VIRTUAL MEET: PAUL SHORT GIRLS RACES
VIRTUAL MEET: PAUL SHORT BOYS RACE
VIRTUAL MEETS: GETTYSBURG, PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC, AND RIDGWAY
| 10/04 |
4th Annual West Middlesex XC Relays
West Middlesex
Cocharanton Boys dominated the boys relay event, winning by a near 4 minute margin over West Middlesex and New Castle. In the girls race, West Middlesex had the first two teams come in 32 seconds apart to cruise to the team title.
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West Middlesex, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 10/04 |
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Holmdel, NJ NO PA TEAMS RESULTS POSTED |
| 10/04 |
Buffalo Wild Wings Stampede
Hampshire
Somerset traveled to West Virginia and the boys finished 2nd in the varsity race with 68 points, led by a 5-7 finish from Shane Ickes and Mike Emert. The Somerset girls, Jane Woy finished 3rd in 21:06 to lead her team to their own runner up finish with 62 points.
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Romney, WV RESULTS POSTED |
| 10/04 |
Cumberland County Championships
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, PA |
| 10/04 |
Gettysburg Area High School
 Brooke Hutton of Coatesville just can’t stop winning. The freshman came out victorious for the 4th invitational in a row, running 19:09 to win by 22 seconds over Leanne Weaver of Boiling Springs. Her performances up front are also having an impact on her team’s performance. Coatesville had two in the top 12, the only team to have that record, and they came away with the team title over Cedar Cliff 135-161. For the boys, Zach Seiger and his Red Land squad both had to settle for 2nd place finishes behind Chantilly (VA) and their ace Ryan McGorty. Seiger ran 15:49, just 9 seconds behind McGorty and his team scored 86 points, just 23 points behind Chantilly, despite having two finishers in the top five.Girls Highlights
Boys Highlights
PREVIEW
Can Brooke Hutton make it four wins in a row? The freshman will hope to keep her hot streak going in Gettysburg. She may to run a personal best to do so, as Xaveria Hawvermale of Chantilly (VA) has a faster personal best than Hutton. Hutton’s teammates will also look to earn their 2nd win of the season after earning the PTXC 6 Blue race team title nearly a month ago. In the boys race, Zach Seiger of Red Land will look for a strong encore performance after his 3rd place 15:40 performance at Carlisle last weekend. Seiger will be looking for his 1st career cross country invitational victory. Teammate Drew Wilkinson and Sebastian Curtain of Mercyhurst Prep will look to have a strong race to potentially upset the rising superstar. Wilkinson and Seiger will also look to earn their squad a team title victory, where they will face tough competition against Chantilly (VA) and Coatesville. A victory for Red Land will help their District 3 chances. With the front two they have, they will certainly be in the mix. |
Gettysburg, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 10/04 |
Grove City Invitational
Grove City Area
Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Academy continued her streak of seasonal bests on her way back to winning ways. The sophomore was dominant once again in victory, running 17:59 to win by nearly a minute over the field. Her team finished 2nd in the team standings to West Seneca West 94-127. For the boys, Grove City found their winning grove back on their home course after a couple of tough weeks. Aaron Benka led the winners with a runner up finish of 16:18. His top five finished 45 seconds apart, with four of them in the top 8 to score 30 points and win by 76!Girls Highlights
Boys Highlights
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Grove City, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 10/04 |
Harbor Creek
Girls AA #1 ranked Villa Maria Academy were back to their dominant best after taking a week off. The District 10 champions were led by a 1-2 finish from individual champion Claire Brown (19:11) and Grace Trucilla (19:42) to place seven of the top eight overall finishers and score 17 points with a 77 second spread! For the boys, freshman Christian Babo of Harbor Creek defended his home course with an eight second victory over Phoenix Myers of Seneca with a winning time of 16:37. Phoenix and his brother Donovan finished in the top four overall and helped lead their team to a team victory over Corry 52-58. Girls Highlights
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Harborcreek, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 10/04 |
Meteor Junior High/ Modified Invitational
Montrose
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Montrose, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 10/04 |
Lehigh University
If the boys AAA race for the individual state title did not have a favorite, after Saturday’s Brown race, it had a big one. Colin Abert of Easton had been waiting in the wings for this opportunity since setting the PTXC course record on September 6th in 15:21. During that time, his performance was #1 on the state list until last Saturday. Abert earned that spot back in a big way! Abert pulled away early from a star studded field once he discovered that no one was going to take the pace. At the mile mark, he was already 30 meters ahead of the pack. From that moment on, it was him against the clock. When the smoke had cleared, Abert reclaimed his number 1 spot in the state and the Northeast region with a Paul Short meet record time of 14:55! The time is the 3rd fastest performance on the Lehigh University 5000 meter course, and is the fastest PA performance since the 2006 season!
