For Hailey and Hamaad Jenkins, it was a day of dealing with pressures and stark realities.

The senior brother and sister both punched their ticket to Shippensburg this weekend in with outstanding individual and team events at the District 11 Class 2A track and field championships.

Hailey won both the 100 and 200 recording a time of 12.04 and 25.34 respectively, while Hamaad finished second in both events, notching times of 10.89 and 21.60 respectively.

In addition to her individual honors, Hailey also brought home another gold as part of Catty’s winning 400 relay team that clocked a time of 50.26 with teammates Julia Harth, Kayla Davis, and Javaeha Lafond.

Hailey realized she could have a big day. She simply worked toward her potential.

“It was a really exciting day,” beamed Hailey. “Going into it, I knew I had the potential to get three golds. It was just a matter of performing under pressure and I believe I did that well.

“The relay was probably my favorite win of the day. We fell behind at one point, but I was able to close the gap for gold. It felt nice being able to share that win with my teammates.”

Hamaad believed the district meet was a compilation of the season.

“Districts is what really showed how hard our team collectively has been working this season, we broke multiple school records, district records and got so many first place accolades,” noted Hamaad. “Knowing we did that after all the hard workouts, the tears and days we felt like quitting it all truly paid off,” and I thank my teammates and coaches.”

He saw his day as a revelation before him.

“It was like just one of those feelings where you wake up and nothing can ruin your mood,” quipped Hamaad. “It was so surreal to know I ran a PA top 10 time in the 200 and 4x4 was like wow, ‘I’m really starting to get my name out there’ as of one year ago I wasn’t even top 50 so now to be top 10 proves my races weren’t just a fluke. I’ve been running consistent 21s in the 200 and 10s in the 100. It was just such a mind blowing experience.”

His 200 race could be seen as one of his more memorable events in his career.

“The 200 was actually a flabbergasting experience,” stressed Hamaad. “I lined up with Alex Clark from Notre Dame, and we were neck and neck the whole race. As we finish, he wins the lean and we both then looked at the times.

“He ran a 21.5 and I ran a 21.6, It was crazy because last year we could barely break 22. So to run this fast against each other and run PA top 10 times was so shocking. At the end of the day, we just congratulated each other, and it was on to the next one.”

Head coach Kyle Rusnock sees the tandem at their peak, and he is enjoying the moment.

“Hailey and Hamaad were insanely good,” boasted Rusnock. “It is the best we have seen them run. At states, they will get to compete with the best and both have the ability to medal in all their events. I am honored to have coached them and the other athletes. Next week is going to be exciting.”