This year's District 3 track and field championships will be interesting because of the potential for champions from the GameTimePA region.
Athletes from Adams, Franklin, Lebanon and York counties have legitimate shots at winning individual gold and combining with teammates to capture team titles.
Friday's competition begins at noon at Shippensburg University. Time trials will be held in 100, 200 and 400 meters and both hurdle events, with the finals running on Saturday. The 3,200 will be the last race of the day, 5 p.m., and the only one awarding medals.
Friday's field events will be triple jump, shot put and pole vault in Class 2A and javelin, long jump, discus and high jump in Class 3A.
Saturday will feature track finals for Friday's prelims, 800 and 1,600 meters, all three relays and the remaining field events. Competition begins at 9 a.m. and the last race, 4x400 relay, goes off at 2:30 p.m.
The order for all track events will be 2A girls, 3A girls, 2A boys and 3A boys.
Tickets to attend Friday and Saturday's District 3 meet must be purchased online by going here.
Here is a look at some of the storylines we'll be following this weekend.
YAIAA track and field: Records broken, gold-medal surprises and some redemption
Can Chambersburg repeat without Kelly?
Chambersburg junior JJ Kelly will not be back to defend his Class 3A triple and long jump titles or help with the 4x100 relay team that took third last year.
Kelly competed with the Trojans track and field team during the regular season, but opted out of the preseason to compete in AAU basketball tournaments in Indianapolis and Kansas City. He is a highly sought recruit with Division I offers to play football, basketball or compete in track and field.
"I'm gonna take my abilities in my other sports and run with it," Kelly told the Public Opinion in April. "It wasn't as difficult a decision as you'd imagine. I wanted to focus on something where I know I have the opportunity at the next level."
His absence leaves a gaping hole in the Trojans' lineup. But Chambersburg has other athletes who could bring home top medals.
Senior Jermere Jones was the 110 hurdles silver medalist last year and has the fourth-best time in the district this year.
Junior Antonio Harrison II didn't race in the 200 last year, but has the fourth-fastest time in the district this year.
Senior Peter Mertz finished 15th in the shot put last year and has the fifth-best throw in the district this season. He also has the seventh-best discus throw this year.
Mid-Penn track and field: How Franklin County athletes fared at the championship meet
L-L League track and field: Schneider, Howard combine for 4 golds, 3 meet records
Laila Campbell chasing district sweep
Last year Spring Grove senior Laila Campbell won the Class 3A 100 and 200 meters, just like she had done her freshman and sophom*ore seasons.
Unlike the previous meets, Campbell isn't coming into the meets with the fastest times.
She trails Conestoga Valley senior Alondra Montijo-Ortiz (11.89) by .15 in the 100 meters and Cedar Crest sophom*ore Kaddel Howard (24.26) by .13 in the 200.
Campbell broke her own record to win the 100 in 11.55 last year. Montijo-Ortiz was fifth in 12.46. She did the same thing in the 200, crushing her record of 23.93 with a 23.24 to win by more than a second. Howard finished third last year in 25.21.
The LSU recruit hasn't really been pushed this year, so don't let that No. 2 seeding upset the apple cart. She has her season mapped out, and that includes a pair of individual district gold medals.
Rocket set to defend three titles
Spring Grove's Ella Bahn burst onto the track and field scene by winning four individual titles at the YAIAA meet last year as a freshman. She followed that with three District 3 Class 3A titles and one state gold.
This year, she returns to defend titles in both hurdle races and the high jump. She is the top seed in all three events. Bahn won the 800 at this year's YAIAA meet and didn't run the 300 hurdles, but is switching things around for districts.
She can't run both because she and Campbell run legs of the 4x100 relay, and athletes are limited to four events. Spring Grove's relay finished third in the league meet and is seeded seventh at districts.
Kaddel Howard making her mark
Cedar Crest freshman Kaddel Howard has the district's top time in the Class 3A 200 and 400 meters.
She is not only the defending 400-meter champ, she is the district record-holder. She dropped the previous mark of 55.10, set in 2015, to 54.68.
That record could fall even more this year if Howard duplicates her seed time of 53.63. That is more than 2 seconds faster than the season-bests by Ephrata's Jianna Long and Conestoga Valley's Nyeoni Johnson.
The 200 should be more interesting. She holds a .13 edge over three-time defending district and state champ Laila Campbell of Spring Grove.
