Tyler Crum's 2014 track and field season started with a bang.

In Lehighton's first meet of the year against Stroudsburg, Crum won the long jump with an impressive mark of 21-2.5.But it was his next event that reverberated throughout the Indians' program even more.While competing the 100-meter dash, Crum pulled up with a hamstring injury that not only forced him out of the meet, it kept the junior out for the rest of the regular season.Luckily for Crum, his long jump mark set against Stroudsburg was good enough to qualify him for the District 11 AAA meet.But before he was able to compete there, he had to prove he was healthy enough to jump at the Mountain Valley Conference Championships a week earlier after missing almost the entire season."He only had about two days of practice (before the league meet)," said Lehighton athletic trainer Abe Gillespie. "And I told him that if he could jump 19 feet (in practice) that he could compete at leagues."Crum did that, and then produced a jump of 20-8.75 at the MVC meet, not a personal best but good enough for fourth place.At districts, Crum was even better. The junior set a personal best with a jump of 22-1, finishing fifth and qualifying for this weekend's PIAA Track and Field Championships, where he will be the No. 17 seed in the event."Imagine what he can do with another week of practice if only 12 days got him that far," said Gillespie.After the way his season began, getting to this point was something Crum thought wouldn't be possible."I thought I was done for the season," Crum said of his outlook. "But I just worked my way back."Much of that rehab was with Gillespie, who credited Crum for making his comeback possible."He's a very athletic kid, and he's one of the better athletes at Lehighton," Gillespie said. "But he put in the time and he put in the effort. There were definitely days that he didn't want to always do the workouts. But he did them. And when he puts his mind to it, I think he can really accomplish a lot."Crum now gets a chance to finish the year on a high note and achieve what he's been working for since the offseason."I definitely wanted to make states," he said of his preseason ambitions. "That was my big goal for this year."Now I'm just going to try and jump my best and hope for a PR."Fully healthy, Lehighton coach Jim Blakeslee has high hopes for Crum this weekend."If he could get into the top eight that would be great," Blakeslee said of a potential medal finish. "It's going to be tough. But being that he's a bit of a surprise, you never know. It will be interesting to see what happens."*****FACTS AND FIGURES ... The Times News area will be well-represented at this weekend's PIAA Track and Field Championships, with Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Marian Catholic, Palmerton, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern, Tamaqua and Pleasant Valley all in at least one event in both boys' and girls' competition. Northwestern and Palmerton lead the way with seven different individual qualifiers. The Tigers pace the field with three relay teams, while Marian and Palmerton will feature two apiece.*****DOUBLE UP ... There will be six athletes competing in multiple individual events this weekend. Northwestern's Alex Partington (shot put, discus), Lehighton's Gwen Remaley (shot put, discus), Northern Lehigh's Jessica Olewine (long jump, triple jump), Tamaqua's Morgan Boyle (pole vault, javelin) and Palmerton's Austin Shupp (110, 300 hurdles) and Tre Nelson (100, 200) will all be pulling double duty.*****SPEAKING OF SHUPP … Palmerton senior Austin Shupp is the lone top seed among TN area athletes, taking the top spot in the AA 300 hurdles. Shupp is also the third seed in the 110 hurdles. "Austin has earned his place now among the state's elite," said Palmerton coach Jeff Minnich. "He is looking forward to showcasing his talents this weekend."