So he went out Saturday and gave everything you had in the event. And it resulted in that long elusive mark. McCusker ran a time of 4:16.40 on Saturday at the District 4 track and field championships to take silver and, more importantly, break the school record.

“It means a lot even though it’s not a first like last year. We got the school record, so it means a lot to come out and do that this race. It was fun and it meant a lot,” McCusker said.

McCusker was behind only Lewisburg senior standout Jonathan Hess, who won district gold with a time of 4:14.37, nearly breaking the district record which was set by former Green Dragon Chris Spooner in 2003. McCusker and Hess ran a great 1,600 race.

After the first leg, McCusker trailed Hess by jut 0.18 seconds and halfway through the event, the two were separated by less than half a second. The two were neck-and-neck until Hess pulled away in the final 400 meters and out-ran McCusker in the final split by three seconds.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock's Cashlin Rogers competes on Saturday at the District 4 track and field championships in the 1,600 Class AA event.

“It meant everything (to break the record today),” McCusker said. “It’s been a goal for three years now so I finally got it. It’s amazing and I’m happy that I could do it.”

And having teammate Tyce Shaner qualify for states alongside him was a nice added bonus as well. Shaner finished third with a time of 4:21.55 and hit the state-qualifying standard. In total, six runners qualified in the event for states with Northwest’s Michael Fritz (4:24.34, fourth), Lewisburg’s Justin Nolt (4:27.50, fifth) and Northeast Bradford’s Creed Dewing (4:28.72, sixth) all qualifying.

“It’s awesome,” McCusker said of Shaner qualifying alongside him. “We’re doing things that have never happened. It’s just awesome to see and amazing to have that.”

McCusker knew that a race featuring Hess would be tough. Hess has established himself as a tough competitor every year, and Saturday was no different.

“Having Johnny, he’s fast. Faster than me. having him pull me through is everything, it helps a lot,” McCusker said. “Having my teammate there also helps me — I don’t want to lose to him — pushing me to stay with Johnny. It’s fun.”

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalscok's Cashlin Rogers competes in the boys Class AA 1,600 on Saturday at the District 4 Class AA track and field championships at Williamsport.

McCusker wasn’t the only area athlete to set a school record on Saturday at the District 4 track and field championships. Loyalsock’s 400 relay did did so as well.

The Lancers’ 400 relay team ran a time of 43.11, nearly running down Lewisburg in the final leg to earn a win but finished for silver as the Green Dragons won in 43.06. But, while the time came just shy of gold, it still set the Loyalsock school record in the 400 relay.

“It means a lot. We beat the school record by a lot. We’re just ready for states, we think we can run faster for sure,” Loyalsock senior Isaiah West said.

Loyalsock beat its previous school record by 0.4 seconds.

The Lancers’ 400 relay team consists of junior Hudson Ott, junior Danny Dowell, West and senior Anthony Lewis and they were part of an outstanding event in which all eight relay teams qualified for the state meet. In addition, the top eight teams were separated by just 0.75 seconds.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent South Williamsport's Dylan Scheller jumps in the triple jump on Saturday at the District 4 Class AA track and field championships at Williamsport.

“It means a lot, it means everything,” West said about breaking the school record. “We weren’t running that good at the beginning (of the season), but we got better with practice.

“It was good,” West continued. “Overall, I thought we did really good.”

The area was well represented high on the podium on Saturday in Class AA competition.

In the 100, Hughesville’s Spencer Stine qualified for states by taking silver in an extremely close race against East Juniata’s Cody Nipple. The Tiger won in 11.16 followed by Stine in 11.17 for second.

“I feel like we pushed each other fairly well. I saw him in my peripheral and I really pushed myself to catch up to him and I feel like I caught up to him in a decent spot,” Stine said.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Warrior Run's Aiden Hoffman competes in the boys Class AA 1,600 on Saturday at the District 4 Class AA track and field championships at Williamsport.

Stine noted that he ran a 11 flat in the prelims, but “state qualifying is state qualifying” he said.

“I’m pretty happy,” Stine said. “A lot of work in the summer really just dedicated to going to states, so I think it’s paying off at this point … So I’m happy with that.”

The Spartan knew that Nipple would give him a tough race in the 100 that would come down to very slim margins.

“I figured it was going to be really close,” Stine said.

Stine was also a state qualifier after running a time of 22.60 in the 200, which was good enough for a fourth-place finish.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Warrior Run's Ori Kennel competes in the boys pole vault on Saturday at the District 4 Class AA track and field championships at Williamsport.

Hughesville’s Shaner was a state qualifier in the 800 as he ran a 1:57.30, taking second place. He trailed only Hess, who ran a time of 1:56.23 to win. For Hess, it was his fourth event that he qualified for states in after he also individually qualified in the 1,600 and 3,200 and with a relay team.

South Williamsport’s Dylan Scheller walked away with a silver medal on Saturday in the triple jump to qualify for states with a distance of 44 feet, 11 inches. He trailed only Mount Carmel’s Hobi Fortin (45-8 1/2).

Scheller is a two-event state qualifier this year as he also claimed a silver medal on Thursday in the long jump.

“I’m happy to be back there for both long and triple jump,” Scheller said. “I didn’t really jump my PRs but next week is hopefully where I PR again and hopefully place top-3 is my goal for states.”

The Mountie senior was hitting consistent marks on Saturday. Of his six jumps, four were in the 44s. After starting with a 43-5 1/2 on his first attempt, Scheller would hit three consecutive jumps in the 44s, including his second-place jump of 44-11 on his fourth attempt.

After a 43-10 on his fifth attempt, he jumped 44-6 on his sixth attempt.

“So to start, I was on par, on pace. I was jumping 44s but my best jump was 44-11, so I wish I could have gotten to that 45. But it’ll come next week,” Scheller said.

The Mountie pointed out that competitors such as Forti, Milton’s Cole Rhodes and Wellsboro’s Jonathan Carl helped propel him to the marks he reached.

“I feel competition and adrenaline helps me jump better and I know everybody’s going to be good,” Scheller said. “I’ll be fired up and really wanna jump further.”

Lewisburg’s Haneef Shavers won district gold in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.54 and Milton’s Joel Langdon took second in 14.96 as both qualified for states. Shavers also qualified for states in the 30 hurdles by taking second in 39.50 behind only Milton’s Kade Ficks (38.73). Warrior Run’s Gavin Hunter took third in the event in 40.24 to qualify for states based on time.

In the high jump, North Penn-Mansfield’s Luke Kreger tied for second to qualify for states with a height of 6-1 as Central Columbia’s Kemp Bowman won with a height of 6-3.

Ezra Zook of Lewisburg was a silver medalist in the pole vault by clearing 14-0 and Williamson’s Aiden O’Neill reached a state-qualifying standard of 14-0 for third place. Danville’s Gavin Holcombe won the event with a height of 15-6.

Warrior Run’s Eli Butler took fifth in the 400 with a time of 50.42, which was good enough to qualify him for the state meet.

In relay competition, Warrior Run’s Gideon Kennel, Gavin Hunter, Ori Kennel and Eli Butler took second with a time of 3:26.38 to qualify for states.