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27-05-2025
- Sport
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Trio of champions pace Little Lions to AAA title
SHIPPENSBURG, PA (WTAJ) — A trio of state champion Little Lions paced the way for State College who won a AAA state championship Saturday at the PIAA Track & Field Championships. The Little Lions Boys team tallied 53 team points, 25 more than second place Palmyra did finishing, in what was a dominant team performance. Senior Adam Bell, a Navy signee, cleared 15-feet, 6-inches in the AAA Boys Pole Vault, a second try clearance that helped him edge Northampton's Andrew Szeplaki after neither managed to get over the 16-foot bar. It was Bell who got the winning started for the Little Lions and Jesse Myers who capped it off. In the AAA 200-meter dash, Jesse Myers, took gold in the 200-meter dash, running a 21.05 second race. The senior's win was an exclamation point on State High's boy's title as it was the third gold of the day, but the only in track. Nathan Haas won the AAA boys javelin with a throw of 204-feet-4-inches. It was a final throw attempt helped the senior jump over Whitehall's Thomas Lloyd into first. Lloyd and Haas were the only throws to eclipse the 200-foot mark. State High was the only area team to win team hardware, but not the only team with a state champion. Conemaugh Township's Baylee Sleek was the only girl in the AA high jump to clear 5-foot-8-inches and she did so in her first try, winning the event. The junior edged Quaker Valley junior Oumou Thiero by an inch in the event. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pole vaulting in the street, competing for native Austria on District 3 champ's bucket list
She dreams of flying high in the maroon and white uniform of Texas A&M. Of competing in pole vault events held on city streets. Of wearing the red and white of her birth nation in an Olympics. The first is in Lily Carlson's immediate future. The next two might not be far behind. Advertisement The Bermudian Springs senior is the top seed in the PIAA Class 3A pole vault competition after clearing 14 feet at the District 3 meet. It is her first time competing in Class 3A after winning the PIAA Class 2A title the past two seasons. The state meet, May 23-24 at Shippensburg University, is her last in high school competition. Then she begins working on the rest of the list. Austria is first. She was born in Vienna and lived in Austria until she was 7 years old, when she came to the United States with her American mom. Her dad remained in his native Austria. Carlson will be spending a big chunk of the summer training in Europe. Advertisement 'Half my trip I'll be in Vienna,' she said. 'And then I'm hoping to go to Innsbruck and train at a club there. They have another girl that jumps like 13-9, and she's also going to A&M.' National signing day: See where York-Adams student-athletes are playing sports in college Bermudian Springs' Lily Carlson clears 14 feet in the 3A pole vault competition at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. She laughs at the idea that Texas A&M will have two native Austrian freshman pole vaulters. Magdalena Rauter is the future Aggie Carlson hopes to connect with in Innsbruck. Rauter is the Austrian national champion and world U20 silver medalist. 'They have fully funded athletes there,' Carlson said. 'In Austria, they actually are like professional athletes and get paid. Track's just bigger, pole vault is bigger.' Advertisement And they really do shut down streets so they can lay runways and set up pole vault standards to have competitions in their cities. Carlson's eyes light up when she thinks of the possibilities. Those possibilities include challenging for a spot on the Austrian Olympic team. It's a long process that starts with qualifying for the European championships. Austrian hasn't had a pole vaulter in the European competition since 2014. Bermudian Springs' Lily Carlson smiles after finishing her day with a gold medal and a new district record in the 3A pole vault at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. The top vaulters from the European championships qualify for the Olympics, regardless of their country. Australian Nina Kennedy won the gold medal in Paris after clearing 4.90 meters (16.076 feet). An American and Canadian won the silver and bronze. Advertisement Clearing 14-0 for the first time in a competition was a positive step toward those Olympic dreams. '14 is a big bar, a huge milestone of mine,' Carlson said. 