After dominating most of the season at big events, the gold turned out to be elusive at districts, though she did get through to states.

This year, the gold on Cherry’s uniform was accompanied by much more around her neck when she edged Penn Cambria’s Kate Eckenrode in the 100 dash with a time of 12.49 seconds and also won the triple jump with a distance of 38 feet, 3.75 inches after winning the long jump the day before.

With her help, B-A claimed the girls 2A championship at Wednesday’s District 6 track and field meet at Mansion Park.

Eckenrode ran the 100 in 12.63 seconds and also qualified for states, and Cambria Heights’ Brielle McMillen also made states by finishing as the runner-up in the triple jump with a distance of 37 feet, 4.5 inches.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Central Cambria's Makenzie Hite (left) takes the baton from Makenzie Hite during the first exchange of the AA 4x800 meter relay. Central Cambria won with a time of 9:30.39.

“It’s fun to me, because she pushes me a lot,” Cherry said. “It felt really good. I tried to warm up a lot more than I normally would during the delay, and I think that really helped me.”

Bellwood’s Olivia Rishel was third in the pole vault, clearing 10 feet, to also help the Lady Blue Devils scoring on Wednesday.

Though Cherry helped her team win a title, no one had a better individual day than Tyrone’s Sarah Chichester, who claimed four District 6 championships — all on Wednesday.

Chichester won the 400 title in 58.67 seconds and later claimed the 200 dash in 25.97 seconds. Eckenrode made it to states with a third-place finish.

Chichester switched from running the 100 to the 400 in the middle of the season.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Bellwood-Antis' Ella Cherry won the AA 100 meter dash with the time of 12.49.

“I feel amazing,” Chichester said. “The 400 was better for me. It was good to make that switch so I could get to the top of the podium.”

Chichester also helped Tyrone win the 1600 relay and the girls 400 relay title in 50.32 seconds, an event the Lady Eagles will be joined at in states by Penn Cambria and Bellwood-Antis, which finished second and third, respectively.

Chichester had just minutes between the 400 relay and the 400 dash.

“Today was definitely the fastest turnaround I have had yet this season,” Chichester said. “But I spent all day preparing for the races, visualizing and making sure that I recovered in between.”

Claire Lehman, also part of Tyrone’s relay wins, won the 300 hurdles in 46.16, and Central Cambria’s Bella Templeton was third.

“It takes a lot of practice,” Lehman said. “I like doing sprint workouts, and the form, actually going over the hurdles, workouts really help me. This feels really good to win this.”

Another racer that had success individually but also helped his relay was Central Cambria’s Ethan Haycisak, who won the 3200 in 9:32.79 and will be joined in the event at states by third-place finisher and teammate Reed Takacs.

“It’s awesome,” Haycisak said. “I had a plan coming into this meet to win all three in pretty good fashion, and I’d say I did that. I’m pretty happy.”

Haycisak won the 1600 run on Tuesday, and with Haycisak blazing down the final stretch and crossing the finish line with a fist pump, the Central Cambria boys won the 3200 relay Wednesday in 8:16.84. Central also punched a ticket to the PIAA meet with a third-place finish in 8:24.29.

“It’s been a long time coming for that relay,” Haycisak said. “The last couple years have really, really stunk. To finally be able to perform when it matters in that event was great. That was my main thing coming into this meet. Even though I was set up for success in my individual events, my main focus was that race and getting to where we needed.”

The Central Cambria girls, anchored by 1600 winner Paige Alexander, won the 3200 relay — a race the school has dominated for years, in 9:30.39. The Bellwood-Antis girls also advanced to states with a time of 9:50.5 as the runner-up.

Forest Hills senior Mylee Glessner set the meet record in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.93, and Cambria Heights’ Rachel McClellan advanced to states with a qualifying fourth-place time of 15.92 seconds. On the boys side, Jasper Shepps of Juniata also broke a meet record in the 110 hurdles in 14.16 seconds, and B-A’s Cameron Nelson made states with a second-place finish in 14.75 seconds. Nelson also made states in the 300 hurdles with a third-place finish after Shepps also broke that meet record.