Griffin Molino of South Williamsport finished 3rd with a personal best 15:18, while Paul Power of Spring Ford followed up his big PIAA Foundation performance with a 4th place finish in 15:24! Just like the individual race, the team title race wasn’t close either. PA#1 Malvern Prep had two top ten finishers in Jaxson Hoey and Billy McDevitt help solidify their top ranking with a big 118-165 win over Cumberland Valley. Malvern had a 50 second spread between their 1st and 5th runner, the 3rd best in the race, with both Hoey and McDevitt running 15:40 or faster. Easton finished 3rd with 200 points and Hershey finished 4th with 218 points. The boys white race introduced us to Gabriel Allgayer of Mercersburg Academy, who was able to hold off the in-form Julian Degroot-Lutzner of Masterman to win the white race in a 45 second personal best of 15:50! Downingtown East was the latest team to keep Holy Ghost Prep off the top of the team medal stand. The District 1 AAA squad placed five in the top 40 and managed to hold off Holy Ghost Prep and their 47 second spread to win the team title 116-135.
The girls Brown race became an instant classic, as Marissa Sheva of Pennridge, Mady Clahane of Cumberland Valley, and Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury all battled it out for the chance to win individual gold. The trio were together through a mile and a half, before Sheva made her move to pull away. Clahane held her own and hung tough with the senior up until the last 150 meters, where Clahane went to make her final push, only for Sheva to find enough strength to hold her off and claim her 3rd win of the season! Sheva’s time of 17:34 was 2 seconds better than Clahane, and it was her fastest performance for nearly two years. Clahane’s 17:36 was the 2nd best time of her career. Sargent ran 17:52 to finish 3rd.
The race also saw the 5000 meter debut of Pennsbury, who went head to head with Cardinal O’Hara, who were entering the race undefeated against PA competition in four invitational performances. O’Hara ran their best 1-5 spread of the season with a race best 34 seconds with two in the top 10. Pennsbury had two in the top ten as well, but had a 3rd in 12th overall. That edge was just enough to hold off O’Hara 97-108 to win the team title. In the white race, Kayla Connelly of Lansdale Catholic earned her 2nd invitational victory of her career, running 18:39 to win by a narrow 3 seconds. Owen J Roberts were the only team with three finishers inside the top 15 overall places, which was enough to hold off Downingtown East and their 59 second spread by a score of 92-105.
Girls Highlights
Boys Highlights
PREVIEW
Girls Brown Preview by Bill Coren TEAMS!!!! This race will be very competitive. There are at least 10 fairly strong teams, although the TOP 3 appear to be stronger than the rest! As for the other 7, they all have had some success this season. STRATH HAVEN--1st ABINGTON-!st BULLDOG SMALL-4th FOUNDATION GOLD-2nd BULL RUN ELITE CONESTOGA--Beat STRATH HAVEN in a dual meet-3rd at CHEROKEE CUMBERLAND VALLEY--1st PTX6 GOLD-4th CARLISLE CHALLENGE ELK LAKE--3rd PTX6 BLUE-1st FOUNDATION WHITE HOLY CROSS--1st NORTHAMPTON-2nd FOUNDATION WHITE PERKIOMEN VALLEY--2nd PTX6 GOLD-1st FRETZ OWEN J ROBERTS--2nd TWIN VALLEY-2nd FRETZ The TOP 3 are likely to finish 1-2-3. PENNSBURY, PADUA(DEL), and CARDINAL OHARA all look better than the rest. PENNSBURY--2nd at CHEROKEE(to UNIONVILLE) PADUA--1st WHITE CLAY-1st CARLISLE CHALLENGE OHARA--1st TWIN VALLEY-1st BRIARWOOD CHAMPIONSHIP-1st FOUNDATION GOLD-2nd CARLISLE CHALLENGE PADUA beat OHARA at CARLISLE, but it was a battle. PADUA’s top 2 girls appear stronger than OHARA’s top girls, but OHARA’s strength is its pack, and in a quality race like this, that may put them past PADUA. PENNSBURY is as always PENNSBURY!!!! They are well coached and have runners with big race experience, and they will be running their 1st 2014 Invitational!!! Expect them to win PAUL SHORT and set them up for another shot at a STATE CHAMPIONSHIP and a NATIONAL berth!
