9/27 WKND: Brehm, Clahane defend! Central Cambria win again! Comber makes it 4! James PA#1 in DC!

09/25 Big South Championship (formerly Big 8)
Ringgold
Meet Summary by Ron McMichael

Ringgold’s McMichael and Smith Repeat as Big South Cross Country Champions

Ringgold’s Kirsten McMichael won her 3rd Big South title in a row in a time of 19:43.7, followed by teammate Sarah Lucas (20:30).  The one-two punch of the Lady Rams led them to a runner up team finish.  Also scoring for the girls team was Amber Mathews, Kaylee Kassa, Maria Lengwin, Johna Gibson and Raina Gorman.

On the Boy’s side Noah Smith repeated as Big South Champion and earned a comfortable 32 second win with a winning time of 16:29.2.  Teammate Will Jourdain earned all conference honors by finishing 6th overall in a personal best of 17:33.5.  Rounding out the scoring for the Rams were Chris O’Connor, Liam Smith, Timmy Richardson and Logan Kliza.

 

Boys Highlights

 

Girls Highlights

Monongahela, PA

RESULTS POSTED

09/27 28th Annual Council Rock Invitational
Council Rock North 
 

Casey Comber of Hatboro Horsham held on to his place as the most on form runner in the state, winning his fourth invitational race in a row with another season best performance of 15:44.35. While Comber was rolling to victory at the front of the race, Central Bucks West were earning their 3rd invitational win of the season, defeating Twin Valley by the score of 65-85. Rock Fortna finished 2nd for the Bucks in 16:10, one of three top twelve finishes for the winners.

In the girls race, Jerrica Bauer of The George School held off a tough challenge from Great Valley’s Elise Claffey to win her 3rd invitational title of the season with a time of 19:01. Claffey made have had to settle for silver individually, but her team put on their best performance of the season, placing four in the top ten overall to win the team title by nearly 100 points.

Girls Highlights

Boys Highlights

 
PREVIEW
 
Central Bucks West boys have been one of the up and coming teams of the season, earning two invitational victories entering Saturday's Council Rock Invite. The team has just one senior in their top five, but that five can stay within 30 seconds of one another, which makes them tough to beat. They have a 6 and 7 that can break 17 minutes and help the team out should anyone have an off day. Bensalem and host Council Rock North will look to chase CB West. Both teams have one invitational win under their belt this season.

At the front of the pack, fans may see a 4th consecutive invitational victory for in form Casey Comber of Hatboro Horsham. Wins at PTXC 6, Centaur, and Chris Fretz have seen Comber's time drop to a season best 15:48. Can he make it four wins from four and keep dropping his season best time? Out to upset him will be Brian Arita of Council Rock North, who has a couple runner up finishes this season, and Matthew Scarpill of Central Bucks South, who was 2nd at Rose Tree Park two weeks ago.

In the girls race, Great Valley were in the middle of a tight pack of five teams at the PIAA Foundation Gold Race, finishing 6th in that tight finish. Great Valley will march on hoping to take some confidence from last week's performance with their experience varsity squad. Council Rock North and Downingtown East have been looking for a big race to give their seasons a big charge heading into the 2nd half of the season. Council Rock North were 4th last week at George School, but were the top AAA team. Downingtown East were 3rd in their last appearance at the Centaur Invite two weeks ago.

Up front, Jerrica Bauer of George School looks to make it 3 wins from 3 appearances. The junior skipped her home invitational last week, but should be set to improve on her 18:36 performance from Mill Street on September 6. Loretta Black of Wissahickon has had a solid season thus far, earning four top five finishes in the first four weekends of the season. Elise Claffey of Great Valley was 4th in last week's Foundation Gold Race, which should give her great confidence heading into Saturday.

Newtown, PA

RESULTS POSTED

09/27 29th Harrier Invitational
Pottstown 

Pottstown, PA

RESULTS POSTED (Middle School)

09/27 6th Annual Crimson Hawk Invitational
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
 
Bo Dinger of Punxsutawney ran 17:48 to win the individual title and lead his team to the team crown over Derry 39-67, thanks to two finishers in the top three and three in the top seven overall. For the girls, Indiana edged out United 45-59, despite United having the individual winner. Michaela Bracken ran 21:28.4 to edge out Kacey Raible of Indiana by under a second.
 

