TRACK & FIELD: James Buchanan's Peter Hughey defends his 400-meter crown

SHIPPENSBURG >> Saturday's conditions for the District 3 Track & Field Championships were not ideal – hot with a decent breeze blowing most of the day – but it sure beat the cold weather the athletes had to deal with early in the season.

And it not deter James Buchanan senior Peter Hughey from claiming first place in the Class AAA 400-meter race for the second straight season. He ran a time of 48.12, which set a school record.

"It's always seems like it's windy here, so I always want to go hard for the first 300 meters, then give everything you have for the last 100 (into the wind)," Hughey said. "You know everybody is tired then. I was hoping to be in the upper 47s, but it's still a PR, so I'm OK with that."

Hughey was Franklin County's only winner on Saturday at Grove Stadium, but four other athletes had performances good enough to qualify for the PIAA Championships next weekend back at SU.

Waynesboro's Lilly Harnish placed second in the triple jump, Nate Long of Chambersburg took fourth in the javelin, Greencastle-Antrim's Liam Okal was fifth in the 200 and the Trojans' Sammi Lowery placed eighth in the pole vault, but met the state qualifying standard.

Hughey and CD East's Charles Bowman Jr. were set up for a dual in the 400. Bowman had a slightly better seed time (48.70 to 48.78), but Hughey took the lead and actually seemed to pull away at the end.

"Bowman has beaten me every other time this year (Bowman did not run in the 400 at Mid Penns last week), so he's the guy with a target on his back," Hughey said. "I want to run against him, because he pushes me."

Harnish won the high jump on Friday, and nearly pulled off a second win the triple jump. She hit 38-1, and winner was the heavy favorite, Sierra Brabham-Lawrence, who leaped 38-7.

"I had no target I wanted to hit, just wanted to get to states," Harnish said. "I was still feeling pumped from yesterday. My second jump in the finals was good – I thought it was at least 39 – but I just dropped my feet too fast.

"I feel like I'm 100 percent (coming back from an ankle injury) except for my endurance – I noticed it some in the later jumps in the high jump."

Chambersburg's Long had been not in the best form coming into districts.

Long said, "I'm pleased with fourth and I'm happy to advance. I've been in a rut the past couple of weeks, so I've been working on slowing down. I have a tendency to build up too much speed and it throws me off, so I've been working on that."

It must have worked. On his next-to-last throw in the finals, he uncorked a toss of 177-4, which just an inch ahead of fifth and an inch from third place.

Long knew he had a decent throw, but when the officials were measuring his effort, their tape snapped, so it took a few minutes until a replacement was retrieved.

Greencastle's Okal, a junior, was busy with qualifying races Friday and he got into the final in the 100 and 200. In the 100, he ran a time of 11.38, which placed him sixth and out of the running for states.

Okal said, "Nobody had their best time today, the headwind was too strong. Having to run four races yesterday didn't help, either."

But he made up for it in the 200, turning in a strong time of 22.43 to place fifth and earn a spot in states.

"This race went a lot better than expected," he said. "I was not great in the 100, but this was my best-ever 200. I came here last year and didn't get out of the prelims, so to do this in my junior season and get to states will be a great experience for me."

Lowery has hit 11-6 previously in the pole vault, but went out at 11-0 on Saturday. Still, she gets another chance to compete next week.

"I tried a new pole this week and I was trying to work that out," Lowery said. "We thought we might have a better chance of going higher with this one. I did get really close on the last one, and at least I did qualify for states."

Chambersburg had a couple of near misses. Abby Yourkavitch took seventh in the 1,600 in 5:12.42, just missing the qualifying time.

Yourkavitch said, "I was hoping for a PR, but running in this kind of heat, I was just happy to medal. The heat was one factor, and the fact that I ran the 3,200 last night was, too. Last night was great weather to run in; today was a lot hotter. But I did make states in the 3,200 and that's my best event anyway."

The Trojan girls 4x100 relay team was seeded ninth, which put them in the "slower" second heat. But that didn't hurt them and the team of Camryn Greenlee, Cirsten Kelly, Rachael Berman and Miana Harrison turned in a time of 49.90 to take seventh place. They were second in their heat and the first and second teams were both faster than two teams in the top heat.

Harrison said, "We ran a 49.88 at Mid Penns, but time was not a goal; we just wanted to place. That second heat was a lot faster than we thought it would be."

The Chambersburg boys 4x800 relay team also grabbed a seventh-place finish. The team of Chris Wurtz, Kevin Madrigal, Alex Aquino-Flores and Tanner Amsley turned in a time of 8:09.97.

District 3 Championships

BOYS AAA

Team Standings — 1.Carlisle 89, 2.Central Dauphin East 56, 3.Warwick 32, 4.McCaskey 31, 5.Solanco 28, 21.(tie) Chambersburg 12, 23.(tie) James Buchanan 10, 30.(tie) Greencastle-Antrim 7, 50.(tie) Waynesboro 1, 53.(tie) Shippensburg .033.

