North Catholic sprinter Trevor Paschall wins 1st PIAA gold in 200, silver in 400

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, May 29, 2021 | 8:22 AM

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SHIPPENSBURG — Trevor Paschall’s state championship meet wasn’t going quite how he’d imagined.

The North Catholic sprinter saw his relay team disqualified for a missed handoff, and then he was edged at the line in the 400 meters, finishing second by six-hundredths of a second.

But along came the 200, his favorite event, and Paschall’s day turned golden.

After running a season-best 21.96 seconds in the preliminary heat, he bettered that time by more than a tenth in the 200-meter finals, running away with his first gold medal Friday at the PIAA Class AA track and field championship. Paschall won in 21.87 seconds, or three-tenths of a second ahead of Southern Columbia’s Braeden Wisloski, the state’s 100-meter champ.

“I felt like I had a good strong start,” Paschall said of his winning race. “I knew Braden in lane 3 was coming at me, but I hit the bend as hard as I possibly could and with 40 of 50 meters to go, I knew that I had it.”

Paschall, who won four gold medals at the WPIAL championships, is making up for lost time, since his sophomore season was canceled entirely by the pandemic. This was his second trip to Shippensburg, having qualified in the 200 as a freshman, but he failed to reach the finals then.

“Rewarding, I think, is the word to use,” Paschall said. “I put in a lot of work last summer, last spring, knowing I might not have a chance to run at all this year. Two of our WPIAL meets got canceled because of covid, but I persevered, I worked my tail off and here we are. It’s the most rewarding feeling ever.”

But at the time Friday, the overwhelming feeling was maybe frustration. Trying to give his team a come-from-behind finish, he’d left a step early in the 400-meter relay and missed the handoff, causing a disqualification. The Trojans were the WPIAL champions in the event.

Then came the 400, where Paschall and top-seeded Dock Mennonite senior Stanley Saint-Fleur created a two-man race. Saint-Fleur won in 48.63 seconds, and Paschall crossed the line in 48.69.

“I ran the race of my life in the 400,” Paschall said. “A PR by over a half-second and still came up short. It’s disappointing to say the least, but I knew if I worked hard and came out for this 200 rested and recovered, I’d be fine.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: North Catholic