Arizin, Mansaray together at top again in 800

SHIPPENSBURG >> After running each other to near collapse, Cardinal O’Hara’s Olivia Arizin and Penn Wood’s Agnes Mansaray did what you would expect two highly competitive athletes to do after a fiercely contested race.
They hugged at the finish line.
Just for good measure, they hugged again when the pair met in the awards tent where the athletes wait before picking up their medals.
Arizin and Mansaray are rivals. There is no doubt about that. But they’re friends, too, and they don’t let their rivalry on the track affect their relationship off it.
“I love Agnes,” Arizin said. “She’s such a nice girl, and she’s doing such a great job. Last year was her first year running in the U.S. and she’s doing so well. She’s crazy. She’s so fast.”
“Olivia’s the best,” Mansaray said. “I love her so much.”
The close friends put on a show in the girls Class AAA 800-meter final at the PIAA Track & Field Championships Saturday at Shippensburg University. It was even better than the one they put on a year ago in the same event.
Arizin held off Mansaray to win the title and shatter her county record by nearly two seconds. Arizin crossed the finish line in 2 minutes, 6.80 seconds to break the mark of 2:08.59 she set a week earlier in the District 12 Championships.
Mansaray was not that far behind. She topped her best effort by more than two seconds with a time of 2:07.53.
“We bring out the best in each other,” Arizin said. “In track, you really can’t have any enemies because they’re helping you to run faster if they are beating you.”
Arizin took a little different approach to this race. Usually, she likes to run from the front, but this time she stayed back and let Unionville’s Anna Juul and Mansaray set the pace. Arizin made her move with about 100 meters to go, too the lead and maintained it through the finish line.
“I wanted to be safe because I knew it was going to be a race in the stretch. That’s where the race is won or lost and I just wanted to make sure I had enough left. I knew at that point I had nothing to lose and I went for it.”
“Arizin glanced over her shoulder with about 50 meters to check on Mansaray. Last year, Mansaray nipped Arizin at the wire to take second and set the county record.
“I saw Agnes and I was having déjà vu. I was like, ‘Oh god, don’t let it happen again.”
It didn’t. This time Arizin came out and the two friends hugged afterward.
“We have a good rivalry,” Mansaray said. “We push each other hard.”
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■ Sacred Heart’s Emma Seifried pulled off the distance double and came home with a pair of medals. She was second in the girls Class AA 3,200 and sixth in the 1,600. Seifried, a sophomore, turned in her best career times in both events. She was second in the 3,200 in 10:59.95 and earned a state medal in the 1,600 with a time of 5:08.16.
■ Strath Haven coach Bill Coren said the Panthers were going to medal in the girls Class AAA 4 x 800 at the state meet, and he was he was right. Grace Forbes, Grace Haase, Isabel Cardi and Maddie Forbes took third in 9:13.47.
■ Garnet Valley’s Nina Gambacorta bounced back from a tough finish in the shot put Friday to earn a fifth-place medal in the girls Class AAA discus (123-11). Strath Haven’s Rachel Vresilovic earned her first state medal with a sixth place in the discus (118-5).
■ Carly Peters of Archbishop Carroll placed fourth in the Class AAA javelin with a throw of 139-8, the second best of her career.
■ Darby native Thelma Davies of Girard College had a tremendous meet. The freshman shattered the meet record in the Class AA 100-meter dash with a winning time of 11.58 seconds. She also tied the Class AA meet record in the 200 (23.85) to win that event.