ORWIGSBURG — The Gormleys turned Tuesday’s Schuylkill League Track & Field Championships into a Sister Act.

Senior Ceanna and freshman Shaylee of Tamaqua were the only area gold medalists at the annual event held on a warm but windy afternoon at Blue Mountain High School.

And while one of the Gormleys obviously knew of her outcome after crossing the finish line, the other wasn’t even at the stadium when she found out about her place.

Being allowed to throw the shot put early so she could join her Blue Raider softball teammates in the team’s regular-season finale, Ceanna posted her all-time best of 34-9 before leaving. Unaware where that throw would place her among the participants, she eventually found out that it won the event.

“I found out after senior (recognition at the softball game) and all the parents started cheering for me,” Ceanna said. “I started crying because I never knew this was going to happen. It’s a dream come true, for all four years I either didn’t make it because of a softball game or I ran way too late.

“I threw before the boys even started warming up. And I have to give a big shout out to the Blue Mountain boys throwers and their coach ... because they all pitched in and helped me warm up and get my throws in before the game. I threw my first throw, which was my best. I was very relaxed. After I threw that, I was like, ‘OK, let’s try and do that again,’ and I had two more good throws.”

Gormley was only seeded fifth in the event at 33-0, but bettering her mark allowed her to finally win her first league title, share the good news — and match her sister’s gold medal.

“It’s kind of a sibling rivalry with us, it’s like a play/fight kind of thing,” she said. “My brother was a senior when I made it as a sophomore, and it was always something I looked to with my older brother winning medals. My sister Shaylee, she always tells me look at how many medals I have.

“My former coach, Coach Murphy isn’t here this year because he had brain surgery and I always text him whenever I have a really good throw or place at an invitation, and I was very excited to be able to tell him I won today.”

While Shaylee entered the meet with many expecting her to win, being seeded first in the 800, that wasn’t her mindset before the race.

“The seed times are always interesting to look at and see what you’re up against, but it really doesn’t determine anything,” said Shaylee. “You need to go into the race expecting anything can happen. If I went into the race expecting to win and do the same kind of time that I’ve always done, I wouldn’t improve at all. Sometimes you need people there to push you, so I don’t like the seeds at all.

“Sometimes I prefer to not even look at them but in my opinion, you just have to trust the process. You can’t really look at times. What anyone did in the past, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to do what you do that day. You just have to put it all out there when it’s time to race. When it’s time to race, you’ve got to put it all out there.”

Gormley did exactly that, taking over three seconds off her previous best time and placing first in 2:23.01 — more than two seconds faster than runner-up Gianna Chipriano of Blue Mountain.

“My process was trusting my training, the people around me, my coaches, my teammates, my friends, my family. They all really motivated me and told me to run my own race, don’t let anyone else determine it, and do your thing.

“I think it’s really cool (we both won). She’s someone I look up to. She works really hard ... I just thought it was really cool that we could both leave with a gold medal.”

Marian’s Jake Tom nearly left Blue Mountain with a gold medal, too, but his second place in the boys triple jump wasn’t a disappointment.

The Colts’ senior got off a jump of 43-8 in his final attempt to move him into first and also set a new school record. However, Minersville’s Chase Zimerofsky — the event’s final participant in the meet’s final event— followed Tom with a 44-0 to claim the top spot.

“We came out to compete today,” said Tom, who let his emotions flow after his final jump. “We just throw jumps out there; 43-8 and 44-0 in the final two jumps of leagues, that’s nice. I like that.

“The emotion was strictly from, this whole year I’ve been hearing 43, 43, 43 and that’s been in my head, and today I had a talk with my coach and said I’m just going to let it go. (In the long jump), I came up a little short of what I wanted (finishing third), so triple jump was my redemption.”

Tom was just a number of area athletes to finish in the runner-up spot.

Five others — Tamaqua’s Aidan Elston (1600), Memphis Kline (3200) and Katelynn Fredericks; Panther Valley’s Gino Williams (shot put); and Weatherly’s Kelly Reiner (javelin) also earned seconds, as did the Blue Raider girls 1600 relay team.

