SHIPPENSBURG - It might not have been the result he wanted, but it was certainly one he was happy to take.

As the second seed in the Class AAA triple jump, Jim Thorpe's Rayan Green entered the PIAA Track and Field Championships with high expectations.Though Green didn't finish quite as high on the medal stand as he was hoping to, the junior was still more than pleased with his seventh place result in the event."Coming into it, I knew there would be guys jumping 47s and 46s," Green said afterwards. "But the best man got it. And I'm happy for everyone that got second…third…fourth. Everyone."I came out here and did my best, and I'm satisfied with seventh place."Green, who was seeded with a 47-9, jumped a 45-8.25."I felt like I could have jumped farther. Today just wasn't my day," he said. "I guess I was kind of nervous."The junior will have another shot at a medal today as the ninth seed in the AAA high jump.Tamaqua's Morgan Boyle was able to capture a medal during the first day of competition for the second consecutive year, earning an eighth place medal in the Class AA pole vault."It feels good, but I wish I could have done better," Boyle said after clearing 10-0.With a stiff wind blowing throughout much of the competition, Boyle admitted that it was hard to find a rhythm early on."It happened last year, too. It was like running into a brick wall," the junior said. "The first jump is always good to get the jitters out. It was fine after that. I just needed to get one under my belt and I was able to relax after that."Boyle will have a chance to medal once again today, as she is the seventh seed in the AA javelin, an event she's eager to compete in."I'm just going to relax, get this (pole vault) out of my head and do better tomorrow," she said.Boyle wasn't the only Tamaqua athlete to excel at Shippensburg's Seth Grove Stadium yesterday.The quartet of Janette Kabana, Chelsea Frantz, Victoria Labar and Monika Shimko finished fifth in their AA 3200-relay preliminary with a time of 10:01.04 to advance to today's final.While one might think the experience of competing at the sport's highest level would be overwhelming for a freshman, that's not necessarily the case for Kabana."I feel like I don't get as excited as everybody else does," she said. "All of my older siblings are runners, and so are my parents, so it's just awesome to be able to do this."Pleasant Valley will have a pair of finalists in the Class AAA 800 final later this afternoon, with Jenn Mickens and Khai Samuels both advancing.Samuels, who did not run the 3200 relay earlier in the day, entered the event with fresh legs, and it showed.The senior was able hang at the front of the pack for much of the race, holding the fourth position heading into the final 100 meters. Though Samuels was passed by Red Lion's Ethan Gatchell near the line, he still finished fifth with a 1:55.50, better than his seed time of 1:56.13 and more than good enough to put him in the final.Samuels admitted to taking a glance at the seeds prior to the race, where he saw that Pennsbury's Alek Sauer and Fox Chapel's Elias Graca were at the top with times of 1:53.08 and 1:52.86, respectively.Samuels knew that if he could stay with them, he would have a chance to move on."I didn't look at anybody else except those two on the heat sheet," Samuels said. "I knew those two had a chance to be the fastest, and would at least be up there so I just tried to go with them."Samuels came back to anchor the Bears 1600 relay team of Nyiem Nevarez, Tyson Calhoun and Aliem Hoousendove-Jackson to a second place finish in 3:20.92, almost eight seconds faster than their seed time of 3:28.65.The result put the group in today's final.Mickens certainly did her part to advance, running a school record 2:17.32 on her way to a sixth place finish in her preliminary race.But the wait for the junior, who was also celebrating her birthday yesterday, to hear her name called as a finalist was well worth it."I've been struggling all season to go sub-2:20," she said of her time. "And this was my last chance, and I just tried to get out there and get to the middle."The fact that I was able to pull up near the front and come in sixth with a 2:17 makes me feel pretty good about it."Knowing it was going to be close, both in terms of time and place, Mickens left it all on the track."I thought it was a good race," she said. "I got out a little slow, but I think that's just me; I don't have the turnover that most of the other girls do."As I was coming down the last backstretch, I didn't know where I was, if I was in it or if I was out of it. But I remembered someone telling me to run with no regrets, so I just started booking it, not really knowing what place I was in. Then all of a sudden, I realized I was in sixth and I just started going for it."Northwestern's Cam Richardson advanced in both the 100 and 200 in Class AAA.The senior took fourth in his preliminary heat in the 100 with a time of 11.33 to move on to today's semifinal. Richardson placed 6th with a time of 22.92 in the 200 to advance to the final.Palmerton's Sean Doherty took second in his Class AA 300 hurdle preliminary with a time of 41.56 to earn a spot in today's final.Action on the track will resume today with the 3200 at 9 a.m. Field events will also start at 9 a.m. with the girls Class AA triple jump.