Portage senior Owen Gouse has experienced District 6 gold on the basketball court, but never on the track.

That changed Thursday when he posted his career-best time in the 800-meter run and was left in shock when he saw his winning time of 1:59.55.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Gouse said. “I didn’t think it was possible for me, but I somehow went out and achieved it. I thought maybe I kicked a little too early, but I was able to keep it going through the finish. There are some really good runners here today, and they helped me get under 2 minutes.”

Gouse finished ahead of Central Cambria senior Dom Kuntz, who ran it in 2:00.8 and Central’s Jacob Heuston, who finished in 2:01.23.

Tyrone’s Sarah Chichester anchors the winning 400 meter-relay team that finished on Thursday in 49.76. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

While Gouse was happy with his victory and time, Tyrone sophomore Sarah Chichester was still shaking with excitement after coming off the podium following her victory in the 200 dash in 26.24 ahead of Bellwood-Antis freshman Ella Cherry’s time of 26.44.

“It’s incredible,” Chichester said. “I have been working really hard to get to this. I feel like I’m in a dream right now. I was really trying to go for first today, so to get it is insane.”

Chichester was also part of two championship relays for the Lady Eagles — the 400 and 1600 — and said she’s thrilled to head to Shippensburg and the PIAA meet next weekend with her teammates.

“I’m so excited for that,” Chichester said. “I love those girls so much.”

Though Cherry finished second in the 200, she did claim a District 6 title in the triple jump.

Cherry lept 36 feet, 8.75 inches, and Cambria Heights’ Brielle McMillen was third in 36-1.75. Tyrone’s Nicole Ramsey — who was also on the 400 relay team with Chichester — also qualified for states by finishing fourth and reaching the state qualifying standard.

“It’s very exciting,” Cherry said. “I placed in every single event, so that was a nice accomplishment. Being a gymnast helps me with my form and my speed and strength, which helped me at this meet.”

Penn Cambria’s Kate Eckenrode won the 100 dash in 12.75, edging out fellow state qualifiers Cherry (12.85) and Chichester (12.88).

“This is so special, winning districts as a freshman,” Eckenrode said. “I had an (hip flexor) injury at the beginning, and I have been working my way back waiting for this meet all season. It’s amazing to win it. I was feeling nervous, because I know those girls are good.”

Juniata Valley senior Ella McCrum followed up her victory in the mile on Wednesday by winning the 800 in 2:18.66, a personal best. Savannah Hoover of Cambria Heights was second in 2:21.05, and Central Cambria’s Alaina Sheehan was third in 2:23.69.

McCrum’s strategy is different in the 800 than in the mile as she likes to be more aggressive early.

“The 800 for me is about getting off the line as quickly as possible,” McCrum said. “If that gets me to first place, keep the lead. If it gets me to second, tuck in and wait for the finish. Today, it put me in front, and I really found myself on the final stretch.”

During the season, McCrum, who is an excellent cross country runner and finished seventh overall in the state in her classification, transitioned away from running the 3200 to the 800.

“During outdoor, I have worked on my footspeed a lot, which caused me to shift to the 800,” McCrum said. “The 3200 wasn’t going as well as I wanted to, and I’m doing really well in the 800, so I’m happy with the change.”

In the 100 hurdles, Cambria Heights’ Rachel McClellan picked a great time to set a new personal best with a time of 15.45 seconds to win a District 6 title.

“It’s so awesome,” McClellan said. “This is something I have dreamed of for such a long time, and it feels awesome that it has finally happened. I felt like I was at the top of my game. The past few weeks, I have been doing so well and stepping up my game and working so hard. I have been improving, and I knew something good was going to happen.”

