PTXC9 - Boys' Recap
GOLD RACE
It's hard to remember the last time we saw a team performance on Pennsylvania soil quite like the one we saw from Loudoun Valley, the US#1 Virginia squad.
The Vikings asserted its top national ranking with an exclamation point. Led by transfer Sam Affolder, who spent a season with Carlisle last year, Loudoun Valley took the top four spots to absolutely dominate a field that included some very strong Pennsylvania individuals.
Affolder broke away late to earn the overall win in 15:49 on a muddy and breezy course. He was followed closely by his teammates Colton Bogucki (second in 15:54.46), Jacob Hunter (third in 15:54.65), and Peter Morris (fourth in 15:55.05). In a mad dash to the line, the LV runners were able to outlast Neshaminy's Rusty Kujdych, who entered Saturday at PA#1. Kujdych was fifth in 15:55.43.
Loudoun Valley's fifth runner---sophomore Kevin Carlson---was 17th in 16:40, which gave Loudoun Valley a score of 27 points to take the overall team win in remarkable fashion.
Taking sixth place was Wallenpaupack's Tyler Wirth, who made a big impression in his first cross country invitational appearance. The junior ran 4:17 for 1,600 meters in the spring and opted to run XC this fall over soccer, which he did for the last two seasons. Wirth ran 16:03.76, a great debut.
Penncrest's Avery Lederer, who won at Northampton last week, was seventh. Mechanicsburg's Morgan Cupp was seventh and Spring Ford's Jacob McKenna was ninth. Governor Mifflin's Alexander Ermold made a great season debut, PRing with a time of 16:31 for tenth place.
After Ludoun Valley, the team race was certainly interesting. Boyertown took second, proving it should be a factor within District 1 this season. The Bears (with a 55 second 1-5 gap) showed it can make a push for Hershey this season, scoring 153 points. Central Bucks East was third with 165 points and Spring Ford was fourth with 170 points. Wallenpaupack was fifth with 207 points.