Over the past four years of success in both cross country and track and field, Hailey Reinhard has learned to win races any way she has to.

At last week’s District 11 Track and Field Championships, the Hornet senior won three races. She took the 3200 and 1600 by wide margins, leaving her competition far behind.

The 800 was a bit different. She was running close behind leader Lana Hurwitz for much of the race before making a move in the final lap.

“With 200 [meters] to go I felt all right,” Reinhard said. “I’m like ‘OK, maybe I can get it.’ I gave it all I had that last 100 and it paid off.”

Reinhard won the 800 in 2:18.56, finishing less than a second in front of Easton’s Erin Vincent (2:19.75), who also passed Hurwitz down the stretch. In the 1600 Reinhard ran a 5:02.59, finishing ahead of Hurwitz (5:14.53.). In the 3200, Reinhard crossed the finish line in 11:07.26 with Hornet teammate Madelyn McCartney (11:20.76) taking second place.

In her final meet in the Lehigh Valley, Reinhard added three more gold medals to her trophy case with her performance at the district meet, held last Tuesday and Wednesday at Whitehall High School.

“Given the conditions with the hot weather [Tuesday] and the cold wind [Wednesday], I think it went way better than I expected,” she said. “Makes me excited for states.”

Reinhard was one of two Hornets to earn individual gold, while another gold came in a relay race.

Kyle Moore picked up first place in long jump at districts. He also took second place in triple jump.

Just a week before districts, Moore set an East Penn Conference Championship meet record with a jump of 24-10. At district he sailed 23-0 to win the title. He also picked up a silver medal with a leap of 45-11 in triple jump.

The Emmaus boys 4x400 relay team capped the meet with the Hornets’ third gold medal.

In the last event of the meet, the team of Tyler Finck, Brett Pavec, Jared Petre and Blaise Verrastro won the 4x400 in 3:25.13 to beat second-place Parkland (3:26.81).

The foursome had run together only a couple times during the regular season because of injuries and athletes running other events as the Emmaus coaches looked for the right combination of runners for the relay.

They found just the right mix for districts. The team ran a PR by more than three seconds. The win was extra special after some handoff problems kept the Hornets off the medal stand at leagues.

“It felt extremely rewarding, all the hard work my friends and I put in to even give ourselves a chance to win” said Verrastro, who ran the final leg of the 4x400. “Especially since Parkland was in front of us and what happened at leagues.”

The Hornets trailed the Trojans for most of the race last week, but they stayed close enough to give Verrastro a chance coming into the final leg. He took the lead with about 100 meters left in the race and didn’t look back.

“I am super proud of myself and my teammates,” said Verrastro. “I couldn’t have asked for a better team to go to states with. I give part of my success to my coaches, who were constantly pushing us to get to the next level.”

Verrastro also took second place in the 200-meter dash to earn a spot at the state championship meet. The top two finishers in each event automatically qualify for the state meet, while any other finishers who achieve a preset qualifying standard also make it to the state championship meet, which is held annually on the Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.

Verrastro will likely be the busiest Hornet athlete at the state meet. He plans to run on two relay teams as well as in the individual 200.

Verrastro, a senior who plays soccer in the fall, is happy to finish his high school athletic career competing alongside the best athletes in the state. Making it to Shippensburg was the primary objective for his senior track and field season.

“It was almost my only goal,” he said. “While PRs are really good for keeping progress, when you get put up against the other best runners in the district, it’s rewarding knowing all the hard work has brought me to be some of the best in the district.

“I couldn’t be more excited and proud of myself and all my teammates who helped me get there. Admittedly a little nervous, but I hope to rise to the competition.”

Four other Hornet also took second place at districts to earn a trip to Ship.

Tyler Grabinski finished second in pole vault at 13-9, while Haven Tarbox threw the javelin 166 feet, 2 inches for a silver medal. Anna Farnschlader finished second in discus at 107-8 to qualify for states, while McCartney’s second-place finish in 3200 was also good enough to advance.

A few other Hornet individuals earned district medals, which went to the top four finishers in each event. Evan Loro was third in long jump at 21-8 1/2. Conor Fisher finished fourth in the boys 3200 in 10:02.69. Payton Campbell took fourth place in girls 3200 in 11:42.16, while Catherine Sirignano was fourth in discus at 103-4.

Emmaus also earned five other relay medals to go along with the gold won by the boys 4x400.

The Emmaus boys 4x100 team of Donavan McCargo, Verrastro, Dylan Darville and Moore took second place in 42.3 to earn a trip to the state meet.

The Hornet girls 4x100 team of Paige Inman, Avery Burnett, Tandy Morgan and Mya Cooper took fourth place in 51.10. The girls 4x800 team of Addison Johnson, Emma Paradise, Isabella Scarlata and Addison Kleinle was fourth in 10:03.63.

The boys 4x800 team of Finck, Pavec, Miles Cook and Petre finished fourth in 8:12.85.

CORRECTION

In last week’s article covering the EPC Track and Field Championships, Dylan Swartwood’s name was misspelled. He finished 19th in shot put at the meet with a throw of 40-1 1/4.