Other qualifiers: Central Cambria’s Coreigh Anderson (runner-up, 34-5.25) and Central’s Alayna Mingle (third, 33-10.25) advanced to states in the girls shot put. … Penn Cambria’s Blake Lilly finished as the runner-up in the triple jump with a leap of 44 feet, 3.5 inches, just behind champion Daniel Farrell of Northern Cambria (44-8.25). … Ava Worthing of Bellwood-Antis finished third in the girls pole vault, clearing 9-6, to qualify for states. Richland’s Karsyn Ford won the event, clearing a meet record 12 feet. … Ava Pablic of Bishop Carroll (runner-up, 1:00.77) and Avah Hassler of Bellwood-Antis (third, 1:01.02) advanced to states in the 400 meter run. … B-A’s Holden Schreier was third in the 400 in 51.32. … Central Cambria girls 3200 relay won in 9:36.57. Bellwood-Antis was third in 9:55.06. … Penn Cambria and Bellwood-Antis’ girls teams also advanced to states in the 400 relay. … Tyrone’s Claire Lehman was runner-up in the 300 hurdles in 47.36 and also was on both Tyrone relay championship teams. … Tyrone’s Drew Irons was third in the 200 in 23.06. … Ethan Haycisak of Central Cambria was third in 3200 with a time of 9:45.01. … The Central boys 400 relay team finished fourth, but reached a state qualifying standard with a time of 43.93. … The Tyrone boys were the runner-up in the 3200 relay, and Central Cambria was third — locking up a spot in the PIAA championships for both teams despite finishing behind champion United. … The Central boys were second in the 1600 relay in 3:26.66, and Tyrone was third in 3:29.26. Five teams from the relay reached the state qualifying standard and advanced.

BOYS

TEAM RESULTS/KEY

1, Richland (R) 108.5; 2, Juniata (J) 78; 3, United (U) 63; 4, Tyrone (T) 50; 5, Central Cambria (CC) 39; 6, Huntingdon (H) 34; 7, Central (C) 33.5; T-8, Penn Cambria (PC) 33; T-8, Penns Manor (PM) 33; 10, Homer-Center (HC) 29; T-11, Northern Cambria (NC) 25; T-11, Portage (P) 25; 13, Penns Valley (PV) 18.5; 14, Bellwood-Antis (BA) 18; 15, Marion Center (MC) 16; 16, Forest Hills (FH) 15.5; T-17, Cambria Heights (CH) 15; T-17, Bishop Carroll (BC) 15; T-17, Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 15; 20, Philipsburg-Osceola (PO) 14; T-21, River Valley (RV) 6; T-21, Bishop Guilfoyle (BG) 6; 23, Westmont Hilltop (WH) 5; T-24, Saint Joseph’s (SJ) 2; T-24, Bishop McCort (BM) 2; 26, Mount Union (MU) 1.

INDIVIDUAL

100 dash: 1, McAneny, R, 11.21; 2, Althouse, PV, 11.24; 3, Law, PO, 11.3; 4, Slusher, H, 11.41; 5, Nelen, CH, 11.46; 6, Boreman, J, 11.47; 7, Cunningham, BC, 11.58; 8, Hoover, T, 11.8. 200 dash: 1, J. Mugerwa, R, 22.68; 2, Law, PO, 23.01; 3, Irons, T, 23.06; 4, Cobaugh, HC, 23.08; 5, Brooks, MC, 23.13; 6, Jones, HC, 23.37; 7, Gordon, BM, 23.8. 400 dash: 1, J. Mugerwa, R, 49.26; 2, Cobaugh, HC, 50.64; 3, Schreier, BA, 51.32; 4, Oleksa, U, 51.35; 5, Hughes, H, 51.86; 6, Papcun, P, 52.19; 7, Beaver, U, 52.21; 8, Scott, MU, 53.19. 800 run: 1, Gouse, P, 1:59.55; 2, Kuntz, CC, 2:00.8; 3, Heuston, C, 2:01.23; 4, Detwiler, T, 2:04.85; 5, Singer, BG, 2:07.07; 6, Brumbaugh, T, 2:07.46; 7, Barner, J, 2:07.7; 8, Ryan, BC, 2:08.55. 3200 run: 1, Stroup, J, 9:26.42; 2, Bomberger, J, 9:41.19; 3, Haycisak, CC, 9:45.01; 4, Caron, FH, 9:45.73; 5, Takacs, CC, 10:11.93; 6, Beward, J, 10:15.79; 7, DePlato, SJ, 10:25.7; 8, Henning, U, 10:26.08. 110 hurdles: 1, Shepps, J, 14.99; 2, A. Mugerwa, R, 15.39; 3, Forsha, RV, 15.58; 4, Eckenrode, CH, 15.6; 5, Levander, R, 15.99; 6, Dumm, NC, 16.1; 7, Dreibelbis, CH, 16.26; 8, Nelson, BA, 16.31. 300 hurdles: 1, Shepps, J, 39.85; 2, Kimler, PV, 40.5; 3, A. Mugerwa, R, 40.57; 4, Taylor, BEA, 40.92; 5, Eckenrode, CH, 41.25; 6, Carroll, FH, 41.93; 7, Stiffler, U, 43.15; 8, Shawley, BA, 43.17.

