CHRIS MANNING/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg’s Baylee Espinosa runs the girls Class AA 1,600 on Friday at Shippensburg. The Green Dragon broke her mom’s school record in the event by six seconds.

SHIPPENSBURG — All year long, Baylee Espinosa would joke with her mom that she was aiming for her school record in the 1,600. It was the only school track record that Espinosa didn’t yet claim that her mom, the former Ashleigh Wetzel, held at Lewisburg.

Espinosa came close this year at the Lock Haven High School Classic by running a 4:54.79 but was two hundredths of a second off the mark.

But on Friday at Shippensburg, Espinosa not only finally broke her mom’s record, but shattered it by six seconds. Espinosa ran a 4:48, etching her name in history and breaking that long sought after record that Wetzel set in 2003 as a senior.

After Friday’s competition was over, Espinosa went into the stands and gave her mom a big hug. And from there, the emotional floodgates opened.

It was a special moment for the mother and daughter to share together, especially doing so on the biggest stage in Pennsylvania at the PIAA track and field championships for a gold medal.

“When I finally got to hug her at the end of the race, I noticed in our embrace that she was crying,” Espinosa said. “She was just talking to me and I could not believe that connection. She had raised me all alone when we were younger and we have been through so much together.”

Espinosa had doubts all year of if she was even capable of beating that mark from 2003. When the season began, Espinosa was running a time around 5:50 in the 1,600. But she loved the sport, she loved to run, and even though she doubted herself, others believed in her. Most notably her mom.

“She believed in me more than I ever believed in myself this season. She knew I would do this,” Espinosa said of her mom. “She’s my No. 1 supporter besides all the other great fans and is picking me up constantly. I love her very much, and I think getting to finally see her after leaving the infield and letting it set in, it truly is one of the best moments of my life that I’ll cherish for a long time.”

Running has been in Espinosa’s blood since she was born given her mom’s talent in track and field and the fact they would run the mile together when Baylee was younger. Espinosa and her mom used to do the family mile with Lewisburg track and field coach and Ashleigh’s husband Michael Espinosa. It was something Espinosa noted last year was fun that they used to do in the summer and how from a young age, Espinosa would race her mom and often joked about beating her.

But this year taught the Green Dragon runner about adversity. She struggled early in the year, running times around 5:50 in the mile, far from where she wanted to be. Those negative thoughts and self doubt slowly crept in from there.

“I was struggling a little bit. I had some great workouts, but a lot of nerves and didn’t perform like I wanted at the district meet. I was doubting my abilities,” Espinosa said.

“(Coach Espinosa) told me ‘I wish your 4:54 self, now 4:48 self, could speak to your 5:50 self and tell them that it’ll all be OK and it’ll all work out.’ that was a huge description in my mind that it will work out,” the Green Dragon said.

“I have full debt and gratitude to my coach who brought me here. I think it was something to be able to do this with this experience,” Espinosa said. “It was never the end goal, but all this work paid off and it’s something I’ll never forget.”

Espinosa’s gold medal in the 1,600 and 3,200 this year are testaments to that hard work paying off, and proof that believing in yourself and erasing self doubts can be all the motivation you need.