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For more than 900 children, “Field Day” is “the best day of the year”

It wasn&#8217;t enough for Dominic Hockenbury to leave a long-distance legacy as the fastest two-miler in the history of District 2 track and field.Now he wants the state record too.&#8220;That&#8217;s definitely a goal,&#8221; said Hockenbury, Lake-Lehman&#8217;s senior star who already won two PIAA Class 2A championships in the 3,200. &#8220;Definitely, it&#8217;s been a goal to see how close I can get to that nine-minute barrier.&#8221;He&#8217;ll get one last run at setting a new state standard Saturday during the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University&#8217;s Seth Grove Stadium &#8212; where Hockenbury is a heavy favorite to walk away as a three-time state champion in the boys Class 2A 3,200 run.&#8220;He really is a once-in-a-lifetime kid,&#8221; Lake-Lehman coach John Sobocinski said.Other talented Wyoming Valley Conference competitors will look to make their own lifetime memories this weekend.Meyers senior standout Raheem Twyman, who last year finished with a state silver medal in the 300 hurdles and helped the school&#8217;s 400-meter relay team win gold, is seeded third in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles &#8212; which both qualify Friday and hold finals Saturday.And fresh off setting a District 2 record in the girls Class 3A high jump by clearing 5-7, Dallas&#8217; two-time state medalist Katie Kravitsky also has her eye on a state title before she heads off to compete with the University of Cincinnati next season. The senior stalwart is seeded second to Valerie Przekop of Central Bucks South, but both made the 5-7 height to win their district competitions.And Berwick&#8217;s sophomore thrower Payden Montana is lurking among the top eight seeds in two events. She&#8217;s seeded fourth in the Class 3A girls discus and eighth in the shot put. And in perhaps the WVC&#8217;s most interesting field event, Wyoming Area&#8217;s Bree Bednarski, and Pittston Area teammates Marley O&#8217;Brien and Taryn Ashby are all among the top 15 seeds in the Class 3A girls javelin throw.Looking for speed?Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Ray Richard is seeded fourth in the Class 3A boys 400-meter dash, Dallas&#8217; Uzee Ukattah is seeded sixth in the Class 3A boys 100 sprint, while the Class 2A girls field features No. 8 seeds in Meyers&#8217; Nalasjia Harris-Johnson in the 100 and Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Autumn Kaminski in the 100 hurdles.It all starts with Friday&#8217;s finals, where Redeemer&#8217;s defending state bronze medalist Caroline Banas is seeded third in the Class 2A girls high jump and Hanover Area&#8217;s Brandon Chafin is also seeded third, in the Class 2A boys long jump.Then Hockenbury comes into Saturday looking for his final, crowning high school moment.His District 2 record-setting time of 9:13.79 in the 3,200 is six minutes faster than the state&#8217;s No. 2 seed Will Loevner of Quaker Valley, but it&#8217;s hardly Hockenbury&#8217;s best. He ran a 9:03 at an invitational last month, which would best the PIAA mark of 9:04.09 set by Southern Moreland&#8217;s Chris Dugan in 1997.&#8220;With any state race, it&#8217;s the best people in the state,&#8221; Hockenbury said. &#8220;So there&#8217;s great competition. I&#8217;d be really happy if they were to help me through, get me through the first couple laps.&#8221;For most of the past three years, though, Hockenbury has grown accustomed to running alone as his distance career has grown more dominant by the season.&#8220;Running out front by yourself is really harder than it is to be stuck in a pack,&#8221; Hockenbury said. &#8220;When you&#8217;re running by yourself, you feel the pain a lot more. It&#8217;s difficult. But running that way is one of the best things I can do. You have to block out the pain and get focused on running my splits.&#8221;It hasn&#8217;t slowed him so far.Hockenbury closed his cross country career by winning back-to-back state titles, and is looking to turn his final high school track and field run into a third consecutive PIAA championship.&#8220;If he wins on Saturday, it would be a fifth state gold,&#8221; said Lake-Lehman coach John Sobocinski, who also guided Hockenbury&#8217;s two state championships in cross country. &#8220;Five state golds is once in a lifetime.&#8220;Which is really what Dom is.&#8221;&#8220;I feel after doing it so many times, I&#8217;m expected to do it this time,&#8221; Hockenbury said. &#8220;It&#8217;s not so much hoping so. It&#8217;s going out and doing what you need to do. This is the best shape I&#8217;ve ever been in. I&#8217;m really anxious to see what I can run with a good race.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Lake-Lehman distance runner Dominic Hockenbury is favored by more than six minutes to win his third consecutive PIAA Class 2A boys track and field championship in the 3,200-meter run, and is gunning for a new state record in the process. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_d2aa4_faa-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Lake-Lehman distance runner Dominic Hockenbury is favored by more than six minutes to win his third consecutive PIAA Class 2A boys track and field championship in the 3,200-meter run, and is gunning for a new state record in the process. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams|For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_Meyers-NorthwestTrack_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Two-time district 2 champion hurdler Raheem Twyman is seeded third in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles among Class 2A boys entered in the PIAA Track and Field championships at Shippensburg University&#8217;s Seth Grove Stadium this weekend. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_Meyers-NorthwestTrack_2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Two-time district 2 champion hurdler Raheem Twyman is seeded third in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles among Class 2A boys entered in the PIAA Track and Field championships at Shippensburg University&#8217;s Seth Grove Stadium this weekend. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mt-1-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Two-time state medalist Katie Kravitsky of Dallas will try to battle for a state championship this weekend. She&#8217;s seeded second in the Class 3A girls high jump with a height of 5-7. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mt-1-4.jpg</photo2><caption2>Two-time state medalist Katie Kravitsky of Dallas will try to battle for a state championship this weekend. She&#8217;s seeded second in the Class 3A girls high jump with a height of 5-7. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Paul Sokoloskipsokoloski@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>Class 3ABoysName, Grade`School`Event`Time`SeedRay Richard, Jr.`Valley West`400 dash`49.02`4Uzee Ukattah, Sr.`Dallas`100 dash`10.89`6Robbie Harter, Sr.`Berwick`pole vault`14-0; 10Tyler Wozniak, Sr.`Valley West`shot put`52-02`13Matthew Houser, Sr.`Hazleton Area`300 hurdles`40.39`19Jacob Khalife, Sr.`Coughlin`discus`155-0`22Uzee Ukattah, Sr.`Dallas`200 dash`22.74`24Franco Balbuena, Sr.`Coughlin`1600 run`4:29.35`29GirlsName, Grade`School`Event`Time`SeedKatie Kravitsky, Sr.`Dallas`high jump`5-07`2Payden Montana, So.`Berwick`discus`122-02`4Kayla Merkel, Jr.`Hazleton Area`javelin`136-01`4Payden Montana, So.`Berwick`shot put`40-02.50`8Ally Rome, Sr.`Dallas`3200 run`10:51.08`9Madisyn Hawkins, Jr.`Coughlin`pole vault`12-0`9Bree Bednarski, Sr.`Wyoming Area`javelin`125-06`11Marley O&#8217;Brien, Sr.`Pittston Area`javelin`125-04`12Taryn Ashby, Jr.`Pittston Area`javelin`124-03`15Abby Norwillo, So.`Pittston Area`high jump`11-0`18Bree Bednarski, Sr.`Wyoming Area`100 dash`12.56`26Bree Bednarski, Sr.`Wyoming Area`200 dash`26.13`24Megan Dalo, Fr.`Berwick`long jump`16-07.50`31Class 2ABoysName, Grade`School`Event`Time`SeedDominic Hockenbury, Sr.`Lake-Lehman`3200 run`9:13.79`1Raheem Twyman, Sr.`Meyers`110 hurdles`14.91`3Brandon Chafin, Jr.`Hanover Area`long jump`22-09.75`3Raheem Twyman, Sr.`Meyers`300 hurdles`39.80`4Tanner Kennedy, Sr.`Northwest`200 dash`22.65`8Nick Minnich, Sr.`Hanover Area`high jump`6-02`10Ben Krouse, Sr.`Northwest`pole vault`13-0`10Mark Robinson, Sr.`Meyers`long jump`21-07.50`11Carlo Telesco, Sr.`Meyers`discus`140-06`11Mohammad Chesson, Jr.`Hanover Area`200 dash`22.96`15Tanner Kennedy, Sr.`Northwest`100 dash`11.34`16Mohammad Chesson, Jr.`Hanover Area`100 dash`11.40`20Mohammad Chesson, Jr.`Hanover Area`triple jump`42-01`22Brandon Bruckner, Jr.`Hanover Area`triple jump`41-02`25GirlsName, Grade`School`Event`Time`SeedCaroline Banas, Sr.`Holy Redeemer`high jump`5-6`3Autumn Kaminski, Jr.`Holy Redeemer`100 hurdles`15.52`8Nalasjia Harris-Johnson, Jr.`Meyers`100 dash`12.29`8Amiah Lukowski, Fr.`Nanticoke Area`100 dash`12.42`11Amiah Lukowski, Fr.`Nanticoke Area`200 dash`25.69`12Karen Hilenski, Sr.`Holy Redeemer`discus`112-06`17Alyssa Christian, Sr.`Holy Redeemer`shot put`34-07`21Relay team; Time; SeedCoughlin boys Class 3A 400 (Mike Brown, Sr., Cole Horan, So., Vincent Todd, So., Nick Carman, Sr. ); 43.50; 18Valley West boys Class 3A 1600 (Mitchell Forgash, So.; Matt Bobkowski, Sr.; Jamie Webb, Sr.; Ray Richard, Jr.); 3:23.47; 18Meyers boys Class 2A 3200 (Simran Magnat, Sr., Rudy Rivera, Jr., Josh Schiowitz, So., Tim Snyder, Sr.); 8:21.54; 19Lake-Lehman girls Class 3A 3200 (Jade Fry, So.; Jace Garnick, So; Haley Kubiski, Jr.; Olivia Vasey, So.); 9:36.22; 22Wyoming Area girls Class 3A 400 (Jalen Rhodes, So.; Jillian Spak, Sr.; Vanessa Shedlock, Jr.; Bree Bednarski, Sr.); 49.80; 23Lake-Lehman boys Class 2A 400 (Tyler Billotti, Fr.; Trey Borger, Jr.; Nick Eury, Sr.; Zach Oulajahadamed, Sr.); 44.90; 24</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Paul Sokoloski at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @TLPaulSokoloski</shirttailMeta></div>

Lake-Lehman’s Dominic Hockenbury leads WVC track and field competitors to PIAA championships