No athletes from the Mirror’s core coverage area will head to Shippensburg’s Seth Grove Stadium for the PIAA Track & Field Championships today and Saturday as the favorite on paper to win a gold medal, but several are highly seeded.

The top event locally to keep an eye on may be the Class 3A girls triple jump where Altoona’s Hannah Owulade is the second seed and teammate Jill Long is seeded third.

“I’m excited to go to states and see what I can do there,” said Owulade, who will also compete in the long jump and 100 hurdles.

Seeding is determined by athletes’ times and distances from their district championship meets — not their season personal bests.

For example, Bellwood-Antis sophomore Ella Cherry is the fifth seed in the Class 2A triple jump with a seeding jump of 38 feet, 3.75 inches. But her best jump in the event this season leads the Mirror Honor Roll, a leap of 39 feet and a quarter inch, which would place her third. However, the PRs for other district champions may also be higher.

Cherry’s B-A teammate Emma Taneyhill is listed as the No. 2 seed in the 2A discus, behind only Canton’s Alexis McRoberts.

“I want to focus mainly on technique and then clear my head mentally,” Taneyhill said. “It mainly is a mental game from here on out. There are physical parts of it, but I am aiming for 140 feet.”

One of the events in which the area has seen the most success throughout the last decade is the Class 2A girls 3200 relay, which has been dominated in District 6 by Central Cambria.

The Lady Red Devils won the event for the 20th consecutive season this year and will head into the state meet as the second seed, but top-seeded Hughesville ran its relay nearly a full 16 seconds faster than Central Cambria at its district meet.

Paige Alexander, one of the members of that relay team, is seeded fifth in the 1600-meter run.

On the boys side, Central Cambria’s Ethan Haycisak has eyes on the podium in one of his three events (the 1600, 3200 and 3200 relay) despite not being among the top seeds.

“I want to leave with at least a medal,” Haycisak said. “Whether that’s in the mile or the (3200 relay). We have been improving a lot in that event. I should be able to pull something out in the two-mile.”

Ashlyn Noce of Altoona is seeded fourth in the Class 3A girls 1600-meter run. She also won districts in the 3200 run, but she’s opting out of running it at states in favor of competing in the 3200 relay with her Lady Lion teammates.

“I’d really like to medal in any of my races at states, because I want to improve,” Noce said. “The competition there is amazing, and that always helps.”

In the Class 2A boys field, Tyrone’s Mason Emigh is the only local athlete among the top five seeds.

Emigh, who recently set the Golden Eagle records in both events, is third in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump.

Cole DeLattre of Hollidaysburg will also be in the triple jump, but in 3A, where despite jumping close to Emigh all season he’s not among the top seeds. His best jumps this season, however, have been in wet conditions — and it’s expected to rain the entire two-day meet.

“This is the first time I’ll be competing in the state event,” DeLattre said. “I’m excited to get out there and give it my best effort.”

Altoona’s Kihlee Noel will have one final shot at claiming the Lady Lions’ shot put record and enters the PIAA meet seeded No. 5 in the event. She will also compete in the discus.

Her teammate, Annalyse Yost, did not have her best throw at the District 6 meet, but the Michigan commit is hoping to find herself on the medal stand this weekend.

“I need to be prepared no matter what happens,” Yost said. “At districts, we were delayed for two hours. I need to be more prepared for what could happen, because anything can happen.”

A complete list of all the competitors and relay teams from the Mirror’s coverage area participating in PIAA meet this weekend ran in Thursday’s paper and can be found on the Mirror’s website.

Omission

Bellwood-Antis pole vaulter Olivia Rishel was omitted from the list of athletes from the Mirror’s core coverage area who will be competing at the PIAA Track & Field Championships at Seth Grove Stadium in Shippensburg this weekend.