Trending
Lily Saul's focus since freshman year has been a simple goal, albeit it so far unattainable: a gold medal at the state meet. Saul is a remarkable runner. She cruises in the 400 and 800 and makes the races look simple to win.
She set Montoursville's school record in Danville at the PHAC Meet in the 800 in 2:16.41 and then broke that yet again at districts and is consistently is in the high-50s in the 400. Oh yeah, she also broke a 14-year-old District 4 record in the 800 on Saturday in a narrow win over Southern Columbia's Kate Moncavage.
Her resume as a runner is about as incredible one you will find in Pennsylvania. But that lack of a gold medal is what's been driving Saul. She placed second in the 400 last year at Shippensburg. And while silver was nice, she is motivated to do better.
Saul didn't hesitate to let it be known what her expectations are in Shippensburg.
"Hopefully to be a state champ," Saul said after winning the 400 at districts. "That was my goal since freshman year. So if I could get that, that would be amazing. It's always the goal to do better."
And doing better has been what Saul's been accomplishing all year. It seems meet after meet, invitational after invitational, Saul's putting up better and better times. Which is scary for those who have to run against her. At districts, Saul ran an impressive 56.55 to win the 400. And while that time is impressive for any runner, it isn't even Saul's PR. She's run faster.
Not only does Saul have the fastest time of state qualifiers in the 400, she also has the fastest time in the 800 (2:13.20).
Saul is just one of a lot of area athletes who have a very good chance of reaching the podium at Shippensburg. It's a testament to the talent this area produces each spring, year in and year out. Which is no surprise at districts a number of District 4 records were broken either.
Lewisburg's Siena Brazier, Kyra Binney, Caroline Blakeslee and Elena Malone are the top-seeded time in the 1,600 relay at states after they won districts in 4:03.25, and Montoursville's team is seeded third. Both have a good chance of placing.
Milton's Riley Murray also is a strong candidate to reach the podium. She won the District 4 meet to be seeded third at 11-0 in the pole vault, but Murray's PR of 12-3 would have her in the running for possible gold, as it's the seeded height Western Wayne's Ella Dougher hit to win the District 2 competition. Milton has never had a girls pole vault state champion.
Milton teammates Mo Reiner and Mackenzie Lopez are seeded sixth and seventh respectively, with district throws of 127-2 and 125-8.
Lewisburg's 3,200 relay team has the third-best time among state qualifiers with 9:43.27.Brazier is seeded fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.34) and Malone is seeded fifth in the 400 with a time of 58.57. She's one second behind Saul's time.
And that's just on the girls side.
In boys competition in Class AA, Hughesville's 3,200 relay team has the top-seeded time of 8:00.16, 11 seconds better than the next fastest time, which happens to be Williamson (8:11.30).
Montgomery's Ben Robinson is seeded fifth in the 110 hurdle preliminaries with a time of 15:11, just more than a second behind Southern's Jake Rose.
Hughesville senior Morgan Gavitt ran a district-winning time of 4:25.23 to be seeded fifth in the 1,600 race. He also has the seventh-best time in the 800 in 1:58.86. In the 3,200, Williamson's Kristian Mizdail is seeded fourth in 9:36.38.
Milton's Cole Goodwin could very well see the podium as well as he won districts with a throw of 54-5 in the shot put to be seeded three. His throw is three feet behind Wyomissing's J'Ven Williams mark of 57-4. There's also Montoursville's Zach Barnes, who's fourth in the javelin after throwing 175-9 at the District 4 meet.
In Class AAA, Williamsport's 400 relay team is seeded third at 42.55, less than a second behind Wilson's time of 41.78, which could lead to an exciting finish at Shippensburg. Speaking of the Millionaires, Cam Sims ran a 21.43 to win the Class AAA 200 title at districts, and the senior is sitting at the top of the preliminaries with his time, just 0.15 above Milton Hershey's Abraham Sloboh. Sims is a fun runner to watch, and no doubt at states he's going to be giving it his all to be near the top of the podium.
Jersey Shore's Peter Bellomo threw 183-0 in the javelin to place second at districts and will be eyeing a top-8 finish if he continues to hit those marks.
If you're going to Shippensburg to watch the state meet -- or simply watching it on PCN -- enjoy the show. Because the talent at the state meet is unreal, and a lot of that talent is right here in our area.
Jon Gerardi is the sports editor at the Sun-Gazette. He can be reached by email at jgerardi@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JonGerardi.
AREA ATHLETES COMPETING AT THE STATE MEET
BOYS CLASS AA
Hughesville's Logan Long (400)
Milton's Ryan Bickhart (1,600)
Milton's Cole Goodwin (shot put)
Montgomery's Hunter Leet (pole vault)
Montgomery's Ben Robinson (110 hurdles)
Montoursville's Zach Barnes (javelin)
Montoursville's Brayden McKibben (pole vault)
South Williamsport's Hayden Swinehart (400)
Williamson's Owen Cummings (1,600)
Williamson's Kristian Mizdail (1,600, 3,200)
Hughesville 1,600 relay team
Hughesville 3,200 relay team
BOYS CLASS AAA
Central Mountain's Brett Gerlach (high jump)
Hughesville's Morgan Gavitt (800, 1,600)
Jersey Shore's Peter Bellomo (javelin)
Jersey Shore's 1,600 relay team
Lewisburg's Jacob Hess (3,200)
Lewisburg's Cam Michaels (100)
Lewisburg's Simon Stumbris (high jump, triple jump)
Williamsport's Jamaire Harden (300 hurdles)
Williamsport's Cam Sims (100, 200)
Williamsport's 400 relay team
GIRLS CLASS AA
Hughesville's Hailey Sherwood (shot put)
Lewisburg's Caroline Blakeslee (200)
Lewisburg's Siena Brazier (100 hurdles 300 hurdles)
Lewisburg's Elena Malone (200, 400)
Lewisburg's 1,600 relay team
Lewisburg's 3,200 relay team
Loyalsock's Katie Ryder (200)
Milton's Anita Shek (shot put)
Milton's Janae Bergey (100)
Milton's Mackenzie Lopez (javelin)
Milton's Riley Murray (pole vault, 100 hurdles)
Milton's Mo Reiner (javelin)
Montoursville's Anna Baylor (discus)
Montoursville's Lily Saul (400, 800)
Warrior Run's Aurora Cieslukowski (pole vault)
GIRLS CLASS AAA
Central Mountain's Lily Hendricks (triple jump)
Central Mountain's Mia Kopysciansky (javelin)
Central Mountain's Grace Rizzo (discus)
Central Mountain's Alyssa Vangorder (shot put)
Jersey Shore's Devon Walker (triple jump)
Williamsport's Anyae Grissom (100 hurdles)
Williamsport's Luseane Ma'afu (shot put)
Williamsport's Taniyah Martin (discus)