'It feels really good to finally clear that. I've known I can clear it, but to see that bar stay standing, I'm really excited.' Carlson had three attempts at the state record 14-3, and nearly had it on her second try. She cleared it, but tapped the bar on her way down. She'll get another shot at that record in the state meet when she goes up against defending champ Veronica Vacca of Mt. St. Joseph's, who comes in as the second seed at 13-8, although she has cleared 14-0 in competition. Bermudian Springs' Lily Carlson celebrates with her friends and fellow competitors after setting a new district record in the 3A pole vault at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. Carlson will have many of her training partners in the pole vault area with her at the state meet because they qualified through the District 3 competition. Having that kind of support, the friends who stand in a line with their hands clasped together as you soar to new heights, is vital to Carlson. Advertisement 'I've been training with them for the past few years,' she said. 'Vault Worx has been like a second home, a second family and we are all super close. We're always celebrating each other. 'We understand pole vault is such a hard and intense sport that we're always cheering each other on.' Having a support system like that to lean on is even more important at events like district and state meets, when communicating with coaches is difficult at best. Technology and coaches are not allowed on the infield, so athletes have to communicate through hand signals and shouts across the track as races are run. Carlson will have some additional support at this year's state meet. Her father will be on hand to see her compete in person for the first time since she was a freshman. Advertisement 'He has seen videos, but nothing in person,' she said. 'He's going to help me with my German, and we're going to get rolling.' Let the dreams begin. Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email mstallsmith@ or on X, formerly Twitter, @ShelStallsmith. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: PIAA track and field: Pole vault champ has lofty goals after last meet
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
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YAIAA athletes pick up 8 gold medals on final day of District 3 track and field meet
What a closing day at the District 3 track and field championships. The storms that forced a suspension of competition on Friday, cleared and created a sparkling day for some bonus events. Yes the breeze was a bit brisk at times and created some wind-aided results, but it also helped to cool things off. And with the 3200 and 1600 being run in the same day, some coaches had to do some shuffling in relay events to keep fresh legs on the teams. Advertisement Some events probably didn't end the way athletes were hoping, while others ended in ways they only saw in their dreams. 2 golds, silver for Bahn Spring Grove junior Ella Bahn hasn't focused much on the high jump this season. Even though she was the two-time defending District 3 and PIAA Class 3A champ, she spent much of the regular season trying out other events. The junior was seeded 11th at 5-2, but fared much better. 'It was definitely an off day,' Bahn said of clearing 5-4 to win silver. 'But for the training that I put in this season, I think it's about what I would expect. Probably better than I would expect. It would have been awesome, obviously, to get the win there too, but I'm alright without it.' Advertisement Bahn is used to juggling high jump duties with running the 300 hurdle prelims. But both were caught in Friday's storms and changed under the adjusted schedule. High jump was held as soon as the meet began, but the 300 hurdles were held as timed finals in the afternoon. Instead, Bahn was warming up outside the high jump ropes for the 100 hurdle finals. They started the call for the 100 hurdles when the high jump bar was moved to 5-5 for the three remaining athletes. She got her hurdling shoes out in between her second and third attempts. When she secured the silver they were calling her name to report to the starting area. Less than five minutes later she had won her third straight district 100 hurdle title. This year it was in 14.16. Advertisement 'I was warming up while I was down there [at high jump], but I'm used to doing that,' Bahn said. 'I just usually do it for the 300, but today I had to warm up for the 100.' She added the 300 hurdle title to her haul a few hours later. Bahn pocketed the eighth District 3 gold of her career in 42.75, more than 1.5 seconds ahead of the runner up. New Oxford's Brayden Billman competes in the 3A long jump at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. Jumping for gold New Oxford junior Brayden Billman came in as the top seed in the Class 3A triple jump and third seed in the long jump. He left Seth Grove Stadium with a pair of gold medals. Billman popped a 24-2 on his third attempt to win the long jump, well above his seed jump of 23-5.25. He followed a few hours later with 47-10.25 to hit his triple jump seed distance and win the title by almost a foot. Advertisement That winning triple jump came immediately after a foul. 