May 25, 2013 4 min read

SHIPPENSBURG – Kailyn Clancy’s first goal was to place — not medal.

Everything after that, the California junior figured, was icing on the cake.

After fouling on all three of her discus attempts at the PIAA Track and Field Championships Friday, Clancy fared much better Saturday in the Class AA girls shot put, her primary event.

The California High School junior won the first state title in program history with a throw of 40 feet, 11 1/4 inches, topping Rachel DeMaria of West Middlesex (40-0 1/2) and Anna Frengel of Neshannock (40-0).

“Since I fouled all three (Friday), I thought I would make up for it by getting a good place today,” said Clancy, the WPIAL champion in the shot put and discus. “I think I made up for it.”

By making up for it, Clancy also improved upon her second-place finish at Shippensburg’s Seth Grove Stadium last year.

“It’s really exciting to win since I got second last year,” Clancy said. “I really wanted to do it and get first.”

Clancy entered the event as the No. 1 seed after throwing 43-0 at the WPIAL championships.

But she, like many throwers, struggled to get and stay loose because of the low temperatures and high winds.

“I just tried to stay warm because I like to throw in warmer weather,” Clancy said. “It’s better for me. It was pretty windy, but fortunately it doesn’t really affect the shot put.”

After Washington’s 400-meter relay team finished sixth in Class AA with a time of 44.15, senior Darius Spinks trudged across the infield, hands clenched at his sides.

Spinks was upset – and understandably so, considering the group of Spinks, Malik Wells, Shai McKenzie and Josh Wise ran a 43.29 at WPIALs and a 43.96 in the prelims.

But it really wasn’t that bad of a day for Spinks.

Serious.

Spinks medaled in four events: taking fourth in the long jump (22 feet, 3 1/4 inches); sixth in the 100 (11.11); and helping the 1,600 relay team of Spinks, Elijah Ellerman, DeQuay Isbell and Quorteze Levy to a third-place finish in 3:28.13.

“It’s not what I was expecting, but as long as I placed and medaled, that’s all that matters,” Spinks said.

The four-medal performance brought Spinks’ track career to an impressive close, even more so when you consider he started out as an ex-baseball player looking for something to do.

“I never thought I’d make it to states, to tell you the truth,” Spinks said. “I thought I was just going to be another kid who runs track.”

Washington’s Quorteze Levy had a false start in the semifinals of the 110 hurdles and, along with teammate Chase Caldwell, failed to advance to the finals.

But Levy, a junior at Wash High, regrouped nicely in the 300 by finishing third in 39.57 seconds.

The Washington boys finished sixth with a total of 23.5 points. West Middlesex won the team title with 60. The Washington girls were tied for fourth place with 20 points. Swenson Arts & Technology won the Class AA team title with 77 points.

In Class AAA, Hempfield won the girls team title with 53.5 points, and Bensalem was the top boys team with 48.

Washington’s Josh Wise, the WPIAL Class AA boys high jump champion, cleared 6-4, but he couldn’t match the 6-6 he jumped at WPIALs, finishing tied for eighth. … Chartiers-Houston’s Addy Knetzer medaled by finishing eighth with a personal-best throw of 38-5 1/2, becoming the first C-H medal-winner since Sam Simile (third in 300 hurdles) in 2007. … Fort Cherry’s Zak Dysert bested his seed time and finished ninth the Class AA boys discus – one spot shy of a medal – with a throw of 146-6.