Strath Haven’s Forbes adds a touch of Burrell to memorable performance

CALN — Former Penn Wood and Strath Haven coach Bob Jesson watched in awe as Strath Haven’s Grace Forbes anchored the Class 3A 4 x 800 relay team to victory, won the 800- and 1,600-meter runs and helped the 4 x 400 relay finish fourth at the District 1 Track & Field Championships Saturday.

Jesson knows a monster performance when he sees it. He was the coach at Penn Wood when Leroy Burrell won four individual events at the 1985 PIAA Championships. The slightly older Jesson said Saturday Forbes’ performance was more impressive than Burrell’s.

“This was harder,” Jesson said. “It’s distance. Sprinters can run four events … This is unbelievable.”

It was the first time Forbes ran four events in her career and she was surprised by Jesson’s statement.

“I disagree with that,” said Forbes, who ran four events for the first time in her career.

Burrell’s effort did lead Penn Wood to a state title, so Forbes does have a point. Her performance, though, was special, too. A quick review of results available on pa.milesplit.com shows that Forbes is the first female in Class 3A to win the 800 and 1,600 at the district meet going back to 2003.

“I did exactly what I wanted to do,” Forbes said. “I’m happy with what I did.”

Forbes anchored the team of Olivia Malley, Maggie Forbes and Abby Loiselle to victory in the 4 x 800. She then cruised to a five-second win in the 1,600, finishing in 4:49.33. She won the 800 by more than two seconds over Keara Seasholtz of Radnor with a time of 2:10.18. The victory in the 1,600 was done effortlessly. She took the lead with 400 meters to go and was never threatened after that.

“It was perfect,” Forbes said of the 1,600. “I just went out with the front person. She happened to go at a great pace. That’s the pace I practice at in intervals, so it was just like running another interval. I was a little tired at the end. I ran like 65 seconds for the last lap, but it worked out.”

In all likelihood, that was Forbes’ last 1,600 of her high school career.

“I think at states, I’m not running four races,” Forbes said. “I think I’m going to focus more on the open 800, the 4 x 8 and the 4 x 4. The mile, I don’t think I have a good shot at winning. Marlee Starliper (of Northern York in District 3) ran a 4:38 today, so I’m not really sure about that. I really want to run an 800 to make my senior year special.”

Forbes’ performance highlighted a big day for the Panthers, who were fifth in the team competition. Hailie Jackson, Forbes, Tess Baily and Malley were fourth in the 4 x 400. Malley was eighth in the 400 and advanced to the PIAA championships on time. Dana Hubbell placed sixth in the 100 hurdles and eighth in the triple jump. She made states in the hurdles as an automatic qualifier, but not the triple. Bailey placed eighth in the 300 hurdles, but did not advance.

“We had a great day,” Haven coach Bill Coren said.

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Strath Haven’s Grace Forbes crosses the finish line well ahead of the pack in the 1,600. It was one of three gold medals Forbes won Saturday at the district meet at Coatesville High.