*****RELAY MADNESS ... While Shupp may have the highest individual seed, several relay teams look primed for success this weekend. The Northwestern (second) and Palmerton (third) boys' 400-meter relay teams enter with high hopes. "We love where we are seeded, but again take nothing for granted." Minnich said. "The competition is fierce at Ship and we know that we will have to be at the top of our game to bring home any medals." The Bombers are also seeded fourth in the boys' 1600-meter relay. Marian secured the 11th seed in the 400-meter relay to go along with the 14th spot in the 3200-meter relay.*****TEAM FIRST ... Relay competition was also on the mind of Northwestern's Haley Yost, who decided to skip the individual event she qualified for in order to help the Tigers' 3200-meter relay team, seeded 10th in the AAA field. "I have always called her our ultimate captain because of how much she does for the team," said Northwestern coach Dave Kerschner. "This is another example of that quality. She chose to forego her individual event (1600) in order to run the relay with her teammates. The group feels that is their best chance to medal and Haley wants to be as fresh as possible."*****Following are the TIMES NEWS area athletes that will be competing in this weekend's PIAA Track and Field Championships. They are listed by their classification and event with their seed, qualifying time, distance or height. The number of competitors in each event is also listed.BOYSCLASS AAA800 (30 boys)23. Khai Samuels, Pleasant Valley, 1:57.76High jump (24 boys)15. Rayan Green, Jim Thorpe, 6-03Long jump (28 boys)17. Tyler Crum, Lehighton, 22-0118. Demetrius Green, Pleasant Valley, 22-00.75Shot put (24 boys)17. Kyle Whiteman, Lehighton, 48-07.5Javelin (28 boys)7. Tyler Hope, Tamaqua, 187-10CLASS AA3200 relay (28 teams)14. Marian Catholic, 8:18.72110 hurdles (25 boys)3. Austin Shupp, Palmerton, 14.9110. Austin Weiss, Northwestern, 15.30100 (26 boys)23. Chris Bruno, Marian Catholic, 11.6025. Tre Nelson, Palmerton, 11.64400 (25 boys)5. Gerald Pereira, Palmerton, 50.416. Jihad Hereba, Northwestern, 50.46400 relay (28 teams)2. Northwestern, 43.043. Palmerton, 43.2611. Marian Catholic, 44.20300 hurdles (26 boys)1. Austin Shupp, Palmerton, 38.19200 (24 boys)6. Cam Richardson, Northwestern, 22.7219. Tre Nelson, Palmerton, 23.333200 (24 boys)23. Gavin Kemery, Northern Lehigh, 10:20.921600 relay (25 teams)4. Palmerton, 3:26.9313. Northwestern, 3:30.62Pole vault (21 boys)3. Darris Rodrigues, Palmerton, 13-0614. Cole Miller, Northwestern, 13-00Triple jump (24 boys)6. Jarred Sacks, Palmerton, 43-10.25Shot put (24 boys)3. Alex Partington, Northwestern, 51-07.50Discus (24 boys)5. Alex Partington, Northwestern, 152-01Javelin (26 boys)15. Charles Debski, Palmerton, 164-06GIRLSCLASS AAA3200 relay (29 teams)10. Northwestern, 9:23.7914. Pleasant Valley, 9:28.13800 (25 girls)16. Jen Mickens, Pleasant Valley, 2:18.13200 (26 girls)26. Lauren Anderson, Northwestern, 26.79Long jump (31 girls)15. Brinn Doherty, Palmerton, 17-10.5Shot put (26 girls)4. Gwen Remaley, Lehighton, 41-11.25Discus (26 girls)15. Gwen Remaley, Lehighton, 119-0518. Trista Cunningham, Northwestern, 117-02Javelin (28 girls)19. Brooke Cope, Jim Thorpe, 124-09CLASS AA300 hurdles (33 girls)31. Christy Digiandomenico, Marian Catholic, 48.42800 (25 girls)13. Monica Shimko, Tamaqua, 2:23.38Pole vault (25 girls)9. Morgan Boyle, Tamaqua, 10-6Long jump (26 girls)16. Jessica Olewine, Northern Lehigh, 16-10.5Triple jump (27 girls)11. Jessica Olewine, Northern Lehigh, 35-10.5Discus (28 girls)26. Brenna Karnish, Marian Catholic, 94-7Javelin (29 girls)4. Paige Demetriades, Tamaqua, 132-025. Morgan Boyle, Tamaqua, 131-03