Sacred Heart’s Seified, Delco Christian’s Linton moving on

SHIPPENSBURG >> Staying in the right frame of mind was the key for Sacred Heart’s Emma Seified and Delco Christian’s Maggie Linton in the heat at Shippensburg Friday.
It helped Seifried and Linton survive the heat and made it to the finals in their respective events in the girls Class AA portion of the PIAA Track & Field Championships.
Already in the final in the 3,200-meter run, Seifried finished fourth in her heat and fourth overall in the 1,600 to qualify for the championship in that event, too.
The 1,600-3,200 double is tough on a good day. In the heat, it may be too much.
“I have to keep an open mind,” Seifried said. “The 3,200 is first and I’ll see how I feel after that. There’s some time between the races.”
The 3,200 is set to go off at 9 a.m., while the 1,600 is slated for 12:45 p.m.
“I have experience running in the hot weather,” Seifried said. “I did it at nationals last year. I think I do better in the hot weather.”
Linton had a lot of support as she finished second in her heat and third overall (2:19.90) to qualify for Saturday’s final in the 800-meter run. She had coaches, teammates and family members strategically positions around the fence offering her support every step of the way.
She heard every word of encouragement.
“They were tremendous,” Linton said. “They really gave me push to keep going. I’m so grateful for every one of them.”
As for the weather, Linton was prepared for the hot conditions.
“We had a couple of workouts and it was hot so that helped,” Linton said. “It’s all mental. Today was about qualifying. You want to win, but you don’t want to wear yourself out, either.”