SHIPPENSBURG - When Erin Cranmer-Hart heard her time, her jaw dropped.

She looked around, wondering if the time uttered was directed toward someone else. She asked if it was her time, and the answer was yes.

"I can't believe it, actually," the Slippery Rock High School senior said after she ran a time of 4 minutes, 59.95 seconds to finish third in the Class AAA 1,600-meter run at the PIAA Track and Field Championships Saturday. "I just kept thinking the entire race, 'I want this. I can do this.'"

There was no catching Frances Koons of Allentown, who won the event with a scintillating time of 4:48.78, but Cranmer-Hart was in a tight race for third place with Sara Roberts of Perkiomen Valley.

The two runners were side by side over the final 100 meters with Cranmer-Hart edging her by less than a second when they crossed the finish line.

"Right then, when she was neck-and-neck with me, I just thought, 'I can do this. This is mine.' And I got it," Cranmer-Hart said.

"My heart is what did it for me. You run the first three-fourths of the race on the strength of your ability. The last fourth is your heart, your desire to win and to do your best."

Cranmer-Hart came into the meet with a best time of 5:09.47. She dropped four seconds off that mark during the qualifying race on Friday and another five seconds off that time in the finals. She was the only runner from the Western side of the state to place as the field was dominated by runners from districts 1, 2 and 3.

Her time is also easily the best in Butler County history, more than 12 seconds faster than Kathy Lennox, who posted a time of 5:12.32 in 1983.

Breaking the five-minute mark was a milestone Cranmer-Hart never thought was within her reach, even before the race on Saturday.

"It's amazing," she said, holding back tears and emotion. "It's definitely something I wanted to do because it's such a milestone for high school runners - not many do it. But I did it. Third place is just as good as first for me."

It was vindication of sorts for Cranmer-Hart, who failed to make it to the state meet last season and also had a disappointing finish at the Cross Country state meet last fall. As a sophomore she made it to the state meet in Class AA in the 3,200-meter run, but did not place.

She had a new plan this season with new distance coach Tony Consbruck. They broke down her running style, strategy and even her diet and honed and tweaked them. The dividends began to pay off late in the season and the returns were many at the state meet.

"A lot of people didn't think she could do it," Consbruck said, "but she did it in grand style. Those little things she had been focusing on have made her an elite runner. She felt she had a lot to prove to a lot of people. A triple-A bronze? I couldn't be happier for her."

After a disappointing Friday, Butler's Calvin Littlejohn had a much better time on Saturday.Littlejohn finished second in the long jump with a leap of 23 feet, 3½ inches and placed fourth in the high jump, topping out at 6 feet, 7 inches.He was in a much better mood than on Friday, when he placed a disappointing eighth in the triple jump.The senior treated Saturday as a day of redemption and was not dismayed at the results.His long jump effort was not bad considering he had never seriously competed in the event until two months ago."This is just outstanding," Littlejohn said. "I never thought I'd be where I'm at right now in the long."Littlejohn may have won the event had two things not gone against him.First, his best jump and his initial effort was lost because he faulted. Second, eventual winner, Peter Habegger of Cedar Crest jumped 24-8 - two feet further than his best effort coming into the state meet."No one saw that coming," Littlejohn said.His fourth-place finish in the high jump was expected, though.Littlejohn has been stuck on 6-7 for the past few meets. The winner, Jeff Porter of Carlisle, cleared 6-9."I can't get over the hump," Littlejohn said. "I don't know what it is. Maybe it's a mental thing - at a certain point you get those numbers in your head and it messes with your mind. Maybe I should have set my sights higher."Littlejohn, collected three medals over the weekend and now that has five tucked away somewhere, has his sights set squarely on football at Valley Forge Military School this fall."Football is my main sport," Littlejohn said. "Everyone loves football. That's where the money is."

Moniteau sophomore Alyssa Deal now has bragging rights in her family.Deal became just the third Warriors' female athlete to place at the state meet and the second in her family. Her aunt, Stacy Stockham - now Stacy Armagost - also placed.But it wasn't easy for Deal, who finished fifth in the Class AA 1,600 with a time of 5:09.58. She led the race after two laps, but didn't have much gas left in the tank in the final 400 meters and slipped back."I went out too fast," she said. "I think I would have had a better race if I wouldn't have gone out too fast. I was shooting for third. I went for it, what can you do? Fifth place? Yeah, it feels alright."I'm going to go home, take a long shower and a bath. I'm tired. I'm out of it."

Seneca Valley's Kim Chapman was pleased with her finish in the 300-meter hurdles.Ranked 13th coming into the weekend in the event, Chapman finished sixth with a time of 47.03 seconds.Not bad for someone who was looking at a whole lot of names above her own."I'm pretty happy," Chapman said. "I wanted to get in the top eight, and I finished sixth so I beat two people. I can't argue with that. That's pretty good."