Warren freshman Lily Newton ran a 1:01.24 in the 400 meters, good for 24th at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association championships Friday in Shippensburg. Image of the uploaded file
SHIPPENSBURGH — Lily Newton fell short of her goal of breaking the Warren school record in the 400 meters at the PIAA track and field championships Friday at Shippensburg University. The best part about being a freshman competing at states is he has three more seasons to try.
After finishing second in the 400 in 1:00.03 at the District 10 meet, Newton was 24th in the state in 1:01.24 on Friday at the PIAA 2A meet at Seth Grove Stadium.
The top eight finishers in Friday’s preliminaries advanced to Saturday’s 400-meter finals, ending Newton’s season.
“She had a great year, but the best is yet to come,” Warren coach Kevin Dustin said.
“This has been a great learning experience for Lily,” he said. “As a freshman, making it to states and coming so close to the school record is a great start to her career at Warren.” She can take a lot from today to prepare for next season. She has high expectations of herself and her coaches, which she is ready to work on.”
Newton’s week began with the 1991 VAHS school record holder (Melody Stuhl Bekerink, 59.5 seconds) calling her to go to states.
“She texted Lily… It was so sweet!” said Lily’s mother Kelly.
“All around, the energy was really exciting and, even though I didn’t have the best race, being a freshman in state college was really cool,” Lilly said Friday night. “I had a lot of support from people at home and others who even came to watch.” It was fun and I hope to be back next year.”
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