Photo Galleries and Select Pix Links to the right. A few more key race pix below.
At 1/2 mile, Coatesville has control.
Special thanks to my meet directors for the 2nd Last Gasp Classic, Ron Lopresti and Fred Rosenfeld; to results guru Dan Nelson; and to the Philadelphia Catholic League. To Pat McCloskey and Racoon Sports for the special awards; to Bryn Mawr Running Company and Chester County Running Store for additional awards; to the Nike vans who showed off shoes and ipods to anyone interested. Also, to my partner in life and in web publishing, Gayle. Without her continuing support of me and assistance in pursuing this dream, there would be no PennTrackXC.com
11/18 WEEK #11 SUMMARY:
The Bridgetown Track Club tried out a new name, a new meet and a new course, figuratively and literally, but their results at the 2006 LAST GASP CLASSIC had a similar ring. The boys from the town of Coatesville were once again victorious in dominant fashion. Recovering from an illness earlier in the week, Liz Milewski of the Legit Track Club, fought off fatigue to finish 3rd in the race, leading her teammates from Radnor in taking five of the top nine spots. The course had been redesigned for a fourth time this season due to construction of a new water system, and runners were forced to navigate five former dig areas, some with heavy equipment tracks and rocks... not exactly cross country, but an interesting addition to the somewhat muddy conditions due to Thursday's torrential rains. At the MID-EAST REGIONALS in Ohio, Big Spring senior Lara Crofford led the PA team to a 3rd place finish. Pittsburgh Central Catholic's Scott Van Kooten was the top finisher for the PA boys. In western PA at the USATF REGION 2 CHAMPIONSHIPS at Cooper's Lake, Gettysburg freshman Michael Beegle took 2nd in 13:45.90. In Florida at the NCAA DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIPS, East Pennsboro grad and Lock Haven University senior Ryan Blood finished 4th to earn all-American status in his final cross country race. His effort led his team to 11th place overall. Also on Saturday, Allegheny College's men finished 3rd overall at the NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIPS in Ohio, while the Dickinson College women took 6th. Jed Christiansen and Jon Gries ran 2-3 for the champion Calvin College squad. In the NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIPS on Monday, Dan Mazzocco (Penn State/Baldwin) earned another all-American certificate. Craig Miller (Wisconsin/Manheim Township) scored 5th for the 2nd place Badgers. Ian Fitzgerald (William & Mary/North Hills) and David Mock (William & Mary/Westmont-Hilltop) ran 3-4 for the 8th place Tribe. Villanova junior Frances Koons (Allentown Central Catholic) was with the leaders at the halfway point, but finished 87th after losing power with 2K to go. Lauretta Dezubay (Virginia/Freedom) scored for the 14th place University of Virginia. (More detailed summaries are below. Links to meet results and photo galleries are to the right)
11/18 PennTrackXC.com Last Gasp Classic @ Rose Tree Park 5K
RESULTS POSTED
Note: The course had been redesigned for a fourth time this season due to construction of a new water system, and runners were forced to navigate five former dig areas, some with heavy equipment tracks and rocks... not exactly cross country, but an interesting addition to the somewhat muddy conditions due to Thursday's torrential rains. Those obstacles aside... The Bridgetown Track Club tried out a new name, a new meet and a new course, figuratively and literally, but their results at the 2006LAST GASP CLASSIC had a similar ring. The boys from the town of Coatesville were once again victorious. Kyle Dawson travelled the often muddy, and sometimes treacherous construction-riddled course in 15:58.05 to beat a strong challenge from Germantown Friends #1 man Max Kaulbach, 2nd in 16:02.01. But following that incursion came four more Bridgetown harriers, Owen Dawson, 3rd in 16;14.08, Tom Pannulla, 4th in 16:18.92, Sean Ward, 5th in 16:25.56, and Jason Leonard 6th in 16:39.76. Their 19 points easily outdistanced Germantown Friends, 19-42. The team average was 16:19.28. Recovering from an illness earlier in the week, Liz Milewski of the Legit Track Club, fought off fatigue to finish 3rd in the race, leading her teammates from Radnor in taking five of the top nine spots. In the race behind Milewski's 19:50.39 came Frosh Kelyn Freedman, 4th in 19:55.91, Hannah Granger, 5th in 19:57.01, Shannon Holm, 8th in 20:21.7, and June Farley, 9th in 20:26.10. Coatesville's Kristina Kubala, a PIAA state medalist, led from the gun and held off a challenge from Cecilia Davis-Hayes of Germantown Friends 19:42.56 to 19:49.04. Bob Rimkis won the Open race in 17:58.02. Brittany Franks, a Philadelphia middle schooler, was the first female, going 22:42.96 for 4th.