Of those, only Fredericks and Reiner entered as the No. 2 seeds. The others improved upon their seeding to move up to second. Both Williams and Kline jumped up two spots, as each were seeded fourth.

“Going into the finals, I knew as long as I stayed with my technique I’d be fine,” said Williams, whose 45-4 3/4 was a PR. “My first two throws in the finals could have gone further but I kept overthinking it. On my last throw, I said ‘Just go out there and have fun, and enjoy it.’ Hopefully I’ll get into districts with that. If not, I went out with a PR in my senior year.

“The shot is my least favorite (event). I was not expecting to PR. I didn’t expect to hit 45 this season.”

Kline also wasn’t expecting to finish where he did.

The freshman kept pace with winner Shane Meyer before the Nativity runner pulled away down the stretch.

“I tried to stay with him and then maybe pass him at the end,” said Kline, who posted a time of 10:31.21. “I tried. I definitely was not expecting second, but I thought I might be in the top four. Coming in, I thought I could medal and I did.

“I just wanted to stay up with everyone up front and hold on as long as possible.”

Elston also had the same idea facing Meyer in the 1600.

The Tamaqua sophomore hung tough but couldn’t match his opponent’s kick at the end.

“I knew I had to (try and stay ahead of him) but he has a (strong) kick,” said Elston, whose time was 4:41.82 — nearly three seconds better than his seeded time. “He’s fast. I tried, though. I gave him a run for his money.

“It was a PR for me and it maybe got me into districts. We’ll have to wait and see. I just wanted to stick with him because I knew his PR was around where I wanted to be. And then just kick as much as I can. But I’m good with second.”

The Wreckers’ Reiner was also pleased with second, especially since it was her first league medal at her final league event.

Reiner posted a throw of 106-1 in the javelin to finish where she was seeded — second.

“I was really happy,” she said. “There’s a lot of good throwers here today and I was ranked second, and I feel like I had a good day throwing. I felt loose. Sometimes when I’m not ranked the best, I don’t perform the best but I feel like I really did well today.

“I wanted to have a good throw. I wanted to feel loose and not stress out. I wanted to keep my composure and just throw far. It’s my senior year, my last league meet. I’m glad to get a medal since it’s my first one.”

Tamaqua’s Fredericks, on the other hand, is used to the podium. She’s also used to competing against Pottsville’s Alexa Giuffre.

The pair, both seniors, finished 1-2 a year ago in the 300 hurdles, and that’s exactly where they placed again on Tuesday.

“Me and her have gone back and forth for the last four years,” said Fredericks, who ran a season best of 47.66 compared to Giuffre’s 45.93. “We’ve been racing each other, pushing each other. Every time I see her in the block I just know I’m going to work harder. It’s just a gift to be able to race against her, and to be able to be right behind her.

“My strategy was just try to stay ahead of her for the first two hurdles and then just try to keep up. She’s tough.”

THIRD-PLACE MEDALS ... Panther Valley’s Morgan Orsulak captured a pair of thirds in the long and high jumps, while fellow Panther Williams added a third in the discus to go along with his second in the shot put. Other area thirds besides Tom’s long jump mentioned above include Marian’s Wade Eroh in the 3200 and the Tamaqua girls 3200 relay team.

Schuylkill League Track and Field

Championships

at Blue Mountain

BOYS

Team Standings

1. Blue Mountain (BM) 119, 2. Nativity BVM (N) 98, 3. North Schuylkill (NS) 90, 4. Pottsville (P) 87.5, 5. Tamaqua (T) 68, 6. Minersville (M) 65, 7. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 56.5, 8. Mahanoy Area (MA) 31, 9. Marian Catholic (MC) 24, 10. Shenandoah Valley (SV) 22, 11. Panther Valley (PV) 18, 12. Pine Grove Area 17, 13. Weatherly (W) 4.

