PennTrackXC contributor Will Edwards captured the action at the 38th annual Centaur Invitational on the campus of DeSales University in Center Valley, PA. It turned out to be a big meet where we learned a lot about some of the state's top teams and invitationals.
In the girls' race, the Stroudsburg girls put on a show taking the top three spots overall and winning the team race by 37 points over PA#6 Owen J. Roberts (Watch race highlights above!). Reigning meet champion Allana Powlette defended her title and won in a 19:37. Amy Conboy was second in 19:44 and Michelle Joyce took third in 20:10. All three handled pre-race favorite and PA#15 Kayla Connelly of Lansdale Catholic. Taylor Garrett was eighth overall for Stroudsburg.
Downigntown East's Maddy VanBlunk continued an impressive start to her season, taking fifth place in 20:19. OJR, led by Ally Brunton, was sixth in 20:31 to lead the second place team. Northwestern Lehigh was strong up front with Molly Tarvin and Madeline Consuelos finishing seventh and ninth respectively.
Watch an interview with Powlette, Conboy, and Joyce below:
In the boys' race, Liam Conway also defending his title from this race. Conway clocked a 16:19, a little faster than last year. Considering the heat, Conway is very pleased with the delta.
PA#7 Parkland started its season off well with a strong team win. They scored 48 points in the win. Hailemichael Geiger paced them with a second place finish in 16:37. Nicholas Bower (17:03) was sixth and Sam Morgan (17:10) was eighth. Parkland's depth looked impressive in its first invite of the season.
William Tennent, flying slightly under the radar before Saturday, was a very solid second place squad. Evan Hutton was third in 16:42, while Christian Craig and Sean Rahill found their way into the top 11. Tennent may prove to be a sleeper team in the deep District 1 AAA. Stroudsburg looked good as well, led by fourth place Teddy Mostellar and ninth place Matt Bodon. Quakertown's Hudson Delisle was fifth in 17:00.
Watch highlights of the race and an interview with champion Liam Conway below: