Ben Bloser Bulldog (Big Spring) Invitational - Meet Recap
Girls' A/AA Race
Taryn Parks kept rolling on Saturday. Fresh off a commanding win at PTXC 10, the Greencastle-Antrim junior did the same thing at Big Spring on Saturday, rolling to her second win in as many weeks. Parks clocked a 18:26, a time that's in line with her other Big Spring performances (though considerably earlier in the season this time).
Pine Grove Area's Christina DiFalco was second in 19:15, running well for a second straight week. Olivia McLain of Eastern York was third across in 19:50. Camp Hill's Laura Sakol was fourth overall and the top 1A finisher, coming through in 20:05.
Donegal edged out York Suburban in the AA team scoring, winning 93-95. Rachel Fernald led Donegal with a fifth place finish, while Courtney Ohl (fourth in AA) was the top YS finisher. In 1A, Camp Hill won a close one, 66-69, over York Catholic.
Girls' AAA Race
Dallastown's Emily Schuler started her season off in a big way, running to the AAA race win on Saturday. It's the second straight Ben Bloser win for the junior, who will be one to watch in AAA statewide this season. Sculer was able to break free of the pack in the back woods and won in 18:51.
In a good race for second, Central Dauphin East's Makenna Krebs out-dueled Cedar Crest's Gwyneth Young. Krebs took silver in 18:58, while Young was a second behind. It's a strong race for both girls; Krebs is coming off a big win at LVC, while Saturday was a 5K PR for Young.
In the team race, despite being without usual top runner, Meg Lebo, Carlisle took home the title, scoring 118 points. Sophia Toti's fifth place finish led the way, while the Herd's next three were tightly packed. Dallastown was very solid through four runners and took second with 170 points, closely followed by third place Wilson (182 points) and fourth place Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy (183 points), a 1A squad that moved up.
Boys' A/AA Race
Lancaster Mennonite's Logan Horst made a big statement in the A/AA race, running down Juniata's Garrett Baublitz in a battle of a pair of the state's top AA runners. Horst kicked to the win in 16:18, while Baublitz came across second in 16:24. Horst's time was the fastest of the day, including the AAA race.
Carter Kauffman of Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy was third overall and the top 1A finisher in the race in a time of 16:55. His teammate, freshman Josh Hershbine, came across as the second 1A boys.
In the team race, the top AA team was York Suburban, which scored 53 points to take the title. Freshman Cole Adams was impressive, taking third in AA in 17:01. His YS teammate, Jarrett Raudensky, was fifth in 17:03. Only 46 seconds separated YS's top five runners. Boiling Springs was second with 84 points.
In 1A, Fairfield Area edged out York Catholic by three points, 62-65. SJCA was third with 87 point.
Boys' AAA Race
Gonzaga College (DC) took two of the top three spots in the AAA race. Gavin McElhennon of Gonzaga picked up the individual win in16:20, while his teammate Cullen Capuano was third in 16:40. Carlisle's Jack Wisner got in between them, running well to take second in 16:25.
Chambersburg's Trentin Overcash ran well to take fourth in 16:42. Last year's champ Evan Kreider of Cocalico was fifth in 16:46 and Wilson's Christian Gagliardi was sixth in 16:48
The team race was very close and ultimately went to the young Cedar Crest squad, which scored 136 points, putting three boys in the top 15. Sophomore Tommy Bildheiser was eighth in 17:01, while a pair of freshmen were next across for CC: Luke Hinegardner (ninth) and Ben McElroy (14th).
Then just four points separated the next four teams. Hempfield (161 points) was second with a 43 second 1-5 gap, Chambersburg (162 points) was third, Gonzaga (163 points) was fourth, and Carlisle took fifth with 165 points. The race for the top spot and four state spots out of District 3-AAA will be quite interesting this fall, as evidenced by Saturday's scores.