Just before the start of the 800-meter run last Thursday, Jared Petre wasn’t sure what might happen.

The Hornet entered the race as the top seed. But uncertainty crept into his mind just before the gun sounded, and lingered throughout the entire race.

Fortunately for Petre it only lasted one minute and 56.88 until he broke the tape and earned his first individual gold medal.

“I didn’t feel the best before,” he said after receiving his medal. “I knew I wanted to win and I should win, but nerves really got to me. I didn’t feel the best on the line. Throughout the whole race in the back of my head I was like ‘I don’t know if I got this.’

“My legs were not feeling the best. I didn’t feel that strong. But I knew deep down I could do it. The last 200 I knew they were coming up on me. I was hurting a lot. I wanted it since last year when I got second.”

Petre was one of three Emmaus individuals to win events along with one Hornet relay team at last week’s Class 3A Track and Field Championships at Whitehall High School.

Mady McCartney (3200), Claudia Walls (high jump) and the boys 4x800 relay team of Conor Fisher, Miles Cook, Richard Will and Petre earned gold medals last week while several teammates also made the podium. Emmaus athletes qualified for eight individual events in this weekend’s state championship meet and three Hornet relay teams will also compete in Shippensburg this weekend.

Petre, who took second in the East Penn Conference 800 two weeks ago, held off Liberty’s David Myer to win the district event by less than a second.

The gold medal was the second of the two-day meet for Petre, as he anchored the 3200-meter relay team to first place last Tuesday. After taking second place to Parkland in that event at the league meet, Emmaus was looking to get revenge when it mattered most, running a time of 8:01.86 to beat second-place Parkland (8:04.35).

“The real goal is winning districts,” said Petre. “Leagues is a good practice run, but districts is where it’s at. That’s where it really counts, so we’re thrilled.”

Petre is seeded 23rd in the 800 at states, while the relay team is also seeded 23rd.

Walls, a three-time East Penn Conference high jump champ, added a district gold medal to her trophy case. She cleared 5-5 to win last week’s event.

“Last year I came in second at districts, which was disappointing,” said the Hornet junior. “Last year I still qualified for states but I wanted to get that gold this year.”

Walls started at 4-11 and cleared that and 5-1 on her first attempts. She made 5-3 and 5-5 on her second attempts before trying 5-7, an inch higher than her career best. She will try to get there again next week as she is seeded eighth in her second trip to the state meet.

Walls also qualified for states in triple jump and came two places away in long jump. She leaped 37-3 for third place at districts in triple jump and is seeded 16th in the state triple jump. She earned a fourth-place medal in district long jump.

The top two finishers in each event qualify for states, along with any athlete who achieves a state-qualifying standard at districts.

Emmaus champion distance runner Mady McCartney also won a pair of individual medals at districts, taking first place in the 1600 and second in the 3200.

After finishing second to Saucon Valley’s Virginia Kraus in last Tuesday’s 3200, McCartney returned the favor in Thursday’s 1600.

McCartney went out in front in the mile, but Kraus passed her briefly about halfway through the race. The Hornet junior who won all three distance races at the East Penn Conference Championships, stuck to her game plan and went back in front of Kraus to secure the win.

“I wanted to go out hard and stay consistent and push the last 400,” said McCartney. “I was going to keep running my pace. If people catch up to me I just keep running my own race.”

McCartney finished the race in 4:53.13 and is seeded second in the state meet behind Haverford’s Olivia Cieslak (4:50.60).

Also going to states is the Emmaus 4x100 relay team of Nicholi Marsh, Dorrian McCargo, Kai Jefferson-Rushing and Michael Milot. The foursome ran a time of 41.96 to take second place at districts.

League champion pole vaulter Tyler Grabinski will make his second trip to states after taking second place last week. The senior cleared 14-9 at districts to finish as runner up to Northampton’s Andrew Szeplaki, who also cleared 14-9 but did it in fewer attempts.

Grabinski and Szeplaki are both in a tie for the top seed in the state meet, where four athletes come in with a height of 14-9. Grabinski, who finished 13th at last year’s state meet, cleared an all-time Lehigh Valley best 16 feet at leagues.

Kayla-Rayne Quinones also qualified for states by running a fast enough time. The senior finished third in the 100-meter hurdles at districts and her time of 15.27 was good enough to make states, where she is seeded 17th.

All three Emmaus boys relays qualified for states as the 4x400 relay team of Cook, Will, Petre and Rien George ran a time of 3:23.67 for third place at districts.

Jumper Konstantinos Panagopoulos also earned a third-place medal at districts by leaping 44-10 in triple jump.

One of the Hornets’ fourth-place finishers is also heading to states as senior Payton Campbell ran a 11:03.42 in the 3200 to qualify for this weekend’s meet.

