HOOKSTOWN - Her competitors couldn't stop Lacey Cochran from winning WPIAL gold - neither could Mother Nature.

The Freeport junior track star won the 400 and 200 meter runs despite four delays in the action due to lightning at the WPIAL Class AA Finals Tuesday afternoon at South Side Beaver High School.

The first win came in the 400, with Cochran finishing with a time of 58.2 seconds.

"I was going for the WPIAL record," said Cochran of the 58.08 mark Deer Lakes' Kerry McKinney set in 2001. "I didn't get it today, but I'm still happy with the way I ran."

Cochran came into the meet as a two-time defending WPIAL champ in the event. After making it a three-peat, she spoke of her goals at the state meet.

"My freshman year, I took third in the 400 at states," she said. "Last year I was second. So hopefully, I'll continue to improve."

After lightning forced several delays, the much-awaited 200-meter dash dual between Cochran and Valley's Mycaiah Clemons took center stage.

Clemons held the early lead, but as the pair hit the final 75 meters, Cochran began to pull away.

That's when Clemons slowed up with a pulled hamstring in her right leg, removing herself from the race.

Cochran cruised to the finish line with a time of 26.01 seconds.

"I am a bit disappointed," Cochran said after the event. "I wanted to have (Clemons) right there the whole race. Running against someone like that lets you know where you stand."

Freeport will also send its girls' 4x800 and 4x400 relay teams to the PIAA meet, both finishing third.

The former, consisting of Olivia Hess, Melanie Lutz, Kirstin Knappenberger and Courtney Callas, had a mark of 10:07.91.

The mile-relay quartet of Hess, Callas, Dana Turley and Cochran finished at 4:10.98.

Freeport's boys will send Adam Isenberg (long jump) and Brent Ferko (triple jump) to states.

Both placed third in their respective events, with Isenberg adding a fifth place finish in the triple jump.

"I wasn't happy with my performance (42 feet, one inch) in the triple today," said Isenberg. "The weather conditions weren't ideal, but I can't put the blame on that."

Ferko will look to set a personal best in the triple jump at the state meet.

"Right now it's 43-7," said Ferko. "Hopefully, we can get some good conditions next week and I'll have a chance to go for it."

Freeport's boys and girls offered a performance their coach will take any day.

"I'm very happy with the kids today," said Yellowjackets' coach Bill Dillen. "We're going home with a lot of medals."

Those medalists include Kiel Conjack (300 hurdles), Ian Kaminski (800), John Nicholson (shot put), Nick Haynes (discus), Melanie Lutz (1,600 run), Callas and Hess (800) and Jamie Shockey (shot put).

Mars' Brandon Heckman medaled in both the 110 high hurdles (sixth) and the 300 intermediate hurdles (fifth).

The Mars senior finished the 300 event with a time of 40.81 seconds, one-hundredth of a second from meeting the PIAA standard (40.80).

The boys' pole vault competition was suspended due to the poor weather conditions. It will continue today at Mars Stadium starting at 9 a.m.

The PIAA meet will begin next Friday and will run through Saturday at Shippensburg University.