Individual Results

(top-3 plus other locals in top-10)

100 - 1. Luke Miller (NS) 10.67, 2. Chase Guers (BM), 3. Angel Ortiz (NS); 200 - 1. Chase Guers (BM) 21.75, 2. Luke Miller (NS), 3. Paiten LaPoint (M); 400 - 1. Paiten LaPoint (M) 50.40, 2. Francesco Carr (BM), 3. Cameron Kacilowicz (NS); 800 - 1. Grady McGovern (M) 2:01.85, 2. Colin McGinley (P), 3. Shane Meyer (N), 6. Aidan Elston (T), 7. Jonnathan Knepper (T); 1600 - 1. Shane Meyer (N) 4:40.12, 2. Aidan Elston (T), 3. Parker Steencken (T), 8. Jacob Berlanda (MC); 3200 - 1. Shane Meyer (N) 10:25.74, 2. Memphis Kline (T), 3. Wade Eroh (MC), 4. Parker Steencken (T); 110H - 1. Donovann Durham (P) 14.72, 2. Rafael Liranzo (BM), 3. Malachi Kollie (P), 5. Gio Rivera-Poke (T), 7. Luis Tejeda (T), 10. Dominic Pena (PV); 300H - 1. Rafael Liranzo (BM) 38.93, 2. Donovann Durham (P), 3. Sonny Seritti (MA), 6. Luis Tejada (T), 8. Luis Sanchez (T); 400 relay - 1. North Schuylkill 42.62, 2. Pottsville, 3. Schuylkill Haven, 7. Marian Catholic (Tyler Rebarchak, Brody Peiser, Nick Polakovic, Damian Rodino); 1600 relay - 1. Blue Mountain 3:22.94, 2. Pottsville, 3. Nativity BVM, 6. Tamaqua (Peyton Schwartz, Luis Sanchez, Aidan Elston, Jonnathan Knepper), 8. Marian Catholic (Darren Paulino, Brody Peiser, Tyler Rebarchak, Cole Shafer); 3200 relay - 1. Nativity BVM 8:14.84, 2. Blue Mountain, 3. Minersville, 5. Tamaqua (Luis Sanchez, Aidan Elston, Parker Steencken, Jonnathan Knepper), 8. Weatherly (Alex Best, Raymond Montz, Jaxson McKeegan, Jayden Perkins); Shot put - 1. Ethan Kline (SH) 53-11, 2. Gino Williams (PV), 3. Connor Palerino (N), 10. Jah Bushati (MC); Discus - 1. Ethan Kline (SH) 149-11, 2. Bryan Chagolla (SV), 3. Gino Williams (PV), 5. William Behun (T), 10. Dominick Rodino (MC); Javelin - 1. William Shaner (BM) 183-4, 2. Niko Carestia (SH), 3. Peter Scharadin (P), 5. Gino Williams (PV), 9. Keagan Coleman (T), 10. Larson Hudak (T); Long jump - 1. Dane Hannevig (PG) 21-0.5, 2. Tanner McGee (NS), 3. Jacob Tom (MC); Triple jump - 1. Chase Zimerofsky (M) 44-0, 2. Jacob Tom (MC), 3. Michael Elchisak (SV), 4. Terence McDowell (T), 6. Corbin Wagner (W); High jump - 1. Aidan Ryan (M) 6-2, 2. Connor Bowman (MA), 3. (tie) Jaxon Sweeney (NS) & Tanner McGee (NS); Pole vault - 1. Noah Lechleitner (BM) 12-1, 2. Dalton Minnick (BM), 3. Killian Bressler (P), 4. Tyler MacMillan (T), 6. (tie) Luis Tejada (T) & Frank Hill (T).

GIRLS

Team Standings

Blue Mountain (BM) 181.50, 2. Minersville (M) 112, 3. Pottsville (P) 93, 4. North Schuylkill (NS) 84, 5. Tamaqua (T) 63.5, 6. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 47, 7. Pine Grove (PG) 31, 8. Nativity BVM (N) 29, 9. Mahanoy Area (MA) 28, 10. Panther Valley (PV) 15, 11. Weatherly (W) 10, 12. Marian Catholic (MC) 8.