Select Pix of the 11/18 Last Gasp Classic @ Rose Tree Park
The 2006 Mideast Regional PA Girls' Team
11/18 Mid-East Regional Championships @ Kettering, OH
RESULTS POSTED
Big Spring senior Lara Crofford ran a strong race in Ohio, finishing 4th in 18:57. The next PA finisher was resurging Lindsay Shertzer of Lancaster Mennonite, 11th in 19:30. Anna Yoney of Norwin was 16th in 19:39, while Chambersburg's Sarah Morrison was 25th in 19:53. The PA girls would take 3rd with 86 points. In the boys' race, Scott Van Kooten of Pittsburgh Central Catholic took 11th in 16:15. The guy's were 5th overall. Combined, PA was 5th of 6 teams.
PA Mideast girls at the start - they finished 3rd overall.
11/18 Jesuit Schools Championships @ Van Cortlandt Park, NY
RESULTS LINK POSTED
11/18 Mid-Atlantic AAU Championships @ Gwynedd-Mercy Academy
RESULTS COMING
11/18 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships @ Pensacola Equestrian Center, FL
RESULTS POSTED
East Pennsboro grad and Lock Haven University senior Ryan Blood finished 4th to earn all-American status in his final cross country race. His effort led his team to 11th place overall.
To read the full story about Blood and the success of his PA teammates, click here.
11/18 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships @ West Chester, OH
RESULTS POSTED
The Allegheny College Gator men's cross country team took third at the NCAA Division III National Meet in West Chester, Ohio, the best finish by a cross country team in Allegheny College history. Junior Ryan Place (Meshoppen, Pa./Elk Lake) and senior Marco Dozzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) each earned All-America honors for their finishes, Place sixth overall and Dozzi 23rd. The meet was won by Michigan's Calvin College. Earning all-American status for the champs was Greenville grad Jed Christiansen, 5th in 26:52 for 8K, and Upper Merion grad Jon Gries, 12th in 27:08. And the Dickinson College women finished 6th overall.
Just 27 miles away, Allegheny head coach Bill Ross's son, Zac, was racing in the Mid-East Regional in Kettering. Zac and and his mother missed the Allegheny race, but made it to the meet in time for the Awards. Congrats to the Ross household on a great weekend of XC.
11/19 USATF Region 2 Championships @ Cooper's Lake
RESULTS POSTED
In western PA at the USATF Region 2 Championships at Cooper's Lake, Gettysburg freshman Michael Beegle took 2nd in 13:45.90.
11//20 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships @ Indiana State University
RESULTS POSTED
Penn State senior Dan Mazzocco (Baldwin), earned another all-American certificate, finishing 31st in 31:37.2. The Wisconsin men were 2nd to Colorado, and got scoring help from freshman Craig Miller, who took 90th overall in 32:30. Two PA grads helped William & Mary to an 8th place finish: Ian Fitzgerald (North Hills), was 96th in 32:34.9 (3rd for W&M), and David Mock (Westmont-Hilltop) was 108th in 32:40.9 (4th for W&M). In the women's 6K race, St. Hubert's alum Rachel Papin was 72th for LaSalle College, running 21:52.6. Mid-Atlantic champ Frances Koons of Villanova was with the lead chase pack of 13 at the 3K mark in 10:08, but said with 2K to go she lost power in her legs, but held on to finish 87th in 22:02.1. Forest Hills grad Leanna Nastase of Bucknell took 94th in 22:06.4. The University of Virginia took 14th with the help of Freedom gran Lauretta Dezubay, who ran 5th for the team with a 186th place finish of 22:52. Princeton was 23rd overall as Conestoga grad Liz Costello was their final scorer, going 22:36 for 162nd place.
The Radnor girls begin what could be there final race together in 2006.
Kristina Kabula, Bridgetown (Coatesville), wins Last Gasp Classic II 
Kyle Dawson leads at the mile.
Max Kaulbach, Germantown Friends, runs a strong 2nd to Kyle Dawson.
11/18 WEEK #11 PREVIEW:
To no one's surprise (at least in PA), the Radnor girls fell one spot yesterday in the Nike Team National Northeast rankings, from #3 to #4. They'll race today at the Last Gasp Classic at Rose Tree Park in an effort to earn either a higher ranking or an at-large bid a week from tomorrow. Also racing in Media will be the Northeast #1 Coatesville boys. Germantown Friends has a team in the race, and there are other top harriers towing the line in one of two high school races. In Ohio, the PTFCA-sponsored Mid-East Regional PA Team of top seniors will race teams from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. AAU and USATF XC meets are this weekend, along with the NCAA Division II Champs.