‘I really believe he’s going to be an Olympian’

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, May 26, 2018 | 1:09 PM

Previous Next

Previous Next

SHIPPENSBURG — Ayden Owens’ immediate future includes a track meet in Puerto Rico that could earn him a summer trip to Finland.

His coach already sees him going much, much farther.

“I really believe he’s going to be an Olympian,” North Allegheny coach John Neff said of Owens’ five-year future. “He’s going to be a name that people not just in Pennsylvania know. People all across the country and the world are going to know him.”

For most high school track stars, that could seem crazy to say.

But Neff watched closely again Saturday as Owens dominated at the PIAA track and field championships. Owens won two more gold and one silver medal, set a Class AAA championship record and received two loud ovations from the crowd after running away with his hurdles races.

Outside of high school season, he’s considered one of the top decathletes in the nation.

“Selfishly, you just wish he could stay around forever,” Neff said. “He’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of kid. To think that I’d ever be able to cross paths with a kid like that again would just be almost crazy. We’ll keep trying, but he’s once in a lifetime.”

The Southern Cal recruit defended both his 110- and 300-meter hurdles titles and placed second in the long jump in his fourth and final appearance at Shippensburg’s Seth Grove Stadium.

“I feel great as a senior finishing off my career here,” Owens said. “It started here at states when I was a freshman. I ended up taking last in the 300 hurdles. So coming back and finishing it here with a great race, two golds, a silver, it’s all I could ask for.”

Owens won the 110 hurdles in 13.69 seconds, bettering his PIAA championship record of 13.76 from last year’s state meet. He later won the 300 hurdles in 36.68 seconds, which was only about two-tenths off that PIAA record, which he doesn’t own.

The Shippensburg crowd cheered as he ran all alone out front.

North Allegheny’s Ayden Owens breaks the #PIAA championship record in the Class AAA 110-meter hurdles. #TribHSSN pic.twitter.com/bbLma1QhhW

— Chris Harlan (@CHarlan_Trib) May 26, 2018

Owens won the 300 hurdles by nearly a second over Penn Manor’s Taraje Whitfield (37.62). He won the 110 hurdles by nearly four-tenths of a second ahead of Harrisburg’s Richard Gilchrist (14.07).

Owens placed second in the long jump Saturday morning with a jump of 23 feet, 3¼ inches, narrowly missing a third gold medal. Scranton’s Ky’ron Harbin out-jumped him by an inch and a half.

Only three WPIAL athletes won two individual events this weekend. Avonworth senior Hunter Robinson won the 200 and 400 meters in Class AAA girls, and Shady Side Academy freshman Melissa Riggins won the 800 and 1,600 titles in Class AA girls.

In all, WPIAL athletes won 13 PIAA events. The other winners were Shady Side Academy’s Dino Tomlin (300 hurdles), Winchester Thurston’s Tristan Forsythe (1600 meters), Seneca Valley’s Zach Gehm (discus), Valley’s Darius Johnson ( high jump), Brownsville’s Gionna Quarzo (3200 meters), South Park’s Maura Huwalt (discus) and Marco Maffeo (triple jump).

For many athletes, the PIAA championships mark the end of track season. But Owens’ season has a few busy weeks ahead before he travels to the West Coast for college.

He’ll travel to Puerto Rico next week to compete in their national championships there. He’s eligible through his mother’s heritage. He hopes to qualify for the IAAF World U20 Championships July 10 in Tempere, Finland. He’s also committed to compete June 8 at the Brooks PR Invitational in Shoreline, Wash.

“This is hardly the end,” Owens said. “I’m kind of chilling, I want this to be the end, but there’s so much more I have to accomplish. My ultimate goal for the year was Finland. I’m only halfway there right now.”

But after finishing his state championship events Saturday, as the final few winners were crowned, Owens used that time to reflect on what would be his final official high school meet.

“I’m going to just take it all in now that I don’t have to focus on any events,” he said. “Now it’s just talking to everyone, saying high to people and absorbing this environment because I know I won’t get it again.”

The #PIAA 300 hurdle champions: North Allegheny’s Ayden Owens and Shady Side Academy’s Michael ‘Dino’ Tomlin. #TribHSSN pic.twitter.com/mdrUnRjY5D

— Chris Harlan (@CHarlan_Trib) May 26, 2018

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: North Allegheny