PIAA TRACK AND FIELD: Lake-Lehman’s Cronin earns two medals in 2A meet

SHIPPENSBURG — Sprinting down the home stretch, Bodhi Cronin closed in on the leader, and the fans rose to their feet.

He pushed right to the line and gave one final lunge.

His all-out effort earned his team, which included Finn Cronin, Stephen Martin and Parker Smith, a silver medal, coming up just a few hundredths of a second from gold, in the Class 2A 3,200-meter relay Saturday at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.

Hughesville won gold in 8:00.38. Lake-Lehman clocked in at 8:00.46.

“I was just trying to keep our position because we were aiming for the top three,” Cronin said. “Right at the last 200, I tried to kick and stay in second place, which is what we got. I am really happy about this. We were aiming for first, but we got silver, and we are happy about that.”

Cronin, carrying heavy legs from his anchor leg of the medal-winning 3,200 relay, found some energy to carry him to a sixth-place finish in the 800.

He crossed in 1:56.43 to be the standout performer among the Wyoming Valley Conference athletes at the meet.

Fort LeBoeuf senior Blake Glass won the 800 in 1:53.08.

“I was just trying to push as much as I could,” Cronin said. “I was still pretty tired from that 4-by-8. I did my best and am happy with how this turned out. I am really proud of myself. I did a lot better than last year. I will continue to work and aim to get better.”

Class 3A

While battling a steady rain and some cool winds, Ben Gravine launched the discus with all of his might.

When it landed, and his distance was announced, he earned a medal.

Gravine marked 166 feet, 6 inches on his second attempt of the competition, good enough for fifth place in the afternoon session of the Class 3A meet.

Avon Grove senior Grayson Pitman won gold with a throw of 187-11.

“I didn’t have the best day at districts, and I knew that,” said Gravine, who improved on his throw of 160-11 that earned him a bronze medal at the District 2 Class 3A championships. “I didn’t want to sweat too much about it. I worked the whole week and focused on leading up to this. I was determined to do better here than I did in the districts, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Gravine headlined the performances by Wyoming Valley Conference athletes in the afternoon session on Day 2. Nanticoke Area’s Nevaeh Baran had a smile on her face after winning a sixth-place medal in the Class 2A long jump. Wilkes-Barre Area’s Timothy Leonard won an eighth-place medal in the Class 3A 200.

Baran, who was overwhelmed by emotions Friday after the triple jump after winning a seventh-place medal, didn’t even know if she could compete. She slightly injured her knee in the triple jump.

She got to the track, went through warm-ups, then landed a best jump of 18-0.5 to earn a medal and make her much happier with her weekend.

Kennett junior Aydriane Bowden set a meet record with a distance of 20-4.75 to win gold.

“I wasn’t really planning on jumping,” Baran said. “I tweaked my knee, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to be. It was my last meet, so I decided to finish strong.

“I think, and my coaches told me, one tough meet does not define a season. I was very happy about everything that I accomplished.”

Leonard, the top sprinter in District 2 all season, earned his second medal of the day. He finished eighth in 22.28 seconds in the 200 to add to the sixth-place medal he won in the 100.

Owen J. Roberts junior Matthew Gregory won gold in 21.29.