05/28/21 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Portage's Lauren Shaffer placed third in the 2A 1600-meter run with a time of 5:01.59. Shaffer also placed 5th in the 400 meter dash and 7th in the 800 meter run.

SHIPPENSBURG — Lauren Shaffer has experienced plenty of success in her first three years running track and cross country at Portage, but she’s had her share of heartbreak at the PIAA level.

Friday at Seth Grove Stadium, she used some of that experience to persevere through a long day and capture three medals, a bronze in the mile, a fifth-place finish in the 400-meter dash and a seventh-place finish in the 800-meter run.

Shaffer’s time of 5:01.59 in the 1600-meter run was a personal best.

“I was very happy to PR,” Shaffer said. “I knew coming into the race that (three-time state champion Meli Reggins of Shady Side) ran a 4:50 last week, so I knew not to chase her. I tried to stay in the front pack at the beginning so I didn’t go out too fast, and I stuck with (runner-up Maddis Hayes of Fairview), and she had a really good pace for me.”

Though Shaffer placed third, she said she could have run the race a different way to do even better and put that knowledge to use when she was running her third race of the day and her legs were burning and her energy level was low.

“It’s really special (to medal in all three events), because two years ago, I came here as a sprinter,” Shaffer said. “I wanted to try something new, and I’m really proud of how I did this year. I probably didn’t run very smart in the mile, coming around in the second lane most of the way, but I ran (the 800-meter run) in a smarter way. You have to learn somehow, and I did that today.”

Earlier in the day, Central Cambria’s 3200-meter relay team of Faith Wilson, Stella Kunta, Abigail George and Abigail Walwro exceeded expectations by earning a silver medal and adding their names to the rich history of the Lady Devils track and field program.

“We lost a whole big pack when we lost a year (to COVID),” Walwro said. “We didn’t get that time for the seniors helping us come up through the ranks, so it was nice to finally get back here and show that no matter who is running, Central Cambria is always going to be here.”

Boiling Springs won the championship, but Central Cambria was in contention for the gold throughout the race and finished in 9:40.93, just three seconds behind the champions.

“Faith kept it together, but when our second leg, Stella, took it, I looked at Abby (George) and said, ‘we are taking this,'” Walwro said. “She got us started, and Abby kept it going and I closed it out. Faith did an amazing job getting us in a good spot and keeping us in it, and once it got spread out, we knew we could do it. It’s so great that we did it here at states in our last meet.”

Walwro said the lower expectations helped fuel the Lady Devils.

“This feels so good, because we knew we were the sleeper team in this race,” Walwro said. “We knew we could run so much better and no one was watching us. Coming out and running this was great. It was a PR, but more than that, it was a huge accomplishment for everyone.”

Chestnut Ridge’s Belle Bosch won a silver medal in the javelin.

“My last throw got me second, so I’ll always remember that,” Bosch said. “It feels amazing, because there were some really good girls here competing, and I’m really happy to come out second.”

Notables

n Walwro finished 12th in the 300 hurdles in 48.27.

n Central Cambria’s Annaliese Niebauer finished 17th in 3200-meter run in 12:01.04.

n Central Cambria finished 17th in the 1600-meter relay.

n Tyrone finished 13th in the 400-meter relay, and Penn Cambria was 20th.

n Mackenzie Latchford of Tyrone finished 11th in the long jump, and teammate Chesney Saltsgiver finished 19th. Cambria Heights’ Pamela Kirkpatrick finished 16th.

n Lydia Worthing of Bellwood-Antis finished tied for 12th in the pole vault at 9 feet, 6 inches.

n Reagan Irons of Tyrone finished tied for 20th in the high jump with a leap of 4 feet, 8 inches.

n Northern Cambria’s Regan Sheredy placed fifth in the shot put.

n Chestnut Ridge’s Madison Hillegass placed seventh in the long jump.

n Everett’s Violet Johnson finished tied for seventh in the pole vault.

n Portage freshman Cami Burkett ran a time of 26.60 in the 200 dash to set a new school record.