400 relay: 1, Richland, 43.36; 2, United, 43.76; 3, Huntingdon, 43.81; 4, Central, 43.93 (SQ); 5, Tyrone, 44.11; 6, Homer-Center, 44.88; 7, Northern Cambria, 44.92. 1600 relay: 1, Richland, 3:25.42; 2, Central, 3:26.66; 3, Tyrone, 3:29.26; 4, United, 3:29.38 (SQ); 5, Homer-Center, 3:29.39 (SQ); 6, Bellwood-Antis, 3:32.47; 7, Central Cambria, 3:34.12; 8, Penns Valley, 3:34.43. 3200 relay: 1, United (Beaver, Henning, Oleksa, Shepler), 8:11.22; 2, Tyrone (Detwiler, Sutt, Brumbaugh, D. Novak), 8:16.42; 3, Central Cambria (Haycisak, Archangelo, Bradley, Kuntz), 8:26.63; 4, Richland, 8:44.82; 5, Marion Center, 8:59.96; 6, Bellwood-Antis, 9:01.47; 7, Bald Eagle Area, 9:05.28; 8, Penns Valley, 9:07.22. Triple jump: 1, Farrell, NC, 44-8.25; 2, Lilly, PC, 44-3.5; 3, McCulty, R, 43-10.75; 4, M. Emigh, T, 43-10.25; 5, Hasset, WH, 43-9.75; 6, Lane, H, 43-9.25; 7, Farabaugh, BC, 42-9.25; 8, Cunningham, BC, 42-7.75. Shot put: 1, Polenik, PM, 54-5; 2, Erdman, H, 46-7.75; 3, Montgomery, U, 45-11.5; 4, Butterly, HC, 45-5.5; 5, Jelley, U, 44-6.25; 6, Lewis, PM, 43-8.5; 7, Hollis, R, 43-5.5; 8, Trexler, HC, 43-3.75.

GIRLS

TEAM RESULTS/KEY

1, Richland (R) 92; 2, Bellwood-Antis (BA) 85; 3, Tyrone (T) 79; 4, Forest Hills (FH) 72; 5, Cambria Heights (CH) 47; 6, Central Cambria (CC) 45; 7, Penn Cambria (PC) 32; 8, United (U) 29; 9, Huntingdon (H) 25; 10, Central (C) 22; 11, Mount Union (MU) 21; 12, Juniata Valley (JV) 20; 13, Juniata (J) 19; 14, Bald Eagle Area (BEA) 17; T-15, Southern Huntingdon (SH) 12; T-15, Bishop Carroll (BC) 12; T-17, River Valley (RV) 11; T-17, Penns Valley (PV) 11; 19, Purchase Line (PL) 10; T-20, Westmont Hilltop (WH) 8; T-20, Marion Center (MC) 8; 22, Portage (P) 7; 23, West Branch (WB) 6; 24, Northern Cambria (NC) 5; 25, Homer-Center (HC) 4; 26, Williamsburg (W) 3.

