Chambersburg’s Okenie McLaughlin, center, stands on the top of the podium with his gold medal after winning the PIAA Class 3A boys triple jump event on Friday morning at Shippensburg University. McLaughlin hit a distance of 50-2.75 on his final attempt (Photo courtesy of Bob Walker).

SHIPPENSBURG — A sage piece of advice from Chambersburg track & field assistant coach Bob Walker in the beginning of this track & field season paid huge dividends for Trojan senior Okenie McLaughlin on Friday morning at the end of the season.

For the second consecutive week, McLaughlin used his final attempt to hit a huge jump and win a competition. Last week, it was in the long jump at the District 3 Championships. This week, with the stakes raised, it was in the triple jump at the PIAA Championships at Shippensburg University.

Walker, coaching in his last meet before retiring, said, “Earlier in the season, Okenie was trying to hit the big jump on his first try. For example, at the Tim Cook meet, he fouled on his first three jumps. I told him he should try to hit a safe jump with his first attempt, then he had five left to go for the big one.”

Okenie McLaughlin

It worked last week, and it certainly worked Friday.

McLaughlin hit jumps of 42-2.75, 45-8, 45-4, fouled, and scored 47.25 on his first five tries. At that point, he was in third place, behind defending state champion Brayden Billman of New Oxford (48-7.5) and Grove City’s Jonah Stucchio (48-0.5).

But McLaughlin nailed his final attempt to move into the lead.

Chambersburg boys head coach Jim Boyer said, “(On that last jump) he got all of his board and we could see, based on how far down the runway he was after his second phase, that he was going to pop one. He kept his hips up and just flew through the air.”

Walker said, “We still knew Billman was capable of passing him, since he had jumped 50-4 to win districts last week (to beat McLaughlin’s 48-0.5).”

But Billman could only reach 48-8.75, and the gold went to the Trojan.

“The jumpers will sometimes appeal to the crowd to make some noise by clapping before a jump,” Walker said. “He told me he’s only ever done that twice — when he really needs it — today and last week for that final long jump. But he said when he started clapping today, not many joined in right away.

“He and Billman became friends this year and were hanging out together. After he won, he went over to Billman and said, “‘Sorry, man.’ And Billman said, ‘Hey, you just won. You don’t have to apologize for that.'”

McLaughlin’s 50-2.75 effort came up short of the PIAA record of 50-6. However, in the course of two weeks, he has erased the school record in both events, previously held by J.J. Kelly. His 23-8.5 last week in the long jump bettered Kelly’s mark of 21-1.5, and Friday’s triple jump topped Kelly’s 49-2.

Bob Walker

Boyer said, “I didn’t think I’d see another Trojan break J.J.’s record, at least for a long time, because he set it winning the state title. Okenie is such a gamer! All season long, he has risen to the occasion to compete with whoever is in his events that day, and it was awesome to see him do that again today at states.

“What an incredible sendoff for Coach Walker, too. It’s worth noting that he was a distance runner and coach for a long time before switching his focus to to serve as jumps event coach — that just doesn’t happen very often. And on top of that, he’s coached multiple state champions, which is remarkable.”

McLaughlin wll compete Saturday in the PIAA long jump, where he is seeded third. Walker said he will also compete in the New Balance Nationals.

“He’s not sure what he’s going to do after school’s out,” Walker said. “He said he would visit his father in Germany, but I’m hoping some college programs show some interest in him.”

No other Franklin County athletes earned a medal Friday. Ayden Foust of Shippensburg was 11th in the 3A shot put with a throw of 54-4.25, and teammate Rylan Asper was 17th in the 1600 in 4:24.46.

Greencastle-Antrim’s Alyssa Fowler ended in a tie for 13th place in the pole vault at 10-6.

The only local qualifier for the finals in the track prelims was James Buchanan sophomore Cheyenne Eby. She had the seventh-best time in the Class 2A 100 (12.28) and the fifth-best time in the 400 (57.47).

PIAA Track & Field Championships
Friday’s Results
BOYS CLASS 3A
Triple jump — 1.Okenie McLaughlin (Chambersburg), 50-2.75
Shot put — 11.Ayden Foust (Shippensburg) 54-4.25; 23.Drake Wagner (Ship) 48-4
1600 — 17.Rylan Asper (Ship) 4:24.46
———-
GIRLS CLASS 3A
Triple jump — 24.Olivia Coy (Chbg) 34-2.75
Pole vault — 13.(tie) Alyssa Fowler (Greencastle-Antrim) 10-6