INDIVIDUALS!!!! Although there are at least 40 very strong runners in this race, only 20 will win LEHIGH shirts!!! Those 20 will all likely have to be under 19:00. As for who will be the Individual champion, only 2 girls really have a chance!! Sheva(PENNRIDGE)(12) was 1st at SHARP and 1st at PTX6 GOLD. She has run well every year after bursting on to the XC scene as a freshman. Her 400 meter speed should really help out on a course like LEHIGH. Clahane(CUMBERLAND VALLEY)(11) lost to Sheva by 11 seconds at PTX6, but she dominated on the fast CARLISLE course!! THIS WILL BE FUN TO WATCH--two PA girls going head-to-head on a fast LEHIGH course!
Girls White Preview Class A state champions Holy Cross will be the headliners of the white race. The District 2 squad will toe the line for the first time since their September 20 defeat to rivals Elk Lake at the PIAA Foundation Invitational. Mackenzie Greenfield and Lexi Walsh will be favored to finish in one of the top positions, as they have both broken 19 minute this season. They will be chased by District 1 squads Owen J Roberts, Downingtown East, and West Chester Henderson. Henderson is coming off of a runner up finish at the Adidas XC Challenge Invitational race two weeks ago, and Maddie Bixler will be one of the contenders for gold in this race. Downingtown East is coming off a narrow 3rd place finish at last week’s Council Rock Invitational, missing 2nd place by 2 points. Lexi VanBlunk will lead the way. Owen J Roberts won the Harrier Invitational at Pottstown by 4 points over Springside Chestnut Hill last week, and missed out on gold against Perkiomen Valley by 6 points at Chris Fretz two weeks ago. Kayla Connelly of Lansdale Catholic is the other sub 19 minute runner entering the race on Saturday. The sophomore is competing for the first time since her Bulldog Invite win 3 weeks ago. Boys Brown Some of 2014’s biggest stars will be going head to head in the first high school race at the Paul Short Run. A wet course may slow down the attempt at a sub 15 minute performance, but as this season has shown us, anything can happen no matter what the conditions. The star studded lineup includes Colin Abert of Easton, the state’s top runner for virtually the entire month of September. His course record 15:21 performance at PTXC 6 was the last time Abert competed at an invitational race. The senior has been looking forward to this day since that historic day. What can he do for an encore? Out to spoil his return to the big race scene is Germantown Friends sophomore Nick Dahl. Dahl’s finished 4th at the Adidas XC Challenge in North Carolina in 15:29. This will be Dahl’s biggest cross country race of his young career in PA. How will the talented young star handle the big spotlight race? Jaxson Hoey of Malvern Prep will look to improve from his 6th place finish at Carlisle last weekend. His seasonal best of 15:30 was on the hilly Belmont Plateau course on September 13. What can the junior do on a flat course that is favorable for fast times? Class A state champion Griffin Molino has 15:43 in both of his invitational victories. This will be the most competitive race Molino has been in since his Spiked Shoe win. Can he get under 15:43 and earn another big gold medal? Paul Power of Spring Ford is coming off the biggest race of his career when he set the meet record at the PIAA Foundation Invite two weeks ago. He beat some big time runners in that race on the hilliest course in the state. The flat and friendly Lehigh course awaits and Power will look to prove that his big win 2 weeks ago was not just a flash in the pan. The chase for the team title will be the first of two head to head matchups between Independent school state champions Malvern Prep and Friends League champions Germantown Friends. These two programs have been the best in the Independent division for the better part of 7 years. Both have strong front runners supported by youth and experience. Malvern won the Briarwood Invitational on September 13th over Cardinal O’Hara, CB East and Lasalle. Germantown Friends finished 8th in the championship race at the Adidas XC Challenge in North Carolina. Who will draw first blood on Saturday? Chasing them will be Parkland and Bensalem. Bensalem were victorious at the Rose Tree Invitational large school race and finished in the top ten at PIAA Foundation. Parkland were the winners of the Centaur Invitational back on September 13. Cumberland Valley and Hempfield (3) are coming off top ten finishes at Carlisle last weekend.
