Sean Hunt barely made it to the state track meet last year, after another runner's fall nearly caused him to lose his top-five finish.

At this year's WPIAL meet, Hunt made sure there were no runners close enough to even make contact with him.

The Cornell senior made a strong move at the start of the back straight and pulled away from the field over the last quarter of the race, winning the gold medal in the 800-meter run at the 2008 WPIAL Class AA Track & Field Championships at South Side Beaver on Tuesday.

Hunt's time, 2:00.37, was fast enough to hold of the late challenge of runner-up Andrew Hotchkiss, a Quaker Valley freshman and the only runner with a closing burst anywhere near the surge Hunt produced over the final 200 meters.

"My strong point against most other runners is that I have a kick (at the end)," Hunt said.

"Before, I would wait until a certain point in the race to kick up and catch people. This time, I tried staying with the leaders and using my kick to get in front, and it worked out."

The race set up well for a closer like Hunt, as the runners inside of Hunt's lane 4 position opened with a blistering pace.

"The guys set a really face pace," Hunt said. "The dude from Serra Catholic (Randall Coleman), he took off like a rocket, and everyone was trying to keep up with him."

After one lap, Hunt seemed to be cruising in fifth place, but as the runners passed the 500-meter mark, the pace escalated further. As the only senior in the race, Hunt knew that was his time to move, even if it was earlier than usual.

Coming around the final turn, it was clear that it was a two-man race between Hunt and Hotchkiss, but the Raider veteran had too much speed for the first-year Quaker, crossing the line first.

Hunt also took the bronze medal in the javelin with a throw of 167 feet, 6 inches, making him a two-sport qualifier for the PIAA Class AA meet next week at Shippensburg University.

"Before I came into this meet, I told myself that I wanted to make it (to states) in javelin and in the 800, I wanted that gold," Hunt said.

OLSH will also be represented at Shippensburg, led by their distance star, Sarah Canny.

Also a senior, Canny placed fourth in two events -- the 3,200-meter run, with a time of 11:59.07, and the 4x800 relay, which she and teammates Katie Gaisor, Caroline Kapela and Christa Van Volkenburg finished in 10:04.86, a school record.

For placing in the top five, both Canny and the relay team advance to states next week.

"I knew what had to get done in my race, and there was no room to give, I just had to go and go," Canny said.

"It's always great to make it as an individual, but I'm really more of a team oriented person. To make it with these girls, two sophomores and a freshman, now they get to see all the competition at states and see what's ahead of them."

Canny also had the nearest miss of the OLSH and Cornell runners, placing sixth in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:31.08, missing states in that event by one spot.

That finish did give Canny a third WPIAL medal for the day, making her 3-for-3 at reaching the top-eight.

Also medaling was Cornell's Antwon Huff, who set a school record of 5 feet, 10 inches in the high jump to finish in eighth place. His teammate, Marcus Haskins, cleared 5 feet, 8 inches.

The Cornell 4x800 relay team of Joe Faherty, Hunt, Gary Sturm and Brian Whitling barely missed the medals, placing ninth, while Rob Carpenter (shot put), Karissa Lee (100-meter hurdles) and Melissa Esposito (300-meter hurdles) also qualified for the WPIAL meet but did not medal.

OLSH's Nick Froats (1,600-meter run) also reached the WPIAL meet but did not medal on Tuesday.