Northampton seniors Logan Henry and Ben Henry came home with state medals after competing in the PIAA State Track and Field Championships last Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University.

Logan Henry was awarded his medal first, the sixth-place medal in long jump for a leap of 21-9, on Saturday.

“It was awesome,” he said. “Being around this great competition really pushed you to do more. Even being around Ben, who had a medal last year, it kind of made me strive to go out and get a medal for myself. Amazing. It’s great. It feels great.”

Ben is the one who convinced Logan, actually recruited Logan, to run and jump his way onto the track and field team in the first place.

“I was on the couch, being a lazy bum,” Logan grinned, “but I always liked jumping, dunking basketballs, that sort of thing. I just like to jump, and I was good at it. My first couple jumps (today), my coach was telling me I pretty much had it but to strive for a little more height, and then right when I hit the 21-9, she said that was really good height.”

Last year, Logan had no choice but to watch his brother Ben and teammate Shaun Apsley compete at states, not a good feeling for the K-Kid jumper, but this year, Logan was overjoyed to be part of it.

“I was talking to a lot of kids today, yeah, all the time. I wasn’t thinking about a medal going in. I was thinking about doing well,” Logan said. “I was ranked tenth, so climbing four spots to sixth was pretty good. I think I could have done a little better, but hey, at the end of the day, it’s a cherry on top.”

St. Joseph Prep’s Brendan Leneghan was the long jump gold medalist, leaping to 22-8.75.

Later in the day, Ben won the sixth-place medal in the 200 meter dash with a time of 21.99.

“I did not want to get last place. I was telling everybody today, I’m not getting last place. I just ran, that’s all I can say, I just ran,” he said. “This race could have been better, I think. A little faster off the block, needed to turn a little more. Leading up to this, our coach (Tim Caffrey) emphasized getting into new invitationals to see new competitors, people we’ve never seen. Obviously, we were working hard, doing everything we could do to bring our times down to get in here.”

Pennridge’s Joey Gant won the gold medal with a time of 21.15.

Northampton senior Shaun Apsley just missed the finals cut-off for the 300 meter hurdles, placing ninth in prelims with a time of 39.89.

“I feel bad for him,” Ben Henry said. “He’s a great athlete, he puts the work in, and he beats himself up a little too much, but, you know, he’s a phenomenal athlete, and I was honored to run with him, being on the same team and same relay, so you’ve got to cherish the moment.”

Northampton’s 4x4 relay team of Victor Hunt, Apsley, Henry, and Henry competed at states on Friday, and Ben Henry competed in the 100 meter dash, also on Friday.