Chambersburg’s J.J. Kelly took first place in the Boys 3A triple jump Friday in the District 3 Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg University.

SHIPPENSBURG — With one sprint and leap, Chambersburg freshman J.J. Kelly accomplished quite a bit Friday afternoon.

With a noisy crowd helping him on, Kelly flew a distance of 47-0 in the triple jump. With that stellar effort, Kelly won a District 3 Class 3A title, qualified for the PIAA Championships and broke one of the two oldest records on the Trojan list.

Ted Wingerd’s mark of 46-7.5, set in 1971, had stood for a remarkable 51 years. The only other district champion in the event for Chambersburg was Rich Fogal in 1989 (45-0.75).

Traevon Kater of Shippensburg placed third in the District 3 Boys 3A triple jump at Shippensburg University on Friday.

“J.J. really wanted this record,” Trojan boys coach Bob Walker said. “He was a little tired for his last jump, the one that set the record, but the crowd started the rhythmic clapping to pump him up and give him the energy he needed.”

When the distance was announced, Kelly sprinted up the track toward the starting line in celebration.

Kelly will make an attempt to break the other oldest record in the books, Wingerd’s 22-9 in the long jump, on Saturday.

In the same event, Shippensburg’s Taevon Kater placed third with a jump of 45-1.5 and the Greyhounds’ Spencer Edey was fifth at 44-10.5.

The 3200 was the only event on the track that ran a final on Friday and Greencastle-Antrim owned it.

Blye Devil sophomore Claire Paci, who had been struggling a bit lately, broke out of it in a big way by leading six of the eight laps and winning the girls 3A race in 10:38.10.

Claire Paci

Senior Weber Long equaled Paci’s feat by winning his race in 9:06.63, but he went one step further because his time set a District 3 record, breaking the mark of 9:06.69 set in 2017 by Nathan Henderson of McCaskey.

Chambersburg got a third-place finish from Sedrick Vessah in the shot put after he posted an effort of 49-3, and Patrick Reed placed eighth for Ship (46-8.5, a personal best).

One other boys field medal was captured Friday — Ethan Shank of Greencastle-Antrim placed eighth in the pole vault, matching his PR of 12-9.

On the girls’ side, Kate Etter of Chambersburg earned a seventh-place finish in the triple jump with an effort of 36-0.75.

Several area sprinters made it through the prelims and semifinals to qualify for the finals Saturday. In the girls 100, the Trojans’ Natalia Holmes posted the third-best time of 12.29 in a prelim heat and 12.36 in the semifinals.

Chambersburg put three runners in the boys 110 hurdles final — Michael Kelly (5th, 14.96), Jermere Jones (6th, 15.19) and Darion Baumgartner (8th, 15.09).

In the girls 200, Jillian Sydnor of Ship had the second-best time (24.99) to make the final.

District 3 Track & Field Championships
FRIDAY’S RESULTS
BOYS
Triple jump — 1.J.J. Kelly (Chbg) 47-0; 3.Traevon Kater (Ship) 45-1.5; 5.Spencer Edey (Ship) 44-10.5; 12.Jaylon Bean (Way) 42-2.25; 15.Rhaigeon Parker (Chbg) 40-6.75
Pole vault — 7.Ethan Shank (G-A) 12-9
Shot put — 3.Sedrick Vessah (Chbg) 49-3; 8.Patrick Reed (Ship) 46-8.5; 11.Anthony Smith (Ship) 45-3.5; 14.Ethan Faytol (Chbg) 42-4
3200 — 1.Weber Long (G-A) 9:06.63 (District 3 record); 17.Hayden Parks (G-A) 9:47.67; 19.Ari Snyder (Chbg) 10:00.32

GIRLS
3200 — 1.Claire Paci (G-A) 10:38.10; 6.Camryn Kiser (Chbg) 10:49.46; 16.Olivia Rieck (Chbg) 11:33.11
Triple jump — 7.Kate Etter (Chbg) 36-0.75
Pole vault — 9.(tie) Piper Linn (G-A) 10-0