Freeport girls celebrate their 4x400 meter relay victory, clinching the WPIAL Class AA team championship on the final event of the meet.

WEST MIFFLIN — Who says you can't make a statement in the final event of a track and field meet?

At Thursday's WPIAL Class AA Championship, the Freeport girls team needed to win the 1,600-meter relay to secure their first title since 1985.

Kamri Brestensky made sure the Yellowjackets were not going to lose it.

Brestensky ran the opening leg and opened up a huge advantage as Lynsey Gugino, Chelsea Chaffman and Aly Moore kept things rolling, finishing with a time of 4:11.33.

The Yellowjackets would defeat Mt. Pleasant 79-62, and Freedom and South Fayette by identical 99-42 counts to claim the WPIAL crown at West Mifflin High School.

“Our girls were fired up and did not want to lose it by one point,” said Freeport coach Bill Dillen. “We wanted to go out and crush the field, to leave no doubt, no photo finish.”

“All along, the thing was I didn't want to let the team down,” said Brestensky. “As long as I gave us a lead, then they didn't have to worry about trying to catch up.

“I have so much adrenaline ... It was a win for the 4x4, the team and Coach Dillen,” she added.

Dillen, who has been the head coach the past 18 years, is stepping down to allow other assistants to get their chance.

Dillen, however, will still stay with the program and serve as a volunteer assistant.

The Yellowjackets (13-0) got a huge lift from the field events, picking up four wins out of seven events, including wins in the shot put (30-8) and discus (94-8) by Caitlin Chaffman.

“I didn't expect to win and I didn't throw my overall best in both, either,” said Chaffman. “My throws were iffy, but when I saw I was leading and held on, I brought 10 points to the table.”

Haley Westerman won the triple jump (35-8C\v) and Moore the high jump (4-6) to add to a high number of placewinners in the field events.

“It brought everyone together as a team,” said Chaffman on the field events' strong start. “It wasn't just the field, though. We all had a good start. It all tied in.”

Not to be outdone, Katie Pullano won the 100 hurdles and Gugino was second while Gugino claimed the 300 hurdles (48.9) and Pullano was third.

“I knew we had a lot of depth,” said Gugino. “Being runner-up last year, we wanted to win the championship this year. We showed what it takes.

“It's amazing to be WPIAL champions,” Gugino added.

Bronte Soul, who placed third in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump, echoed those sentiments.This is so amazing,” said Soul. “We were disappointed (after last year) but to be able to come back and win it was great.”Knowing it was Dillen's final season at the helm made this title even sweeter.“When we found out he might not come back, it was heartbreaking,” said Brestensky. “He's the backbone of this team.”“It's really nice,” said Gugino. “We all wanted to make it for him. (Winning the title) made it memorable for him and we won it for him.”Said Soul, “That was special because he's been a really important part of the whole thing.”Dillen, however, has won several WPIAL titles with the boys program, the latest being last year. He gets more enjoyment watching his athletes celebrate their title.“You really appreciate it and this is my last one,” said Dillen. “I've been doing this so many years, it's nice. I'm happy for the kids.“They told me, ‘We'll go back and do what the boys did last year and they did it. That was their goal.”<B>GirlsFreeport 99, Freedom 42Freeport 99, South Fayette 42Freeport 79, Mt. Pleasant 62Mt. Pleasant 77.5, Freedom 63.5Mt. Pleasant 86, South Fayette 55Freedom 79, South Fayette 62Track Events3,200-meter relay: </B>1-South Fayette 10:10.24; <B>100 hurdles: Katie Pullano (F) 16.84</B>; <B>100 dash: </B>Mt. Pleasant; <B>1,600 run: </B>South Fayette 5:23.24; <B>400 dash: </B>Mt. Pleasant 1:00.73; <B>400 relay: </B>Mt. Pleasant 5:13.71; <B>300 hurdles: Lynsey Gugino (F) 48.98</B>; <B>800 run: </B>Freedom 2:28.20; <B>200 dash: </B>Mt. Pleasant 26.99; <B>3,200 run:</B> South Fayette 11:05.21; <B>1,600 relay: Freeport (Kamri Brestensky, Lynsey Gugino, Chelsea Chaffman, Aly Moore) 4:11.33Field EventsHigh jump: Aly Moore (F) 4-6;</B> <B>Long jump: </B>Taylor Nitkiewicz 16-6 1/2; <B>Triple jump: Harley Westerman (F) 35-8 3/4</B>; <B>Shot put:</B> <B>Caitlin Chaffman (F) 30-8</B>; <B>Discus: Caitlin Chaffman (F) 94-8</B>; <B>Javelin: </B>Julia Novotny (MP) 118-5; <B>Pole vault:</B> Not completed

Freeport's Lynsey Gugino runs the 300-meter hurdles during the WPIAL team track finals Thursday at West Mifflin. Gugino won the event for the Class AA champs.