Boys White The boys white race will be a tight finish for the top team position. Holy Ghost Prep has been one of the busiest teams in the District 1 AA division, competing in four invitationals this season and finishing in the top ten in each of them. They will be seeking their first win of the season on Saturday against Downingtown East and Elizabethtown Area. Downingtown East had their best race of the season at the Centaur Invite, a 4th place finish where they defeated Holy Ghost Prep. Elizabethtown Area finished 4th in the Champions race at Carlisle last week with a 10 second 1-5 spread and a 15 second 1-6 spread. Julian DeGroot-Lutzner of Masterman is the only competitor in the field that has a big meet victory under their belt. His two victories at PIAA Foundation gives him the big race experience advantage. Gabriel Allgayer of Mercersburg Academy is the lone sub 16:20 performer in the field. Ben Wilson of Central Dauphin will also be in the mix for the gold medal. |
Bethlehem, PA RESULTS POSTED PHOTO GALLERY VIDEO INTERVIEWS
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| 10/04 |
Pittsburgh Central Catholic
By Phil Grove
Kelsey Potts of Mt. Lebanon and Central Catholic’s Jeff Van Kooten turned in solid performances in the Central Catholic Invitational at Schenley Park.A junior, Potts had the biggest cushion at the finish of the four varsity races, covering the 3.1 miles of the girls’ A race in 18 minutes, 15.7 seconds. Freshman Abby Yourkavitch of Chambersburg was second in 19:07.5, while sophomore Ava Pietrzyk of North Hills claimed third in 19:11.8.
In the girls’B race, Rylee Kopchak of Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic moved to the front in the second halfand crossed the line first in 19:51.2. BeccaVolz of Bishop Canevin was next in 19:59.9, while early leader Morgan Price of General McLane claimed third in 20:01.3. On the boys’ side, Van Kooten pulled away from a tightly bunched lead pack in the A race, winning his home invitational in 15:52.3. Fellow senior Hunter Wharrey of North Allegheny stayed close for second in 16:00.2, while Jacob Heinauerof North Hills was third in 16:10.8 and Griffin Mackey of Sewickley Academy was fourth in 16:11.2.
Riley Lamison of Beaver Area was the winner in the B race, cruising home in 17:29.0. General McLane’s Ian Parker was next in 17:37.3, while Michael O’Donnell of Bellefonte finished third in 17:47.6. It was about as close as it could get in the girls’ A team competition as Chambersburg and Mt. Lebanon each scored 64 points. The Trojans claimed the top spot as their sixth runner was ahead of Mt. Lebanon’s. John Neff’s North Allegheny Tigers claimed the boys’ A title, putting together a winning score of 76 points on the strength of four runners in the top 20. Rival North Hills placed a trio of runners in the top 10 and was second with 114. Beaver Area made it a clean sweep in the B races, capturing the girls’ title with 51 points as all five scoring Bobcats placed in the top 16. Taylor Allderdice was second with 77.In the boys’ race, Beaver had four in the top nine en route to a winning score of 42. General McLane was second with 64. Girls Highlights
Boys Highlights
PREVIEW
It will be Madeleine Davison of North Allegheny vs Kelsey Potts of Mount Lebanon part III. The district and state title contenders will square off once again on Saturday. Davison has a 2-0 advantage over Potts this season, with Davison winning the Red White and Blue and PIAA Foundation Invites in comfortable fashion. Can Potts snap Davison’s hot streak or will Davison prove to be unstoppable once again? It will also be the 3rd head to head meeting between their respective teams, with Mount Lebanon defeating North Allegheny twice, including an 8 point triumph two weeks ago. Will Mount Lebanon make it 3 in a row?
