Altoona's Xavier Williams set the facility and meet records in the 3A 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.18. / Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Altoona and State College entered the final event of Wednesday’s second day of the District 6 Class 3A track and field championship meet at Mansion Park tied in the team race at 204.

The Lady Little Lions took an early lead in the 1600-meter relay, but by the time Altoona senior Hailey Kravetz received the baton for the final leg of the race, it was basically even.

That meant it was over for State College.

Kravetz put her head down and sprinted out to a big lead before coasting over the finish line, securing the team championship for her team for the first time since she was a freshman.

“There was no way I was losing to State College in my final race at Mansion Park,” Kravetz said. “I had confidence in our team, and I wasn’t going to let our team down. I knew we had to win it to win the team title overall, and that’s what I did.”

Though Kravetz accounted for a lot of points in advancing to states in all four of her events, she credited her teammates for putting her in position to clinch the title.

“My teammates did exactly what they needed to do,” Kravetz said. “Brookelynn (Weaver) ran a heck of a third leg and really closed the gap, and I got the baton at pretty even. That’s all I could ask for them.”

Earlier in the day, Kravetz broke the meet and school record in the 300 hurdles in 44.63, was part of Altoona’s winning 400 relay team and advanced to states in the 100 hurdles despite finishing as the runner-up by reaching the state qualifying standard.

“I walked away today with two school records, a meet record and we’re taking a busload to states,” Kravetz said. “That’s what we wanted. We didn’t want to take vans anymore, and I’m so proud of everybody.”

Kravetz said the inspiration to get as many athletes to states as possible this season came from a comment from their coach, Paula Foreman, at Shippensburg last year.

“Last year, I watched some other teams come in buses,” Foreman said. “I told the girls that’s what I wanted next year, to take a bus to states. We got a lot of kids to states this year in boys and girls, so I think we’re pretty close to a bus this year if I can convince the administration.”

Every point mattered in Altoona’s 214-212 win, and there may have been no closer race than the first one of the day.

Altoona edged State College by the slimmest of margins in the 3200 relay when Emerson Snare felt State College catch her in the final stretch of the race and kicked into a gear she didn’t know she had left to hold off her opponent and win by about a tenth of a second.

“With like 5 or 10 meters left, and I knew I just had to go,” Snare said. “I couldn’t move my legs. I just tried to pump my arms and go. I didn’t even know who won at the end. I just knew I wanted to do it for the team and the school and for us to get to the state meet and beat State College.”

Snare fell diving over the finish line.

“I didn’t even feel that,” Snare said. “I’m just so happy. I have a lot of emotions right now, and I’m so glad we won. That was my fastest split 800 ever by six seconds. I knew I had to give it my all for us to win.”

While the Altoona girls and Kravetz owned the most dramatic portion of the night, Mountain Lions hurdler Xavier Williams got the biggest roar from the crowd — and he saw it all coming.

Williams broke the Mansion Park facility, meet and school record with a 14.18 time in the 110 hurdles.

“I actually had a dream a couple nights ago that I ran a 14.1,” Williams said. “It sounds weird, but it’s true. I had a dream. I didn’t really think I was going to get a 14.1, but I just knew I was going to shatter the record.”

Williams completely dusted his competition and leapt with joy when he saw his time.

“As soon as I got done with my last hurdle, it was about 12 seconds in, and I felt like I had a feeling it was going to be somewhere in the low 14s,” Williams said. “This is big. This is the happiest I have ever been in a hot while now.”

Instead of hoping for a repeat performance at the PIAA meet, Williams took it a step further.

“Can I do it again at states?” Williams said. “I think I might get a 13.9 at states.”

Williams has made leaps and bounds, literally, in the event.

“He’s a natural hurdler who has gotten stronger over the past few years,” Foreman said. “I don’t think he’ll end here. All we need to do as coaches is convince him how good we think he is. It was exciting. He’s smooth, and he’s more focused than he’s been all season.”

But Williams was focused on just one thing after his race.

“He just came up to us and asked,” Foreman said. “Who is in charge of changing that record board?”

While Williams’ championship was expected, his teammate Branson Adams upset some notable competitors, including Hollidaysburg’s Caden DeLattre, to win the long jump.

