One point is powerful. It's how Allentown Central Catholic started their score thanks to the 18:46 win by Frances Koons. And it's how much they beat their league, district and state rivals, Parkland, in another tightly contested race. The packs were evident at the front the entire race. But it was a late surge by ACC #4 Colleen O'Neill to eclipse two Parkland runners, that pulled out the victory. The two will certainly be top contenders at states, but ACC was without their #2 runner who was on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Rome, and another top five runner was ill, placing back from the scorers. But both teams will have their hands full with the defending state champs from Hatboro-Horsham. Parkland's :49 spread is a great way to win big meets, though. First year XC runner, junior Lauretta DeZubay of Freedom, was the only one to give chase on Koons, who held a 40-meter lead by 3/4-mile. DeZubay went 19:36 for 2nd. In boys AAA, Easton's Rich Ryan finished 4th, to lead his team to a 69-87 win over Liberty, who was off to a great scoring start behind the 1st place 16:20 by Cris Pates. Notre Dame dominated the boys AA race, going 3-4-5-6 for just 31 points. Evan Chromczak of Saucon Valley was the AA District champ with a time of 16:52. Palisades' Christa Plummer lead the entire race, and helped her team to the District title with a strong 19:19.
District 11 Championships Invitational Photo Gallery
District 11 Championships AAA Girls Photos
District 11 Championships AA Girls Photos
District 11 Championships AAA Boys Photos
District 11 Championships AA Boys Photos
The race was close the entire way. Here, at 3/4-mile, the yellow of Allentown Central Catholic, and Red of Parkland dominate the leading chase pack (Koons and DeZubay were long gone).
The race was close the entire way. Also at 3/4-mile, Koons had a growing lead on DeZubay.