Fox Chapel’s Rowan Gwin part of dominant showing for WPIAL in 1,600 at PIAA championships

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, May 24, 2024 | 5:06 PM

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SHIPPENSBURG — Fox Chapel’s Rowan Gwin wasn’t at Seth Grove Stadium last year for the state track championships, but his mind was.

“I think I watched the times on my phone and was mad I wasn’t here,” said Gwin, who missed most of last season with a leg injury. “The WPIAL went 1-2-3 last year. I remember seeing it on Instagram and thinking I should have been there.”

This time he made the trip to Shippensburg, and the results were even better for the WPIAL.

A year after WPIAL boys placed first, second and third in the 1,600 meters without him, Gwin was part of a remarkable 1-2-3-4-5 finish Friday in a Class 3A race that showed the recent dominance of Western Pennsylvania distance runners.

Gwin placed fourth with a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 7.06 seconds, a satisfying success after a stress fracture in his right femur required a lengthy recovery.

He ran in only one invitational meet as a junior before shutting down. He earned a WPIAL cross country medal in November but said this state medal was an even bigger lift.

“Mentally, you’re down after a season like that,” Gwin said. “Coming out here, proving myself as one of the top guys in the state or country, is a great feeling.”

The race featured a national record-breaking run by Butler’s Drew Griffith, who finished in less than four minutes, and Gwin was among four WPIAL runners battling behind him.

Ringgold’s Ryan Pajak finished second (4:04.72), Hampton’s Dale Hall third (4:06.90) and North Allegheny’s Jack Bertram was fifth (4:07.17). Gwin edged Bertram by about a tenth of a second.

“Really, it felt like last week (at WPIALs), just competing with the guys,” Gwin said. “We’ve known each other for so long. It was great having people I know and know that I can race with to pull me along.”

An Appalachian State recruit, Gwin bettered his personal best from a week ago by more than four seconds.

Freeport junior Michael Braun was one of two WPIAL runners in Class 2A who earned medals in the 1,600-meter boys race.

Braun placed seventh (4:20.53) and Mohawk junior Jaxon Schoedel (4:16.51) was third, but they had the added challenge of running in a slow heat. After crossing the finish line, they waited to see if their times would stand.

“Being put in heat two made it a little more difficult to hold pace,” Braun said. “Me and Jaxon both knew we had to get out in front everybody and push the last lap pretty hard.”

The heats are arranged by qualifying times, and Braun entered ranked 23rd in a 37-person field. That was misleading, he said, after a WPIAL championship race that was more about strategy than speed. His time that day was 11 seconds slower than his personal best.

“We all ran pretty slow (at WPIALs),” Braun said. “It was pretty tactical, just trying to win instead of focusing on time. Looking back, you live and learn, but overall I’m happy with today.”

Braun will run the 3,200 meters Saturday.

The 1,600 meters was the only track event with finals Friday. Medals were awarded for half of the field events.

Fox Chapel senior Mason Miles placed third in the boys 3A shot put with a throw of 57 feet, 4½ inches. That was more than 16 inches better than his distance at the WPIAL championships, where he placed second.

Knoch’s Karlee Buterbaugh was sixth in the 2A girls javelin with a throw of 125-4. Knoch teammate Neah Ewing finished 17th in that event and Burrell’s Rory Pallone was 22nd.

Springdale junior Garrett Myers finished seventh in the 2A boys discus with a throw of 150-9. Myers was the first Dynamos athlete to earn a state medal since 2012.

Apollo-Ridge’s Sophia Yard was 11th in the 2A high jump, and Deer Lakes’ Scarlett Hadlum was 20th in 2A discus.

In the girls 1,600-meter runs, Knoch’s Ava Santora finished 12th in 2A and Kiski Area’s Eliza Miller was 19th in 3A.

The WPIAL had three gold medal winners Friday. Joining Griffith were Mt. Lebanon’s Logan St. John Kletter in the 3A girls 1,600 meters and Derry junior Sophia Mazzoni in the 2A girls javelin.

Griffith’s time of 3:57.08 broke a National Federation of State High School Associations record that stood since 2001. The previous mark was 3:59.51, set by future Olympian Alan Webb of Reston, Va.

“It’s great to see a guy I know break it,” Gwin said. “The pure excitement everybody had is just amazing.”

When a runner pulls away from the pack, there’s sometimes a natural desire to try to chase him down. In this situation, Gwin said, he knew the other runners were his competition.

“I’ve raced him many times, so I know he’s elite,” Gwin said. “We stay a little bit behind him. I made the mistake once going out with him (on the first lap). It didn’t end well.”

Gwin will run the 3,200 meters Saturday morning, an event that might also have multiple WPIAL runners on the medal stand. Gwin hopes it’s just as crowded as the 1,600.

“I knew a lot of us were going to be up there,” he said, “but one through five is amazing.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.