Girls' Gold Race - Recap
The best girls' race of the season so far in Pennsylvania, without a doubt, came on Saturday. The top eight-ranked girls teams and a number of top individuals toed the line to get a sneak peak of the state course before November.
Let's start with the individual race. The early pace was menacing, set by some top teams looking to get out fast in the opening quarter mile before the path narrows.
Upper Saint Clair's Savannah Shaw bided her time in a chase pack in the opening mile. Around the midway point, Shaw took control of the race and opened up a gap on the field. From there, it was lights out. Shaw, who won at the Red, White & Blue Classic two weeks ago, ran 18:36 to win by 21 seconds in a dominating performance that shows she's now the one to beat in AAA this season.
The next two spots---for a second straight week---went to Elizabeth Mancini and Eleanor Mancini of Cardinal O'Hara. The pair, which led through the 2K mark, ran 18:57 (Elizabeth) and 19:02 (Eleanor) to take silver and bronze. Those same two were second and third at Briarwood last week, too.
North Allegheny's Clara Savchik was fourth in 19:03, while Souderton's Emily Bonaventure took fifth in 19:06. Fox Chapel Area took the next two spots with Caelan Miller and Sarena Seeger.
The hyped team battle lived up to the anticipation around it. In the end, it was Manheim Township that took the win with 93 points, just four points better than second place Fox Chapel Area. Both teams got out hard and it was PA#3 Manheim Township that ultimately took the narrow victory over PA#1 Fox Chapel.
Manheim Township showed off its depth on Saturday, placing its top six inside the top 35. Ava Pasewicz (the team's #3 runner at Big Spring last week) led the way with an 11th place finish in 20:07, while Kira Jenkins was 15th in 20:12. MT managed a 25 second 1-5 gap. Fox Chapel, paced by Miller and Seeger up front also got strong races from Annika Urban and Grace Sisson.
Owen J. Roberts (PA#5) ran well to take third. They were led by Mary Bernotas' 14th place finish in 20:12. Central Bucks West (PA#8) was fourth with both Piper Wilson and Julia Flood placing inside the top 20. State College was fifth, Cardinal O'Hara took sixth, and Oakland Catholic was seventh. North Allegheny was eighth, while Council Rock South (ninth) and West Chester Henderson (tenth) all turning in solid performances.