'I felt it going, and I got the motor going,' Billman said of his first jump. 'I felt good, but just a little inch over.' But as good as it felt to wipe away that foul with a gold medal jump, Billman said the long jump effort was more satisfying. 'That one jump I hit, it was like, yeah, that's pretty far,' he said. He feeds on the energy of the crowd. When he gets them to clap, he said the adrenaline rush hits. 'It just makes me go faster and faster, and then helps me to pop off longer and longer,' Billman said. Bermudian Springs' Lily Carlson clears 14 feet in the 3A pole vault competition at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. New class, no problem Bermudian Springs senior Lily Carlson was looking forward to the challenge of competing in Class 3A. After winning a pair of District 3 and PIAA Class 2A pole vault titles, she wanted to up her game. Advertisement Consider it upped. She warmed up for the pole vault by taking seventh place in the 100 hurdles. Then she sat around while her opponents, who are really friends from her training facility, moved the bar higher into her comfort zone. She took her first attempt with the four remaining vaulters at 12-6, but hit the bar. She cleared easily on the next try after her coaches yelled for her to change poles before her second attempt. 'The pole got really tiny,' Carlson said. 'It just didn't give me any pop. So, it was a good call from the coaches to have me go and switch poles.' She had the title won when she cleared the bar at 13-0, but she set her sights on something else. Carlson wanted a matched set of district records. And she wanted to clear 14-0 before the state meet. Advertisement She got both. She added the Class 3A record to her 2A mark when she cleared 13-9. She earned the top seed in the PIAA meet when she hit 14-0 for the first time in competition. '14 was a huge goal of mine,' Carlson said. 'It feels really good to finally clear that. It means a lot.' Hanover's Miley Heath laughs with one of her coaches after winning the 2A shot put competition at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. Drought is over Miley Heath came into the Class 2A girls shot put competition as the fourth seed based on her 34-11 throw. She was already chasing something better than that after the first round of throws when Millersburg's Reagan Wentzel hit 35-0.5. The Hanover senior sat in second place after that round and didn't come close to Wentzel until her fifth attempt. Then she popped the big one. Advertisement 'I started meditating recently, it's been my thing to get my head clear,' Heath said. 'So I sat out there and I was just like, 'I got this.'' And she did. She hit 35-1.5 to inch ahead of Wentzel. When that throw held up, Heath gave Hanover its first District 3 girls track and field champion since Morgan Herrick won the high jump title in 2012. 'I wasn't really thinking of PR-ing,' Heath said. 'I just wanted to throw it around and hopefully place. I went out and did it.' Jump wasn't so little Littlestown junior Zander Spillan made it an Adams County sweep of the district boys long jump titles. When he added more than 8 inches to his previous best on his last jump, he joined New Oxford's Brayden Billman in the long jump winners' circle. Advertisement 'I knew it was good as soon as I jumped,' Spillan said. 'I just knew it.' Spillan said he didn't notice any help from the wind while he was jumping. Unlike earlier in the day when it was blowing into the jumpers' back on their approach, he felt it more to the side. 'I could feel it blowing, but since it was coming from the side, it didn't really help,' he said. 'But I don't think it really hurt too much either. So that was good.' Littlestown's Benedicte Parker competes in the 2A long jump at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. District 3 nuggets You can tell if Bahn is running in prelims or finals based on her socks. If she is wearing tie-dyed, or sharks this year, then she's running prelims. If her socks sport pineapples, she's running finals. Littlestown silver medalist Benedicte Parker doesn't know why she suddenly went from jumping in the 14-15 range to her personal best 17-0 in the space of a few attempts on Saturday. But she thinks it might have something to do with being told to stop stretching her muscles because the warm temperatures were keeping them loose enough. Carlson's