Sacred Heart’s Seifried wins a distance double

CALN TWP. >> Sometimes, Emma Seifried has a strategy when she steps on the track and sometimes she doesn’t.
Saturday, the sophomore All-Delco from Sacred Heart definitely had a plan on how she was going to approach the Class AA 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the District One Track & Field Championships at Coatesville Area High school.
In the 3,200, which was the first of her two events, the objective was to take the lead from the start. In the 1,600, Seifried employed a different tactic. She chose to draft behind Christopher Dock’s Maddison Landis before making her move.
Both plans worked to perfection.
Seifried brushed off a steady rain early in the day to win the 3,200 for the second year in a row by nearly 57 seconds. A few hours later, she outkicked Landis in the final 150 meters to claim her first district title in the 1,600.
The victory in the 3,200 was not a surprise for the 2014 Daily Times girls cross country Runner of the Year. She came in as the defending champion in the event and the No. 1 seed, and based on her second-place performance at the Delco Championships, where she finished in 11 minutes, 9.75 seconds, the second best time of her career.
The state runner up in the Class AA 3,200 last year, Seifried took the lead from the start and never relinquished it and finished with a time of 11:10.98.
“The rain didn’t bother me,” Seifried said after winning the 3,200. “I felt good. I don’t know if I expected that time, but I’m happy with it.”
Her joy was doubled a few hours later when she overtook Landis on the final turn to win the 1,600 in 5:09.19. Landis was the two-time defending champion in the event and the top seed after turning in a 5:05.82 at the Henderson Invitational.
Seifried stayed within a couple of strides of Landis for the first 2½ laps before kicking it into high gear. Landis was not able to respond.
“We focused on getting in her head and then taking at the end and see what I can do,” Seifried said.
The result was a trip to the PIAA Championships in two events.
“I’m happy,” she said. “It’s nice.”
While Seifried was a double winner, Maggie Linton fought off the weather and effects of a cold that has plagued her all week to earn three medals and highlight a good day for Delco Christian. Linton recorded the second-best time of her career (2:19.61) to win the 800. She also teamed with Beth Yeung, Shekinah Yanes and Katie Powala to take third in the 4 x 100-meter relay and fourth in the 4 x 400.
“It’s all mental,” Linton said. “You just have to put the rain and the cold out of your head and do the best you can.”
Linton wasn’t the only multiple medal winner for the Knights at Double-A. Olivia Smith was seventh in both the 100 and the shot put. Abigail Simbiri took fourth in the 100 hurdles and fifth in the javelin. Natalie Kim placed fifth in the 100 hurdles.
“It was a good day,” Linton said. “Everyone on the team really gave it everything they had.”