PHOTO GALLERY | Bedford six-peat, three area double-winners highlight District 5 boys track

LOYSBURG, Pa. – Conditions weren’t ideal, but the Bedford High School boys track and field program didn’t flinch Wednesday in the PIAA District 5 Class 2A championship meet.

Coach Brian Creps’ Bisons overcame high winds, occasional rains and lightning that resulted in a 90-minute delay midway through the meet. Bedford claimed its sixth consecutive team title at Northern Bedford County High School.

The Bisons produced five individual champions and won the 400-meter relay to clinch the title with 136.5 points.

The boys pole vault and high jump competition will be held Friday afternoon due to the weather, but Bedford can’t be caught in the team race, as Conemaugh Township (72), Everett (49), Southern Fulton (45) and Meyersdale (38) round out the current top five.

PHOTO GALLERY | Bedford boys, girls shine at District 5 Track & Field Championships

“We had a lot of good things happen,” Creps said. “The senior boys really worked hard this season to anchor the team down. We’ve got young kids also that they’ve kind of mentored.

“We’re very happy they were able to go out on top.”

Meyersdale senior hurdler Branson Hersch swept both the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles races.

He won the 110 hurdles in 16.39, almost a second ahead of Conemaugh Township’s Christopher Yoder (17:36).

“I didn’t get my PR. The head winds were bad, but everybody is facing the same head winds,” Hersch said.

During the photograph taken on the six-athlete medal stand, Hersch playfully coaxed the five other placewinners to join him in what he called the Arnold Schwarzenegger pose, extending their arms upward in a bodybuilder’s position.

His golden performance continued as Hersch placed first in the 300 hurdles in 40.18.

“Four years of track. Senior year, I’m finally going somewhere,” Hersch said. “It’s my first time at Shippensburg. I’m looking forward to it and I’m super-excited.”

Individual and relay winners, as well as those who met state qualifying times or distances, will compete in the PIAA championships May 22-23 at Shippensburg University.

Chestnut Ridge sprinter Carter Wharton rebounded from an injury that cost him more than a week during his senior season. Wharton placed first in the 100-meter dash, running an 11.42 to edge Tussey Mountain’s Westyn Harding (11.74) and Berlin Brothersvalley’s Marquinn Suber (11.78). He took the 200 in 23.32.

“That (100) race went pretty good,” Wharton said. “I didn’t have the best start but I got the job done. The wind’s not good, obviously, but you’ve just got to keep pushing.”

Wharton overcame a nagging hamstring he injured during a recent invitational event.

“I ran my 100 and felt good. My 200 was up. I felt a little tweak in the hamstring and thought I could push through it,” Wharton said of the injury that briefly sidelined him.