State College boys win state title at PIAA track & field championships. ‘It means the world’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- State College boys clinched 2025 Class 3A track title with dominant 53 points.
- Jesse Myers & Nate Haas combined for 30 points, outperforming over 80 other teams.
- Centre County athletes earned medals across disciplines, led by strong seniors.
State High’s boys lined the fence surrounding the track at Shippensburg with the realization that, even with a few events left Saturday afternoon, they had already clinched the Class 3A state title at the 2025 PIAA Track and Field Championships. They just didn’t want to celebrate too early.
But when senior leader Jesse Myers extended that lead with an exclamation mark — a gold-medal finish in the 200-meter dash, one of the final events — the Little Lions couldn’t hold it in any longer. When Myers crossed the finish line in 21.05 seconds, the frustration of past close calls gave way to the ecstasy of victory. State College boys track and field had won its first state title since 2021, meaning it was the first state title any student-athlete on the team experienced.
Boys and girls alike began jumping up and down at the fence, with some high-fiving and others hugging. Some shouted at the soft-spoken and stone-faced Myers to raise his arms in triumph, but he shook his head and instead smiled — a rare show of emotion from what the head coach called the “heart and soul” of the team. Coach Artie Gilkes then began clapping, until student-athletes dumped a cooler of ice water over his head.
“It was pretty cold,” Gilkes said with a laugh, in a phone interview Saturday night. “Fortunately, the sun had come out and kind of warmed up.”
State College cruised to its fourth state title since 2016 with 53 points at the two-day championship meet. Runner-up Palmyra finished with 28 points.
The boys were consistently dominant, garnering points on throws, short-distance events, long-distance events, jumps and relays. Two senior leaders — Myers and Nathan Haas — even combined to contribute 30 points themselves, meaning the tandem outscored more than 80 other competing teams.
Myers collected a gold medal in the 200 and a fourth-place medal in the 100, while Haas finished with gold in the javelin (with a distance of 204-4) and a fourth-place medal in the discus.
“I can’t overstate it. They are the guys that want it real bad, and they’re both the tone-setters, whether they like it or not,” Gilkes said, adding Myers has never missed a day of practice in his career and the mature Haas sometimes seems more like a coach.
After the final relay event, State College’s boys and girls relished in a victory lap around the track before posing for photos with the championship trophy. It was a special time, Gilkes said, with retiring Athletic Director Chris Weakland joining in the fun while fans and parents smiled and clapped.
There was a lot to celebrate. Adam Bell won gold Friday in the pole vault with a height of 15-6, after a tense opening when he was nearly eliminated from medal contention. Isaac Oppermann set a school record in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:04.13 to finish third. And the 3,200-meter relay team — with Luke Bradbury, Stephen Fowler, Kyle Fritzsche and Owen Coughlin — earned a fifth-place medal.
With the coaching staff including a math teacher and accountant, State High was pretty sure by 2:30 p.m. Saturday it had mathematically clinched a state title, right around the time Haas earned his fourth-place medal and Landon Bassett collected a sixth-place medal in the long jump. But the celebration didn’t start until about two hours later, when Myers wrapped it up.
“This means a great deal to the program,” Gilkes added. “Our coaching staff puts a lot of demands on the kids and on themselves, so certainly winning the state title means a great deal to them. It means the world to me. I’m so proud of them and our kids.”
Overall, three Centre County schools and more than 10 county athletes left Shippensburg University with medals. The State College boys were the big winners — but they weren’t the only ones to return home feeling proud.
Here’s how the others fared, including the State College girls:
State College (Class 3A)
Medalists (top 8): Boys — Adam Bell (1st-pole vault), Nathan Haas (1st-javelin; 4th-discus); Jesse Myers (1st-200 dash; 4th-100 dash); Isaac Oppermann (3rd-3,200 run); 3,200 relay team (5th); Landon Bassett (6th-long jump). Girls — Sanai Abdullah (2nd-long jump; 3rd-triple jump); Lydia Tate (5th-discus); Alyssa Lipski (8th-discus)
With the boys winning the state title, the girls’ effort might be overlooked — but it remained a solid performance.
