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Littlestown's Bre Smith wins District 3 gold in discus


SHIPPENSBURG >> Bre Smith ended up right where the District 3 heat sheet said she would, atop the medal stand after the girls' Class AA discus on Friday at Shippensburg University.

But the Littlestown junior, wearing her first-place medal, admitted she never expected to be there.

"(Being the No. 1 seed) actually bothered me a lot because I felt like I had all the stress on me, people are gonna expect me to really do something," Smith said. "My coach told me last week, he was like, 'You're gonna win this thing.' I was like, 'Yeah, OK, sure, like I'm gonna win.' But I did it."

She did it with a throw of 109 feet, 5 inches, more than an entire foot short of her personal record of 110-9. She got off to a shaky start by scratching on her first attempt, but she recovered to win the event by just less than two feet. Her title earned her automatic qualification for next week's PIAA championships, which also will be held at Shippensburg University.

"There's definitely some footwork I need to work on," she said. "I'm gonna try to break the school record (111-8) at states."

Friday's complete results from the District 3 track and field championships

Upper Dauphin's Victoria McGuire placed second, and Bermudian Springs' Gabby Emeigh, a friend of Smith's who was seeded fifth, placed third with a throw of 107-1. Emeigh led after the preliminary round, but ended up short of state qualification.

"I was really confident, but then my heart started beating really fast and I got excited and my footwork starting getting ahead of me," she said. "I should've just relaxed."

KERR REPRESENTS HANOVER WELL >> It was a lonely day for Deandre Kerr as the only Hanover Nighthawk to compete at the first day of the district Class AA meet, but he made the most of it.

The junior started by placing fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 41-11 1/4, and he followed that by winning his time trial and semifinal heats in the 110-meter hurdles. He is seeded third for Saturday's 110 hurdles final and second for the 300 hurdles final.

"I've got to stay lower in the hurdles," he said after running below his PR in both heats of the 110 hurdles. "(During time trials), I was sloppy going over each hurdle, and at the end my arms were flailing everywhere. That's not how I usually operate. I'll get it down."

Hanover coach Joe Kuhns said he isn't worried about Friday's slower times, though.

"He seems to run to competition, that's what I've seen this year," Kuhns said. "He does his best when there are faster kids around him. He hasn't learned yet to push himself hard, he needs that competition to do well."