pole vault would have won any of the four competitions this year. Fourteen feet was the winning height in both boys classes. Injured Bermudian Springs pole vaulter Cameron Henning was reported to be recovering after surgery on Friday night. Records broken by Palmyra's Tyler Burgess (Class 3A boys 110 hurdles) and Kaddel Howard (Class 3A girls 400 meters) were rebroken by the pair in the finals. District 3 track and field 2025: Complete results from Shippensburg University Delone Catholic's Evan Donnelly runs in the 2A 4x800m relay at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. YAIAA Day 2 medalists Class 2A Girls 4x800: The Delone Catholic team of Samantha Bealmear, Kathryn McCall, Sophia Kennedy and Kaylie Brown finished in 10:17.50 to place third. The winning time was 9:41.49. Advertisement Boys 4x800: The Delone Catholic team of Ryan Young, Evan Donnelly, Owen Smith and Owen Ignatowski ran 8:43.42 to finish fifth. The winning time was 8:08.55. Boys 110 hurdles: Biglerville freshman Ryan Bungard ran 16.81 to finish fifth. Fairfield junior Michael Fisher was eighth in 20.04. The winning time was 14.96. Boys 100 meters: Delone Catholic sophomore Jonathan Bianchi ran 11.74 to finish eighth. The winning time was 11.11. Boys 4x100: The Delone Catholic team of Max Holz, Nolan Kruse, John Paul Groves and Braden Smith ran 44.00 to finish third. The winning time was 43.66. Girls 800 meters: Delone Catholic junior Samantha Bealmear ran 2:23.84 to finish third behind the winning time of 2:18.61. Advertisement Boys 200 meters: Delone Catholic sophomore Jonathan Bianchi ran 23.55 to finish sixth and Fairfield senior Brock Herb was right behind him at 23.61 to finish seventh. The winning time was 22.67. Boys 4x400: The Fairfield team of Christ Brown, Nathan Davis, Noah Davis and Brock Herb ran 3:26.46 to win the gold medal by more than 4 seconds. Boys triple jump: Littlestown junior Zander Spillan finished third with a jump of 41-9.75. Biglerville senior Landon Anglin finished seventh with 40-0.75. The winning jump was 45-1. Girls shot put: Hanover senior Miley Heath blew through her fourth seed to win the district title with a throw of 35-1.5. Biglerville junior Patience King finished fourth with a best of 33-8 and senior Claire Roberts finished seventh with 32-7.5. Advertisement Boys long jump: Littlestown junior Zander Spillan jumped 20-11 on his attempt to move from third to first. Junior teammate Brody Clabaugh hit 20-1.5 to finish fourth. Boys javelin: Littlestown sophomore Parker Dell hit 147-0 to finish eighth. The winning throw was 180-0. Girls discus: Biglerville senior Haylee Smith hit 109-7 on her fourth attempt to finish fourth. Delone Catholic sophomore Lillian Kane was eighth at 105-11. The winning throw was 143-10. Boys high jump: Bermudian Springs sophomore Zach Ayers cleared 5-7 to finish seventh. The winning jump was 6-5. Boys discus: Littlestown sophomore Parker Dell hit 135-8 on his first throw and couldn't top it to finish fifth. The winning throw was 157-7. Advertisement Girls long jump: Littlestown junior Benedicte Parker popped a 17-0 to finish second. The winning jump was 17-6. Girls javelin: Biglerville senior Haylee Smith hit 116-2 on her fifth attempt to finish fourth behind the winning throw of 129-10. South Western's Elijah Holly races in the 3A 400m run at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. Class 3A Girls 4x800: The team of Addison Emenheiser, Leah Navarro, Neila Granger and Natalie Good ran 9:25.81 to finish second behind the winning time of 9:25.43. Girls 100 hurdles: Minutes after winning silver in the high jump, Spring Grove junior Ella Bahn won gold in 14.16. Bermudian Springs senior Lily Carlson finished seventh in 15.79. Boys 110 hurdles: York High senior Robert Salazar Rosell ran 14.83 to finish fourth, off the record-setting winning time of 13.67. Spring Grove junior Kayleb Allen was eighth in 15.42. Advertisement Girls 100 meters: Dallastown freshman Molly Mclaughlin ran 12.65 to finish sixth, off the winning time of 12.14. Girls 1600 meters: A trio of York-Adams runners finished within seconds of each other in sixth, seventh and eighth places. Northeastern junior Sophia Treglia crossed in 5:06.32, Dallastown sophomore Neila Granger in 5:07.63 and South Western freshman Lyla Eltz in 5:11.07. The winning time was 4:56.45. Boys 1600 meters: Red Lion senior Daniel Naylor finished in sixth place in 4:20.77. The winning time was 4:12.39. Girls 4x100: The York High team of Nikoe Rodriguez, Jontai Bailey, Leira Hinojosa and Ennesty Smith ran 48.84 to finish fifth. Central York's team of Anya Jordan, Teanna Wakefield, Olivia Kennedy and Ajaya Jordan ran 49.23 to finish seventh and Dallastown's Alonna Dowell, Olivia