Ryan Beam has brothers who stand 6 feet 7 and 6-4, and his father is 6-6.
Ryan, meanwhile, is only 6-3.
“I guess I just got the short end of the stick in my family,” Ryan said with a laugh.
When it comes to height, maybe. But when it comes to athletic success, Ryan Beam is shining just like his brothers, only it has come in a different sport.
Ryan Beam is a junior at Pine-Richland and one of the top javelin throwers in the WPIAL. The youngest of Tom and Tina Beam’s three children, Ryan is blazing his own path as he follows in the footsteps of older brothers Tommy and Jake as being a standout athlete at the school. His oldest brother, Tommy, is a 6-7 sophomore pitcher at West Virginia, while Jake is a 6-4, 280-pound freshman offensive lineman at Sacred Heart.
Baseball and football were once both part of Ryan’s life, but he didn’t fall in love with either. His baseball career was short-lived, as he said he gave it up in fourth grade. He also played football and was a quarterback at Pine-Richland his freshman and sophomore years before deciding to part ways with that sport.
Track and field is a different story, in particular the javelin. Beam’s year-by-year progression has seen him go from throwing in the 120s and 130s as a freshman to the then-personal record of 173 feet, 5 inches he achieved when he was the runner-up at last year’s WPIAL Class 3A championships. Beam then took it to another level Saturday when he launched a throw of 178-10 to set a new PR while also taking first place at the Tri-State Track Coaches Association Championship at West Mifflin.
“I’ve definitely been hoping to break 180, and after [Saturday] I think that’s a good possibility. Maybe even 190,” said Beam, whose father was an All-American water polo player at Slippery Rock in the mid-1990s.
According to MileSplit, Beam’s winning throw Saturday was the longest by a WPIAL athlete this season, with the second-best mark coming at the same meet when Canon-McMillan senior Louis Liberatore launched a toss of 177-8 to finish second. Liberatore was third at last year’s WPIAL championships. Gold medalist Derek Armfield of Chartiers Valley graduated.
Could a WPIAL title be in Beam’s immediate future?
“That’s the goal,” he said. “That and to put up some good numbers at states.”
Conaboy looks to finish strong
Bethel Park senior Artemis Conaboy has one of the most unique first names in the WPIAL.
“Most people assume I was named after the Greek goddess, but it’s my great-grandmother’s name,” the personable Conaboy said. “If I said anything else, my mom would be like, ‘That’s not it!’”
Conaboy’s middle name might even be more unique.
“Oh, geez,” she said, smiling. “It’s Parthenopi. That’s my grandmother’s name.”
You can also call Artemis Parthenopi Conaboy one of the top 400-meter runners in the WPIAL and arguably the best sprinter in Bethel Park girls history. Conaboy, who placed second in the 400 at last year’s WPIAL Class 3A championships, owns school records in the 100 and 400, and is closing in on the 200 record, as well.
“I’m hoping to get the 200 this year, just so I can complete the trilogy and make my mark while I can,” said Conaboy, a Seton Hill track recruit who doubled as an all-section soccer player at Bethel Park.
Conaboy ran a time of 58.56 seconds to win the 400 at the TSTCA Championship. She must like running at the meet, because last season she set what stands as her PR (57.71) while finishing second. However, a week after last year’s meet, she suffered a hamstring injury that kept her out until the WPIAL championships. That being the case, Conaboy said that staying healthy is one of her chief goals this spring.
As for the name thing, Conaboy’s only sibling must have a unique first name, too, right?
“I have a brother,” Conaboy said before bursting out laughing. “And his name is Michael.”
Moye continues to soar
It didn’t take long for Pine-Richland junior Emery Moye to show that he could be in for a big spring. Moye set PRs in the high jump and long jump in his first meet of the season and has since matched that high jump mark of 6-5. According to MileSplit, Moye is one of only 11 athletes in the state and the only one from the WPIAL to reach 6-5 this season.
“At the beginning of the year, my goal was 6-7, and I wanted 6-5 before April. So I got that. And I really want to win the high jump at WPIALs,” said Moye, whose jump of 6-1 on a windy day Saturday earned him a title at the TSTCA Championship.
Moye leaped 6-1 to tie for fourth place at last year’s WPIAL Class 3A championships. Moye’s top mark last season was 6-3½, which was his PR up until this season.
If Moye wins a WPIAL or even a PIAA title, he won’t be the first in his family to do so. His father won both 25 years ago. Matt Moye was a starting senior forward on the Blackhawk basketball team that won WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A titles in 1999. Emery also plays basketball at Pine-Richland.
“It would be great,” Emory said of winning a WPIAL championship. “States would be amazing, too. He tells me how amazing it was when he won.”
This and that
It’s not often that Hempfield’s Peyton Murray doesn’t win the discus competition he’s participating in, but Penn-Trafford’s Matt Sarnowski (179-3 to 177-8) edged out Murray for the title at the Lady Spartan/Wildcat Invitational Saturday at Latrobe. Murray is a Notre Dame recruit and Sarnowski a Penn State recruit. Murray won WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A titles last season, with Sarnowski placing second at the WPIAL meet and third at the PIAA meet. Murray did win the shot put title at Latrobe, however, doing it with a PR of 59-1. … One of the top performances at the TSTCA Championship was produced by North Catholic junior Daphne Flerl, whose leap of 18-7¼ in the long jump earned her the title and put her on the all-time WPIAL leaderboard. According to WPIAL track historian Jim Faiella, only 21 girls have jumped farther.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.