Bethel Park was represented by 10 athletes at the WPIAL Class 3A track and field championships May 14 at Slippery Rock University.
The Black Hawks were led by stellar performers such as top-five district hurdler Autumn Flowers, record-breaking pole vaulter Brady McCarthy, freshman standout Tayler Bruckner and several others.
Flowers capped her senior season as a PIAA qualifier in the girls 100-meter hurdles after placing eighth at the district meet with a time of 15.35. The small, dynamic trackster posted a 15.24 in the semifinals.
“Autumn is a great kid, one of the heartbeats of our team,” said coach Scott Staranko, who plans to retire at the end of this school year. “I’m so proud of Autumn. She moved out of the district and came back for her junior and senior years.
“She’s super bubbly and an elite athlete. She’s just a great, young kid. I’ve been very blessed. There have been some really talented athletes here at Bethel.”
Flowers placed in the top four in the 100-meter hurdles at every invitational this year and surpassed the state-qualifying standard with a season-best time of 14.94 posted against Trinity.
Prior to the WPIAL finals, Flowers ranked second on Bethel Park’s all-time 100-meter hurdles list, owned the fifth-fastest time in the WPIAL and rated among the top 10 seniors in the state.
“This is my first time qualifying for the outdoor state championship and I’m very excited,” said Flowers, who has competed in the indoor state meet in her career. “I am extremely grateful that I qualified. The previous years, I’ve had some struggle with qualifying, and I am happy I’ve been able to overcome that.
“The cold temperatures and rain did not help but did not stop me. I expect lots of great competition and new people.”
The 5-foot-1 Flowers has been a member of the program for the last two years.
“I occasionally run the 200-meter and the 100-meter dash,” Flowers said. “I had to move out of Bethel Park my freshman year, so I’ve missed out on a lot of vital training for these events.”
Flowers, 18, plans to continue her track career as a criminal justice major at Seton Hill.
“My end goal is to become a criminal justice lawyer,” she said. “The atmosphere (at Seton Hill) and the coach’s personality influenced my college choice. I had a few other colleges that were interested in me; however, they didn’t meet all my needs.
“I love track and encourage anyone to do it. It’s such a great sport with great people and how I’ve made most of my friends.”
McCarthy, also senior at Bethel Park, broke a 33-year-old school record in the boys pole vault by clearing 13 feet, 10 inches this season against Trinity. He shattered his own record with a vault of 14 feet at the Last Chance Meet at West Mifflin.
Bruckner participated in the girls 100-meter hurdles along with Flowers at the district championships and ended up 10th in 15.72.
The skilled underclassman placed in the top eight at every invitational in 2026.
Bruckner maintains the No. 4 position on the Black Hawks’ all-time list.
The Black Hawks’ girls 3,200-meter relay team, comprised of juniors Iyonna Sloan and Elaine Flaherty, sophomore Jenna Benlock and freshman Molly McGrath with sophomore Charlize Richards serving as the alternate, qualified for the district relay competition.
Sloan, who plays at a defender position in girls lacrosse, advanced to the WPIAL championships in the girls 400-meter dash, as well.
Other Bethel Park qualifiers were junior Francesca Balkovec, in the girls pole vault and triple jump, and sophomore Fiona O’Neill, in the girls shot put and discus.
Prior to the WPIAL finals, Balkovec ranked second all-time at her school in the triple jump and 10th in the pole vault. O’Neill was fifth-best all-time in the discus and sixth in the shot put.
Balkovec finished in the top 20 in both the pole vault (13th), clearing a height of 9 feet, and triple jump (19th), hitting a distance of 33 feet, 1.25 inches, at the district meet.
O’Neill placed 11th in the discus with a toss of 104-04 and 21st in the shot put with a throw of 29-9.
Bruckner advanced to the semifinals in the 100 hurdles.