The Bellwood-Antis boys 400 relay team finished third to advance to states behind the meet-record breaking Richland team that ran the race in 43.11 seconds.

B-A’s Owen Stoltzfus finished second in the 400 dash, and Portage’s Josh Papcun was third to earn trips to Shippensburg, and Tyrone’s Mason Emigh finished second in the boys triple jump, and Penn Cambria’s Blake Lilly finished third to qualify for states in his third different event.

Lanee Berkhimer of Central was second in the 3200 run, and Bellwood’s Julie Kraft was third, meaning both made the PIAA meet.

Jacob Heuston won the 800 in 2:02.8, and Cambria Heights’ Mason Kline and Central Cambria’s Josh Bearer also advanced to states with second- and third-place finishes. On the girls side, Central Cambria’s Paige Alexander and Delaney Snyder finished second and third to make states in the event.

“It feels amazing,” Heuston said. “I have wanted this since my freshman year, and I’m so happy. In the preseason, I put in a lot of miles and worked so hard on the pole vault. Everything came together. It was a struggle at first knowing which way to go, but I found a schedule that worked for me.”

BOYS

TEAM RESULTS/KEY

1, R–Richland 79; 2, CC–Central Cambria 66; 3, BA–Bellwood-Antis 59.5; 4, T–Tyrone 43; 5, NC–Northern Cambria 40; 6, FH–Forest Hills 38.5; 7, J–Juniata 37; 8, H–Huntingdon 35; 9, C–Central 33; 10, U–United 31.5; 11, MC–Marion Center 30.5; 12, PC–Penn Cambria 28; 13, (tie), PL–Purchase Line and PM–Penns Manor 23; 15, PV–Penns Valley 20; 16, HC–Homer-Center 18; 17, BG–Bishop Guilfoyle 17; 18, BM–Bishop McCort 16; 19, (tie), CH–Cambria Heights and BC–Bishop Carroll 14; 21, BEA–Bald Eagle Area 13; 22, RV–River Valley 7; 23, P–Portage 6; 24, (tie), MU–Mount Union and SH–Southern Huntingdon 3; 26, JV–Juniata Valley 2; 27, BV–Blacklick Valley 1.

INDIVIDUAL

100 dash: 1, McAneny, R, 11.0; 2, Althouse, PV, 11.03; 3, Frantz, PL, 11.15; 4, Britton, PC, 11.29; 5, Kirsch, NC, 11.3; 6, Pazniak, BM, 11.31; 7, Carowick, SH, 11.32; 8, Scott, FH, 11.46. 200 dash: 1, McAneny, R, 22.55; 2, Frantz, PL, 22.81; 3, Czar, NC, 22.87; 4, Bainey, BM, 22.91; 5, Althouse, PV, 23.0; 6, Irons, T, 23.1; 7, Smearman, BA, 23.16; 8, Payne, U, 23.31. 400 dash: 1, Cobaugh, HC, 49.97; 2, Stoltzfus, BA, 50.31; 3, Papcun, P, 50.5; 4, Hughes, H, 51.39; 5, Krimmel, BG, 52.69; 6, Brawley, NC, 53.24; 7, Little, PL, 53.72; 8, Parks, T, 54.97. 800 run: 1, Heuston, C, 2:02.8; 2, Kline, CH, 2:04.13; 3, Bearer, CC, 2:04.64; 4, Singer, BG, 2:06.63; 5, Dechow, BEA, 2:06.81; 6, Westrick, CC, 2:07.1; 7, Wells, MC, 2:07.59; 8, Kauffman, PL, 2:08.39. 3200 run: 1, Haycisak, CC, 9:32.79; 2, Caron, FH, 9:34.04; 3, Takacs, CC, 10:00.16; 4, Doyle, CC, 10:08.56; 5, Smith, FH, 10:12.16; 6, Davis, T, 10:21.81; 7, Boring, MC, 10:23.13; 8, Honn, H, 10:23.18. 110 hurdles: *1, Shepps, J, 14.16; 2, Nelson, BA, 14.75; 3, Mugerwa, R, 14.92; 4, Schreier, BA, 15.38; 5, K. Suhoney, T, 16.01; 6, LIchtenfels, U, 16.12; 7, Dreibelbis, CH, 16.24; 8, Kronin, BEA, 16.38. 300 hurdles: *1, Shepps, J, 38.53; 2, Mugerwa, R, 39.63; 3, Nelson, BA, 39.73; 4, Irons, T, 40.38; 5, Carroll, FH, 40.69; 6, Kronin, BEA, 42.32; 7, Connelly, T, 44.34; 8, .

