Carlisle's Isa Paschall did everything he possibly could to win a gold medal in the triple jump.
With the crowd behind him, Paschall exploded for a personal-best mark of 46-1.5 at Friday's District 3-AAA Track and Field Championships, held at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium.
It was a monumental day for Paschall, a sophomore competing in track and field for the first time, but in the end, his best was only good enough for second place.
York Tech's Ronald Henderson won the triple jump with a hop, skip and leap of 47-0.75.
"(Henderson) really gave me motivation to go even farther," Paschall said. "I was at 43, but then he gave me motivation to do more. Then he did the same thing to me and got a 47."
The rapidly-developing Paschall spent this past week working on his transition from the second to third phase of the triple jump. Paschall's placed a lot of focus on his final knee drive, which propels him into the pit, much like the long jump.
Paschall thinks he can continue his remarkable run of improvement at states next week.
"My goal is 47 or 48 next week. I'm going to go all out," Paschall said. "I can jump 46 feet now and I'm proud of it. To take second place as a sophomore and go to states, I can't describe how I feel right now."
Paschall was among many area Class AAA athletes to qualify for the next round. His teammate, senior Devin Cherry, took third in the triple jump with a 45-5.75. Gettysburg's Kobe Wansel (44-10.25) and CD East's Kyrelle Quinn (44-7.5) also qualified for next week's PIAA Championships.
Palmyra's Tim Moses captured victory in the pole vault with a height of 16-0. Moses will be joined at states by locals Derek DiAngelis of Northern Lebanon (3rd, 14-9) and Lebanon's Zac Norman (4th, 14-3).
Big Spring's Vinny Todaro won the 3,200 in 9:18. In addition to Todaro, Carlisle's Zach Brehm (2nd, 9:18.45), Lower Dauphin's Jeff Groh (9:23.08), Palmyra's Calvin Conrad (4th, 9:27.85) and Lower Dauphin's Cole Nissley (5th, 9:28.21) have all advanced to the PIAA dance.
The javelin was won by Manheim Central's Cole Proffitt with a heave of 196-6. He'll be followed to states by locals Jhett Janis of Cocalico (2nd, 191-1), Taylor Carey of Shippensburg (4th, 184-7) and Collin Sheaffer of West Perry (5th, 174-8).
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