Northampton High School sprinter Shaun Apsley was crowned the district champion in the 300 hurdles at the District XI Class 3A Track and Field Championships last Wednesday at Blue Mountain High School in Schuylkill Haven.

“It feels amazing,” Apsley said. “I worked hard all season, and I want to thank my teammates and coaches for getting me here because without them, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

Apsley’s winning time on his first trip to districts was 40.66.

“At the end of my freshman year, a bunch of people were trying out other events, so I was like, why not try jumping over a hurdle and ever since then, my coach just kinda had an eye on me,” said Apsley. “We didn’t have [a season] last year, and this year, we had no hurdlers, so he wanted me to try, and he liked my time trial, and ever since then, I became a hurdler.”

Now Apsley will have the opportunity to compete against other hurdlers throughout the state of Pennsylvania next Saturday. Joining Apsley at the state meet will be teammate Ben Henry, the District XI silver medalist in the 400 meter dash with a time of 49.68.

“It feels great. I wish the silver could’ve been gold but states is the ultimate goal here,” Henry said. “I was at a decent pace, but when I got to the beginning of the last 100 meters, the Easton kid was in front of me, and I just had a magical boost of gas and took him out. I’m hoping my skill can ride with all the other competitive athletes at states.”

Henry was also the bronze medalist in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.30, and collected another bronze medal along with teammates Omar Elamin, Justin Shambo, and Logan Henry for their third place finish in the 4x1 relay.

The district meet was a first for seniors Elamin and Shambo.

“Just to think that two years ago, I didn’t even make the league meet, and now I’m able to medal at districts. It means a lot to me,” said Elamin, who ran in the leadoff spot. “I felt like I got out good. I just kept my eye on the heel of the guy in front of me and went all the way through with it. It was smooth. I had no trouble with it.”

Elamin said the K-Kids saw their seventh-place seeding on the heat sheets but knew they could do better and came to districts ready to medal.

“It’s amazing, yeah,” said Shambo. “We were about a quarter of a second off from second place. I know how fast our anchor is, and if you’re in front of him and he’s behind you, he will catch you. It is a big deal because I played soccer too, and we never won a district game, but winning a district race and getting a medal, I can’t explain it.”

Northampton also medaled in two distance events.

Owen Nahf won a fourth place medal in the 3200 meter run with a time of 10:14.39, and the girls 4x8 relay team of Amber Poniktera, Madelyn Hurst, Brianna Tyler, and Raine Korpics were awarded fourth place medals after finishing the race with a time of 10:04.56.

Apsley and Henry, coached by Tim Caffrey, will compete at the PIAA State Track and Field Championships on May 29 at Shippensburg University.