The State High girls finished ninth out of a field of more than 80 teams. Sanai Abdullah impressed with a silver and bronze medal, making her the county’s only girl to win multiple medals. (Three boys, two from State College and one from Bellefonte, also accomplished the feat.)
Abdullah finished second in the long jump with a distance of 19 feet, 0.75 inches and third in the triple jump with a 39-5.
“She made it to the state meet last year and didn’t make the final in either the long or triple, and I don’t know if that made her mad or opened her eyes to what she could do,” head coach Artie Gilkes said. “But she buckled down this whole year ... and she’s now going to graduate as one of our best jumpers of all-time.”
The team is better when Abdullah’s there, even when she’s not competing, Gilkes said. How can he tell? “There were literally kids on our team who were so proud of her they were crying after she got that silver medal,” he said. “She means a great deal to our team.”
The other two medalists from the girls came in the same event, the discus. Lydia Tate finished fifth with a distance of 130-2, while teammate Alyssa Lipski was eighth with a 123-4.
Gilkes said State College is a close team, boys and girls together, and he said that closeness contributed to the program’s success. He also thanked support from the district, the athletic department, parents and the community for helping them get this far.
“My dad is an Army guy, so he would say it takes an army to get the job done,” Gilkes said. “And it does. It took an army to get 38 kids to qualify for states and to push them to make sure they feel supported and loved.”
Bellefonte (Class 3A)
Medalists (top 8): Boys — Zane Hummel (4th-long jump; 5th-triple jump). Girls — N/A.
Last season, Zane Hummel surprised even himself when he out-performed his seed distances en route to a silver medal in the long jump. But, with the Bellefonte boys joining the girls in Class 3A this season, that kind of success wasn’t guaranteed this time around.
Luckily for the Red Raiders, Hummel stepped up to the challenge.
Despite competing in a tougher classification this year, the senior once again out-performed at least one of his seed distances. This time, he collected two medals — a fourth-place medal in the long jump with a distance of 23 feet, 5.25 inches and a fifth-place medal in the triple jump with a 45-7.5.
“How’s it happen? It’s not by luck,” Bellefonte coach Seth Miller said. “That kid has dedicated himself to track and field and is very disciplined. It took a lot of hard work.”
Bellefonte’s Facebook page noted Hummel’s triple jump distance was nearly the length of a semitrailer, which is typically 48 feet.
On the girls’ end, four girls took part in four events. Victoria Schellenberg reached a height of 11-0 in the pole vault, good for 14th place, while sophomore Althea Helms boasted the 15th-fastest time (57.65) in the 400-meter dash, where she didn’t advance past prelims.
Addison Fry (800-meter run) and Madison Miller (javelin) each placed outside of the top 20. Fry had a time of 2:19.97, while Miller threw her javelin 117-9.
Miller said the female quartet will return to the team next season.
“We’re enjoying the moment — that was a very solid meet from top to bottom — but we’re also looking at next year already,” he said. “That’s our mindset.”
Penns Valley (Class 2A)
Medalists (top 8): N/A
Penns Valley was Centre County’s only Class 2A program to send boys and girls to states. Although none returned home with a medal, three of Penns Valley’s four qualifiers have at least one more season until graduation.
Sophomore Spencer Althouse was the top Rams performer by clocking 11.32 seconds in the 100-meter dash, which was good for the 16th-fastest time. Senior Greyson Kimler did not advance past preliminaries in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.18.
On the girls side, which also had two performers, both student-athletes finished just outside their respective top 20. Sophomore Mila Klena finished with a time of 2:29.72 in the 800-meter run, while junior Lillyanna Smith posted a 12:23.77 in the 3,200-meter run.
Philipsburg-Osceola (Class 2A)
Medalists (top 8): Boys — Damarcus Law (6th-100 dash). Girls — N/A.
The Mounties may have boasted only one qualifier at states, but the program still managed to turn heads.
Damarcus Law was the lone freshman to compete in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, but the young student-athlete didn’t let that stop him. He collected a sixth-place medal in the 100 with a time of 11.18 seconds, which was 0.12 seconds faster than his seed time.
He didn’t return home with a medal in the 200-meter dash, after not advancing past preliminaries. But with a strong debut performance, odds are Centre County will likely see a few more future appearances by Law.
He was the youngest competitor in fields of 31 and 32, respectively.