Other Emmaus athletes who earned medals for fourth place were Damar Gilzeane (triple jump), Robert Edwards (shot put) and Jathniel Feguiere (high jump).

District 11 Track and Field Championship Results

Class 3A

(Results include the top three finishers in each event and all Emmaus finishers)

LEGEND

Blue Mountain (BM), Dieruff (D), Easton (East), East Stroudsburg South (ESS), Emmaus (Emm), Freedom (Free), Jim Thorpe (JT), Lehighton (Leh),Liberty (Lib), Nazareth (Naz), Northampton (North), North Schuylkill (NS), Northwestern Lehigh (NW), Palmerton (Palm), Parkland (Park), Pleasant Valley (PV), Pocono Mountain West (PMW), Pottsville (Potts), Saucon Valley (SV), Southern Lehigh (SL), Tamaqua (Tam), Wilson (Wil)

GIRLS

100 - 1. Alena Murray (S) 12.00, 2. Amanda Mercurius (Naz) 12.29, 3. Taylor Cofer-Walcott (ESS) 12.35, 7. Gabriella DeVita (Emm) 12.72;

200 - 1. Amanda Mercurius (Naz) 24.55, 2. Julia Grant (S) 24.96, 3. Taylor Cofer-Walcott (ESS) 25.17, 10. Sophia Pratt (Emm) 26.96, 24. Elizabeth Burns (Emm) 28.20;

400 - 1. Aniya Holder (D) 55.63, 2. Julia Grant (S) 56.59, 3. Natalie Ray (Free) 56.96, 11. Morgan Tandy (Emm) 1:00.98;

800 - 1. Elizabeth McClarin (Lib) 2:16.07, 2. Katie Drabouski (Lib) 2:16.35, 3. Rosalia Nestor (NW) 2:20.58, 17. Grace Nosal (Emm) 2:25.78, 21. Payton Campbell (Emm) 2:29.77;

1600 - 1. Madelyn McCartney (Emm) 4:53.13, 2. Virginia Kraus (SV) 4:57.02, 3. Avery Errico (Wil) 5:09.96, 7. Payton Campbell (Emm) 5:18.81, 14. Addison Johnson (Emm) 5:40.37;

3200 - 1. Virginia Kraus (SV) 10:24.53, 2. Madelyn McCartney (Emm) 10:36.58, 3. Avery Errico (Wil) 11:02.16, 4. Payton Campbell (Emm) 11:03.42 13. Addison Johnson (Emm) 12:12.96;

100H - 1. Faith Schiffer (SL) 14.72, 2. Alexa Giuffre (Potts) 15.21, 3. Kayla-Rayne Quinones (Emm) 15.27;

300H - 1. Maggie Scalzo (East) 44.54, 2. Aniya Holder (D) 44.74, 3. Alexa Giuffre (Potts) 44.75, 12. Kayla-Rayne Quinones (Emm) 50.0;

400 relay - 1. Stroudsburg 47.30, 2. Parkland 47.67, 3. Palmerton 48.20, 6. Emmaus (Morgan Tandy, Gabriella DeVita, Sophia Pratt, Kayla-Rayne Quinones) 49.07;

1600 relay - 1. Parkland 3:57.52, 2. Notre Dame-Green Pond 3:59.33, 3. Easton 3:59.85, 9. Emmaus (Morgan Tandy, Sophia Pratt, Elizabeth Bender, Kyana Deabreu) 4:11.04;

3200 Relay - 1. Liberty 9:32.06, 2 Nazareth 9:34.09, 3. Easton 9:37.76, 8. Emmaus (Addison Johnson, Isabella Alwine-Balliro, Grace Nosal, Elizabeth Bender) 10:20.22;

High jump - 1. Claudia Walls (Emm) 5-5, 2. Aviannah Jean-Pierre (East) 5-3, 3. Emma Campusano (PMW) 5-1;

Pole vault - 1. Samantha Plasha (Tam) 10-0, 2. Samantha Schultz (Park) 9-6, 3. Gabriella Borgos (Park) 9-6;

Long jump - 1. Alexa Giuffre (Potts) 19-9.5, 2. Nataly Walters (Palm) 18-9, 3. Jariana Rivas (East) 18-3.5, 4. Claudia Walls (Emm) 17-6.5, 5. Morgan Fletes (Emm) 17-5.75, 16. Sheena Kassis (Emm) 15-6.75;

Triple jump - 1. Nataly Walters (Palm) 40-4, 2. Mia Bowden (PMW) 37-4.5, 3. Anne Beenders (North), Claudia Walls (Emm) 37-3;

Shot put - 1. Lucy Colyer (North) 34-10.75, 2. Nayeli Moliere (PMW) 34-8.5, 3. Lorah Thomas (Leh) 34-1.25, 6. Kayleen Louis (Emm) 33.11.25;

Discus - 1. Brooke Nwigwe (ESS) 119-2, 2. McKayla Strunk (S) 118-11, 3. Evelyn Hersh (ND) 118-2;

Javelin - 1. Makayla Keck (BM) 162-8, 2. Emma Repsher (Leh) 137-7, 3. Skyelar Umstead (Naz) 125-3.

