Pfender wins gold twice, sets discus record at WPIALs
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
SLIPPERY ROCK – In the moments after receiving his second gold medal of the day, plenty of emotions ran through Jonah Pfender’s mind.
It was a day that the Fort Cherry senior had dreamed of.
He’s a district champion and one that will go down in the WPIAL record books.
Pfender set a WPIAL Class 2A meet record in discus, with a throw of 176-7 and won the shot put Wednesday at the WPIAL Track and Field Championships.
It was Pfender’s first two WPIAL titles after he finished fifth in discus and second in shot put last year.
“It’s awesome to have my name up there with a record and for someone else to strive to beat that is also awesome,” Pfender said. “I hope I’m motivation for someone else to get better in this sport. To me that’s what records are about.
“That’s why I like records. Not because I own them, but more the aspect that I can be someone’s role model.”
Several other local boys athletes won gold medals. California’s Lee Qualk won his second consecutive title in the Class 2A long jump and the Fort Cherry 400 boys relay team successfully defended its title.
Canon-McMillan’s Aaron Taylor won the Class 3A 300 hurdles.
Pfender set the discus record on his final throw. The previous record was 171 feet two inches, which was set by Shenango’s Will Patton in 2022.
It was an All-American standard throw and a personal best by 12 feet. He was seeded third in Class 2A coming into the meet, so he certainly defied expectations.
“I came in with a good mindset,” Pfender said. “The adrenaline and energy here definitely had something to do with it. The support from my coaches saying I could do well and my friends it puts some confidence in you. It’s all about doing your best. It’s not about beating someone else. You go in, throw, and hopefully you get your PR. I did and I’m really proud of that.”
Pfender, a Colorado School of Mines recruit, wasn’t fully satisfied with the day, because he wanted to perform better in shot put. It came down to his final throw, which was 53 feet, 10 inches, two inches better than Laurel’s Kevin Mahoney, who finished second.
“I fought through the mental struggle of asking myself if I could do it,” Pfender said. “You just have to relax in those moments. Last throw I won by two inches, so I’m really proud of that aspect.”
Fort Cherry’s 400 relay team had two new members, but it didn’t slow down at all.
The Rangers successfully defended their WPIAL title with a time of 42.73. They were comfortably ahead of the field.
“It’s awesome,” Matt Sieg said. “Obviously getting it last year was a great feeling and set the bar for this year. It was first place or bust. It feels great to be able to defend it.”
Next week they’ll defend their state title at the PIAA Championships in Shippensburg.
Sieg and Shane Cornali are the returners. The two newcomers, Joey Barna and Eli Salvini, admitted there was a little pressure to repeat.
“There was for sure, but at the same time we knew we could do it,” Barna said.
Qualk didn’t feel like he was at his best in the high jump a week after he set a personal record at the Baldwin Invitational, but it was enough to get the job done and repeat as a WPIAL champ.
“All in all, I wasn’t feeling that great about my jumps,” Qualk said. “I was behind the board a little bit. I was looking at my load step and it wasn’t as good as it could’ve been, so there’s a lot of room for improvement. But I still can’t be upset about winning today.”
Taylor was relaxing and waiting to receive his gold medal for the 300 meter hurdles when he realized he had to get back to the track to run the 200 meter final.
“Ya that race might have slipped my mind,” Taylor said.
It’s understandable, because he had just won his first WPIAL title a few minutes before, using a personal best time of 37.81 to cruise to victory.
“That’s the best race I could’ve run right now,” Taylor said. “I still think I could go even faster with more competition pushing me, but it was a great race.”
Taylor also qualified for states in the 110 hurdles.
Other local state qualifiers in Class 3A were Trinity’s Jake Phillips (400 run), Belle Vernon’s Ryan Kent (discus), Canon-McMillan’s Connor Rolek (pole vault) and South Fayette’s Griffin Martin (3200 run). In Class 2A, Waynesburg’s Jackson Brunell and Mason Schroyer (pole vault) and Zach Andrews (300 hurdles), Charleroi’s Braedin Lunger (long jump, high jump and 110 hurdles), California’s Andrew Typovsky and Christian Ross (javelin), Beth-Center’s Deakyn DeHoet (100 dash), McGuffey’s Aydan Cunningham (high jump and triple jump) were state qualifiers.