Cleaver, Mariah Black and Molly Mclaughlin ran 49.50 to finish eighth. Advertisement Boys 4x100: The Dallastown team of Jalen Cook, Anthony Osorio, Christian Rodriguez and Christopher Cromartie ran 42.88 to finish fourth. Spring Grove's team of Nasir Shabazz-Scott, Bredon Smith, Adam Herbst and Andrew Gerber ran 43.16 to finish seventh. The winning time was 41.53. Boys 400 meters: South Western senior Elijah Holly ran 48.72 to finish fourth behind the winning time of 47.94. Girls 300 hurdles: Ella Bahn won the title for the third straight year, this time in 42.75. She beat the rest of the field by more than 1.5 seconds. Boys 300 hurdles: York High senior Robert Salazar Rosell ran 39.75 to finish third behind the winning time of 37.72. Kennard-Dale senior David Smith was fifth in 40.14, Red Lion junior Markus Edwards was sixth in 40.19 and Kennard-Dale senior Brody Eller was seventh in 40.30. Advertisement Girls 800 meters: Dallastown senior Natalie Good finished in 2:16.60 to place fourth behind the winning time of 2:12.63. Girls 200 meters: Dallastown freshman Molly Mclaughlin ran 26.02 to finish seventh and Central York sophomore Ajaya Jordan ran 26.12 to finish eighth. The winning time was 24.81. Boys 200 meters: York Tech sophomore Magnus Mitchell ran 22.08 to finish fifth, behind the winning time of 21.36. Girls 3200 meters: Freshmen Leah Navarro of Dallastown and Lyla Eltz of South Western finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Navarro ran 11:01.03 and Eltz came in at 11:01.12. The winning time was 10:40.71. Advertisement Boys 3200 meters: Northeastern senior Griffen Ridler ran 9:33.45 to finish eighth behind the winning time of 9:01.71. Girls 4x400: The South Western team of Scarlett Arnold, Miah Shulski, Makayla Glover and Keira Peake ran 4:04.55 to finish seventh. The winning time was 3:55.07. Girls 4x400: The South Western team of Ghage Schmelyun, Isaac Melendez, Landon Dull and Elijah Holly ran 3:24.46 to finish seventh. The winning time was a district record 3:16.92. Boys long jump: New Oxford junior Brayden Billman nearly met the district record with his gold medal-winning jump of 24-2. It wouldn't have counted as a record because of the wind at his back, but it won the gold. South Western junior Ghage Schmelyun finished eighth with a jump of 22-2. Advertisement Girls high jump: Spring Grove junior Ella Bahn cleared 5-4 to finish second. Central York senior Emma Chataginer tied for sixth with a jump of 5-1. The winning jump was 5-5. Boys pole vault: Susquehannock's Patrick O'Brien finished tied for sixth with a jump of 13-6. The winning jump was 14-0. Boys javelin: South Western sophomore Wyatt Carbaugh hit 179-9 on his second throw, which was good for third place and exactly 10 feet off the winning throw. Girls discus: York Tech sophomore Jaedyn Brown hit 130-10 on her last throw to secure third place. The winning throw was 140-7. Girls shot put: Dover junior Melanie Thoman hit 38-4.5 on her last attempt to finish sixth. The winning throw was 44-7. Advertisement Girls pole vault: Bermudian Springs senior Lily Carlson won the gold with a vault of 13-0, but kept going. She broke the district record at 13-9 and topped hit 14-0 for the first time in competition. Boys triple jump: New Oxford junior Brayden Billman followed a foul with a jump of 47-10.25 to win the gold medal. Boys pole vault: Susquehannock junior Patrick O'Brien cleared 13-6 to finish in a tie for sixth. The winning jump was 14-0. Girls triple jump: West York senior Tristen Thomas jumped 36-9 on her first attempt to finish eighth. The winning jump was 38-5.75. West York's Tristen Thomas competes in the 3A 300m hurdles at the PIAA District 3 Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday, May 17, 2025. Team scores Class 2A girls: 1. Schuylkill Valley, 87; 2. Annville-Cleona, 85; 3. Susquenita, 74; 4. Wyomissing, 65; 5. Greenwood, 57; 6. Trinity, 47; 7. James Buchanan and Oley Valley, 46; 9. Lancaster Catholic, 40.5; 10. Millersburg, 31. YAIAA schools: 12. Biglerville, 17; 14. Delone Catholic, 15; 16. Hanover, 10; Littlestown, 8. Advertisement Class 2A boys: 1. Wyomissing 91; Annville-Cleona, 82; 3. Lancaster Catholic, 63; 4. Oley Valley, 52; 5. Susquenita, 51; 6. Steel-High, 47; 7. Brandywine Heights, 39; 8. Halifax, 34; 9. Trinity, 29.5; 10. Littlestown, 26. Other YAIAA schools: 12. Fairfield, 24; 13. Delone Catholic, 20; 21. Biglerville, 6; 24. Bermudian Springs, 2. Class 3A girls: 1. McCaskey, 108; 2. Cumberland Valley, 44; 3. Manheim Township, 33.33; 4. Cedar Crest, 32; 5. Ephrata, 31; 6. Wilson, 30; 7. Spring Grove, 28; 8. CD East and Solanco, 27; 10. Susquehanna Twp. and Dallastown, 25. Other YAIAA schools: 16. Bermudian Springs, 12; 27. South Western, 8; 31. York Tech, 6; 33. Central York, 5; 36. Dover, 4; 37. York High, 4; 39. Northeastern, 4; 50. West York, 1. Class 3A boys: 1. Palmyra, 52, 2. Manheim Twp., 51; 3. Hershey, 45.50; 4. Cumberland Valley, 40; 5. McCaskey, 34; 6. Chambersburg, 27; 7. Central Dauphin, 25; 8. Octorara and Warwick, 23; 10. Reading and Penn Manor, 22. YAIAA schools: 12. New Oxford, 20; 17. South Western, 17; 22. Dallastown, 15; 24. York High, 11; 30. Kennard-Dale, 6; 32. Red Lion, 6; 37. York Tech, 4; 41. Spring Grove, 3; 44. Susquehannock, 2.5; 48. Central York, 1.5; 51. Northeastern, 1. Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email mstallsmith@ or on X, formerly Twitter, @ShelStallsmith. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: District 3 track and field: YAIAA athletes earn plenty of hard medals
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bermudian Springs' Lily Carlson adds Class 3A state title, PIAA record to resume
Bermudian Springs senior Lily Carlson waited longer than it took for her to win her third PIAA gold medal. Because she passes through the lower heights, she's used to waiting for a while. She relaxes, talks with other competitors who are also her closest friends. She goes through her pole vault journal. Advertisement The competition took a wet turn just as Carlson was beginning to start her warmup routine. And then the clouds grew dark and the rain fell. The tarps came out and talks began about moving the event inside Shippensburg University's Heiges Field House. By the time grounds crew brought out blowers to dry off the runway, the rain came again. It took about 90 minutes before athletes were jumping again. Officials made the decision to wipe the slate clean for girls who had to vault in pouring rain before action was suspended. That included defending champion Veronica Vacca, who opted to start her competition at 12-0. She missed three straight tries and ended up no-heighting. All before Carlson had taken her first jump. Bermudian Springs' Lily Carlson celebrates after setting a state record in the 3A pole vault (14-0.25) during the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University on Friday, May 23, 2025. "I definitely missed out on competing with her," Carlson said of going against Vacca. "I was really looking forward to jumping against her." Advertisement Nineteen minutes after the defending champion and record holder was eliminated, Carlson cleared 12-6 on her first attempt. Six minutes later the last competitor exhausted her attempts and Carlson had won a Class 3A title to go with two Class 2A gold medals. She might have lucked out by waiting to jump because she hadn't started to warm up. She was able to maintain her regular routine instead of having her flow interrupted. Carlson, who will compete at Texas A&M in the fall, completes her career with three District 3 pole vault championships, records in Class 2A and 3A, one Class 2A 100 hurdles title and three PIAA pole vault gold medals. Bermudian Springs' Lily Carlson celebrates after setting a state record in the 3A pole vault (14-0.25) during the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University on Friday, May 23, 2025. And one PIAA record. Advertisement That came on her third attempt at 14-0.25 that broke Vacca's record of 14-0. When it was all said and done, and she missed three attempts to extend the record for 14-3, she credited her friends and people in the stands with helping her make history. "The crowd was absolutely amazing," Carlson said. "I love the excitement. I love the encouragement and everything. It helped me keep up my speed and do what I need to do." More on Carlson: Pole vaulting in the street, competing for native Austria on District 3 champ's bucket list Jumping to gold: New Oxford's Brayden Billman snares first state gold in Class 3A triple jump Advertisement Carlson said everything kind of stops when she clears a height. She sees the bar, hears the crowd and feels the energy. When she cleared 14-0.25, she looked to her family in the stands, her coaches along the fence then ran to her friends. It was clear as she met with media after the medal ceremony that the titles and medals weren't on the horizon when she started on this journey as a freshman. "When I came to VaultWorx after my freshman year, my coach was like, 'yeah, you're going to jump 13 feet. That's going to be the bar to get,'" she said with a laugh. "And then last year, it was 14. So it's been a process. When I started I had no idea what I was getting into. I thought I was terrible for the first year. "And then it all kind of came together. It's been absolutely phenomenal." Advertisement Asked when she thought she will come down from this high, she thinks maybe a week. Before it happens though, there will be celebratory chocolate ice cream and various desserts. And graduation. After that, she's off to new challenges and new heights. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Bermudian Springs Lily Carlson breaks PIAA pole vault record
