Sacred Heart’s Seifried will have company at state meet

CALN >> Emma Seifried has been Sacred Heart’s lone representative at the PIAA Track & Field Championships for the last two years.
She won’t be headed to Shippensburg by herself this year.
Seifried and teammate Kayleigh Doyle dominated the Class 2A distance events at the District 1 Track & Field Championships Saturday at Coatesville Area High School.
Seifried won the 3,200-meter run for the second straight year in 11:23.32. Doyle was second in the metric two-mile run (11:27.35) and the pair reversed places in the 1,600, with Doyle taking the gold in 5:16.64 and Seifried the silver in 5:17.62. Seifried automatically qualified for the state meet in the 3,200 and advanced on time in the 1,600. The reverse was true for Doyle.
Only the district champion in Class 2A automatically qualifies for the state meet. Anyone else in the final has to meet or better the qualifying standard. Doyle did so easily in the 3,200. Seifried made the 1,600 by less than a second.
“I love it,” Seifried said of having Doyle join her in Shippensburg. “And we have one more year together. I can’t wait to see what we can do.”
Doyle, a freshman, put on a burst in the final 60 meters to pass Seifried and win the 1,600.
“My kick is my best part of the race so whenever I have the chance I try to use it,” Doyle said. “I didn’t know my time so I just wanted to push through. That way, even if I didn’t pass Emma, I could have the experience of running at the state meet.”
It was a good day in Class 2A for the county. Despite a nasty cough, Delco Christian’s Maggie Linton won the 800-meter run for the second year in a row.
“I felt so good during this race. I got out strong and kept with the pace,” Linton said. “As the race went on I decided to go a little faster and it all turned out really well.”
In Class 3A, Strath Haven, Upper Darby and Penn Wood will be well represented in Shippenburg.
Isabel Cardi, Maddie Forbes, Grace Haase and Grace Forbes of Strath Haven finished second in the 4 x 800 to qualify for the state meet. The Forbes sisters, Haase and Olivia Malley finished seventh in the 4 x 400 and advanced on time (3:58.18). Rachel Kent took second in the discus (105-2) to earn a trip to Shippensburg.
UD’s Sugar Henry finished fifth in the triple jump (36-10) to earn the last automatic berth to the state meet from District 1. Wilbertrice Boduo, Michelle Brown-Jones, Anisah Richardson and Tishun Graham placed fourth in the 4 x 400 (3:56.05).
Janae Pitt was one of four Penn Wood athletes to move on. Pitt was fourth in the 100-meter hurdles and eighth in the 300-hurdles, where she advanced on time. Elicia Moore was fifth in the 400. Kyra Carroll was fifth in the 800 and Tatiyana Laylor was eighth in the 100. The Patriots finished in the 4 x 400, but were disqualified for wearing jewelry.