Kylie Temple of Hughesville wins the 300m hurdles during the District IV track & field championships at Milton High School earlier this season. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

MILTON — When you win a state title, everyone automatically wants to see you repeat. Some come to expect it automatically. It comes with the territory of being the best in the state.

Hughesville senior Kylie Temple more than knows that. All year that’s what she’s heard since she won state gold at last year’s state championships in the 300 hurdles in Class AA.

“It’s so exciting to be able to go and compete in that event again, especially since I won it last year. It is a little more nerve-wracking because no everyone is expecting something and I have to defend it. But it makes it a little more exciting I guess,” Temple said with a laugh.

A little exciting, a little nerve wracking, but regardless, it doesn’t stress out Temple. That’s why she’s once again going to states in the 300 hurdles, her best event. At districts, Temple cruised to a gold medal.

The Spartan won in 43.67, setting a new district record, and beat Brenyn Wasielewski of Bloomsburg by more than three seconds.

“Not having anyone to run against kind of sucked, but that’s how it’s been all year. It helps me push through at the end of my race not being able to chase someone,” Temple said. “Just being able to come out here and hit that time. My 43s have been a little less consistent this year than I would have liked, but to come out and do that at districts is really encouraging as I go to states.”

Temple is the only runner at this year’s PIAA track and field championships who broke 44 seconds at the district meet. Her time of 43.67 is the top time in the Class AA 300 hurdles field as Lily Paolini of Wyomissing has a 44.81 for the second-fastest and Emma Larkin of Geibel Catholic is third with a 45.25.

Temple’s district time is consistent with what she ran last year in Shippensburg. Last spring Temple won gold with a time of 43.45, beating out Redbank Valley’s Mylee Harmon (44.15) and Greenwood’s Rebekah Brinser (45.42).

The 300 hurdles is Temple’s lone individual event at the state meet. She had run the 200 but admitted that she didn’t have much of an expectation for the 200 at states, so she dropped it to instead run with all three of Hughesville’s relay teams.

And, not surprisingly, all three relay teams are state bound as well with the 400, 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams competing. The 400 and 1,600 relay preliminary races are on Friday and the finals for all three relays are completed throughout Saturday.

“I have qualified for states in past two years, not that much expectations of me doing 200 at states, so I just kind of dropped it, but to be able to go into states with relays I have now and knowing we have a really good shot of doing really well is so encouraging to me,” Temple said. “It’s getting me so excited. This is my senior year obviously I’m not gonna run with most of these girls ever again. To come out here senior year, we’re doing super well and I’m super proud of them.”

Hughesville is seeded high in all three of the relays as well, which could translate to a lot of medals at Shippensburg if the Spartans run the way they know they’re capable of.

The 3,200 relay team of Emelia Wolfe, Katelyn Temple, Grace Fortin and Kylie Temple won district gold with a time of 9:14.64, beating Lewisburg by 27 seconds. That relay team also has the top seeded time by 16 seconds over Central Cambria’s 9:30.39.

Hughesville’s 400 relay team is the top relay team in the field as well having run a 48.47 at districts and is ahead of Mifflinburg (49.16) and Wyomissing (49.34). The Spartans’ 400 relay team consists of Kylie Temple, Sierra DeWire, Casey Schultz and Katelyn Temple.

And in the 1,600 relay at Shippensburg, Hughesville is…yep, you guessed it, seeded No. 1 with their district championship winning time of 3:59.27. The Spartans were the only 1,600 relay team in the state to win a district title by breaking the four-minute mark. Wyomissing is seeded second in 4:03.01.

That 1,600 relay team consists of DeWire, Katelyn Temple, Fortin and Kylie Temple.

Three relay teams, three top seeds, four talented runners on each team.

“The 4 by 1 is probably the easiest relay for me to prepare for and do just because it is only 100 meters. Being thrown into the 4 by 8, my coach was not expecting me to run the 4 by 8 this year,” Kylie Temple said. “He put me into it in indoors as workout for fun of it, I did well enough and he said ‘well, we want you on the team.’ So I get to run that. It’s been different and challenging at times, but I’m finally starting to get the grasp of how to run it and it’s starting to become a little more fun.”

Kylie Temple noted that the team’s 400 relay team PR’d by more than a second and did well with the handoffs, something she joked they’ve had some difficulty with over the season.

“We’ve been struggling with that a little bit this year,” Kylie Temple said with a laugh.

For Kylie, she also gets the chance to run in all three relays alongside her sister for the final time in a Spartan uniform as Kylie graduates in a few short weeks. Katelyn is also a four-event state qualifier as she won district gold in the 400.

Regardless of what happens Saturday in Shippensburg, Kylie Temple has already etched her name as one of Hughesville’s best track athletes. And she gets to go out with her sister and relay teammates for one last hurrah.

Here’s thinking she’ll bring back a handful of medals, too. And possibly some gold.