4x800 relay — 1.Cedar Crest 7:54.01, 7.Chambersburg (Chris Wurtz, Kevin Madrigal, Alex Aquino-Flores, Tanner Amsley), 8:09.97; 110 hurdles — 1.Charles Bowman Jr. (CD East) 14.48; 100 — 1.Chris Craig (Cumb. Valley) 11.20, 6.Liam Okal (Greencastle) 11.38; 1,600 — 1.Zach Brehm (Carlisle) 4:18.30; 4x100 relay — 1.CD East 42.10; 400 — 1.Peter Hughey (James Buchanan) 48.12; 300 hurdles — 1.Dashaun Jackson (Harrisburg) 38.84, 14.Jordan Turner (Shippensburg) 40.80; 800 — 1.Brehm (Carlisle) 4:18.30; 200 — 1.Craig (Cumb. Valley) 22.08, 5.Okal (G-A) 22.43; 4x400 relay — 1.CD East 3:17.27; Shot put — 1.Bryce Sadler (Donegal) 54-7.5; Long jump — 1.Isa Paschall (Carlisle) 23-0; High jump — 1.AlexMcCord (Warwick) 6-4; Javelin — 1.Evan Horn (Cedar Crest) 179-8, 4.Nate Long (Chambersburg) 177-3.

BOYS AA

Team Standings — 1.Camp Hill 129, 2.Schuylkill Valley 96.5, 3.Wyomissing 68, 4.Trinity 61, 5.Lancaster Catholic 41.

4x800 relay — 1.Trinity 9:39.94; 110 hurdles — 1.Zack Kuntz (Camp Hill) 15.49; 100 — 1.Brendon Latimore (Trinity) 11.22; 1,600 — 1.Kyle Shinn (Wyomissing) 4:25.11; 4x100 relay — 1.Camp Hill 43.09; 400 — 1.Andrew Snyder (C.Hill) 48.04; 300 hurdles — 1.Kuntz (C.Hill) 41.20; 800 — 1.Clay Satbolepszy (Schuylkill Valley) 1:57.59; 200 — 1.Snyder (C.Hill) 22.44; 4x400 relay — 1.Camp Hill 3:24.55; Discus — 1.Joey Mendell (Schuylkill Valley) 161-8; Long jump — 1.Brendan Sparr (Sch Vall) 22-1; High jump — 1.Tyler Stephenson (Susquenita) 5-10; Pole vault — 1.Danny Stoner (Biglerville) 14-0.

GIRLS AAA

Team Standings — 1.Susquehanna Twp. 78, 2.Harrisburg 70, 3.Cumberland Valley 48, 4.Wilson 46, 5.Hempfield 30, 11.Waynesboro 18, 19.(tie) Chambersburg 13, 44.(tie) Greencastle-Antrim 2.

4x800 relay — 1.Wilson 9:12.05; 100 hurdles — 1.Sierra Brabham-Lawrence (Harr) 14.25; 100 — 1.Ty'Asia Dansbury (Harr) 12.32; 1,600 — 1.Mady Clahane (Cumb. Valley) 4:58.54, 7.Abby Yourkavitch (Chbg) 5:12.42, 13.Kaylee Mowery (Chbg) 5:19.12, 17.Lauren Hirneisen (G-A) 5:26.55; 4x100 relay — 1.Susquehanna Twp. 47.61, 7.Chambersburg (Camryn Greenlee, Cirsten Kelly, Rachael Berman, Miana Harrison) 49.90; 400 — 1.Dansbury (Harr) 55.10 (meet record), 12.Miana Harrison (Chbg) 59.39; 300 hurdles — 1.Brabham-Lawrence (Harr) 42.68; 800 — 1.Meredith Newman (Manheim Twp.) 2:13.84; 200 — 1.Dansbury (Harr) 25.10; 4x400 relay — 1.Harrisburg 3:53.03 (meet record); Discus — 1.Jocelyn Ruth (Kutztown) 130-9; Triple jump — 1.Brabham-Lawrence (Harr) 38-7, 2.Lilly Harnish (Waynesboro) 38-1, 10.Erica Helm (Greencastle) 35-3; Pole vault — 1.Tesia Kempski (B.McDevitt) 12-4 (meet record), 8.Sammi Lowery (Chambersburg) 11-0.

GIRLS AA

Team Standings — 1.Boiling Springs 104, 2.Wyomissing 99, 3.Trinity 65, 4.Schuylkill Valley 63, 5.Camp Hill 55.

4x800 relay — 1.Wyomissing 8:18.84; 110 hurdles — 1.Madison Pease (Wyomissing) 16.24; 100 — 1.Keisha Bautista (Schuylkill Valley) 12.77; 1,600 — 1.Leanne Weaver (Boiling Springs) 5:23.69; 4x100 relay — 1.Boiling Springs 50.00; 400 — 1.Nicole Leonzo (Harrisburg Christian) 58.51; 300 hurdles — 1.Anna Osman (Upper Dauphin) 46.75; 800 — 1.Shannon Quinn (Trin) 2:15.92; 200 — 1.Leonzo (Harr. Chr.) 25.76; 4x400 relay — 1.Trinity, 4:03.16; Shot put — 1.Madison Martin (Boil. Spr.) 34-3; Triple jump — 1.Abby Martin (Boil Spr) 30-0.5; Javelin — 1.Alexis Lipnicky (Trin) 124-2.