Zach Hugo thought he had it. He barely grazed the bar at 13 feet, 9 inches in the pole vault event at last week's Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Track and Field Championships. It was the closest he's been to that mark in his career.

But despite missing out on that mark by the smallest of margins, a height that would have tied Nazareth's Nicholas Miller for first, Hugo still produced a solid showing. His height of 13-3 awarded him a third-place finish in the pole vault last Wedneday, Day 2 of competition at Whitehall High School's Zephyrs Sports Complex.

Hugo wasn't the only Trojan to make the medal stand last week. Devante Cross and Morgan Sherwin came in second and third place, respectively, in the boys and girls high jump events. Zachary Trexler finished fourth in the 300-meter hurdles, and the Parkland boys' 4x400 relay team also placed fourth.

"I was glad that I set a personal record," Hugo said. "But I was really close to 13-9, and I was hoping I could get that. But I'll save that for districts."

With not much of a break between the EPC Meet and this week's District 11 Track and Field Championships, Hugo gets his chance sooner rather than later at setting that goal.

"Hitting 13-9 would definitely be good," Hugo said of his district goals. "If I go into the 14s I'll be real happy. As long as I go up another six inches or so, or even 13-6, I would be happy."

Trexler started the event with that fourth-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 41.17 seconds, an event he has invested much time in over the season. The senior was pleased with the ending that resulted in a trip to the medal stand.

"All of my training really came down to this race," Trexler said. "I'm really pleased with my performance. It was a lot of work to get here."

Trexler also runs the 110-meter hurdles, meaning he lines up with the unquestioned top hurdler in the area in Bethlehem Catholic's Freddie Simmons. And while Simmons took gold in both of those events, running a 14.95 in the 110 and a 39.73 in the 300, Trexler was able to test himself against the very best.

"My favorite race is actually the 110," said Trexler, who placed sixth in the event. "I tend to do better with the 110s. The 300s are more of a challenge for me, but all-in-all I love it."

Hailemichael Geiger paced the Trojans in the distance events, finishing in fifth place in the 3200-meter run (9:54.69) and eighth place in the 1600 (4:32.56). Adriana Facchiano came in seventh place in the discus, and the boys' 4x100 relay team finished seventh as well to award Parkland team points in the standings.