400 relay: *1, Richland, 43.11; 2, Bishop McCort, 43.2; 3, Bellwood-Antis, 43.71; 4, Northern Cambria, 43.99; 5, Huntingdon, 44.0; 6, United, 44.1; 7, Tyrone, 44.27; 8, Central Cambria, 45.67. 1600 relay: 1, United, 3:26.95; 2, Bellwood-Antis, 3:27.19; 3, Homer-Center, 3:29.76; 4, Richland, 3:34.21; 5, Huntingdon, 3:35.30; 6, Central, 3:35.95; 7, Tyrone, 3:36.02; 8, Marion Center, 3:36.34. 3200 relay: 1, Central Cambria (Bearer, Takacs, Doyle, Haycisak), 8:16.84; 2, United, 8:22.77; 3, Central, 8:24.29; 4, Bald Eagle Area, 8:25.4; 5, Tyrone, 8:28.89; 6, Marion Center, 8:36.08; 7, Penns Valley, 8:48.18; 8, Bellwood-Antis, 8:57.65. Triple jump: 1, Farrell, NC, 46-1.5; 2, Emigh, T, 45-11; 3, Lilly, PC, 45-0; 4, Reilly, RV, 44-10.75; 5, Cunningham, BC, 44-0.25; 6, Litzinger, BA, 43-1.75; 7, Hoffmaster, JV, 42-3; 8, Korhut, BV, 42-3. Shot put: 1, Erdman, H, 52-3; 2, Lewis, PM, 49-7.5; 3, Shellhammer, MC, 48-4; 4, Sacco, MC, 48-1; 5, Smith, PV, 45-11; 6, O’Brien, CC, 44-1; 7, Trexler, HC, 42-11; 8, Lake, SH, 42-9.

GIRLS

TEAM RESULTS/KEY

1, BA–Bellwood-Antis 96; 2, CC–Central Cambria 82; 3, FH–Forest Hills 78; 4, R–Richland 76; 5, T–Tyrone 74; 6, CH–Cambria Heights 41; 7, U–United 32; 8, H–Huntingdon 31; 9, RV–River Valley 28; 10, PC–Penn Cambria 27; 11, C–Central 21; 12, HC–Homer-Center 18; 13, (tie), SJ–Saint Joseph’s, NC–Northern Cambria and PV–Penns Valley 14; 16, P–Portage 12; 17, MC–Marion Center 11; 18, (tie), BEA–Bald Eagle Area and BC–Bishop Carroll 6; 20, (tie), PL–Purchase Line and J–Juniata 5; 22, BG–Bishop Guilfoyle 4; 23, SH–Southern Huntingdon 3; 24, WH–Westmont Hilltop 2; 25, (tie), BM–Bishop McCort and WB–West Branch 1.

INDIVIDUAL

100 dash: 1, Cherry, BA, 12.49; 2, Eckenrode, PC, 12.63; 3, Crispin, SJ, 12.901; 4, McMillen, CH, 12.904; 5, Piscatello, R, 13.07; 6, Lehman, T, 13.19; 7, Woodring, T, 13.21; 8, Romig, PV, 13.23. 200 dash: 1, Chichester, T, 25.97; 2, Crispin, SJ, 26.1; 3, Eckenrode, PC, 26.47; 4, Piscatello, R, 26.96; 5, Romig, PV, 27.06; 6, Bednarski, P, 27.19; 7, Depetro, NC, 27.32; 8, Stokes, BM, 27.88. 400 dash: 1, Chichester, T, 58.67; 2, Mavridis, R, 59.54; 3, Depetro, NC, 59.99; 4, Wagner, BA, 1:00.47; 5, Pablic, BC, 1:01.2; 6, Hite, CC, 1:01.21; 7, Gergely, PC, 1:02.04; 8, Bartley, C, 1:04.05. 800 run: 1, Mavridis, R, 2:18.36; 2, Alexander, CC, 2:21.07; 3, Snyder, CC, 2:22.79; 4, Shaw, FH, 2:24.1; 5, Klena, PV, 2:27.62; 6, Long, CC, 2:27.9; 7, Pennington, BA, 2:31.26; 8, Kraft, BA, 2:33.06. 3200 run: 1, Ascherl, FH, 10:56.86; 2, Berkhimer, C, 11:05.84; 3, Kraft, BA, 11:52.39; 4, Henning, U, 12:06.41; 5, Sheehan, CC, 12:08.6; 6, Smith, PV, 12:11.66; 7, Hines, BC, 12:14.32; 8, Shaw, FH, 12:23.07. 100 hurdles: *1, Glessner, FH, 14.93; 2, Young, H, 15.59; 3, Bryan, BEA, 15.81; 4, McClellan, CH, 15.92 (SQ); 5, Dunlap, R, 16.1; 6, Templeton, CC, 16.4; 7, Stoltzfus, BA, 16.75; 8, Marshall, U, 17.13. 300 hurdles: 1, Lehman, T, 46.16; 2, Papcunik, FH, 47.05; 3, Templeton, CC, 47.91; 4, Zamborsky, MC, 48.19; 5, Stoltzfus, BA, 48.48; 6, Dunn, C, 49.07; 7, Dunlap, R, 49.07; 8, McGinnis, U, 49.48.

400 relay: 1, Tyrone (Lehman, Ramsey, Woodring, Chichester), 50.32; 2, Penn Cambria, 50.67; 3, Bellwood-Antis, 51.25; 4, River Valley, 51.93; 5, Richland, 52.36; 6, Central Cambria, 52.36; 7, Westmont Hilltop, 52.73; 8, Portage, 53.68. 1600 relay: 1, Tyrone (Chichester, Woodring, Flick, Lehman), 4:06.53; 2, Richland, 4:10.21 (SQ); 3, Central Cambria, 4:10.25 (SQ); 4, Central, 4:12.03; 5, Bellwood-Antis, 4:16.40; 6, Forest Hills, 4:16.48; 7, Northern Cambria, 4:21.20; 8, Penns Valley, 4:40.58. 3200 relay: 1, Central Cambria (Snyder, Hite, Long, Alexander), 9:30.39; 2, Bellwood-Antis, 9:50.5; 3, Forest Hills, 10:02.63; 4, United, 10:30.59; 5, Marion Center, 10:31.2; 6, Purchase Line, 10:50.44; 7, Tyrone, 10:52.83; 8, Portage, 10:56.58. Triple jump: 1, Cherry, BA, 38-3.75; 2, McMillen, CH, 37-4.5; 3, Macey, R, 35-9; 4, Ramsey, T, 35-6; 5, Haigh, BG, 35-0.25; 6, McClellan, CH, 34-11.25; 7, Powers, BA, 34-9.25; 8, Wanyo, CC, 34-7. Shot put: 1, Voyda, HC, 36-7.5; 2, Faith, FH, 34-7; 3, Hajer, R, 33-11; 4, Anderson, CC, 33-5.25; 5, Walters, H, 32-11; 6, Hall, R, 32-5; 7, McDowell, RV, 32-4; 8, Dicken, T, 32-3. Pole vault: 1, Buonaccorsi, H, 11-0; 2, Ressler, U, 10-0; 3, Rishel, BA, 10-0; 4, Wanyo, CC, 9-6; 5, Mazurowski, H, 8-6; 6, Cabala, FH, 8-0; 7, Warren, T, 8-0; 8, Noel, P, 7-6.

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