Warren freshman Lilly Newton raced to a 1:01.24 time in the 400 meters, which was good for 24th place at the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association track & field championships on Friday in Shippensburg. Submitted File Photo

SHIPPENSBURG — Lilly Newton didn’t reach her goal of breaking Warren’s school record in the 400 meters at Friday’s PIAA track and field championships at Shippensburg University. The best part about being a freshman competing at states, she has three more seasons to try.

After finishing second in the 400 at 1:00.03 at the District 10 meet, Newton was 24th in the state in 1:01.24 on Friday at the PIAA 2A meet at Seth Grove Stadium.

The top eight in Friday’s preliminaries advanced to Saturday’s 400-meter finals, thus ending Newton’s season.

“She had a great year, but the best is yet to come,” said Warren coach Kevin Dustin.

“This was a great learning experience for Lilly,” he said. “As a freshman to make it to states and be so close to the school record is a great start to her Warren track career. She can take a lot away from today to be prepared for next season. She has some big expectations for herself and from her coaches that she is ready to work toward.”

Newton’s week started with the WAHS school record-holder from 1991 (Melodie Stull Beckerink, 59.5 seconds) urging her on for states.

“She messaged Lilly… It was so sweet!” said Lilly’s mother, Kelly.

“All around, the energy was very exciting and, even though I didn’t have the best race, being a freshman at states was really cool,” said Lilly on Friday night. “I had lots of support from people at home and from others that even came to watch as well. It was fun and I’m hoping to come back next year.”