During the regular season, Michelle Piontkowski wanted the focus to be on individual events.

With the Pleasant Valley boys and girls looking to make a mark in their first year of competition in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, the Bears' head coach wanted to maximize the teams potential.The strategy paid off, as the boys finished with a 10-1 overall record, while the girls posted a 9-2 mark in the regular season.But once the postseason rolled around, the attention shifted to harnessing that talent on the 400, 1600 and 3200-meter relay squads.Again, the plan worked. The Pleasant Valley boys captured two championships while also securing a runner-up finish at the EPC meet two weeks ago.Last week at the District 11 meet in Class AAA competition, the PV boys repeated the performance winning two more titles to go along with another second place finish.The results capped an incredible stretch for the Bears, and ensured that all three relay teams would be competing this weekend at the PIAA Track and Field Championships in Shippensburg."I knew they had the potential," Piontkowski said during practice on Tuesday. "It was just a matter of them putting it all together and how much they really wanted it."Obviously, it showed in the EPC meet when we came out and tied Stroudsburg (for the boys team title)."Pleasant Valley didn't have to wait long to see what it might have in the events. The team of Thomas Ciaccio, Seth Slavin, Sean McGinley and Khai Samuels won gold in the 3200 relay at the EPC meet in their first time competing together.The quartet came together to capture another gold medal at the district meet last week, with Samuels running the anchor leg both times.Though they might not have spent much time competing together during the regular season, Ciaccio, Slavin, McGinley and Samuels stayed busy in their respective individual events. The success they achieved there offered a glimpse of what might be possible when grouped together."I think after seeing them do the 800, seeing their times drop and seeing how we weren't losing any 4X8's, that was when it started to click that this could work," Samuels said.In addition to winning EPC and district titles in the 800, an event he has yet to lose this year, Samuels also competed on the 1600 relay team that took gold in back-to-back weeks.Samuels, along with Nyiem Nevarez, Tyson Calhoun and Aliem Hoousendove-Jackson set the school record with a time of

3.24.33 at the EPC meet."I didn't know what to expect," Samuels said of his outlook for the 1600 relay team. "We didn't really lose anybody from last year so I knew that if we all came back and did our best that we should be able to do pretty well."Like Samuels, Nevarez will also be on more than one relay team in Shippensburg. Nevarez, along with Michael Morris, Danny Hunter and Matt Sheehan took second at last week's district meet in the 400 meter relay to advance, an improvement on last year's fourth place finish."They practiced really hard," said Piontkowski. "They really wanted it last year, but came up short. So they worked really hard this year on making sure their handoffs were good and just tried to get their timing down a little bit quicker."It wasn't just the 400 relay team that improved, as the 1600 squad bettered its fourth place result from last year's district meet. The 3200 team saw the biggest jump, going from 10th to first.With one weekend of competition left, don't be surprised if these Bears have one more run left in them."If they can get into finals, I think they can get a medal," said Piontkowski. "Anything can happen. Things have to go our way, obviously, but they did at the EPC and district meets."*****Pleasant Valley will also be represented well in the field events, with Mike Mitchell (triple jump) and Kevin Cruz (long jump) both qualifying for states.On the girls' side, Jenn Mickens will be making her second appearance in Shippensburg after winning the Class AAA 800 at last week's district meet.While Mickens will be competing in the AAA 800, Tamaqua's Monika Shimko will be doing so in the Class AA 800, an event she also qualified for last year.In addition to the 800, Shimko will also be competing in the 3200 relay with Janette Kabana, Chelsea Frantz and Victoria Labar.Morgan Boyle will also be competing in multiple events for the Lady Raiders, as she qualified for both the pole vault and javelin.Like Pleasant Valley, the Northwestern girls will have multiple relays competing this weekend. The 1600 and 3200 squads both advanced after finishing first and second, respectively, at last week's district meet in Class AAA competition.Alexis Gawelko, who will be running the 1600 relay, also qualified in the 100 hurdles after meeting the state-qualifying standard at the district meet.Natcheli Gomes will round out the Lady Tigers contingent after winning a district championship in the high jump last week.Northwestern's Cam Richardson will be competing in the Class AAA 100 and 200, events he qualified for last year at the AA level.Jim Thorpe's Rayan Green will be looking to carry the momentum of district championships in the high jump and triple jump into this weekend's events. Green, a senior, is seeded second in the Class AAA triple jump at 47-9.Sisters Brooke and Autumn Cope will be representing Jim Thorpe in the Class AAA javelin. Brooke is coming off a district championship in the event, while Autumn took third.The Palmerton boys will once again be well-represented in Class AA competition this weekend at Shippensburg.The Blue Bombers had four individual district champions a week ago in Sean Doherty (300 hurdles), Spencer Hay (high jump), Logan Blasiak (pole vault) and Jon Anthony (discus).Doherty, along with Harley Appelbaum, Jerry Pereira and Mike Stasko, also took gold in the 400 relay to qualify for states.Marian had four individuals make the "Trip to Ship" in Class AA competition.Chris Bruno (100) and Brenna Karnish (discus) both advanced as district champions, while Kaylee Ceci (shot put) and Tina Capparell (800) took second in their respective events a week ago.Lehighton's Tyler Crum (long jump) will be making his second straight appearance at the state meet, while teammate Joseph Blauch (discus) will be making his first.Northern Lehigh senior Jessica Olewine, who qualified for the Class AA long jump and triple jump, will close out her scholastic career with her third straight trip to Shippensburg.Gavin Kemery qualified for the Class AA 3200 for the Bulldogs for the second straight year.