INDIVIDUAL

100 dash: 1, Eckenrode, PC, 12.75; 2, Cherry, BA, 12.85; 3, Chichester, T, 12.88; 4, Piscatello, R, 13.14; 5, Stager, WH, 13.28; 6, Twinchek, RV, 13.31; 7, Bednarski, P, 13.39; 8, Sunderland, SH, 13.51. 200 dash: 1, Chichester, T, 26.24; 2, Cherry, BA, 26.24; 3, Piscatello, R, 26.44; 4, Ramsey, T, 26.7; 5, Glessner, FH, 27.07; 6, Bednarski, P, 27.16; 7, Wingert, SH, 27.65; 8, Ronan, PC, 27.83. 400 dash: 1, Mavridis, R, 58.46; 2, Pablic, BC, 1:00.77; 3, Hassler, BA, 1:01.02; 4, Depetro, NC, 1:01.06; 5, Gleason, CC, 1:01.95; 6, Carpenter, FH, 1:02.31. 800 run: 1, McCrum, JV, 2:18.66; 2, Hoover, CH, 2:21.05; 3, Al. Sheehan, CC, 2:23.69; 4, Klena, PV, 2:27.3; 5, Pablic, BC, 2:27.82; 6, Ab. Sheehan, CC, 2:27.87; 7, Long, CC, 2:27.96; 8, Kraft, BA, 2:29.15. 3200 run: 1, Brubaker, J, 11:15.12; 2, Mavridis, R, 11:21.5; 3, Smith, PV, 12:03.24; 4, Henning, U, 12:20.66; 5, Slade, MC, 12:27.3; 6, Hoover, CH, 12:38.51; 7, Guenot, BEA, 12:39.97; 8, Causer, WB, 12:42.79. 100 hurdles: 1, McClellan, CH, 15.45; 2, Young, H, 15.68; 3, Skopic, MU, 15.99; 4, Glessner, FH, 16.01 (SQ); 5, Bryan, BEA, 16.41; 6, Stoltzfus, BA, 16.92; 7, Dunlap, R, 16.98; 8, Karabinos, PC, 17.34. 300 hurdles: 1, Skopic, MU, 46.94; 2, Lehman, T, 47.36; 3, Papcunik, FH, 47.46; 4, Stoltzfus, BA, 47.87; 5, Dunlap, R, 48.81; 6, Dunn, C, 49.41; 7, Venesky, CH, 50.5; 8, McGinnis, U, 51.67.

400 relay: 1, Tyrone (Lehman, Ramsey, Greene, Chichester), 49.76; 2, Penn Cambria, 50.44; 3, Bellwood-Antis, 51.12; 4, Central, 51.53; 5, Richland, 51.86; 6, Forest Hills, 51.96; 7, River Valley, 51.97; 8, Southern Huntingdon, 52.51. 1600 relay: 1, Tyrone (Chichester, Wrye, Flick, Lehman), 4:09.16; 2, Forest Hills, 4:10.06; 3, Richland, 4:10.45; 4, Central, 4:14.48; 5, Bellwood-Antis, 4:20.66; 6, Southern Huntingdon, 4:21.08; 7, Bald Eagle Area, 4:21.54; 8, Central Cambria, 4:22.94. 3200 relay: 1, Central Cambria (Ab. Sheehan, Long, Alexander, Al. Sheehan), 9:36.57; 2, Forest Hills, 9:54.14; 3, Bellwood-Antis (M. Cacciotti, Wagner, Kraft, Pennington), 9:55.06; 4, United, 10:17.13; 5, Marion Center, 10:21.77; 6, Bald Eagle Area, 10:28.48; 7, Purchase Line, 10:33.87; 8, Richland, 10:48.89. Triple jump: 1, Cherry, BA, 36-8.75; 2, Macey, R, 36-8.5; 3, McMillen, CH, 36-1.75; 4, Ramsey, T, 35-10.25 (SQ); 5, McClellan, CH, 35-2.25; 6, Imes, C, 34-2.75; 7, Buonaccorsi, H, 33-11.75; 8, Woomer, T, 33-9. Shot put: 1, Faith, FH, 36-1; 2, Anderson, CC, 34-5.25; 3, Mingle, C, 33-10.25; 4, Crestani, BEA, 32-9.5; 5, Hajer, R, 32-2.5; 6, Walters, H, 32-1.5; 7, McDowell, RV, 31-9.25; 8, Voyda, HC, 31-5.75. Pole vault: *1, Ford, R, 12-0; 2, Buonaccorsi, H, 10-6; 3, Worthing, BA, 9-6; 4, Rishel, BA, 9-0; 5, Ressler, U, 8-6; 6, Wagner, J, 8-6; T-7, Yoder, WH, 8-0; T-7, Fischer, U, 8-0; T-7, Cabala, Fh, 8-0.

*Meet records; SQ–Advanced to state meet through qualifying standard