Riverview runners cap special season at PIAA meet

By: Michael Love
Sunday, June 5, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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Riverview’s boys 3,200-meter relay runners stood on the medals stand at last year’s PIAA Class 2A championships having just completed a strong performance on the track at Shippensburg University.

Parker Steele, Amberson Bauer, Ty Laughlin and the now-graduated Mason Ochs ran to a time of 8 minutes, 16.58 seconds and placed eighth overall just a week after winning the WPIAL title at Slippery Rock.

Fast forward to this year, and Steele, Laughlin and Bauer, two seniors and a junior, respectively, returned to states at Shippensburg along with freshman Chris Barnes with the goals of improving on last year’s place finish and also bettering their time.

Mission accomplished.

The quartet put it all together May 28 and ran to a sixth-place finish in 8:16.33.

They made their move throughout the race, from 20th after the first 800 to 15th at the midway point to 11th heading into the final 800.

Riverview, the WPIAL runner-up, bested WPIAL bronze medalist Shenango (seventh, 8:16.87) for sixth and cut more than three seconds from its WPIAL time of 8:19.79.

WPIAL champion Winchester Thurston took third overall behind a pair of District 4 teams: state champion Hughesville (8:04.31) and runner-up Williamson (8:10.86).

The Riverview school record in the boys 3,200 relay — 8:07.5 set in 1985 — remains a long sought-after target.

Three hours after the 3,200 relay, Bauer returned to the track for the 800 and ran in the second heat with race favorites in Deer Lakes senior Carson McCoy, the WPIAL champion, and Schuylkill Valley senior Luke Seymour, the District 3 champ.

Bauer, the WPIAL runner-up (1:58.84), ran a school-record smashing time of 1:55.19, surpassing the previous record time of 1:58.31 he set in taking second at the Mars Invitational on April 29. He was fourth after the first lap, behind Seymour, McCoy and New Brighton senior Max Mengel.

But Mengel, fourth overall at WPIALs, slipped somewhat in his second lap and finished 14th. At the same time, Bauer made a kick to stay among the leaders.

McCoy and Seymour, however, weren’t to be caught that day as McCoy won with a time of 1:51.02, and Seymour clocked a time of 1:51.85.

Both times were good enough for placement on the National Federation of High Schools honor roll.

Junior John Patsey, the dual-sport standout (baseball) for the Raiders, kicked everything off for the Riverview contingent at states with a first-day run in the 300 hurdles.

Making his PIAA debut, Patsey achieved his goal of going faster than his time at WPIALs as he crossed the finish line with a personal best of 41.78. Seeded 17th coming in, he bumped up three spots to 14th overall.

When the dust settled, the time needed in the prelims to get to finals was a 40.72 set by eighth-place finisher Nathan Zarnowski, a senior from District 2’s Mid Valley.

Patsey’s finish at states also was the best for any WPIAL competitor. WPIAL champion James Brewer, a sophomore from Greensburg Central Catholic, came in seeded 10th but fell to 16th overall (42.47).

Shenango senior Tyler Morosky, the WPIAL runner-up, was 15th (42.02).

Patsey earned bronze at WPIALs (41.99) just one day after helping the Riverview baseball team to a victory over Bishop Canevin in the first round of the WPIAL Class 1A playoffs.

The 1,600 relay of Patsey, senior Micah Black, junior Jack Betler and sophomore Cohen Hoolahan were not as fast as the team’s state-qualifying time from WPIALs, but they were happy with the opportunity to compete.

The group finished 24th overall in 3:43.71.

Hoolahan joined the group for its run at states after Bauer was in the mix for WPIALs.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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