Minersville's Maggie Hoffman-Long competes in the long jump at the Schuylkill League Track and Field Championships held May 6 at Blue Mountain (Photo by Paul McArdle).

3-sport, 3-school senior eyes podium

in long jump, triple jump at Shippensburg

MINERSVILLE — Maggie Hoffman-Long has had a unique high school sports career.

She’s hoping to cap it with another state track medal.

Hoffman-Long is one of 37 Schuylkill League athletes who will travel to Shippensburg University this weekend to compete in the PIAA Track and Field Championships.

A fourth-place finisher in the Class AA triple jump a year ago, Hoffman-Long returns to Shippensburg after winning District 11 crowns in both the long jump and triple jump. She’s seeded fifth for Friday afternoon’s long jump and 10th for Saturday afternoon’s triple jump.

SEEDS, SCHEDULE: Get a complete list of where the local PIAA Track and Field Championship qualifiers fall in their respective events and a schedule for the weekend: https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2026/05/21/piaa-track-field-event-seeds-schedule-of-events/

“My goal is to go out with a bang. My hope is two medals,” Hoffman-Long said earlier this week. “It would be really exciting. It’s one of my goals to end it all up on a good note. A state medal would be the best note.”

You might need a roadmap to follow Hoffman-Long’s senior sports season.

The daughter of Nick Hoffman and Melissa Hoffman-Long, Maggie lives in Klingerstown and attends Tri-Valley Junior/Senior High School. The Dawgs’ female scholar-athlete, she plans to major in political science in college with the hopes of becoming a lawyer.

Hoffman-Long plays soccer for Tri-Valley in the fall. A striker, she was second in the Schuylkill League in scoring with 37 goals and nine assists as the Dawgs qualified for the Schuylkill League playoffs, reached the District 11 Class A semifinals and finished 10-12.

In the winter, Hoffman-Long wrestles through a co-op with Upper Dauphin. Competing at 142-148 pounds, Hoffman went 17-2 this season with 11 pins. For her two-year career at UDA, she was 36-15 with 24 pins.

In the spring, Hoffman-Long runs sprints and competes in the long jump and triple jump through a co-op with Minersville. She’s been a member of the Minersville track team since seventh grade.

So, if you’re following at home … she’s a student at Tri-Valley, plays girls’ soccer for Tri-Valley, wrestles at Upper Dauphin and runs track at Minersville.

“Because we’re so small, we don’t have a girls’ wrestling team and we don’t have a track team because we don’t have a track at our school,” Hoffman-Long explained. “We got the lucky opportunity to do track with Minersville my seventh-grade year.

“I was able to make it work because a lot of my friends were doing it and all of our parents had a deal we would come and take turns driving. It worked out through the years.

“With wrestling, my junior year we were given the opportunity. Upper Dauphin is about 15 minutes away from my house. I was able to drive to practices because it wasn’t too far. I was able to make it work for the winter because I didn’t have a sport at the time.”

In addition to the two co-ops, Hoffman-Long’s sports career has another unique twist to it.

She going to Brown University to play NCAA Division I rugby. That’s right, rugby.

“Both of my parents played rugby in college, so when I was younger they had me playing in the youth club in Harrisburg, which is where we used to live,” Hoffman-Long said. “When we moved, I kept playing through them because it was fun and I was good at it and I enjoyed it. I just kept playing for that club up until now.

“I think it’s really fun, the contact of it and the creativity in it. It’s a lot of not-specific plays because it’s a fluid game without really any stoppages. I think it’s fun that you get to be creative and you get to tackle.”

All of Hoffman-Long’s ventures into the two co-ops help her with rugby, she explained.

“With wrestling, that helped me with rugby because it helped with my tackling,” she said. “I used to wrestle when I was little and it was something that when I got the opportunity to do it again I figured it would be something I should do. I enjoy it.

“With track and field, one of my biggest strengths in rugby is my speed. So with track and field I’m able to get faster to help with rugby.”

Speed has always been something Hoffman-Long has displayed in track and field.

A specialist in the 100 and 200 meters, Hoffman-Long utilizes that speed to excel in the long jump and triple jump.

She won both events and was named the Girls’ Field MVP at the Pan-Ram Invitational at Central Dauphin on April 11 and at times posted the top distance in both events among local competitors.

Hoffman-Long earned four silvers at the Schuylkill League Track and Field Championships, placing second in the 100 and 200 behind Blue Mountain’s Sophia Spolski and second in both the long jump and triple jump behind Pottsville’s Alexa Giuffre, who qualified for states in both events in Class 3A.

At districts, Hoffman-Long won the long jump with a best jump of 18 feet, 9 inches, which broke the Minersville school record. She took gold in the triple jump with a top attempt of 37-1 and teamed with Alya Allvord, Allie Pennypacker and Ivy Sankus to place third in the 4×100 relay in 51.64.

“I love long jump because I think that it’s something different from just running,” Hoffman-Long said. “It’s something else I can focus on doing than just the sprints. When I started doing it in seventh grade, it was something I did because I thought it looked fun. I think it’s still really fun to do. It’s enjoyable.

“Triple jump, I started doing that my sophomore year because I was good at long jump and my coach thought it would be fun. I actually enjoy it a lot. It’s a lot of fun … the focus that goes into it, the precision that has to go into it … I really enjoy all of that.”

Hoffman-Long enters the weekend with two goals — top 19 feet in the long jump and surpass the Minersville school record of 37-11 in the triple jump. Her best effort in the triple jump this season was 37-9.5.

Last year, Hoffman-Long said she was nervous competing in her first state meet. She was 13th in the long jump at 16-11.5 on Friday, then took fourth in the triple jump on Saturday at 37-3.

Hoffman-Long’s best jump came on her sixth and final attempt. She posted jumps of 35-2, 36-0.75 and 35-0.5 in the preliminaries to reach the finals, then leaped 35-1.5 and 36-10.75 on her next two jumps.

Quaker Valley’s Jay Olawaiye was first in 38-9.75, followed by Winchester Thurston’s Alexis Bansah (38-7.5) and Carlynton’s Jordynn Carter (38-1.5).

“It was super awesome,” Hoffman-Long said of earning a state medal last year. “I was seeded pretty low. Going into the finals … I just made the cut. I was the last one to make the cut. So when I ended up medaling it was pretty awesome getting to stand up on that podium as high as I was.”

Experience makes a big difference at the PIAA championships in individual sports like track and field, wrestling, cross country and swimming. Getting used to the environment, the schedule and the pressure takes some time, but once you’re accustomed to it, it allows you to relax and compete at your best.

Hoffman-Long hopes last year’s experience at Shippensburg translates into two medals this weekend.

It would be the perfect ending to a unique and sensational career.

“I think it will help me this year because I know to relax,” she said. “I was really worked up last year, and once I started to relax a little bit, I started to do a lot better. I know the whole rounds, what’s going to happen, how things are going to go. I think that’s going to help me a lot this year. Definitely more relaxed, definitely able to be more confident, take my time a little bit more.”