Marshay Ryan does not own the jumping pits at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium. It just seems like she does.
The Chambersburg senior won her third straight AAA girls' long jump state gold medal on Friday and her second straight triple jump state gold on Saturday at the PIAA Track and Field Championships.
Ryan won the long jump gold with a distance of 19-10, which she got on her second attempt of the preliminaries. That was her personal best.
"The PR is big because the weather was bad," Ryan said.
But the contest was a long way from being over.
PHOTO GALLERY: PIAA Championships, Day 2
Maddie Holmberg, a sophomore from Hempfield Area, also leapt 19-10 on her third attempt of preliminaries, tying her up with Ryan.
When the finals started, Ryan was technically ahead because her second best jump was a 19-4, and Homberg's was an 18-5.
But Holmberg had a 19-4 on her second try of finals and a 19-0 1/4 on her last jump. So before Ryan had her final attempt, they had the same best jump at 19-10 and the same second best jump at 19-4. Holmberg's third-best jump was a 19-01/4, and Ryan's was an 18-4.
PHOTO GALLERY: PIAA Championships, Day 1
"It was basically battling back and forth," Ryan said. "I like the competition."
The pressure was on the Auburn recruit as she got on the runway for the last time, although she did not have time to process all the details before her attempt.
"I didn't know if it was coming down to the last jump, but I knew it was tight, a tiebreaker situation," Ryan said.
Ryan got a 19-5, making that her second best jump and securing the gold medal.
Her victory in the triple jump was more straightforward.
The Auburn recruit's next to last jump was a 41-1 1/4, easily enough to win her second straight gold medal in the triple jump to go along with three PIAA golds in the long jump.
"It was nice, this being my last [event]," Ryan said. "I enjoyed myself. Just enjoying the moment because I don't get any of them back."
Ryan had said earlier in the season that her goal was to get a 41 or 42 foot jump by spring's end.
She nearly got the 42 foot mark on her last leap.
With the gold well in hand, Ryan had one last jump at the end of the competition. He leap was well beyond her previous jump, but the judge ruled that it was a foul by about a quarter inch.
Ryan said that it felt like the last jump was about 43 feet.
Two other local girls from AAA schools picked up medals in the field.
Kennedy Shank of Northern finished in a tie for fourth in the pole vault with a 12-0. She was competing on Saturday morning, when the wind was at its worst.
"It was swirling in different directions," Shank said. "It was mostly a tailwind, which always helps."
VIDEO: Kennedy Shank clears 11-0
Gettysburg's Arianna Camel finished in a three-way tie for eighth place in the high jump Friday morning.
Camel cleared 5-2 on her first attempt to earn her place on the medal stand.
"I got fifth in the district with a 5-2 last week, and now I have eighth in the state," Camel said. "I'm happy, but I could have done better."
Camel had to go back and forth between the high jump and the 100-meter hurdle preliminaries while she was still jumping.
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