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A great 3,200 time earns Loyalsock’s Sagar a silver medal

BRETT R. CROSSLEY/For The Sun-Gazette Loyalsock’s Isabel Sagar stands on the podium after finishing second at this year’s PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg on Saturday in the girls Class AA 3,200. Sagar posted a final time of 10:51.06.

SHIPPENSBURG — Isabel Sagar was stuck in no-man’s-land. She didn’t want to be leading so early in Saturday’s 3,200 final at the PIAA Track and Field Championships, but nobody else in the race was making a move for the spot.

So there she was, leading the two-mile race just 400 meters after its start knowing everyone else was playing possum behind her. The Loyalsock junior didn’t want to slow the pace down to try and drop behind Brownsville’s Gionna Quarzo, but she didn’t want to be out in front either.

With 400 meters left in the race, Quarzo made her move, breaking around the outside and taking control of the race as she and Sagar pulled away from the pack. Sagar finished second to Quarzo, earning her first state track medal with a final time of 10:51.06, her second-best time of the season.

“I don’t like leading races. I was kind of forced into it, which is smart by my competitors,” Sagar said. “I like to sit back more. Throughout the race I was thinking this is what I’m used to and leading the race like this is just what I’ve been doing all season.”

Sagar came into the Class AA race as the top seed by more than 15 seconds and she had the best 3,200 time in the state this year by nearly 10 seconds. The only time she ran faster than her 3,200 final yesterday was at last week’s District 4 meet.

She by no means ran a bad race, but Quarzo forced Sagar to do the brunt of the work, running headlong into a gusty wind. As Sagar led laps two through seven of the eight-lap race, Quarzo sat comfortably in second place, never more than a step behind Sagar and using her as a windshield of sorts.

Sagar knew that was going on. And during those middle laps of the race, she feared Quarzo was just waiting for the proper moment to make her move. Sagar was at least able to break away from a pack of about six runners so it was then only Quarzo she had to worry about over the final 1,200 meters. But she just didn’t have enough left in the tank to keep up with Quarzo’s final 400 meter kick to take the win.

“I could feel her on me heels. I could feel her right there,” Sagar said. “It’s pretty scary because you feel like you’re in a situation you can’t escape. You have to stay calm because it can be panicky.”

Sagar was a little disappointed earning the silver medal only because she didn’t run the time she was hoping for. She was hoping to best last week’s district-winning time. Conditions on the first summer-like day of the year just weren’t conducive to distance runners, and even Sagar said she wasn’t prepared for as warm as it was.

Even at 9 a.m. when the race was run, temperatures were already above 80 degrees inside Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium. And having to be in charge of setting the pace for the field, Sagar began to labor at the end of the sixth and seventh laps.

“I was hoping it would be nicer. I kind of thought it would be and it caught me off guard a little bit,” Sagar said. “I guess that’s something I was depending on too much, so my time wasn’t where I wanted it. But I’ll try to come back next year and do better.”

Lancers teammate Quinn Serfass felt the effects of the heat as well, and at the end of his boys Class AA 3,200 race, he doused himself in water from a hose the PIAA had set up just beyond the finish line. Looking like he just stepped out of a swimming pool, Serfass accepted an eighth-place medal for the race, his second consecutive podium finish in the 3,200 at states.

Serfass, a Temple recruit, appeared to struggle with the heat as he closed out the final 800 meters of the race, but was still strong enough to hold on to eighth place. He finished sixth a year ago.

“It was tough. The fatigue in your muscles settles in and you feel the pain, but it’s all mental from there out,” Serfass said. “You just have to hydrate a lot and try to keep a positive mentality about it. The way I thought about it was everyone else has to deal with the same conditions, so it’s anyone’s race to win.”

The pack was led by eventual winner Brenden Miller of Upper Dauphin who took a brisk opening mile which really separated the pack from one another. Serfass stayed with that lead pack through the first mile or so, settling in comfortably in sixth place as the lead group began to spread.

But as he fought the fatigue and the heat, he eventually drifted back to eighth place. Serfass was able to hang on to that spot over the final 800 meters to secure his second consecutive state medal.

It was a strong weekend for the Loyalsock distance runners, earning a pair of state medals. Ryan Sullivan placed 19th in the Class AA 3,200, the boys competed in the 3,200 relay, and Matt Nickolaus narrowly missed a medal in the 800, finishing ninth.

“I’m very proud of my teammates,” Serfass said. “This sets up Isabel really well for next year. This is development for her and she’ll get better. We have a great program ahead of us and I’m excited to see where my teammates go from here.”

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