“We put in so much work at practice, and Coach Luciano has taught me so much these last few years,” Adams said. “This is something really special that I never thought would happen. I wasn’t really thinking about winning when I came here. I was trying to think about hitting that mark to go to states, because I knew there was some really good competition. I have had a bad injury since indoor that sidelined me.”

Adams said he was still dealing with the injury but was able to overcome it — with some help.

“I took an unhealthy amount of IBUprofen before the meet,” Adams said. “I’m feeling pretty good now.”

The Altoona boys will also be represented at states in the pole vault as Nathan Lutz finished as the runner-up but reached the state qualifying standard.

Three other Lady Lions captured District 6 titles on Wednesday, but one shared her district title.

Triumph Kilmartin tied State College’s Josie Younkin when both cleared 5 feet, 1 inch in the high jump.

“I’m just appreciative of this opportunity coming back from an injury last year and not being able to participate in districts,” Kilmartin said. “It’s really exciting. I didn’t think I’d have this opportunity. I’m so blessed.”

Kilmartin and Younkin will both be heading to the state meet after the two agreed both athletes deserved to move on.

“They had just made the rule that you can have two first places, and we both jumped well today,” Kilmartin said. “We both didn’t want to go into a jump off, so we both agreed to split the gold. I think that shows sportsmanship between both of us.”

Altoona’s Annalyse Yost won the javelin with a throw of 124-6 on her last throw.

“It feels amazing,” Yost said. “This whole season, I have been working to get myself up there. I had a nice throw at the end there, but I want to beat my PR of 131 feet at states.”

Mary Stoltz, who ran the first leg of Altoona’s District 6 title-clinching 1600 relay, also won the 800 run individual title.

“I’m happy with the results,” Stoltz said. “I kind of just took the lead a little later and held on. I’m happy with how I raced. I definitely deserve this and have worked really hard my almost six years competing.”

Nathan Grabill claimed Hollidaysburg’s lone District 6 title of the day by winning the high jump, clearing 6-3, after also overcoming an injury.

“I took the time to ice my back and fix everything with my hamstring,” Grabill said. “I feel ecstatic. I came into it hoping for the best, and getting it just feels awesome. I felt very confident in my ability. After triple jump yesterday, my back didn’t hurt, and normally it does, but I just felt normal, and that gave me an extra boost.”

The Golden Tigers’ Isaac Yarnell was the runner-up to State College’s Jesse Myers in the 100 and reached the PIAA meet by the state qualifying standard with a time of 10.82. Myers set the meet record in 10.56. Yarnell also advanced in the 200 meter in 21.74, but Myers ran a meet record in that event as well at 20.91, which is now the top-ranked time in the state this year.

Blaise Wills of Hollidaysburg was the runner-up in the 400 in 49.12 but reached via the state qualifying standard, and Elizabeth Frazier was the runner-up in the 100 dash and advanced to the PIAA meet by the state qualifying standard.

BOYS

TEAM RESULTS (KEY)

1, State College (SC) 229; 2, Altoona (A) 149; 3, Hollidaysburg (H) 146; 4, Mifflin County (MC) 82; 5, Central Mountain (CM) 62; 6, Johnstown (J) 8.

INDIVIDUAL (CHAMPION ADVANCES TO STATES)

