Catasauqua senior Anthony Brinkley has been used to success on the scholastic level of middle distance running.

However, this past week he solidified his name in the history of Catasauqua greats in the sport, as he put up quite the showing at the District 11 AA Track and Field Championships at Blue Mountain High School. He bettered his school record in the 800, as he took first place in that event with a time of 1:59.62, and will move on to this weekend's PIAA state track and field championships at Shippensburg University.

"I already held the school record," Brinkley mentioned after the race. "And I broke it again today. I'm humbled to hold the mark because the record that I broke stood from 1974. So it was 39 years old and to sit down and think about it ... I mean, everyone that has walked through the halls (of Catasauqua High School), and anyone that has ever ran the 800, it's just a crazy feeling."

Brinkley not only upended history, but he also holds the cross country record from fall. On Wednesday and Thursday at Blue Mountain, he won the 800, took second in the 1600 and helped his 3200 relay squad take a third place.

"Anthony had high expectations and sometimes, when athletes do that to themselves, they come up short," Brinkley's distance and cross country coach, Charlie Post mentioned. "I think what sets Tony apart, is that he sets a goal for himself, and then he goes and attains it. He makes sure the goal is realistic, but it's not easy, either. He's a great teammate, a great leader and he's a great guy to root for."

Succeeding with the lowest times out of his teammates doesn't produce any sense of arrogance among his peers, either.

"We do a workout, and instead of going and getting water for himself, he'll make sure he gives five out to his teammates first," Post recalls. "He's finishing first and it's probably easy to turn your back, but he stays there and makes sure he says something encouraging to those teammates. So when your best performing kid is working this much harder, he makes my job easy."

The senior will be participating in the 800 and 1600 meter races at states and is looking forward to the challenge.

"Last year, I qualified for the mile and the two mile," Brinkley recollects. "This year, I dropped the two mile and I moved down to the 800, where I am ranked first (at districts)."

The move proved to be beneficial for the runner, as he stands a better chance to do his best at the state meet.

In the mile, he almost didn't earn second and a return 'trip to Ship.'

"I had (Brendan Shearn of North Schuylkill) in my sights for the first two laps," Brinkley remembered. "Then he took off during the third lap, which was my slowest lap. Then it came down to me and one of my good friends from Northwestern (Tyler Stelmack), and we sprinted it out for the last 100 meters and I always have that kick at the end and I take pride in that. He came right up next to me and I thought, 'I gotta go! This is for 'Ship!"

That push solidified Brinkley's chances for hopeful medal production in two events, while he also almost made it with a few teammates of his in another event. The 3200 relay at Catasauqua is a rarity, in that this is the first 3200 relay team that the Rough Riders have even fielded over the course of the last five years. However, with Brinkley, and a few other outstanding runners, they finished third in a time of 8:37.22.

Brinkley, Jacob Rusnock, Kurt Wells and Zachary Miller teamed up this season and made impressive strides toward gaining respect across the Colonial League and District 11 as a formidable foe in the distance relay.

"They should be proud of themselves," Catasauqua head track coach Glenn Reightler mentioned afterward. "I can't remember the last time a Catty team medaled in the event."

Brinkley reiterated the pride, saying, "It feels good to accomplish that with the rest of the team. Everyone ran really well today. Kurt ran his best time of the season and we all did the job that we had to do. Coming into this season, and knowing that we were the first four by eight team in the past five seasons, we didn't think we'd medal. And to do it at leagues is one thing, but to do it here at Districts is just great."

The same team finished in third place at the Colonial League meet a week before and duplicated that result against the district field of teams.

There were three other Rough Rider athletes that also earned medals at the district meet, representing well. Trinity Henderson placed fourth in the AA girls shot put, where she threw for a distance of 34-10.25. Ra'Von Burton took fourth in the 100 meter dash, as he turned in a time of 11.35, and teammate Ty Kern also took fourth in the AA boys pole vault, as he cleared the 12-6 mark.