NTL TRACK & FIELD: NEB'S LAUDERMILCH GETS ON THE PODIUM IN 3200 (2023-05-27)

BY CHRIS MANNING
Northern Tier Sports Report
SHIPPENSBURG — With 100 meters to go NEB’s Gracelyn Laudermilch was running in the last spot for the podium. Bloomsburg’s Maizy Aikey was bearing down on her, and looked to pass her at the line. However, the Panther runner dug deep for one more sprint to hold her off, and take eighth in 11:17.59

“I feel really blessed,” Laudermilch remarked. “Everything came together today. I have to give God the Glory because a lot could have gone wrong. I was really sick early this year, so I’m really thankful.”

Laudermilch ran much of the race around the 9-10 spot along with Aikey and Athens’ Sara Bronson.

“I knew that Maizy medaled last year, and I knew that I could depend on her,” Laudermilch explained. “She has the experience. I was here last year, but she medaled last year, and I’m really thankful she’s in the race. Her and Sara, we know the way each other race, so we can really gauge off of each other, so it offers just a great building block.”

With 800 to go Laudermilch passed Aikey to move into the eighth spot. It looked like she knew where the medal cut off was, but she wasn’t quite sure.

“I didn’t know if I was counting right,” Laudermilch said. “I wanted to stay with Maizy, and then I just planned to kick it in the last 800 if I could. I tried to figure it out. When I passed the girl I didn’t what place we were in, but I was like, ‘if I can beat everyone that’s in my vicinity and we’ll see what happens.’”

Laudermilch ran a 2:50 final 800 to take the medal.

“I was like, ‘I’ve come this far, and I haven’t come this far to only come this far,” Laudermilch said about her final kick. “So I’m getting to that line.”

Laudermilch ran the mile the day before, but once she realized she wasn’t going to medal she shut it down the final leg to save it for the 2-mile.

“I didn’t really know what my time was because the clock wasn’t working,” she said. “So I came to the third lap and didn’t really know what was going on, so I didn’t push out the last lap as much. I think God had a plan, he didn’t want the clock to work so that I could come out, and get my medal. I’m just really thankful the clock didn’t work.”

After coming up short in the 3200 last year, and in cross-country this past fall, this running medal is a longtime coming for Laudermilch, and she’s excited to see where things go from here.

They expect to have another strong cross-country team, and have some unfinished business when it comes to the state meet.

“We’re all texting that, ‘we’ve got this,” Laudermilch said. “Adam (Russell) has already come in and talked to us about cross-country season, so we’re definitely geared up. I’m definitely going to do a bunch of fun runs over the summer.”

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PHOTO CAPTION: NEB’s Gracelyn Laudermilch finishes in 8th in the 3200…PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING