To get ready for the PIAA Track and Field Championships this weekend at Shippensburg University, the members of the Butler girls 3,200-meter relay team worked on their sprinting speed.

Yes, sprinting speed for a distance race.

“Speed workouts to drop the time a little bit,” said Butler girls assistant track and field coach Mike Seybert. “Shorter and quicker. We'll be doing 200s and 150s and a lot of recovery. The cardio is already in the bag.”

Senior Erin LeMay chuckled. “Oh, no, the 3,200 relay is a sprint.”

And Butler hopes to sprint to a first place finish in Shippensburg — and to a record to boot.

It's what LeMay, senior Maggie Welty, junior Liz Simms and freshman Chesna Tomko have been working for all spring.

They ran a school-record time of 9 minutes, 16.62 seconds to win the WPIAL title last week. That time was good enough to qualify the team for the New Balance Nationals.

“We can definitely get that under 9:10,” Simms said.

Welty is hoping the competition at the state meet will bring that kind of time out of them.

“It's hard running by yourself, you know,” Welty said. “It's hard to even know where you're at. I think (in Shippensburg) with all the competition there, we can do it out there.

“Honestly, we haven't been able to run super fast yet,” Welty added. “It was the first time we were able to really run fast (at WPIAL), so it gives me confidence that we can do that against (at the state meet).”

For the freshman in the group, Tomko, the experience has been eye-opening.

Tomko, though, hasn't wilted from the pressure.

She also qualified for the state meet in the 300-meter hurdles and as a part of Butler's 1,600-meter relay team with Gabrielle Boden, Maddie Tonini and Simms.

“Honestly, while I'm running I sing worship songs,” Tomko said. “I just sing in my head, 'Glory to God. Glory to God.' I can't run other than that. At the Butler invite I was dying on the straightaway and I sang God's hymns so I wouldn't fall over.”

Other story lines on the girls' side heading into the state meet:

Freeport sophomore Sidney Shemanski has the second-fastest time in the Class AA 800.

She'll be surrounded by a lot of familiar faces, including Shady Side Academy freshman Melissa Riggins, who was the only one to best Shemanski at the WPIAL finals.

“We have a nice rivalry,” Shemanski said. “It'll be nice to run against her again.”

That race will be dominated by underclassmen as only three of the top 12 seeds are seniors.

Shemanski was fifth at the state meet last year and has cut two full seconds off that time.

“It's really exciting,” Shemanski said. “I'm really excited for what the state meet holds for me.”

Butler senior Jena Reinheimer is seeded fifth in the Class AAA discus. Reinheimer placed fifth at the state meet in that event last season.

Moniteau has a chance to bring home two state titles in Class AA.

Senior Cambrie Campbell in the javelin and sophomore Kendall Grossman in the pole vault are poised to improve on their finishes at the state meet last season.

Campbell has the second best throw in the javelin heading into the state meet and Grossman the fourth-best vault.

Grossman was second at the state meet last season at 11 feet. She's topped that height in nearly every meet this season.