Indiana, PA

RESULTS POSTED

09/27 A.J. Everhart Invitational
Uniontown Area
Uniontown, PA
09/27 DCXC Invite
Pacers Events 
 
 

After having to settle for bronze and silver medal finishes in his past two invitational races, Kevin James of Cardinal O’Hara not only won his first invitational race of the season, but he soared to the top of the state list! James won the boys senior race with a state leading time of 15:11 to win by 6 seconds. It is the fastest victory of his career and it is also his fastest since running 15:14 at Great American last October. Other O’Hara finishers include Rob Morro’s 6th place finish in the junior race in 16:28. Ryan James ran 16:43 to finish 3rd in the sophomore race. Dan Curran finished 6th in the freshman race in 18:19.

 

PREVIEW

Cardinal O'Hara boys will compete in a special class 5k invitational down in the Washington DC area on Saturday. O'Hara have earned two runner up finishes in back to back weeks, and will look to get that long awaited first win under their belts before the business part of the season arrives. Kevin James has been impressive in the past two weeks, running 15:51 and 15:54 to earn 3rd and 2nd place finishes.

Washington, DC

RESULTS POSTED

09/27 Northeast Invitational
Bloomsburg University
 

Class A boys state champion Griffin Molino of South Williamsport did an encore of his Spiked Shoe performance from September 13 to win his 2nd invite of the season. Molino ran 15:43 for the 2nd time this season, but this time he won by almost 40 seconds. The team title race was just as one sided as the individual title race, as Mount Carmel Area placed three in the top ten overall to defeat Lewisburg 62-100.

For the girls, Mackenzie Jones of Danville ran 19:06 to win the girls race by nearly 30 seconds over Jenna Farmer of Lewisburg. Farmer’s team did get the last laugh in the team race, scoring 46 points with five finishers in the top 20 to defeat Danville by 20 points.

Boys Highlights

 

Girls Highlights

Bloomsburg, PA

RESULTS POSTED

09/27 Ocean State XC Invitational
 

Archbishop Wood girls finished 13th in the championship race with 315 points, led by Natalie Cornely’s 55th place finish in 21:01. The Archbishop Wood boys finished 11th in the championship race with 213 points, led by a 24th place finish from Andrew Flinn in 17:20. (PHOTO BY STEVE MAZZONE)

 
PREVIEW

Archbishop Wood will make their annual trip to Rhode Island on Saturday, where the girls have finished in the top three for each of the past two trips, including a win in 2012. The Wood girls finished 2nd at George School last week behind Friends Central, while the boys were 4th in the same meet.

 

Warwick, RI

RESULTS POSTED

09/27 Penncrest XC Invitational
Penncrest 
 

Jonathan Perlman of Lower Merion ran 16:51 to hold off Liam Galligan of Springfield Delco by 8 seconds for the individual gold. Perlman’s performance also led his squad to a team title victory over hosts Penncrest 30-51.

For the girls, Alexis Malmberg of Episcopal Academy ran 20:31 to win the gold medal and lead her team to a team title win over Penncrest 26-41, with all five finishers inside the top 10 overall.

 

Media, PA

RESULTS POSTED

09/27 Bull Run Invitational
Hereford High School
 

Strath Haven traveled out of state to seek out more success to their already strong start to the season. Led by a 6th place finish from Maia Mesyngier in 20:08, the Lady Panthers finished 2nd in the team title chase with 124 points, trailing Walter Johnson by 31. Claire Wolters (20:26) and Isabel Cardi (20:35) finished in the top 15 overall.

 
PREVIEW
Strath Haven girls will return to the Bull Run Invitational after a one year absence. The Lady Panthers were 4th at last week's PIAA Foundation Gold race, but have two invitational victories from the early weeks of the season. Maia Mesyingier will lead the way for Strath Haven.
 

Parkton, MD

RESULTS POSTED

09/30 District 7 Section 4 AAA Championship
Kiski Area
Pittsburgh, PA

 

COLLEGE

 

09/25 Main Line Invitational
Haverford College

Haverford, PA

RESULTS POSTED

09/27 Lock Haven XC Open Invite
Lock Haven University

Lock Haven, PA

RESULTS POSTED

09/27 Messiah Invitational
Messiah College
Grantham, PA
09/27 Philadelphia Metropolitan Cross Country Championships
Philadelphia University

Philadelphia, PA

RESULTS POSTED