Jim Thorpe's Joseph Schwartz came into Friday night's Blue Raider Invitational calm and ready.

And it showed.Schwartz won the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles at the 7th Annual event at Tamaqua Area High School, showing the form and poise that has been evident throughout this season."Both of them went pretty smooth, in my opinion," said Schwartz. "I didn't really have any nerves; there were no muscles tight. So I came in loose, I knew what the seedings were and I knew that I had a good chance of taking first. I had the confidence and it was just a good day. I was fortunate."Schwartz was the top seed in both the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles with time of 15.44 and 41.81, respectively. Schwartz won the 110s in 15.40 and the 300s in 41.85 Friday."I'm much more confident now," said Schwartz. "At the beginning of the year, I didn't think I was going to do good in the 110s - I thought I was going to stay where I was, not improve."But it happened and now I'm far more confident in the 110s. And with the 300s it's the same thing."Schwartz was one of many standouts Friday night at Tamaqua Area Sports Stadium, as Times News area athletes grabbed a total of 11 gold medals.Tamaqua senior Monika Shimko won the girls' 800 with a Blue Raider Invite record time of 2:20.90. Shimko broke the mark of 2:21.62, set by Blue Mountain's Katie Thompson in 2016."That was my goal," Shimko said of the record. "That was something that was on my mind. My sophomore year I broke, and then last year, Katie broke my record. And I just wanted to take it back my senior year before I left."This invite, I have so many memories here, so it's kinda like, it's where I started at, and I just wanted to finish on a good note."Shimko, teamed with Nicole Wasserleben, Olivia Stanek and April Gerber to win the 3200 relay in 10:07.75.Brad Clemson gave Tamaqua a sweep of the 800, winning the boys race in 2:04.75.Tamaqua's Matt Smarr established a Blue Raider Invite record in the pole vault, clearing 13-3 to win the event. Minersville's Chris Bergan set the previous mark of 13-0 in 2011."I'm pretty excited about that," said Smarr. "I cleared 13-0 a couple of times this season. But I'm on a new pole this season, I just got on that one, and I'm feeling pretty good. I feel I can hit at least 14-0 on it. So I'm just getting used to it."Shanna Brinkworth won the long jump for the Lady Raiders (15-06.00) and also placed second in the pole vault (9-0), an event she went to states in a year ago.Brinkworth used a big jump in her final attempt to place first in the long jump."I was hoping to get further, but my first like three jumps were really bad," said Brinkworth. "And the last one I just kinda pushed it out and hoped for the best."My first few jumps were in the 14-6 area, I think. So I moved up a whole foot."Jim Thorpe's Jonathon Fikentscher had a solid day in the throwing events, winning the shot put (46-05.00) while also placing third in the discus (115-01)."Today was a good day," said Fikentscher. "I could have thrown farther, but I did good."Fikentscher knows what he has to do to keep improving."I just have to constantly work on technique," he said. "And lifting in the weight room, getting stronger and trying to beat my goal."Fikentscher was pushed by teammate Derek Scott, who placed second in the shot put (41-03.00) and discus (133-03)."It helps a lot," Scott said of working with Fikentscher. "It's pretty good competition. I like pushing against him, and we just try to see who does better in the event. It would be different without him."Marian's Brenna Karnish won the girls' discus with a toss of 107-05. There wasn't much separation between the top-three, as North Schuylkill's Emma Green placed second (107-04) and Tamaqua' Kayla Holland third (107-01).Karnish was pleased with the win but admitted she's still looking for more in the event."I'm not really happy with how I did," she said. "I got first place and I'm happy with that. But my throws just haven't been up to par. Last year, I threw 117 (feet) and I'm still trying to get back to that."My goal is to throw 120, make it back out to states and get the district gold."RELAY SUCCESS … In addition to the Tamaqua girls 3200 relay team, two other area relay squads left with gold medals. Jim Thorpe's Antonio Madera, Thomas Layden, Shawn O'Toole and Nujai Walcott won the 400 relay in 45.17. The Marian team Natalia Konitzer, Grace Mussoline, Jenna O'Donnell and Camaryn Wheeler won the girls' 400 relay in 53.3.RECORD SETTER … Pine Grove's McKayla Lally won the 400 with a Blue Raider Invite record time of 59.36. Lally broke her own record of 1:00.59, set in 2015.SWEEP … Hazleton won the boys (130) and girls (128) team titles. Jim Thorpe was second in the boys' team standings with 118 points, while Tamaqua placed third in the girls' standings with 76 points. The Marian girls were fourth (48), as were the Tamaqua boys (62). The Marian boys were seventh (28); the Jim Thorpe girls eighth (29); and the Panther Valley boys ninth (18).