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Harris, Macknair finish strong at Kevin Dare Invitational

UNIVERSITY PARK – In indoor track and field competition on of the biggest meets of the year is the Kevin Dare Invitational held at the hallowed grounds of the Horace Ashonfelter Indoor track complex.

The best of the best from all over the state congregate the Penn State each year to measure their talents against top talents.

Mifflin County was well represented this year as well.

Leading the way and placing first place in the 3200-meter run with a time of 8:51.73 was Brayden Harris while teammate Chayce Macknair captured fifth place in the 1600-meter with a time of 4:28.84 and a fifth in the 3200-meter with a time of 9:09.71.

“It makes me feel good. Coming into this meet I didn’t have very high expectations. I think that is a key thing for me. I don’t put much expectation on it. The sky is the limit for me,” said Harris about his first place finish. “After the mile I was a little rusty. I didn’t feel like I warmed up enough beforehand. My goal for the 3-mile was to warm up good. And I did that. I started out easy and I noticed I was behind but once I started doing my thing and running my race, I noticed I was in second I just kept doing my thing. With seven laps to go I noticed I was gaining ground and then I was up with him so I figured “why not?”

Harris finished sixth in the 1600-meter run, finishing with a time of 4:29.44.

Macknair was happy with his performance but thinks that things could have gone a little better.

“It definitely could of went worse but it could have also been better.It was kind of like a solid race but I could have done better,” said Macknair. “I was hoping to better but it’s early in the season and I have a lot of time to improve. This was my first mile run I’ve done since spring of last year so it will take me a race or tow to figure things out again.”

State College, Mifflin County and Juniata all has athlete participate in the competition.

Juniata’s Jeremiah Parson had a strong run in the boys 400-meter run, winning his heat. He finished seventh overall with a time of 51.79.

Teammate Clay Yeager finished 21st in the mile with a time of 4:47.84.

There were a long list of strong finishes for the Huskies on this day. 

In the Boys 200-meter dash, Hunter Packerd finished 54th with a time of 26.38.

Jason Laudermilch time of 58.64 was good enough for 48th place in the 400-meter run.

Finishing in the top 20 in the boys 800-meter run was Chase Sheaffer who finished 16 with a time of 2:07.00.

“Our distance kids looked really good this meet. Coming off of Dickinson, Chayce and Brayden has a strong meet there. They’ve worked their tails off and it showed. They are running better than I think I’ve ever seen them. Things in the post season are looking really promising,” Mifflin County coach Scott Gantz said. “They are looking pretty good.”

In field action, Dillon Wert placed 36 in the long jump with a leap of 15-03.75.

Rounding out the boys competition was Logan Renninger’s throw of 38.08 in the shot put winning him a 16th place finish.

On the girls’ side, in the 60-meter dash teammates Alexis Stanton and Bryn Kanagy finished 54th and 59th with times of 9.15 and 9.61, respectively.

The same duo finished 59th and 61st in the 200 with Stanton posting a 31.68 and Kanagy finishing up with a 31.91.

In the girls 800-meter run, 

Madelyn Chilcote with a time of 2:55.96 finished 48th while teammate 

Magdalena Webb finished 49th with a finish of 2:57.54. 

Lauren Kuykendall finished 31st with a mark of 5:52.46 in the mile run.

Joy Galbraith finished in 10th place in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:31.35.

In Girls 60-meter hurdles, 

Ella Spriggle placed 27 with a time of 10.58. 

In the field events.

In the high jump, Skylar Ciccolini finished 12 with a jump of 14-10.

Meanwhile in the Girls long jump

Kiana Sechler placed 15th with a jump of 15-03.50 while teammate

25 Skylar Ciccolini placed 25th with a best of 14-04.79. 

The same two teammates placed will in the triple jump as Sechler posted a 13th place finish with a 33-03.75 while Ciccolini‘s launch of 31-09.25 was good enough for a 19th place nod.

Pole Vault 

21 Katie Kline 7-00.00 in the pole vault placed her in the 21st position

Rounding out the day in the shot put was 

30 Layla Shimp’s 30th place finish with a throw of 26-05.75 while teammate Casey Laky’s 25-00.00 was good enough for 36th place.

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