Grim splits with rival at Arctic Blast Invitational

Trevor Grim is looking forward to cheering for Zack Kuntz in a couple of years, but for now he's content with competing with him.

The Bermudian Springs senior track star will be attending Penn State for academics, while Camp Hill's Kuntz has verbally committed to the Nittany Lions for football. For now though, both are two of the best hurdlers in District 3, and their rivalry was on full display at Saturday's Arctic Blast Invitational at Northern York High School.

In the 300 hurdles, Grim ran his fastest time of the season (40.83) to take first place over Kuntz. The Camp Hill junior returned the favor in the 110 hurdles, coming in first by running 15.24 while Grim took second with a time of 15.37.

"We keep going back and forth, and it's good to go against a challenging opponent," Grim said. "He is definitely a challenging opponent. For some reason we always PR against each other. It was a good day."

In the past, Grim only raced against Kuntz occasionally at invitationals since Bermudian Springs was a Class 3A school while Camp Hill has traditionally been in 2A. But now that the Eagles are in 2A, they will compete against each other at districts and potentially states.

Grim is ready for the challenge. While Kuntz won the 300 hurdles in 2A last season with a time of 40.88, Grim actually posted a better time (40.29) in the 3A tournament. The Eagles senior is determined to win at least one of the events at districts this season, and earn a medal at the state tournament.

"Being in 3A was nice because every time in districts and states you go in with no expectations," Grim said. "Being in 2A leaves more room for medals. I'm excited but it's still a lot of pressure. But so far my times are good, better than they were last year."

Suburban's Hood has career day

Ykendi Hood didn't decide to go out for track until just last season, but now the York Suburban senior looks like one of the best sprinters in the York-Adams league.

On Saturday, Hood took first place in both the 100-meter dash (12.53) and the 200-meter dash (26.09) and set PRs in both events for FAT (fully automatic timing). She also was part of the Trojans' 400 relay that also took first place.

"I put in work all winter, from Thanksgiving to the beginning of March, so it feels great that all of the hard work is finally paying off," Hood said. "It makes me really happy because I didn't expect it."

While it took Hood a while to get into track, she said she's now trying to run in college. If she keeps running like she did on Saturday, she could be a contender for the YAIAA title in the 100, where the winning time last year was 12.45 seconds by former New Oxford runner Ayanna Johnson. Littlestown senior Kristin Langrill was also strong on Saturday, taking second in the 100 in 12.80 seconds.

Hood wasn't the only girls' athlete from Suburban to have a big day. Senior Madison James took first place in the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 3 inches.

Red Lion's Kling sets invitational record 

Madisen Kling has been one of the YAIAA's best discus throwers for a while, and the Red Lion junior keeps getting better.

After reaching a PR this Tuesday by throwing 144 feet in the discus, Kling took first place Saturday and set an Arctic Blast record with a throw of 136-06. The previous record was 121-7, set by Bermudian Springs' Rachel Kotula  in 2010.

After winning a gold medal in the discuss at the YAIAA championships last year, Kling is expecting to repeat that feat but also wants to come in first at districts. She took second in the 3A meet last season with a throw of 124-9.

"On Tuesday, it was a headwind so it was coming at me, so I had a nice release. This was a crosswind today, released a little earlier but it flew pretty well," Kling said. "It helps me figure out my own competition, even though I know I'm my own competition."

Suburban distance runners in tight competition 

It's no secret that York Suburban is good at distance running. The Trojans typically dominate in cross country, and remain strong in track season. That strength was on display Saturday during the 1,600-meter race, where York Suburban runners finished first, second and fourth.

Junior Bryce Ohl took first with a time of 4:41, while sophomore Jarrett Raudensky finished second in 4:41.74 and junior Tanner Haynes took fourth in 4:43.83. Bermudian Springs junior Chad Long finished third in 4:42.57.

When the race finished, each Suburban runner congratulated each other and their fellow competitors. While each member of the Trojan trio strives to finish first, they also want their teammates to do well.

"It's a great family aspect, we all know and love each other, we run together and push each other," Ohl said. "That's what makes running a great sport. Everyone acknowledges that we all put in hard work, we all tried our hardest."

While Ohl finished second in the 1,600 at the YAIAA championships last season, he knows that his teammates and Long won't make repeating that feat easy.

"(Raudensky) doesn't usually run the mile, but he's a really good runner and it motivates me," Ohl said.