Gettysburg jumpers just having fun in postseason

Changing leagues didn't change much for the Gettysburg boys' track and field team in 2015.

The Warriors continued to find success, going undefeated in YAIAA Division II dual meets, the same way they did in the Mid-Penn Colonial Division last season. So, what are they doing — particularly the jumpers and javelin throwers who racked up nine medals at Friday's YAIAA track and field championships — to stay ahead of the rest of the league?

"I don't know what the secret is, we just have really talented guys this year," said senior Wade Laudeman, who won the javelin for one of Gettysburg's two first-place medals Friday. "It was the same way last year, too, and we didn't lose anybody from last year. Everyone's back, and everyone's doing better."

The secret might not be anything going on in practice or behind the scenes. It could be as simple as the laid-back attitude and smiles the Warriors bring to every meet. Ravaughn Dillard and Kobe Wansel, who took the top two spots in the triple jump, talk and laugh with their coaches and teammates between jumps.

"We just go out and have fun," Dillard said. "We're not as uptight as some schools, we just have fun."

"It's not stressful, we just have fun," echoed Laudeman. "That's what we do, we just have fun, we don't stress about it. That's when we do bad, is when we stress."

He said stressing is something they used to do a few years ago when they were younger and hadn't yet found this level of success. Of Friday's medalists, Laudeman (first in javelin, eighth in long jump), Wansel (second in triple jump), Nate Sharrah (second in pole vault), Dalton Lyons (second in javelin) and Michael Heeschen (sixth in javelin) are all seniors. Marquise Camel (third in high jump) is a junior, while Dillard (first in triple jump, seventh in long jump) is a sophomore.

With league medals in hand, this group of Warriors now turns its attention to the District 3 track and field championships, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University. Dillard and Wansel medaled last season in the triple jump, and Sharrah medaled last season in the pole vault.

Wansel and Dillard will be reunited with who they call "the Carlisle kids," a pair of competitors from Carlisle, a Mid-Penn Conference school, that took the top two spots in the triple jump at last year's district meet. The two Warriors, who took third and fourth at that meet, also both have their sights set on the school triple jump record of 47 feet, 11 inches. Dillard cleared 47 feet with a jump of 47-1 on Friday.

"(We're preparing) pretty much the same," Wansel said. "We've just got to get mentally prepared for the Carlisle kids. We've just gotta have a tough, good week with a lot of good practices. Hopefully it's gonna be a good meet."

Reach Zach Miller at 717-634-3085.

DISTRICT 3 CHAMPIONSHIPS

When: Friday (field events start at 2 p.m., track events start at 3 p.m.) and Saturday (all events start at 9 a.m.)

Where: Seth Grove Stadium, Shippensburg University

Admission: $6 for adults, $4 for students