Photo by Don Rich
Boys' Brown Race Recap
Dalton Hengst had a big gap on the field and Nick Dahl at around a mile a half. The junior from McDonogh in Maryland took out the race hard from the gun and maintained control of the race at two miles.
But the field came back to him in a charge led by Germantown Friends' Nick Dahl. Dahl caught Hengst in the pack cornfield and so did Ephrata's Zach Lefever and Neshaminy's Rusty Kujdych. Dahl took the win in 15:16, faster than his time two weeks ago at the George School.
Dahl's fitness appears to be the best its ever been as he heads into the back half of his season. It was a big second place for Lefever, who took second in a 5K PR of 15:23. Kujdych was third in 15:25. Hengst wound up fourth in 15:27.
The Centerville boys from Ohio took the team win with 180 points, but not far behind was Hempfield. Hempfield's been lurking near the state top ten all season long and pulled out a great team effort, putting three in the top 25 and six under 17 minutes. Christian Groff led the way for the runner-up with a 16th place finish in 15:54. Coby Mattes was 23rd in 16:04 and Nick Norton came across at 16:06 for 25th.
Mechanicsburg was a strong third, led by fifth place Morgan Cupp and sixth place Alex Tomasko. Spring Ford was fourth and Cumberland Valley (with a tight 35 second 1-5 gap) was fifth. Lower Merion turned in its second straight solid team finish with a sixth place run.
Owen J. Roberts' Liam Conway was seventh in 15:39, Winchester Thurston's Tristan Forsythe was eighth in 15:40, and Pleasant Valley's Seth Slavin was ninth in 15:45 in a field loaded with PA Top 25 talent.