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
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Spring Grove's Ella Bahn adds fifth PIAA gold medal to career haul
Ella Bahn likes to broaden her horizons and push herself, always adding to her athletic repertoire. The Spring Grove junior won a PIAA gold medal in the Class 3A 300 hurdles as a freshman. She added a high jump gold as a sophomore. This year, it was a third 300 hurdles gold and one in the 100 hurdles. Advertisement She runs those races regularly throughout the season. But this year, she focused on the 200 and 400 instead of high jump. She finished second at districts and took seventh at states. 'This has been a bad year for [high jump], but honestly, I'm happy with how today went,' Bahn said after her day ended with the 300-hurdle gold Saturday, May 24. 'I got a medal, and it was a season PR, so I think that's the best I can expect from it as this point.' With one high school season remaining and a college career to plan, she's thinking about branching out to long jump. She'll need it if she wants to try the heptathlon in college. She runs cross country in the fall to help with her endurance and to prepare her for those longer races. It's one of the eight Spring Grove records she owns or is part of (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 400 meters, 1600 meters, high jump and two relays). Spring Grove's Ella Bahn waves to family and friends after winning the 3A 100m hurdles during the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University on Saturday, May 24, 2025. Bahn would love to add a couple more before she's finished. Advertisement 'It's something that I can just use to keep pushing myself to try other things,' she said. 'I think it's really good to have a visual goal that I can reach and expanding my horizons with track. I'm not saying it would get boring doing one event, but it certainly makes it more interesting to keep trying new things. 'And that's what high school track is all about. It's getting to try all the different events and find what you're good at for college.' Bahn already knows she wants to run the 400 hurdles in college. She tried it last year at nationals in Oregon and finished second. As she starts to look for potential college homes, she looks at their results to see how she would fit in. She'll also look at the competition on the team and in the conference and see what works best for her. Advertisement Bahn didn't get the competition she was hoping for in the 100 hurdles, but she certainly did in the 300. She and Kennett's Aydriane Bowden crossed the final hurdle in the 300 at the same time. Bahn out-leaned Bowden to win the gold by .06 in 41.98 seconds. The battle she was hoping for in the 100 hurdles never materialized because her biggest competition wasn't in the final. Spring Grove's Ella Bahn competes in the 3A 100m hurdles trials during the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University on Friday, May 23, 2025. Chester's Damira Allen was the fastest qualifier in the 100 hurdles at 14.02, a mere 0.2 second faster than Bahn. But when she approached the start area for the hurdles after clearing 5-2 in the high jump, she heard an official say that Lane 4 was going to be empty. Advertisement The lane designated for Allen. The one right next to her. There was a paperwork snafu the day before involving a relay Allen was supposed to run in. The entire relay was scratched, which meant all the runners involved were scratched from any remaining events. Allen was also scratched from the 300 hurdles, where she had the sixth-fastest time in prelims. No replacements were called up to fill either spot. 'I was looking forward to that race because our PRs are a .001 of a second away from each other,' Bahn said. 'We were so close last year in the final. I thought it was just going to feel so good for the two of us to battle it out for the gold.' Advertisement Bahn won the 100 hurdles in 13.64, well ahead of Bowden who finished in 14.07. She will have some time to enjoy these wins and prepare for the next step. She's headed to New Balance Nationals at the University of Pennsylvania next month. Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email mstallsmith@ or on X, formerly Twitter, @ShelStallsmith. This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: 2025 state track: Spring Grove's Ella Bahn wins fifth career gold medal
