District 3 track and field: Record-setting performances highlight final day for YAIAA

Another day ... more records set.

It was a second straight big day for YAIAA athletes at the District 3 track and field championships at Shippensburg University Saturday.

Here were the highlights:

Spring Grove's Campbell continues record-setting streak

Laila Campbell broke out in a wide smile as she crossed the finish line far ahead of her competition.

It was an unusual look for the superstar junior — who dominates so often she often has a business-like demeanor.

But this weekend was special for her.

The Spring Grove junior set District 3 records in both the 100-meter dash (11.55 seconds) and 200-meter dash (23.24). Who had the record before this weekend? Laila Campbell.

As usual, Campbell made it look easy. She was more than a second faster than the silver-medal winners in both events.

But what Campbell does isn't easy. And this spring has been challenging at times for her.

That's why she couldn't stop smiling afterward.

"All season my dad has been preparing me to peak later, and it makes me happy to see the times finally come through after a lot of trusting the process this year," she said. "I didn't get frustrated, but I was hitting the same marks and not really dropping."

Campbell said she was hyper-focused on nutrition and sleep this spring. She goes to bed before 8:30 p.m. every night.

She also felt motivation from other runners like Cedar Crest freshman Kaddel Howard, who was seeded second in the 200-meter dash but ultimately took sixth. Howard set a District 3 record in the 400-meter run earlier Saturday.

Campbell now has seven District 3 titles over the past three years. And she helped Spring Grove finish second in the team race to J.P. McCaskey Saturday.

Now she'll look to add to her collection of four state titles next weekend.

"I'm always top 10 in the country, and I don't want anyone to doubt me and what I can do," she said. "Hopefully I can keep it up next week."

District 3 track and field: Highlights, champions from Day 1 of championship

Spring Grove freshman dominates during busy day

Ella Bahn didn't have time to savor her gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles.

She was busy trying to beat herself in the high jump ... another event she had already clinched a gold medal in.

While Bahn's top mark in the event didn't change, the Spring Grove freshman still had a jaw-dropping performance at her first District 3 championships. She took first place in the 100 (14.48) and 300-meter hurdles (44.67) and the high jump (five feet, five inches). She took seventh in the 800-meter run (2:18.17).

She qualified for states in all four events.

"I'm kinda used to the busyness," she said. "It's just a lot of events to do."

Bahn was seeded second in the high jump and the 100-meter hurdles but still came away with gold. And she still came away with motivation after just missing her personal record in the high jump (5-6).

She said it's nice to get pushed by other runners in the 800 — the one event where she's not a gold-medal contender.

"I really like the competition, honestly," she said. "Girls' distance is really good this year."

She knows the 300 hurdles is her best chance to win a state title next week. Still, she's more focused on setting personal-best times.

Follow the York/Adams teams: District 3 spring 2023 playoffs: Schedules, results, recaps

South Western senior gets over gold-medal hump

Bernard Bell was sick of the color silver.

The South Western senior took gold in both hurdle events at the league championships last year but then earned silver in both at districts. He took gold in the 110-meter hurdles and the long jump at this year's league meet.

He was determined to earn district gold in both events this time

And he did. Bell cruised to first place in the 110-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 14.13 seconds. His best time this season entering the meet was 14.29. Chambersburg's Jermere Jones took second Saturday with a time of 14.51 that was well-behind Bell.

Then he won the 300-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 37.69. He stormed past top seed and West York senior Perry Addey (second place at 38.53) down the stretch. Bell was seeded third in the event with a time of 39.04.

"I wasn't really messing with that," he said about earning a silver medal. "I hated that. I put in the work and now I got gold."

Making his performance more remarkable was that it came after he ran just 15.43 in the preliminaries Friday. He said he felt nervous and "messed up" his start.

Now he owns the top time in the state in the 110 hurdles. He took seventh in the 300 and eighth in the 110 at states last season. Next week he hopes to compete for a state title.

Regardless, he has plenty of time to make memories at Shippensburg. He'll be competing for the NCAA Division II program starting next season.

"When I'm on the line I don't think about anything but running," he said. "This gives me a lot of confidence."

Bell also took sixth in the long jump with a mark of 20-8.25. He helped South Western's 1,600-meter relay take fifth.

Elite school shut down: What closed a Chambersburg area prep school? How things unraveled at Scotland Campus

Susquehannock senior savors gold medal after string of disappointments

The medal meant a lot to Ryleigh Marks.

The Susquehannock senior took first in the long jump in Class 3A with a mark of 18 feet. She was seeded sixth with a mark of 17-10.

But it wasn't just that she outperformed expectations. Marks was the top seed in the 100-meter hurdles but took second to Spring Grove's Ella Bahn in the final moments — her time of 14.52 just behind Bahn's 14.48. And then Marks took just eighth in the 300-hurdles.

This all came after she took second to Bahn in the 100-hurdles at the YAIAA championships despite breaking a meet record in the preliminaries. Marks said she felt sick that day.

"I wanted districts to be a rebound and show who I really am," Marks said. "Because I work hard. This isn't easy. To lose by just that much when I work for hours and hours is hard."

Marks will be competing for Shippensburg University next season. She said she's looking forward to the state championships next week — and thinks she has a better chance to medal in the hurdles.

Still, the long jump was her gold-medal event Saturday.

'I'm gonna make it:' How this baseball star keeps the memory of his father alive

York Tech senior finishes off drastic improvement with gold medal

As a freshman, Matthew Arnold threw the discus just 74 feet.

As a junior, he was throwing in the 140s but took just seventh at the District 3 Class 3A meet.

Now he's a District 3 champ. The York County Tech senior won the Class 3A discus gold medal with a throw of 168 feet, four inches. While he was a few feet short of his seed mark, he easily beat Berk Catholic's Brady Mider (161-1).

"I started track because my mom wanted me to do a sport," he said. "I was running the 400 and 800. I got into throwing in eighth grade and I just kept going and going."

Arnold is York County Tech's second District 3 champ on the boys' side. Ronald Henderson won the triple jump in 2013.

Arnold said he isn't sure of his post-graduation plans but is interested in competing unattached at college track meets. He focuses on criminal justice at York County Tech but he also training as a chef.

Three YAIAA sprinters reach states in 200

The Class 3A boys' 200-meter dash was expected to be one of the most heated races Saturday.

Ultimately, nobody was touching Susquehanna Township's Lex Cyrus (21.64).

Still, YAIAA runners took second through fourth place. Red Lion's LaDainian Strausbaugh (21.92), West York's Nico Wright Phillips (21.92) and Dallastown's Kenny Johnson (22.16) all qualified for states.

Littlestown bolts into states with school record

The Littlestown girls' 400-meter relay team broke a school record that had stood since 1983.

The quartet of Benedicte Parker, Miranda King, Brooke Martin and Emmy Nunemaker took third in the Class 2A race with a time of 50.74. Wyomissing and Annville-Cleona finished ahead of them with a time of 50.43.

Littlestown still qualified for states with the performance.

York High AD's legendary record finally falls

There are plenty of longtime records at the District 3 championships. One of the oldest has always been the Class 3A boys' 100-meter dash. Reading's Jeff White set the mark with a time of 10.54 seconds in 1979.

The only older record on the Class 3A boys' side is in the long jump (Gov. Mifflin's Kim Piersol set it in 1965).

Now the athletic director at York High, White finally saw his record fall Saturday. Susquehanna Township sophomore Lex Cyrus broke it with a gold-medal time of 10.45 seconds.

White was on hand to shake Cyrus' hand and celebrate the moment.

Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: District 3 track: Record-setting performances highlight final day