GameTimePA's top seeds
Annville-Cleona relays: The girls' teams have the top times in the Class 2A 4x100 and 4x400 relays. The boys' teams are third in the 4x400 and second in the 4x800.
Mason Bucks, Palmyra, sr.: Bucks is tied with East Pennsboro's Breckin Swope for the second-best pole vault of the season at 16-0, 3 inches behind the top vault.
Tyler Burgess, Palmyra, jr.: Burgess has the top time in the Class 3A 110 hurdles at 14.09 and the 300 hurdles at 37.60. He finished fourth and third last year in the 100 and 300 hurdles, respectively.
Lily Carlson, Bermudian Springs, jr.: Carlson is the top seed in the Class 2A 100 hurdles by more than a second and the pole vault by more than a foot. She finished third in the hurdles last year and second in the pole vault before winning the state title.
Elaine Cook, Bermudian Springs, so.: Cook's discus throw of 112-1 is third-best in the district, but well off the pace of Lancaster Catholic's Margaret Bila's throw of 134-4.
Kendall Cooper, Annville-Cleona, jr.: Cooper has the second-best time in the Class 2A 100 meters at 26.10.
Oliver Funck, Annville-Cleona, so.: Funck has the third-fastest time in the Class 2A 3,200 at 9:44.82, 10 seconds off the top time.
Jackson Hersh, South Western, sr.: Hersh has the top javelin throw of the season at 195 feet, nearly 7 feet ahead of Conestoga Valley's Aidan Zimmerman at No. 2.
Carley Himes, Bermudian Springs, sr.: Himes is tied with Kutztown's Clara Engel with the top high jump of the season at 5-0.
Brennan Holmes, New Oxford, sr.: Holmes has the top time in the Class 3A 400 meters this season at 48.90, just ahead of James Buchanan's Austin McCoy in 49.06.
Bailey Hurley, Greencastle-Antrim, so.: Hurley has the second-best discus throw in Class 3A at 135-11.
Lizzie Lowe, Cedar Crest, sr.: Lowe has the third-fastest time in the Class 3A 800 meters, just .10 ahead of sophom*ore teammate Eliana Schneider.
Derek Lynch, Shippensburg, jr.: Lynch has the third-best discus throw of the season at 170-4, 5 feet off the top throw.
David Moran, Annville-Cleona, so.: Moran has the top Class 2A 800-meter time this season at 1:55.57, more than 3 seconds faster than Oley Valley's Joshua Wagner.
Claire Paci, Greencastle-Antrim, sr.: Paci is the Class 3A top seed in both distance races. She has alternated between first and second in the 3,200, starting with second as a freshman. Paci holds a 13-second advantage of the second-best time in the 3,200. She is the defending district champ in the 1,600.
Hayden Parks, Greencastle-Antrim, sr.: Parks has the second-fastest time in the Class 3A 3,200 meters at 9:10.60. The top time is 9:07.08.
Sofie Price, Palmyra, jr.: Price has the second best javelin throw in Class 3A at 132-3.
Eliana Schneider, Cedar Crest, so.: In addition to having the fourth-fastest time in the Class 3A 800, she has the second-best high jump at 5-6 and the top throw in the javelin by more than 20 feet.
Haylee Smith, Biglerville, jr.: Smith has the third-best Class 2A javelin throw this year at 115-9.
Mackenzie Stellmach, Annville-Cleona, so.: Stellmach has the second-best time in Class 2A 3200 meters at 11:24.65, more than 30 seconds ahead of teammate Emily Maag.
LaDainian Strausbaugh, Red Lion, sr.: Strausbaugh has the third-best time in the Class 3A 200 meters in 21.96 and the fourth-best time in the 100 at 10.73.
Alison Watts, Bermudian Springs, sr.: Watts has the top Class 2A triple jump at 37-11, more than 2 feet better than those of Wyomissing's Emily Cassler and Greenwood's McKenna Weller. Watts also has the third-best long jump at 17-3.
Zariyah Whigham, Lebanon, sr.: Whigham has the third-best Class 3A long jump at 18-1.5, just ahead of Chambersburg's Jahnaya Wimberley. She also has the top triple jump at 39-1.25, nearly a foot ahead of the second-best jump.
York High relays: The girls are the third seed in the Class 3A 4x100, just .25 off McCaskey's top time of 48.16.
Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email mstallsmith@ydr.com or on Twitter @ShelStallsmith.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: District 3 track and field: Best medal shots for GameTimePA athletes
