For the second straight year, Hannah Brosky came just one place away from a state medal. The Emmaus junior finished ninth last weekend in the Class AAA girls 800-meter run at the PIAA Championships, held each year at Shippensburg University.

Top-10 finishes are usually gleeful moments for athletes at the state meet. However, Brosky left with a bad taste in her mouth.

"I'm definitely disappointed," she said. "It's frustrating finishing the same place as last year when I have had a better season and run better times. I know I'm capable of running a better race."

Brosky took ninth place in 2012 with a time of 2:15.44. She crossed the finish line in the same position this year, however her time increased to 2:17.51 during the two-day meet, which was held on May 24 and 25 at Shippensburg University.

She ran a 2:12.94 at districts to rank among the top five seeds at states. Her 2:18.15 in last Friday's preliminary at states was good enough to earn one of 16 spots in Saturday's final.

Being that she is a junior with one more chance to beat her personal best on the big stage, she is using it as motivation for her preparations.

"I can only fuel that frustration in my training to come back even stronger next year," Brosky said. "I definitely need to focus on strategy and mental toughness for next year, but I still had a great season and will maintain optimism for the future."

Another state finalist for Emmaus was Scott Schlegl. The sophomore competed in the high jump and tied for 12th. His jump of 16 feet, 2 inches was matched by six other competitors during the grueling contest.

Emmaus sophomore Maria Justus competed in the 100-meter hurdles at states. She finished fifth in her heat and 17th overall in Class AAA with a time of 15.6 seconds.

The Hornet girls 4x100 relay team of Annae Wetherhold, Chanel Boothman, Amber Blunt and Devyn Hannis also competed at states. The foursome finished fourth in its heat and 17th overall with a time of 50.69.

Emmaus Track and Field endured a very successful 2013 that was full of accolades both individually with many athletes taking league and district medals and collectively as the girls' team was very hard to beat in points with extremely talented ladies especially on their relay teams.

The Green Hornets were abuzz this spring and expect much of the same in the future.