SHIPPENSBURG – Like all great performers, Claire Paci of Greencastle-Antrim provided an encore.
Having already claimed a gold medal in Friday’s 3,200-meter run, Paci added another on Saturday at the District 3 Track and Field championships with a victory in the 1,600.
Paci led throughout, though her advantage was just a step or two in the first two laps. In the third, she pushed that lead out to six strides, and then blew the competition away with a 1:10.51 last lap for a final time of 4:55.98.
“Anytime you have someone chasing you or a big pack of girls gunning for you, that’s when you have to separate,” said Paci, a senior. “That’s why I separated that last lap, really the last two laps.”
Gabrielle Keith of Exeter was second with a 4:59.68.
Paci’s victory was no surprise, having come in with a top-seeded time of 5:00.18. But she, like most of the runners in the cool event (Paci called the cloudy day “perfect”), ran her best time of the year. All eight medalists qualified for next weekend’s state meet, back at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.
On Friday, Paci won the 3,200 with a 10:30.70.
“Having those races on back-to-back days in states and here, it’s going to be a challenge and was a challenge today,” Paci said. “Yesterday I just made sure I got home and refueled.”
She added that her goal, timewise, for the PIAA championships is to reach 4:50.
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Friday, Paci felt comfortable the entire time she ran her last District 3 3,200-meter race. Even the brief time she was running in second.
"I was comfortable and thought, 'I can run this pace,'" Paci said. "When [Hempfield's] Ella [Wolfe] took it over for a little bit, I was a little grateful because it is easier to run off of somebody and have someone to pull you along. So, I knew having her in ahead of me and having her pull me along would set me up for that last 800, where I knew I had some still left in the tank."
She certainly did.
After running laps consistently around 1:19 or 1:20, Paci ripped off a 1:16.84 lap and closed in 1:12.04 to finish at 10:30.70. Wolfe finished second in 10:41.13.
Paci had significant improvement over last year's race. She knocked 18 seconds off that time in this year's win.
Waynesboro’s Jada Creager placed fifth in the 3A pole vault with an 11-0. Though five girls cleared that same height – behind the 11-6 made by gold medalist Kate Harnish of Penn Manor – Creager placed fifth after needing all three attempts to record her 11-0. She cleared 10-6 on her second attempt and 10-0 on her first try.
Chambersburg never topped the medal stand, but the Trojans improved on their seeding and time in the 3A 4x800 relay. Chambersburg entered seeded fourth with an 8:03.54, but Ari Snyder, Kaden Rife, Liam Kirkpatrick and Owen Shrader dropped time by over nine seconds for a bronze medal and time of 7:54.36.
Jermere Jones added a bronze medal for the Trojans with a 14.58 in the 110 hurdles.
Antonio Harrison visited the medal stand a couple times. First, he placed fifth in the 100 with a 10.81. He made it one step higher on the stand in the 200 when he finished fourth with a 22.29.
Peter Mertz was third in the shot with a 52-11 ¾ on his final throw of preliminaries.
James Buchanan’s Austin McCoy took the only solo medal for his school with a 48.95 in the 3A boys 400. McCoy also helped his 4x400 relay teammates Colton Yeager, Connor Kenzie and Nate Towns to a fifth place (3:26.43).
Saturday's local medalists
Boys' Class 3A 4x800 relay (winning time 7:47.10): 3. Chambersburg (Ari Snyder, Kaden Rife, Liam Kirkpatrick, Owen Shrader), 7:54.36.
Boys' Class 3A 110 hurdles (winning time 13.88): 3. Jermere Jones, Chambersburg, 14.58.
Girls' Class 3A 100 meters (winning time 12.02): 5. Natalia Holmes, Chambersburg, 12.49.
Boys' Class 3A 100 meters (winning time 10.45): 5. Antonio Harrison II, Chambersburg, 10.81.
Girls' Class 3A 1,600 meters: 1. Claire Paci, Greencastle-Antrim, 4:55.98.
Boys' Class 3A 1,600 meters (winning time 4:11.96): 8. Hayden Parks, Greencastle-Antrim, 4:17.39.
Girls' Class 3A pole vault (winning vault 11-6) : 5. Jada Creager, Waynesboro, 11-0.
Boys' Class 3A 4x100 relay (winning time 41.99): 8. Chambersburg (Imari Watson, Jermere Jones, Emilio Frey-Reyes, Antonio Harrison II), 43.27.
Boys' Class 3A 400 meters (winning time 48.39): 3. Austin McCoy, James Buchanan, 48.95.
Girls' Class 3A 300 hurdles (winning time 42.55): 5. True Benshoff, Waynesboro, 46.08.
Boys' Class 3A 800 meters (winning time 1:53.44): 5. Owen Shrader, Chambersburg, 1:55.39.
Boys' Class 3A 200 meters (winning time 21.55): 4. Antonio Harrison II, Chambersburg, 22.29.
Boys' Class 3A shot put (winning throw 60-7.25): 4. Peter Mertz, Chambersburg, 52-11.75.
Friday's local medalists
Boys' Class 3A javelin (winning throw 185-2): 6. Conner Wright, Greencastle-Antrim, 172-0; 7. Ben Williams, Waynesboro, 171-7; 8. Blake Diller, Greencastle-Antrim, 167-3.
Girls' Class 3A discus (winning throw 135-0): 3. Bailey Hurley, Greencastle-Antrim, 121-0.
Boys' Class 2A discus (winning throw 176-5): 6. Derek Lynch, Shippensburg, 161-1.
Girls' Class 3A long jump (winning jump 19-0.5): 7. Jahnaya Wimberley, Chambersburg, 16-11.25.
Girls' Class 3A 3,200 meters: 1. Claire Paci, Greencastle-Antrim, 10:30.70.
Team scores
Here are the top five teams in each class for boys and girls:
Girls' Class 2A: 1. Wyomissing, 105; 2. Annville-Cleona, 99; 3. Greenwood, 65; 4. Susquenita, 64.33; 5. Bermudian Springs, 63.50.
Boys' Class 2A: 1. Wyomissing, 104; 2. Schuylkill Valley, 85; 3. Greenwood, 80.50; 4. Columbia, 58; 5. Annville-Cleona, 56.
Girls' Class 3A: 1. McCaskey, 72; 2. Spring Grove, 55; 3. Cedar Crest, 37; 4. Conestoga Valley, 29; 5. Carlisle, 28.
Boys' Class 3A: 1. Carlisle, 64; 2. Palmyra, 44; 3. Hershey, 34; 4. Berks Catholic, 33; 5. Chambersburg, 31.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: District 3 track and field: Greencastle's Paci goes the distance for more gold
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