100 dash: **1, Myers, SC, 10.56; *2, Yarnell, H, 10.82; *3, Simmons, MC, 11.01; 4, Donahay, CM, 11.07; 5, Alexander, SC, 11.14; 6, Etters, A, 11.42; 7, Treece, A, 11.66; 8, Destefano, H, 11.71. 200 dash: **1, Myers, SC, 20.91; *2, Yarnell, H, 21.74; *3, Simmons, MC, 21.82; 4, Alexander, SC, 22.4; 5, Bassett, SC, 22.55; 6, Donahay, CM, 22.59; 7, Etters, A, 23.0; 8, DeStefano, H, 23.56. 400 dash: 1, Myers, SC, 47.65; *2, Wills, H, 49.12; 3, Reed, J, 50.34; 4, Wible, CM, 50.56; 5, Kauffman, MC, 52.01; 6, Van Egdom, A, 53.21; 7, Baker, A, 53.59; 8, Caldwell, SC, 54.37. 800 run: **1, Smith, MC, 1:52.61; 2, Vaira, SC, 1:57.09; 3, Fowler, SC, 1:59.96; 4, Barabas, SC, 2:00.18; 5, Druckemiller, MC, 2:00.71; 6, Bossler, A, 2:00.88; 7, Parks-Gill, MC, 2:04.64; 8, Webster, A, 2:06.68. 3200 run: 1, I. Opperman, SC, 9:29.18; 2, T. Opperman, SC, 9:43.5; 3, Maguire, SC, 10:01.49; 4, Woomer, A, 10:10.94; 5, Cubbison, MC, 10:13.96; 6, R. Webster, A, 10:13.99; 7, Aurand, MC, 10:14.35; 8, Manfred, H, 10:16.41. 110 hurdles: **1, Williams, A, 14.18; 2, Brown, SC, 15.43; 3, Bender, H, 16.06; 4, Bueno, H, 16.06; 5, Pacifico, A, 16.87; 6, Brown, SC, 17.08; 7, McNitt, MC, 17.12; 8, Nyman, CM, 17.92. 300 hurdles: 1, D. Brown, SC, 40.44; 2, Bender, H, 41.8; 3, Moeny, SC, 42.53; 4, McNitt, MC, 42.68; 5, Pacifico, A, 43.0; 6, R. Brown, SC, 43.54; 7, Treece, A, 44.46; 8, Nyman, CM, 45.21.

400 relay: 1, State College (Bassett, Myers, Lustig, Alexander), 42.24; 2, Altoona, 43.37; 3, Hollidaysburg, 43.63; 4, Central Mountain, 45.39. 1600 relay: 1, State College (Bassett, Caldwell, Vaira, Coughlin), 3:24.56; 2, Hollidaysburg, 3:28.48; 3, Altoona, 3:30.59; 4, Mifflin County, 3:32.15; 5, Central Mountain, 3:38.62. 3200 relay: 1, State College (Endres, Coughlin, Fowler, Vaira), 7:51.89; *2, Mifflin County, 7:59.61; 3, Altoona, 8:22.05; 4, Hollidaysburg, 8:55.35. High jump: 1, Grabill, H, 6-3; 2, Corso, A, 6-1; 3, Weimert, H, 6-1; 4, Adams, A, 5-11; 5, Snyder, H, 5-9; 6, Newman, CM, 5-9; 7, Alberter, J, 5-7; 8, Bodner, SC, 5-7. Long jump: 1, Adams, A, 22-5.75; 2, Ca. DeLattre, H, 22-0.25; 3, Williams, A, 21-0.5; 4, Newman, CM, 19-9.75; 5, Brinker, CM, 19-9.25; 6, Plank, MC, 19-8; 7, Co. DeLattre, H, 19-6.75; 8, Bodner, SC, 19-5.5. Discus: 1, Haas, SC, 162-10; 2, Maines, H, 143-1; 3, Pak-Blyzniuk, SC, 140-7; 4, Bottorf, CM, 131-0; 5, Jones, A, 130-9; 6, Bechtel, SC, 129-6; 7, Dawes, CM, 123-8; 8, White, H, 116-10. Javelin: 1, Haas, SC, 192-11; 2, Hughes, CM, 157-0; 3, Pak-Blyzniuk, SC, 155-6; 4, Wyland, H, 154-7; 5, Smith, SC, 152-0; 6, Herr, A, 149-11; 7, Belton-Ruize, H, 143-4; 8, Boose, A, 139-9. Pole vault: 1, Bell, SC, 15-6; *2, N. Lutz, A, 14-3; 3, Singer, H, 13-3; 4, Wright, H, 13-3; 5, Weatherwalk, A, 12-3; 6, C. Lutz, A, 12-3; 7, Zipf, SC, 10-9; 8, Stevenson-Peck, SC, 10-3.

GIRLS

TEAM RESULTS (KEY)

1, Altoona (A) 214; 2, State College (SC) 212; 3, Hollidaysburg (H) 90; 4, Bellefonte (B) 75.5; 5, Central Mountain (CM) 60; 6, Mifflin County (MC) 21.5; 7, Johnstown (J) 7.

