on the school record at the state meet or next season.”
Wolfe blew by everyone in preliminaries but “wasn’t pushed at all” said Lovrich, so his time suffered.
That meant he went into the race as eighth seed, which meant he had to run in lane eight, which is very tough.
“He beat everyone out of the blocks and ran an awesome race” said Coach Lovrich.
Coach Lovrich also said, “Hopefully with a little rest and some fine tuning he can PR (Personal Record) at the state meet and move into semis.”
B-A’s 4×400 team consisting of Wolfe, Owen Shaulis, Evan Frye, and Dylan Wilson took fourth.
Junior Evan Frye placed eighth with a 53.89 in the 400-meter dash and Shaulis placed eighth in the triple jump with a 40-4 jump.
Sophomore Zach Mallon placed eighth in the long jump with 19-4 1/4.
Wolfe and Wertz are B-A’s only two qualifiers for states, which takes place at Shippensburg University.
The girls track teams’ season ended with no Lady Blue Devils qualifying for states.