BOYS

100 - 1. Chase Guers (BM) 10.81, 2. Luke Miller (NS) 10.86, 3. Gigi Durandisse (Wil) 10.99, 6. Nicholi Marsh (Emm) 11.10, 7. Dorrian McCargo (Emm) 11.28, 9. Kai Jefferson Rushing (Emm) 11.42;

200 - 1. Luke Miller (NS) 21.77, 2. Jareal Moore (PlVy) 21.95, 3. Chase Guers (BM) 21.98, 20. Jaylen Davis (Emm) 24.05;

400 - 1. Laquaye Hamilton (D) 49.98, 2. Kayden Spence (JT) 50.43, 3. Reese Prebosnyak (White) 50.48, 9. Richard Will (Emm) 51.92, 13. Rien George (Emm) 53.14, 16. Jeremy Sharpless (Emm) 53.56;

800 - 1. Jared Petre (Emm) 1:56.88, 2. David Myer (Lib) 1:57.40, 3. Peter Jones (SL) 1:58.08, 5. Conor Fisher (Emm) 2:00.21, 11. Shaw Cook (Emm) 2:03.17, ;

1600 - 1. Dylan Boyle (Free) 4:27.25, 2. Colin McGuigan (Park) 4:27.68, 3. Jacob Casey (Naz) 4:28.28;

3200 - 1. Jacob Casey (Naz) 9:42.45, 2. Dylan Boyle (Free) 9:45.95, 3. Luke McEvoy (Park) 9:48.6, 11. Ryan Fach (Emm) 10:20.082;

110H - 1. Abiel Quartey (S) 15.20, 2. Stephan Richards (Free) 15.27, 3. Donovann Durham (Potts) 15.40, 11. Nicholas Kearns (Emm) 17.09, 15. Anthony Battle (Emm) 17.18;

300H - 1. Ethan Huertas (Free) 39.66, 2. Stephan Richards (Free) 40.11, 3. Rafael Liranzo (BM) 40.53, 16. Amani Ritz (Emm) 44.58, 20. Richard Walker (Emm) 46.45;

400 relay - 1. Blue Mountain 41.48, 2. Emmaus (Nicholi Marsh, Dorrian McCargo, Kai Jefferson-Rushing, Michael Milot) 41.96 41.96, 3. Pleasant Valley 42.67;

1600 relay - 1. Parkland 3:21.95, 2. Southern Lehigh 3:22.55, 3. Emmaus (Richard Will, Miles Cook, Rien George, Jared Petre) 3:23.67;

3200 Relay - 1. Emmaus (Conor Fisher, Miles Cook, Richard Will, Jared Petre) 8:01.86, 2. Parkland 8:04.35, 3. Southern Lehigh 8:16.40;

High jump - 1. Gavin Nelson (NW) 6-9, 2. Jaden Bulgin (Park) 6-7, 3. Andrew Szeplaki (North) 6-3, 4. Jathniel Feguiere (Emm) 6-1;

Pole vault - 1. Andrew Szeplaki (North) 14-9, 2. Tyler Grabinski (Emm) 14-9, 3. Casey Huie (Lib) 14-3;

Long jump - 1. Anthony Otero (Lib) 23-6.5, 2. Austin Boyce (Naz) 22-7.75, 3. Oziaz Washington (ESN) 22-2.5, 5. Nehemiah Pierre (Emm) 21-7.5, 14. Jack Csensits (Emm) 19-4.25;

Triple jump - 1. Shane Plante-King (ESS) 45-6, 2. Exzavier Seide (Park) 45-0.25, 3. Konstantinos Panagopoulos (Emm) 44-10, 4. Damar Gilzeane (Emm) 44-6.5;

Shot put - 1. Carter Giberson (SL) 51-9.25, 2. Aidan Zilker (NS) 51-0.5, 3. Eli Torres (SV) 49-0.75, 4. Robert Edwards (Emm) 47-10.5, 10. Colin Nonnemacher (Emm) 42-11.5, 12. Brody McHugh (Emm) 41-11.75;

Discus - 1. Jonathan Adjin-Tettey (ESS) 148-8, 2. Carter Giberson (SL) 146-5, 3. Ryan Galen (Potts) 134-2, 8. Matt Buss (Emm) 127-11;

Javelin - 1. Thomas Lloyd (White) 210-1, 2. Leo Dauberman (Park) 186-3, 3. Kaden Zerfoss (ESS) 183-6, 14. Nicholas DeSantis (Emm) 140-1.