Espinosa wins 3,200 for 4th state gold
SHIPPENSBURG - Baylee Espinosa's quest to repeat two state titles was far from an easy task.
After successfully defending her PIAA Class 2A title in the 1,600-meter run, the Lewisburg senior sought another gold medal in the 3,200 on Saturday.
In a two-person race with Wellsboro's Lauren Kosek, Espinosa pulled away in the last 400 meters for a 10:33.05 to claim her second consecutive state title in the 3,200 in the second day of the PIAA championships at Shippensburg's Seth Grove Stadium.
It was from far her PIAA record time of 10:18.91, but it was just as sweet for Espinosa, who now owns four state golds in track.
"I think when I look back, and try and just process how the race went, I think there are little things that I could've probably tweaked in strategy and different things," Espinosa said. "But I am really pleased with how everything unfolded. I mean this is still such an incredible experience to win both of these events."
Espinosa and Kosek were neck-and-neck for most of the race. Kosek held a slight lead after the 400, but Espinosa passed her by the second lap, and stayed in front for the rest of the race.
Espinosa then widened her lead with a 1:15.28 split in the final lap, which was about two seconds better than Kosek's final split.
Espinosa and Kosek just competed against each other in last week's District 4 meet. Espinosa won with a 10:39.06 while Kosek crossed the finish line not even four seconds later.
"She did an amazing job, I think," Espinosa, a Penn State commit, said. "While she was running, I think I could tell, I was like 'Wow, she's having a great race.' And that definitely pulled me along. When it felt like I wasn't feeling my best, it definitely helped me to be able to still stay with her.
"That last lap where I surged, primarily all I could think was hearing my teammates in the stands, and being like 'I have to win this for them.' I want them to feel secure by 200 meters that I got it for them. I don't want them to be nervous."
Espinosa grabbed a third medal after she served as the third leg on the Green Dragons' 4x400 relay finished sixth with a 4:06.32. Kate Batkowski, Annika Shields and Maddy Moyers also ran on the relay.
Batkowski and Moyers returned from last season's relay that finished second. Batkowski, who ran a 1:00.39 split in the opening leg, had been sick since the beginning of the week and didn't compete in the preliminary race on Friday.
"I've been sick since Sunday, and I wasn't able to eat (and) perform to the best of my abilities at practice," Batkowski said. "But coming out today and being able to shine for Lewisburg really felt good to be back after such a long time not being able to perform."
"I'm really proud of our effort today," Moyers, the anchor leg, said. "It's really cool just the fact that this was all of our last races together. And because of that, that made this so much more special. So honestly I'm really happy and proud of how we did today. I have no complaints."
Lydia Delsite was another Lewisburg athlete who found the medal stand Saturday. Delsite took sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 37 feet, 1 1/2 inches for her first outdoor state medal. That jump came on her second attempt after she fouled to start. Delsite then leaped past 36-9 three more times.
The senior and Penn State pledge was in her first season competing at Lewisburg after transferring from Moon Area.
"It was great to have consistency," Delsite said. "That's always my goal is to be consistent no matter what. Even if it's on a little lower scale that I wish, the fact that I was consistent just shows that if the weather was great, I feel like I could be consistent on a way higher level. Which would've been great, obviously, but you can't predict what's gonna happen. I'm still happy with the outcome."
Lewisburg took fifth in the team race with 29 points. The Green Dragons were one of three teams from District 4 to finish in the top five. Hughesville was second with 39 points while Wellsboro took third with 37 points. District 7's Shenango captured the team title by just one point.
Hall medals twice
While Warrior Run's 4x800 wasn't able to capture a third consecutive state title, Natalie Hall still found the medal stand twice.
Hall, a junior, ran in a 58.88 for seventh place in the 400. It's the second individual medal for Hall after she claimed bronze in the 800 last season.
"It was a huge adjustment," Hall said. "I always thought the 400 as my second event, not my main event. It was kind of my main event this year, which is exciting for something new."
Hall also served as the anchor leg for the Defenders' 4x800 that finished seventh with a 9:47.41. Hall ran a 2:19.81 split, which moved the Defenders up three spots.
Warrior Run battled with Oley Valley, Lake-Lehman and Lewisburg for the final three spots - Lewisburg ended up ninth as it finished within a second of the three other squads.
Katie Zaktansky, Brenna Pick and Reagan Brouse ran the first three legs. Hall and Zaktansky returned from last season's state title team.
"I was really happy for me and my team," Hall said. "It was a huge accomplishment for us because we went through a lot during the season. We put in all the work, and each and every one of us were here and we ran really well."
Mifflinburg 4x100 takes 6th
After finishing one spot short of the podium last season, Mifflinburg's 4x100 came back stronger this year.
The Wildcats' quartet of Makayla Fogle, Jasmine Doebler, Cadence Yoder and Makenna Fogle clocked in at 50.46 for sixth place. Hughesville won the state title with a 48.95.
"It hurt (last year), but it fueled us to do better here today," Makayla Fogle said. "So it was a good thing that we didn't make it."
The Wildcats will return both Fogles and Yoder next season. Doebler was the group's lone senior.
"It feels amazing," Doebler said. "Seeing everyone else go to states all these years, wishing that it was me, and then just coming up short last year, it feels so good to finally get this medal."
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This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 1:30 PM.