ADAMS TWP - Most coaches and high school track and field participants admit that when it comes to qualifying meets, times aren't as important as advancing to the next round.

But that didn't stop several Butler County athletes from posting impressive numbers at the WPIAL Class AA Northern Qualifier Tuesday at Mars Stadium.

Freeport's Lacey Cochran finished first in the 400- and 200-meter runs with times of 58.2 seconds and 26.0 seconds, respectively.

"I still run hard (at qualifiers), but I'm really just trying to warm up and move on," Cochran said after her win in the 200.

The top eight finishers in each event move on to the WPIAL Class AA Championships next Tuesday at South Side Beaver High School.

Cochran and Valley's Mycaiah Clemons are expected to battle each other for first place in the 200-meter dash.

Clemons finished second Tuesday, two-tenths of a second behind Cochran.

"She's going to be right there," Cochran said. "It's a good competition between us."

Freeport's 3,200-meter girls relay team of Olivia Hess, Melanie Lutz, Kirstin Knappenberger and Courtney Callas won with a time of 10:17.

"The girls ran a nice time today, but they know they have to do better next week," said Freeport coach Bill Dillen.

Knappenberger and Lutz, both sophomores, are newcomers to the Yellowjackets' main two-mile relay squad.

"Last year, Melanie was our alternate," said Dillen. "This year, we just plugged in two new girls and we didn't miss a beat."

In the boys competition, Mars' Brandon Heckman (300 intermediate hurdles) and Freeport's Brent Ferko (triple jump) both won their respective events.

Heckman also finished third in the 110 high hurdles.

The Yellowjackets' Adam Isenberg had a strong showing, placing second in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump.

"That's the kind of performance we've been able to expect out of (Ferko and Isenberg) in the triple jump all year," said Dillen.

Freeport's Nick Haynes heads to South Side Beaver for the second year in a row after finishing second in the discus with a throw of 141 feet, 9 inches.

"It wasn't my best effort," said the senior. "But I qualified.

"Last year, the wind was really bad at the finals and there weren't too many good throws," Haynes added. "But hopefully, we'll get some good weather next week. If I can get to 142 or 143 (feet), that should be good enough for third so I can move on to states."

Haynes' teammate Chris Smith placed fifth in the discus at 135-3.

He'll be making his first trip to the WPIAL finals.

"My goal is to beat Nick," Smith said with a smile. "But I haven't done it yet."

The Yellowjackets' Shane Sarver placed fifth in the 1,600-meter run (4:45.7) and joined Brendon Reilly, Eric Yagoda and Ian Kaminski in the 3,200-relay team that took fourth place at 8:38.3

Kaminski also finished fourth in the 800 run with a time of 2:04.8.

Also headed to the district girls finals are Freeport's Jamie Shockey and Marissa DeSalvo, both in the shot put.

Callas will compete in the 800 run and Lutz in the 1,600 run.

Freeport's 1,600 girls relay team of Hess, Callas, Dana Turley and Cochran finished second.