Photo by Phil Grove
McDowell Invitational - Recap
One of the state's top ranked boys and the state's top ranked girls teams made strong season debuts in Erie on Saturday.
In the boys' race, Butler's Noah Beveridge rolled to the individual title, running 15:27, a big PR in the distance. It's a great start to the season for the PA#2 individual. His previous best was 15:59 from the state meet last fall, where he placed fifth overall. Grove City's Jonah Powell placed second with a time of 16:01 and Harbor Creek's Ryan Starveggi was third in 16:15.
The PA#8 Butler boys also took the team title. After Beveridge, Brett Brady was seventh and Adam Dressler took 13th. Taylor Allderdice put together a very strong day to take second, just 13 points off Butler. Allderice seniors Tavonne Davis and Ethan Hermann led the way for the team, placing fourth and fifth respectively.
It was a great start to the season for Saint Marys Area's Amanda Foster. The senior, who was 19th at states in AA last season posted a strong time of 19:12 to take down some strong runners. Foster scored the win over PA#9 Maggie Welty of Butler. Harbor Creek sophomore Madeline Curtis also had a strong race, placing third in a time of 19:35.
But the Oakland Catholic girls worked together and proved why they are the preseason PA#1s. OC took the next six spots after Curtis. Teresa Davison led the way in fourth place, while Hannah Schupansky, Katelyn Ellery, Kathryn Aldrich, Tesslyn Helms, and Megan Nagy weren't far behind. The state runner-ups from 2016 scored just 30 points to dominate the team race. Saint Marys was second with 97 points.