The boys race will be North Allegheny’s chance to get back on the winning track after two top five finishes without victory. In their last appearance, they finished 10 points behind Cardinal O’Hara at the PIAA Foundation Invitational. Matt McGoey and Hunter Wharrey did not finish together, nor did they both finish inside of the top three in that same race for the first time this season. They still hold two of the six fastest times in the state this season. Another strong performance for them and their team will help get their state title run back on track. |
Pittsburgh, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 10/04 |
Ridgway
Punxsutawney Area earned a narrow 12 point victory over Cranberry 91-103 to win the boys team title. Punxsutawney had three in the top 17 led by a 7th place finish by Bo Dinger. Individual honors went to Liam Raeshler of Clarion, who ran 16:43 to win the gold medal by 23 seconds. For the girls, Dubois Area won a tight team title battle over St Mary’s 60-65, despite St Mary’s having three finishers in the top six. Tori Dippold of Elk County Catholic returned to the winners circle with a dominant performance, winning the race in 18:53 to win by over a minute! Girls Highlights
PREVIEW
Tori Dippold of Elk County Catholic will be competing in her first 5000 meter invitational since the opening Saturday of the season, where she was victorious. The senior finished 6th at the 3 mile McQuaid Invitational in New York last week, her best finish at that meet. She will have to hold off Kayce Bobnar of North Clarion, the owner of two top seven finishes this season, and Arlee Simendinger of Penn Cambria, a state medalist with one top six finish. In the team race, Bradford will look to use their 1-2 punch of Makaila Banka and Riley Crissman to get them their 2nd victory of the season. Clearfield and St Mary’s will be able to keep the meet close with their smaller 1-5 spreads, compared to the 3+ minute spread of Bradford. In the boys race, Class A squads St Joseph’s Catholic Academy and Elk County Catholic will square off to try and get momentum heading into the postseason. Both teams will look for their first win of the season. St Joe’s Catholic will hope the 1-2 punch of Brian Hackman and Eli Urban can give them an advantage, as both runners have run under 17:05, two of four runners to have done that this season in the field. That duo will look to chase Issac Wilson of North Clarion for the individual gold. Elk County Catholic have a tight top 3, but will need a close finish from their 4th and 5th runners to secure victory. |
Ridgway, PA RESULTS POSTED |
| 10/04 |
Salesianum School
Zach Brehm of Carlisle made it back to back invitational victories, winning the Championship race in 16:38 for just a 7 second victory. His team also came out victorious in the race, holding off hosts Salesianum 51-63 thanks to three finishers in the top 9 overall. Casey Comber of Hatboro Horsham extended his invitational winning streak to five races, taking home the gold in the Large School race in 16:44, winning by nearly 75 seconds. His team was also dominant, placing four of the top seven and half of the top ten finishers to score 25 points and win by over 50 points. For the girls, Maddie Kole of Carlisle won a very close race that had the top four within six seconds of one another. Kole’s time of 20:12 was under 2 seconds better than the field. North Penn got back on the winning track, scoring 34 points to hold off Carlisle by 5. It’s their 3rd consecutive top two finish. In the large school race, Vicky Nangle of Archbishop Wood finished 2nd and led three finishers in the top five places to help secure a narrow 51-58 victory over Hatboro Horsham.
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Wilmington, DE RESULTS POSTED |
| 10/04 |
Allegany-Limestone
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Allegany, NY |
| 10/04 |
The Legends Meet
Maplewood
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Cortland, OH |
COLLEGIATE MEETS
| 10/04 |
Lehigh University
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Bethlehem, PA RESULTS POSTED |