H.S. Extra notebook: 2 Greencastle aces shine early

Liam Okal and Parker Campbell of Greencastle-Antrim have big plans for the postseason in track & field this spring.

And they're off to a pretty good start.

In the Blue Devils' first dual meet of the season Tuesday, Okal won the 100 in 10.97 and the 200 in 22.31. Both of those times were faster than he ran in the postseason last year. He ran an 11.38 in the District 3 Championships in the 100 and a 22.43 in the same meet in the 200.

G-A coach Devin McCauley said he and Okal have set some goals for the season, but all they want to think about is making progress.

"We're just trying to get better each week," McCauley said. "We have some high goals, but we just want to be competitive at the end of the year and stay healthy."

Meanwhile Campbell had a pretty special day. Coming in with two first-place efforts in a pair of invitationals already, Campbell broke the Greencastle school record in the discus three times in the same meet. He broke Toby Fritz's record from 1987 of 163-10 on his first throw, went even better on his next toss and beat both of them with a heave of 173-0 on his final try.

McCauley said, "It wasn't with the wind - it was more of a crosswind; definitely not ideal conditions. With what Parker's done in the offseason we had high expectations and were just waiting for something like that happen. We knew he was ready to break out. That was a really good series, now we just want him to show some consistency like that."

POLE VAULT RECORDS: A pair of area girls pole vault records have fallen recently.

For Waynesboro, Rachel Johnson erased the old mark when she hit 9-9 in a dual meet against Big Spring on March 29.

Shippensburg’s Natalie Nye set her school mark at 8-4 on the same date. Then Tuesday against Greencastle, Nye raised the record to 8-6.

Another discus record was also put on the book this week. Mercersburg Academy's Isiuwa Oghagbon made a throw of 120-10 on Saturday at the Hill Relays to set a Blue Storm mark.

SIXTH AT NATIONALS: Chambersburg’s Drew Peck was the only area wrestler to compete in last weekend’s National High School Coaches Association National Tournament at Virginia Beach, Va.

Peck, who competed at 182 pounds this season when he placed fourth in the PIAA Tournament, dropped to 170 for the event and placed sixth in the Junior Division.

After a pin in 1:26 over Ethan Helton of North Carolina, Peck had a technical fall (15-0) in 4:07 over McCaffery Carroll of New York. In the third round, he defeated Carless Looney of West Virginia, 6-1, and took a 7-5 quarterfinal win over Jacob Hart, also of W.Va.

But in the semifinals, No. 2 seed Peck was taken down to his back by No. 6 Andrew Berreyesa of Nevada to fall behind 4-0, and lost 8-2. Peck was injured in the bout and forfeited his two consolation bouts to finish sixth.

CHEERLEADER TO BIG 33: Zachary Bingaman of Greencastle-Antrim has been selected to represent Pennsylvania in the 59th annual Big 33 Football Classic on June 18 at 7 p.m. at Hersheypark Stadium.

MERCERSBURG HIRES COACH: Jason Bershatsky has resigned as the Mercersburg Academy girls soccer coach, and his assistant for the last three years, Kristen Pixler, has been named to take his place.

Pixler will be the fifth coach of girls soccer for the Blue Storm program, which began in 1991. Before coming to Mercersburg, Pixler, a native of Fairfax, Va., was an assistant for four years at Hanover H.S. in Mechanicsville, Va.

“We’re excited about the leadership that Kristen will bring to the girls soccer program,” said Rick Hendrickson, Mercersburg’s director of athletics. “She’s a veteran coach with extensive and diverse soccer experience, and she brings a positive energy that will provide our players with outstanding experiences and opportunities for success.”

Pixler said, “I’m excited and honored to have this opportunity to continue the legacy Jason has built. I’ve been fortunate to work under two really experienced head coaches - Jason and Steve D’Adamo (at Hanover). I’ve learned a lot about coaching from them and look forward to developing my own voice as a head coach."

Bershatsky stepped down to focus on his duties in Mercersburg's Office of Advancement & Alumni Relations. In his eight years, his teams had 57 wins, which ranks just behind the 58 under Bill McClintick.