PIAA Track and Field Championships: Another first for Archbishop Wood’s Martin

SHIPPENSBURG >> He already owned the PIAA record in the 3,200-meter run and he broke the PIAA record in the 1,600 on Friday.

But Gary Martin felt he still had work to do.

“I did not have any 800 state titles so I wanted to come back here (Saturday) and prove I could do that as well,” he said.

Martin got it done again, racing to a gold medal in the 800 at Shippensburg University to cap off his PIAA career in climactic fashion.

“I thought I would go out in 53 or 54 seconds — I was prepared for that. The fact I went out in 56 or 57 seconds actually benefited me,” the University of Virginia-bound senior said. “I was able to use my mile strength to close hard.”

Martin overcame a tremendous race by Central Bucks West’s Carter Fitzgerald: Martin crossed the line in 1:51.24, Fitzgerald in 1:51.97.

During a season in which he broke four minutes in the mile, becoming the first high schooler from PA to do so, Martin displayed even more aspects of his evolution as a runner by winning that 800.

“I think I have more confidence in myself, and I think that’s a combination of my results being really good this season, being confident where my fitness is at. And I think I’m a different runner mentally — I’ve worked on my mindset a lot. I’m a lot stronger mentally,” he said.

“I was really able to rally in this race. I checked in, and I said ‘this is the last race of my PIAA career, let’s go out there and leave it all on the track.’ And I was able to pull a performance out of somewhere.”

Martin ran a 4:01.56 in the 1,600 on Friday, smashing an 11-year-old record. Upper Moreland’s Drew Magaha (4:07.32) had owned the record since 2011.

But Martin was looking for a P.R.

“I was tired (Friday). I was hurting in the last couple laps. It wasn’t my strongest race, but I think that’s a big confidence boost for me, that I was able to deliver a really good performance even though I wasn’t feeling my best,” the senior said.

“That’s the big thing — it was a battle. I made multiple moves. C.J. (Singleton of Butler, who got second in 4:07.47) responded, and I was able to just keep fighting, keep pushing at him, and eventually I made my move and didn’t look back. That made me very happy.”

Over at the Medal Stand >> Cheltenham’s 4×100 relay won a showdown with rival North Penn, as a team of Mariah Winfield, Kira Murray, Donya Baxter and Eyota Bey put together a winning time of 48.03 seconds for the state gold.

Bey went on to get third in the 400 in 56.11.

North Penn’s team of Destiny Lewis-Upchurch, Maya Adams, Taylor Forbes and Madeline Lewis ran a 48.76 for the silver in the 4×1.

Mount St. Joseph freshman Veronica Vacca made a big debut at PIAA’s, winning the state title in the pole vault on Friday by clearing 13 feet.

Meanwhile, Souderton senior Dekai Averett capped a tremendous season, racing to second in the 110 hurdles on Saturday in 14.39.

The Pennridge girls 4×800 relay foursome of Nora Ritting, Ava Pultorak, Kaegan Smith and Ashley Landis also raced to second, in 9:27.44.

Mount St. Joe’s Ella Woehlcke was a silver medalist in the 800, in 2:12.97.

Hatboro-Horsham junior Brian DiCola raced to a bronze medal in the 3,200, crossing in 9:02.97.