Individual Results

(top-3 plus other locals in top-10)

100 - 1. Sophia Spolski (BM) 12.72, 2. Maggie Hoffman-Long (M), 3. Molly Frantz (NS), 7. Katelynn Fredericks (T); 200 - 1. Sophia Spolski (BM) 26.16, 2. Maggie Hoffman-Long (M), 3. Bella Kassab (PG), 8. Siena Stellfox (T); 400 - 1. Justine Siminitus (P) 1:00.72, 2. Julianna Wonsock (MA), 3. Ava Terefencko (SH), 6. Millie Black (T); 800 - 1. Shaylee Gormley (T) 2:23.01, 2. Gianna Chipriano (BM), 3. Emma Lazarchick (BM), 6. Madelyn Schaefer (T); 1600 - 1. Genevieve Dando (NS) 5:32.25, 2. Vanessa Frasnelli (BM), 3. Victoria Frasnelli (BM), 9. Teaghan Biros (MC); 3200 - 1. Genevieve Dando (NS) 12:28.23, 2. Vanessa Frasnelli (BM), 3. Catherine Marinchak (N); 100H - 1. Alexa Giuffre-Cuculletto (P) 15.25, 2. Breilly Lazur (BM), 3. Riley Davis (P), 9. Payton Selby (T); 300H - 1. Alexa Giuffre-Cuculletto (P) 45.93, 2. Katelynn Fredericks (T), 3. Evangelina Fisher (BM); 400 relay - 1. Blue Mountain 50.67, 2. North Schuylkill, 3. Pine Grove Area, 5. Tamaqua (Katelynn Fredericks, Sophia Stellfox, Sienna Stellfox, Gabby Osenbach), 9. Marian Catholic (Vicky Lashock, Maddison Malloy, Leah Grabosky, Alxis Gelatko); 1600 relay - 1. Pottsville 4:15.83, 2. Tamaqua (Madelyn Schaefer, Sophia Stellfox, Millie Black, Shaylee Gormley), 10. Marian Catholic (Teaghan Biros, Madeline Davis, Sofie DeAngelo, Anna Keer); 3200 relay - 1. Blue Mountain 10:07.46, 2. Minersville, 3. Tamaqua (Millie Black, Shaylee Gormley, Madelyn Schaefer, Lauren Ligenza), 7. Marian Catholic (Teaghan Biros, Madeline Davis, Sofie DeAngelo, Anna Keer); Shot put - 1. Ceanna Gormley (T) 34-9, 2. Rieleigh Purcell (PG), 3. Avery Miller (M), 6. Leah Black (T); Discus - 1. Avery Miller (M) 103-1, 2. Sophia Woll (BM), 3. Aniera Perry (BM), 7. Kelly Reiner (W), 9. Emily Lapp (PV), 10. Leah Black (PV); Javelin - 1. Avery Miller (M) 118-8, 2. Kelly Reiner (W), 3. Kendall Koch (BM), 4. Adalyn Marek (MC); Long jump - 1. Alexa Giuffre-Cuculletto (P) 18-6.5, 2. Maggie Hoffman-Long (M), 3. Morgan Orsulak (PV); Triple jump - 1. Alexa Giuffre-Cuculletto (P) 36-8.25, 2. Maggie Hoffman-Long (M), 3. Bella Murphy (SH), 6. Morgan Orsulak (PV); High jump - 1. Lauren Powis (NS) 5-0, 2. Evangelina Fisher (BM), 3. Morgan Orsulak (PV), 7. (tie) Piper Reinhart (BM), Lauren Ligenza (T) & Adalyn Marek (MC); Pole vault - 1. Alyssa Cook (M) 10-6, 2. (tie) Madeleine Dalkner (BM) & Hannah Wildermuth (BM), 5. (tie) Karalyn Mady (BM) & Jaana Tamagini (T), 8. Mikayah Steigerwalt (T), 10. Kaitlyn Rivera (T).