INDIVIDUAL (CHAMPION ADVANCES TO STATES)

100 dash: 1, Abdullah, SC, 12.35; *2, Frazier, H, 12.48; 3, Kocher, SC, 12.95; 4, Waksmonski, H, 12.96; 5, Long, A, 13.01; 6, Weaver, A, 13.01; 7, Statler, H, 13.05; 8, Alexander, A, 13.11. 200 dash: 1, Abdullah, SC, 25.59; 2, Frazier, H, 26.18; 3, Kocher, SC, 26.57; 4, Weaver, A, 26.66; 5, Seider, SC, 27.25; 6, Alexander, A, 27.44; 7, Himmelwright, A, 27.59; 8, Moyer, H, 27.66. 400 dash: 1, Helms, B, 58.22; 2, Clapper, H, 58.65; 3, Kocher, SC, 1:00.51; 4, Himmelwright, SC, 1:02.58; 5, Peachey, SC, 1:03.31; 6, Adams, A, 1:03.81; 7, Miller, B, 1:04.3; 8, Stanek, H, 1:04.4. 800 run: 1, Stoltz, A, 2:17.54; *2, Poindexter, SC, 2:17.94; 3, Keohane, CM, 2:23.37; 4, Bigger, SC, 2:26.68; 5, Schellberg, SC, 2:28.21; 6, Carney, H, 2:30.81; 7, Cook, MC, 2:32.23; 8, Hopkins, B, 2:33.01. 3200 run: 1, Jackson, SC, 11:12.86; 2, Noce, A, 11:23.0; 3, Bigger, SC, 11:43.66; 4, Raish, SC, 12:15.22; 5, Etters, H, 12:26.52; 6, Snare, A, 12:27.65; 7, Jolley, B, 12:29.04; 8, Luke, A, 12:32.88. 100 hurdles: 1, S. Tate, SC, 15.17; *2, Kravetz, A, 15.31; 3, Wiseman, CM, 16.54; 4, Irwin, A, 16.75; 5, Wilt, CM, 16.81; 6, Steiner, H, 16.97; 7, Hall, CM, 17.08; 8, Owulade, A, 17.15. 300 hurdles: **1, Kravetz, A, 44.63; *2, Irwin, A, 45.99; 3, S. Tate, SC, 47.1; 4, Owulade, A, 49.99; 5, Steiner, H, 50.03; 6, Wiseman, CM, 50.18; 7, Wilt, CM, 51.54; DeFelice, SC, 54.32.

400 relay: 1, Altoona (Long, Weaver, Alexander, Kravetz), 49.35; 2, State College, 49.76; 3, Hollidaysburg, 50.63; 4, Bellefonte, 53.44; 5, Mifflin County, 53.77. 1600 relay: 1, Altoona (Stoltz, Irwin, Weaver, Kravetz), 3:58.55; *2, State College, 3:59.04; 3, Hollidaysburg, 4:09.0; 4, Bellefonte, 4:17.47; 5, Mifflin County, 4:27.35. 3200 relay: 1, Altoona (Stoltz, Noce, Adams, Snare), 9:29.65; *2, State College, 9:29.8; 3, Hollidaysburg, 10:11.36; 4, Mifflin County, 11:03.4. High jump: T-1, Kilmartin, A, 5-1; T-1, Younkin, SC, 5-1; 3, McNeil, H, 5-1; 4, Jodon, H, 4-11; 5, Basenback, H, 4-9; 6, Tyson, B, 4-9; 7, Ematat, MC, 4-7; T-8, Underwood, B, 4-3; T-8, Ross, MC, 4-3. Long jump: 1, Hendricks, CM, 18-4.75; *2, Abdullah, SC, 18-2.5; 3, Helms, B, 17-4.25; 4, Owulade, A, 17-1.75; 5, Long, A, 17-1.5; 6, Sekhon, SC, 16-9.5; 7, Proctor, B, 16-5; 8, Shoemaker, H, 15-4.75. Discus: 1, Lipski, SC, 118-6; 2, Noel, A, 114-8; 3, Yost, A, 95-1; 4, Miller, B, 90-0; 5, Kurcin, J, 88-2; 6, Harter, B, 84-11; 7, Anderson, CM, 84-2; 8, Harris, SC, 81-10. Javelin: 1, Yost, A, 124-6; 2, Miler, B, 118-0; 3, Banker, SC, 110-0; 4, L. Tate, SC, 105-9; 5, Skrzycki, B, 86-5; 6, McKendree, J, 85-1; 7, Onuskanich, CM, 82-11; 8, Banfill, CM, 81-10.

**Meet record

*Advanced to states by state qualifying standard