PIAA track and field 2026: Top girls athletes to watch in Butler County this season
A few track and field dual-meets will start the 2026 spring outdoor season, but the first real look we’ll get at the PIAA season comes March 28 when Seneca Valley hosts the Butler County Classic, featuring nearly all of the talent from the local region.
The county returns some of Western Pennsylvania’s fastest sprinters and some really good field athletes, including defending state pole vault champion Mackenzie Magness (Freeport). The top-end strength of the area seems to be in the jumps this season.
Be on the lookout for these top runners, jumpers and throwers this season, listed alphabetically:
If there’s a District 9 athlete who could make a push to qualify for the PIAA championships, watch out for Brandon. The junior picked up two top-five medals at the district meet a year ago — silver in the long jump (16-3) and fifth in the 100-meter dash (12.8 seconds) — and therefore should be able to build on those performances.
Burtner is the Knights’ lone returning 2025 medalist on the girls side after leaping 5-3 in the high jump to take seventh in WPIALs. The St. Vincent soccer commit followed that up with a 5-2 for 13th at states.
Christie is the defending District 10 javelin champion after throwing 110-8 in the meet to qualify for the state championships.
The Trojanettes have been arguably the fastest girls team in the county the last few years, in part thanks to the Lazzara twins. Anna has won multiple state and district medals in the 100- and 200-meter sprints, the long jump and with North’s 4x100 relay team that owns WPIAL and PIAA gold. She also ran the top times in the county in the 100 (12.31) and 200 (25.27).
And then there’s Audra, also part of the defending champion 4x100 relay quartet. Her 100 hurdles top time of 14.93 led Butler County last year as she went on to win a WPIAL Class 2A title in the event and silver at the state level. She also finished fifth in the WPIAL 300 hurdles to qualify for states in that event.
Lockwood missed the podium for the second time in the WPIAL discuss finals last year by just 5 feet when she placed 11th with a 107-11. She had medaled in 2024 with a 109-8, good for seventh. She also throws shot put.
Magness is arguably the most successful female athlete from the area entering the season. The reigning Butler Eagle girls athlete of the year in the sport, the junior is a two-time WPIAL Class 2A pole vault champion, the defending state champion at 12 feet and owns school records with a 12-4 and a 17-8.75 in the long jump.
The Raiders have had two really good jumpers for a few years now, with Monteleone on the girls’ side. She’s the defending WPIAL Class 3A champ in the high jump (5-5), which sent her to Shippensburg University, where she finished fourth in the state. Her best height last year was 5-6, which led the county, and she medaled at districts in the long jump (17-4, eighth).
It’s been a series of unfortunate events in the postseason for Vardy, who returns for one final crack at competing in a state championship. She qualified for the high jump — tied for fourth in WPIALs with 5-1 — in 2024 as a sophomore, but illness kept her out. The same height last year at districts missed the podium. And she made this year’s indoor state championships, but a hip flexor injury, according to Butler girls coach John Williams, also kept her off the field. She competes in all three jumps.
Wolfe reached 127-0 in the javelin during the WPIAL championships last season, finishing fifth. That earned her a trip to Shippensburg University, where she came in 16th (123-1).
