District 3 track and field: Greencastle's Paci goes the distance for more gold

The District 3 Track and Field Championships began Friday at Shippensburg University.

Athletes from around central Pennsylvania ran sprint prelims to determine Saturday's finalists. Medals were contested in half of the field events and the 3,200-meter run.

The competition concludes Saturday. Pole vault and high jump are likely to be moved inside to Heiges Field House if the forecasted rain pans out.

Here is a look at what happened Friday and look ahead to Saturday's competition.

Plenty of medals out there: These athletes are contenders to strike gold at the District 3 track and field meet

Paci finds gold in distance

Greencastle-Antrim senior Claire Paci felt comfortable the entire time she ran her last District 3 3,200-meter race. Even the brief time she was running in second.

"I was comfortable and thought, 'I can run this pace,'"Paci said. "When [Hempfield's] Ella [Wolfe] took it over for a little bit, I was a little grateful because it is easier to run off of somebody and have someone to pull you along. So, I knew having her in ahead of me and having her pull me along would set me up for that last 800, where I knew I had some still left in the tank."

She certainly did.

After running laps consistently around 1:19 or 1:20, Paci ripped off a 1:16.84 lap and closed in 1:12.04 to finish at 10:30.70. Wolfe finished second in 10:41.13.

Last year Paci won the 1,600 title and finished second in the 3,200. This year she feels she can claim both races.

"I know that this year I've definitely improved a lot, and I've been a lot more consistent," the UConn recruit said. "I ran a pretty similar time two weeks ago. Running that time, it really prepared me to know that I can do this."

Paci had significant improvement over last year's race. She knocked 18 seconds off that time in this year's win.

Franklin County qualifiers for Saturday's track finals

Girls' Class 3A 100 meters: Chambersburg's Natalia Holmes ran 12.33 to qualify fourth. The top time was 11.89.

Boys' Class 3A 100 meters: Chambersburg's Antonio Harrison II qualified sixth in 10.82. The top time was 10.48.

Boys' Class 3A 100 hurdles: Chambersburg's Jermere Jones qualified fourth in 14.88. The top time was 14.01.

Boys' Class 3A 400 meters: James Buchanan's Austin McCoy qualified third in 49.70. The top time was 49.19.

Girls' Class 3A 300 hurdles: Waynesboro's True Benshoff qualified sixth at 45.90. The top time was 44.45.

Boys' Class 3A 200 meters: Chambersburg's Antonio Harrison II qualified third in 22.30. The top time was 21.82.

Friday's local medalists

Boys' Class 3A javelin (winning throw 185-2): 6. Conner Wright, Greencastle-Antrim, 172-0; 7. Ben Williams, Waynesboro, 171-7; 8. Blake Diller, Greencastle-Antrim, 167-3.

Girls' Class 3A discus (winning throw 135-0): 3. Bailey Hurley, Greencastle-Antrim, 121-0.

Boys' Class 2A discus (winning throw 176-5): 6. Derek Lynch, Shippensburg, 161-1.

Girls' Class 3A long jump (winning jump 19-0.5): 7. Jahnaya Wimberley, Chambersburg, 16-11.25.

Girls' Class 3A 3200 meters: 1. Claire Paci, Greencastle-Antrim, 10:30.70.

Team scores

With half of the field events and one track event in the books, we get a first look at how the team standings stack up.

In Class 2A girls, Bermudian Springs (29), Annville-Cleona (24) and Wyomissing (24) are separated by a handful of points.

In Class 2A boys, Schuylkill Valley and Wyomissing are separated by just one point, 31 and 30, respectively. Annville-Cleona is a distant third with 14 points.

In Class 3A girls, McCaskey (25) has a solid lead over Greencastle-Antrim (16) and Cedar Crest (14).

In Class 3A boys, Berks Catholic (14), Milton Hershey (13.5) and South Western (13) are nearly tied for the lead and Carlisle is two points back at 11.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: District 3 track and field: Franklin County highlights and medalists