WHITEHALL - Success came in many forms during yesterday's Colonial League and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Track and Field Championships.

For some, it was a place. For others, those triumphant moments presented themselves as a time, distance, height or simply the satisfaction from achieving a personal goal.But one thing is certain: All four teams from the Times News area that participated in the first day of competition at Whitehall High School certainly had reason to leave with their heads held high and a lot to look forward to when they return this afternoon.Colonial LeagueThe Northwestern girls started the meet the way they ended the regular season - on top.The Lady Tigers took gold in the first final of the day, winning the 3200 relay with a meet record time of 9:31.65, breaking their own mark of 9:36.46, which was set last year.Three of the four members from that team - Sabrina Mertz, Sarah Segan and Rachelle Cerrone - were back this season, with Carly Pierce taking the place of the since graduated Haley Yost.And it was Yost that would typically run the final leg for that group, a task that fell to Cerrone this time around."There was definitely a lot of pressure," Cerrone said afterwards. "Coming into the season it was always Haley (Yost) running at the end; it was always her."It's actually really scary to run last because you're the last leg. If you mess up, it's all on you. You have the rest of the team but there's still a lot of pressure on you. But it's a lot of fun knowing that I didn't let the team down."While Cerrone noted that running the anchor leg was somewhat nerve-racking, the senior acknowledged that past experience - and success - helped reduce some of the anxiety for all four members of the team."It helps us even if we think we're not ready, we know we are - we put in the work the whole season and we've been at states with tons of competition," she said of running at the PIAA Track and Field Championships last year. "So coming here, there isn't as much pressure as states, but there are still a lot of good teams here and anything could happen."Mertz gave the group a lead with a surge just before her handoff to Segan and the quartet never looked back. Segan and Pierce were able to extend their advantage over second place Southern Lehigh (9:38.90), and Cerrone closed the race with a strong finish that prevented the competition from gaining any ground.Northwestern's Alexis Gawelko came within half a second of capturing gold in the 300 hurdles, finishing second with a time of 46.76 to Salisbury's Lindsay Bauer's winning time of 46.29.Gawelko will have a shot at gold today in the 100 hurdles, where she advanced to the finals with a time of 15.76, fastest in the preliminaries. She will be joined in the race by teammates Stacy Everett and Elizabeth Iobst.The Lady Tigers' Lauren Anderson and Emily Renner both advanced to the finals of the 100 and 200, respectively.Northern Lehigh sisters Jess and Jill Olewine were able to share a spot on the podium for their performances in the long jump. Jess, a senior, took second with a mark of 17-5.5, while Jill, a freshman, placed third after jumping 16-8.5, a moment that was one of great pride for both."Being a freshman, I can't give her the technique that I'm using now because she's still figuring out how to do it," said Jess, who also took fourth in the pole vault. "But even some of the stuff that I didn't do when I started jumping, she's doing now."So I try to help her with every jump and it's paying off. I'm so proud of her.""It makes me very happy," said Jill, who was seeded seventh in the event. "I was hoping to move up a spot but I wasn't expecting that. I'm just glad she (Jess) got her 17-0 and I got my 16-0."On the boys' side, Northwest On the boys' side, Northwestern's Cam Richardson advanced to the finals of the 100 (11.3) and 200 (22.66), with times that were the fastest in the preliminary races. Richardson set a Colonial League meet record in the 200 last year with a time of 22.21.Like Gawelko, Palmerton's Sean Doherty also suffered a narrow defeat in the 300 hurdles. Doherty crossed the line in 41.09, just behind Southern Lehigh's Dan Fulmer's winning 41.08."I thought my start was great and I just came out worrying about my race," said Doherty. "My steps were a little off and I hit a couple of hurdles with my trail leg, which could disrupt any race. But I felt like my finish was strong."(Dan) Fulmer's a great athlete and I love running against him. He always pushes me to do my best. I thought I ran a good race, just not the outcome I hoped for."Northern Lehigh's Nate Troxell took third with a time of 41.86.Troxell and Doherty also both advanced to today's finals in the 110 hurdles.Logan Blasiak took second in the pole vault, setting a new personal best by clearing 13-0, while Spencer Hay gave the Blue Bombers another silver by going over 6-2 in the high jump.Gerry Pereira took third in the javelin with a throw of 158-0 and also advanced to this afternoon's 200 finals.Eastern PennsylvaniaConferenceThe Pleasant Valley team of Thomas Ciaccio, Seth Slavin, Sean McGinley and Khai Samuels picked up an impressive victory in the 3200 relay, winning the event with a time of 8:05.61, nearly 30 seconds below their seed time of 8:32.77.The Bears trailed Emmaus for much of the race, but kept it close for Samuels, who made his move coming off the second turn on the last lap."If I was close by the time I hit there, I was pretty confident that I could finish it for us," Samuels said."It gives us all a lot of confidence," said Samuels. "None of us knew how it was going to go today, and now we have a better idea. We also know who is going to be close to us, so we can work on our strengths and weaknesses that we had today."Slavin returned to the track later in the evening for the 3200 run, and took third with a time of 9:44.76Mike Mitchell gave Pleasant Valley another gold, taking the top spot in the triple jump with a mark of 44-10.While the boys took first, the girls team of Lizz Eberhardt, Abby Leach, Megan Braddock and Jenn Mickens placed third in the 3200 relay with a time of 9:44.81.Harley Dejesus-Carrero advanced to the final of the 100 hurdles for the Lady Bears posting the sixth best time (16.80) in the prelims to move on.