Three Northwestern athletes earned a total of four gold medals last week at the District 11 Track and Field Championships, held Tuesday-Wednesday, May 15-16, at Blue Mountain High School.

Sadie Fenstermaker led the way for the Tigers, earning a pair of gold medals in throwing events. The senior won the discus event on the first day of the meet then returned to earn the district shot put title a day later. Teammates Gacin Nelson (high jump) and Grace Yost (pole vault) also won events at districts.

Fenstermaker won her second title in as many days,taking the Class 2A shot put with a mark of 37-5 after winning discus on Tuesday.

“The mark I had today was a good one for me,” said Fenstermaker. “It was four inches under my PR, but a mid-37 throw is still really good. I had a good day.”

Fenstermaker was able to settle in after her first few throws of the competition.

“I didn’t come out that great, but I was able to get right back into it, fix up a few things on the side and I was able to have a really good throw,” she said. “My first two or three throws were about 34s, and then it was either my third or fourth throw I got my 37, and then I was kind of consistently around there.

“I kept my shoulders back, and I was able to reach over the toe board farther, which allowed my to push it farther, basically.”

The senior is looking to continue her progression - and success - as she returns to states.

“Honestly, it would be really cool to get top eight in the state,” she said. “Last year, I didn’t throw my best at states, but I wasn’t really worried about it. I thought, ‘Oh, I have another year, maybe I can go again.’ But my goal is to maybe get top eight in both (shot put and discus). I don’t know. We’ll see what happens.”

She is seeded 11th out of 25 entries in the PIAA Class 2A shot put championship.

Fenstermaker won the discus with a throw of 112-10 after placing third in the event a year ago and second in the discus last week at leagues.

“It means a lot to me,” she said. “I’ve been excited for this since the beginning of the season, and I’m very proud of how I did today. I threw how I wanted coming back from last week not doing so great. So I’m really excited. I’m really proud of how I did and my coach is very happy for me.

“Last week I wasn’t getting on my toe good enough and keeping my arms up, so I definitely worked on that, and as you can see in the results, it helped me out.”

Fenstermaker was runner-up at the Colonial League meet in the discus before winning the shot put the next day.

“I definitely was a lot calmer today compared to how I was at leagues,” said Fenstermaker. “I just was in a different mindset. I was more relaxed and I was just very smooth through the circle so that definitely helped me out. I was just more calm.

“I feel like since last week I was nervous I used that and was kind of like, ‘OK, obviously that did not help me, so I have to be more calm this week.’ I was able to do that and put it all together and it worked out for me.”

Fenstermaker got her best mark on her second throw to help ease the nerves. Prior to that, she had thrown around 105 feet.

“That also helped to calm me down,” she said. “I knew I was good and I could just go for it. That helped me relax and gave me a better mindset.”

Fenstermaker is seeded 10th among 26 athletes who qualified for the state discus championship.

Nelson has been unflappable all season, and last Tuesday was no different as the junior cleared 6-5 to win the high jump.

“It feels great,” said Nelson. “I’ve had a lot of support here. My entire family is here to support me, and overall I just feel great. I’m really happy with myself. I wish I got a higher height, but at the end of the day I’m just happy I can go to states. Hopefully I can PR at states, maybe break the school record. That would be a great time to do it. I’m just looking forward to that, and I’m really happy with the outcome today.”

Nelson, who also qualified for states last year, was seeded first for districts at 6-7.

“Throughout the day I didn’t really focus on it too much,” Nelson said of his seed. “I just tried to stay calm, listen to music and stay confident. I feel like it worked. I wasn’t really nervous. I was talking to my dad a little bit, so that helped a lot. He really helped me just stay calm. My mom helped me a lot with that, too. And Coach (Chuck) Groller was there for me. He kept telling me, ‘You’re going to do it. You’re going to do good today.’ And that just really helped.”

Yost cleared 10-6, which is also the state qualifying standard, to win the 2A pole vault.

“It means a lot to even make it to states,” said Yost. “Last year, I thought I was going to go, and then I had an issue with either my quad or my hamstring, and I couldn’t make the last jump. But now I got to kind of have a second chance in my senior year, and I’m super happy I finally get to go.”

The top seed at 10-7, Yost was unfazed by any pressure she might have felt heading into the meet, and did what she needed to do to advance to states. Her winning height was significantly higher than the second place finisher, Alyssa Cook or Minersville who cleared 9-0, which also means Yost secured the title before trying to clear her final heights.

“I’m very happy with the 10-6,” she said. “Coming here, I thought it was going to be rainy and everything, so I was aiming for 9-6. I thought, ‘That is the minimum I want, and then I would be happy.’ But I am thrilled I got higher than that. Maybe it’s not my PR, but I did go for a new PR (10-9). I just have to work on my new pole. I feel like I’m very close to getting that, and even higher.”

It will be an extra special occasion if she can do it at states.

“My birthday is May 24, the first day of states, so I’m excited to celebrate that there,” said Yost. “I would love to medal there. That would be great.”